# Automatic Onboarding

## Overview

Many agent-based standard protocols used to manage networking devices recommend using unique credentials (username/password, keys, etc.) for each managed device. This recommendation enhances security and enables individual device identification during message exchanges. However, it introduces additional complexity, as each managed device must be pre-provisioned with unique credentials before deployment.

The **Automatic Onboarding** feature in CONTROL simplifies this pre-configuration process. It allows devices to initially connect using a common set of credentials, which are then automatically replaced with individual credentials after the first successful connection.

## Accessing Automatic Onboarding Settings

**Automatic Onboarding** options are configured per **Device Profile / Type** and can be accessed through:

**Inventory** > **Profile / type**

[![Automatic Onboarding Section](https://docs.zequenze.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-02/9OAEimZFzZ4gTPdI-tmpro502i1t.png)](https://docs.zequenze.com/uploads/images/gallery/2020-04/wWoEoIPix5B3GXzW-image-1587160794119.png)

For detailed information about accessing **Device Profile / Type** configuration screens, refer to the [**Device Profile / Type** configuration](/books/control/page/device-profile-configuration/) section.

## Configuration

### Enabling Automatic Onboarding

To configure and activate **Automatic Onboarding** for a specific **Device Profile / Type**:

1. Navigate to the **Device Profile / Type** configuration screen
2. Locate the **Automatic onboarding section**
3. Enable the *Automatic device onboarding* checkbox
4. Populate the following required fields:
   - **Username**: The pre-defined username that devices will use during initial authentication
   - **Password**: The pre-defined password that devices will use during initial authentication

Once configured, any device connecting to the platform with these credentials will be automatically onboarded and assigned to the corresponding **Device Profile / Type**.

### Device Identification Fields

The following optional fields provide additional validation and identification criteria for connecting devices:

- **Manufacturer**: Filters devices by manufacturer name
- **Unique ID**: Specifies a unique identifier for device matching
- **Product class**: Filters devices by product class designation
- **Serial number prefix**: Matches against the beginning characters of the device serial number

#### Identification Rules

- **Case sensitivity**: All identification field matching is case-sensitive
- **Prefix matching**: For *Serial number prefix*, the system matches the specified text against the left-most characters of the received serial number
- **Protocol dependency**: Identification fields are management protocol-dependent and must be provided in the first message from the managed device (e.g., the *Inform* message for devices managed through *TR-069*)

#### Example

If the *Manufacturer* field is set to `Zequenze`, the **Automatic Onboarding** process for this **Device Profile / Type** will only apply to devices that identify themselves with `Zequenze` in their manufacturer field.

## Advanced Configuration

Additional **Automatic Onboarding** configurations can be customized through:

- **Connection Profile** objects for each **Device Profile / Type**
- **Connection service** objects for each **Device Profile / Type**

TBC