Pairing mode

Pairing mode adds devices without typing each DevEUI. For a few minutes, any device that is not registered yet and joins with the profile’s shared AppKey is added to that profile. It suits batches of identical sensors that the supplier delivered with one common AppKey.

Pairing mode is off by default and runs per profile. You need the permission to add, edit and delete LoRaWAN devices to start and stop it.

Before you start

• Use a LoRaWAN profile for the batch, for example a profile you created for this sensor type. Pairing adds the devices to the profile where it runs.
• Set the profile’s Shared AppKey on its LoRaWAN tab (32 hexadecimal digits) and save. Without it the section says Pairing mode needs a shared AppKey on this profile. and offers nothing.
• Check the profile’s LoRaWAN version and Class: devices that pairing mode adds get these values.
• Decide about approval with Devices added by pairing mode are ready at once (no approval). Off (the default) means each new device waits until someone approves it. See Approving devices added by pairing.
• Make sure a gateway near the devices is Online, and that your plan has room for the devices.

Run pairing mode

1. Open the profile and its LoRaWAN tab. Scroll to Pairing mode; its badge says Off.
2. Under For how long, choose 5, 15 (default), 30, 60 or 120 minutes.
3. Select Start pairing and confirm Start pairing mode: “For n minutes, any device that joins with this profile’s shared AppKey is added to your devices. Start it only while you power on your own devices.”
4. The badge now says On: with the time left, counting down.
5. Power on the devices, or make them join.
6. Watch Devices added. The list is read again every 10 seconds while pairing is on.
7. When all devices are listed, select Stop. Otherwise the window closes by itself when the time is up.

Selecting Start pairing again while it is on moves the end of the window; devices already found stay in the list.

What happens to each device

1. The device sends a join request. Its DevEUI is not registered anywhere on the platform.
2. The network server tries the shared AppKey of each of your profiles that is in pairing mode. If the request’s integrity check matches one, the device is recognised. The network server does not answer this first request.
3. Hermetry adds the device to that profile, named LoRa <DevEUI>, with codec Automatic, using the profile’s shared key, version and class. It counts toward your device limit.
4. The owners and administrators of your organisation get a notification: LoRaWAN device DevEUI added by pairing mode.
5. The device sends its next join request (devices retry by themselves):
   • With approval required, the request is refused as Waiting for approval until someone approves the device.
   • With ready at once, the request is answered and the device joins.

The frames log shows the first request as Being added by pairing mode.

The Devices added list

Column	Shows
Name	LoRa <DevEUI> until you rename it
DevEUI	The device’s EUI
Added	When pairing mode added it
Status	Waiting for approval (with an Approve button) or Ready

The list shows the devices of the current (or last) window, newest first, up to 200. No device has been added by pairing mode yet. when empty.

Rules and safeguards

• A DevEUI that is already registered, in your organisation or another one, is never added by pairing. Another organisation’s device stays “A device of another network”.
• A device whose join does not match a shared AppKey of a profile in pairing mode is refused as Unknown DevEUI, as always.
• Pairing works only inside the window. A request seen in the window but processed later is checked against the window’s start and end.
• When your device limit is reached, further devices are skipped.
• A profile without a shared AppKey cannot start pairing: Hermetry refuses with Pairing mode needs a shared AppKey on the profile. (no_shared_appkey).
• Start and stop are written to the audit log (iot_lorawan.profile.pairing_started, iot_lorawan.profile.pairing_stopped); each device added is logged as iot_lorawan.device.paired.

Through the API

Request	Does
GET /tenant/<tenantId>/api/iot/lorawan/profiles/<profileId>/pairing	The window and the devices it added
POST …/pairing with { "minutes": 15 }	Starts or extends the window (1–120 minutes)
DELETE …/pairing	Stops it now

The answer is { pairing: { active, until, startedAt, hasSharedAppKey, found: [...] } }.