Enrolling Zebra Printers in SOTI Connect

Centrally manage Zebra MQTT printers through the SOTI Connect web console.

This applies to all versions of SOTI Connect. 

Note: Before enrolling a printer, ensure it's compatible with SOTI Connect by checking the list of approved devices.

Prerequisites 

Before enrolling printers, ensure the following requirements are met:

2. Ensure the printer's firmware is compatible with SOTI Connect. SOTI maintains a list of approved devices and compatible firmware versions.

Note: You can check the printer's firmware version by navigating to its IP address in a web browser. If the printer's firmware is not compatible, upgrade the firmware version to a compatible version. Details on upgrading firmware on Zebra printers can be found here.

Steps

To enroll a printer:

• Set up the MQTT configuration settings.
• Deploy the configured settings using Zebra Setup Utilities.
• Approve discovered printers to complete enrollment.

Set up the MQTT configuration settings.

1. In a text editor, add and modify the following commands to include the ASCII value of your SOTI Connect root certificate. This command is used to create a .NRD SOTI Connect root certificate file on the Zebra printer. 

{}--P_q0t8QvwCIp-9Ny1G4F6xn9TpbIxj2i2EO5D
Content-Disposition: form-data; filename="E:MQTT1_CA.NRD"; action="store"
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
ASCII VALUE OF ROOT CERT HERE
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

--P_q0t8QvwCIp-9Ny1G4F6xn9TpbIxj2i2EO5D--

2. Modify and append the following commands to enable your NTP server settings on the printer. 

{}{"ip.ntp.enable":"on"}
{}{"ip.ntp.servers":"0.north-america.pool.ntp.org,216.228.192.52"}
{}{"rtc.timezone":"EST5EDT4,M3.2.0/02:00:00,M11.1.0/02:00:00"}

Note: Replace the NTP server address and time zone values accordingly and ensure that the MQTT Broker is configured with the same time as the printer. If the device and the MQTT server have different times configured, communication issues may arise due to problems with validating the server's certificates.

3. Modify and append the following commands to enable MQTT and configure the MQTT server address on the printer. 

{}{"mqtt.conn1.qos":"2","mqtt.conn1.retry_interval_random_max":"10","mqtt.enable":"on"}
{}{"mqtt.conn1.tenant_id":"zebra","mqtt.conn1.username":"","mqtt.conn1.password":""}
{}{"mqtt.conn1.server_address":"mqtts://MQTTSERVER:8883"}
{}{"mqtt.conn1.mqtt_version":"3.1.1"}
{}{"mqtt.conn1.reset_now":"on"}

Note: Replace the MQTTSERVER value with the FQDN/Hostname value of the MQTT Server. If using a paid version of HiveMQ, include the user name and password values as well; otherwise, leave them empty when utilizing the community edition. If needed, you can also add up to two MQTT Server connection details.

4. Append the following command to restart the printer.

{}{"device.reset":""}

The following is an example of device configuration settings for a test environment. 

Deploy the configured settings using Zebra Setup Utilities.

1. Open the Zebra Setup Utilities application.

2. Prepare and connect your printer to your PC.

Note: More information on connecting Zebra printers and installing the required drivers can be found here.

3. Choose the connected printer and open a direct line of communication by selecting Open Communication With Printer.

4. Send the prepared configuration commands set up earlier to the printer.

Note: You can also save the prepared commands as a firmware (.ZPL) file and send them to the printers using Zebra's ZDownloader Utility. The following article demonstrates how to deploy the ZPL file through ZDownloader.

Approve discovered printers to complete enrollment.

Once the printer establishes communication with the MQTT Broker, an alert indicating a discovered printer should appear on the SOTI Connect Web Console. Follow the steps below to approve the discovered printers and complete enrollment.

1. On the SOTI Connect web console, click on the Alerts icon to view the discovered device alert.

Note: Zebra devices are auto-discovered as they are MQTT-RPC devices.

2. Select the discovered device that is awaiting approval and then select Approve to enroll the printer. 

Note: You can optionally set an enrollment rule to auto-approve discovered devices.

1. Verify the successful creation of the .NRD certificate file on the printer by running the following command.

^XA^HWE:*.*^XZ

2. Verify the printer's connection with the MQTT Broker server by running the following command to view the MQTT connection logs.

! U1 getvar "mqtt.logging.entries"