PharmAutomateMerchant guide
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Getting started

Register a device and get its key

A device is one computer that will run the PharmAutomate agent. Register one device per workstation.

  1. Go to Devices and click Register device.
  2. Select the Branch this computer belongs to.
  3. Enter an Agent ID — a short unique name for the computer, for example counter-pc-01 — and optionally a friendlier device name.
  4. Click create. The portal shows the device's activation key, once.

The activation key

It looks like this:

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Important: Copy it now — this is the only time it is shown. Use the copy button in the dialog and keep it somewhere safe (a password manager is ideal) until you have entered it into the agent installer.

Things worth knowing:

  • One key, one computer. The first machine to activate a key claims it. Any other machine that tries the same key is refused, with this message: "This activation key is already in use on another computer. Each key works on ONE computer only. Ask your Skypond administrator to issue a new key for this computer." The Devices list shows whether each key is In use or Unused.
  • It is what you paste during installation. The installer calls it the Activation key; the portal calls it the device API key. Same thing.
  • The same key signs in to the read-only Branch Portal.
  • If a key is lost, leaked, or bound to a machine you have retired, use Rotate API key on that device. A new key is shown once, the old one stops working immediately, and the machine binding is cleared — see Managing keys, users and access.

Note: Rotating is not only a security measure. It is also the fix when a workstation has been re-imaged or swapped and the agent now reports that the key is in use on another computer.