Advanced: command-line options and managed configuration

Command-line options and managed configuration let you set a display's region and activation key before anyone plugs the device in. This article covers both, platform by platform, for fleets of screens.

Note: This is an advanced article aimed at IT administrators and integrators. If you have a handful of screens, see Connect a display to your account instead.

What you can configure

Each platform accepts a different set of values.

A device that arrives with a region and activation key already set never shows a provisioning screen. It boots straight into its content.

Note: The Android PIN guards the app's own hold-to-reset gesture, not the settings overlay. The overlay's PIN always comes from the project.

See Open the on-device settings overlay.

Configure Windows

The Windows app accepts options on launch.

STQRYSignage.exe --region us --license K4M2XP --fullscreen

Pass these on every launch. Command-line options are read fresh each time and aren't written to the machine's configuration, so dropping them returns the PC to the provisioning screen. Put them in the startup shortcut's target, or in a small batch file in the startup folder.

To configure the machine once and forget it, use the provisioning screen instead. Values entered there are saved.

Configure macOS

The macOS app accepts the same options plus two location ones.

STQRYSignage --region us --license K4M2XP --fullscreen

macOS also reads a configuration file.

~/Library/Application Support/STQRYSignage/config.json

Priority on macOS, highest first: managed configuration (MDM), then command-line options, then the config file, then the on-screen setup.

Configure iOS and iPadOS

iPads and iPhones are configured through MDM, such as Jamf, Intune or Mosyle. The app reads Apple's managed app configuration, so you push a configuration dictionary at enrollment with the region and activation key in it.

This is the best approach for a fleet of iPads. Contact us for the exact key names to use in your MDM profile.

Configure Android and Fire TV

Android supports two routes, managed configuration and launch extras.

Managed configuration (MDM)

The app reads Android's managed configuration, so an enterprise mobility management system can push region, activation key, location settings and the PIN at enrollment.

Managed configuration takes priority over everything else, including anything set on the device. A managed fleet can't be reconfigured locally, which is the point.

Launch extras

Launch extras provision a device without a full MDM. The supported keys are:

region · license · server · location_url · debug · pin

Launch extras are saved to the device rather than applied once, so a device configured this way keeps its configuration across reboots. Contact us for the exact command form. It needs the app's component name and a device in developer mode.

Priority on Android

Highest first: managed configuration, then launch extras, then what's stored on the device.

Good to know

• --server appears in every option list and is the one to leave alone.

• On the installed apps, --server no longer changes where the app loads its own code from. Each installed app carries its own copy of the web app and serves it locally, so a screen runs the version it shipped with. See How updates reach your displays.
• The --server key is still accepted for compatibility, but setting it doesn't do what its name suggests. Contact us before using it.
• URL query parameters that switch on debug overlays are for our own diagnostics, not for deployments.
• Non-production regions are likewise for our diagnostics only.

Location settings and priority

Location configuration can come from several places. Each of the three values (mode, URL and poll interval) resolves independently, taking the highest source that supplies it.

1. A launch argument or command-line option

2. The on-device settings overlay
3. Managed configuration
4. The display record in STQRY Builder

The Effective readout in the settings overlay shows the result. See Set a display's location source.

Provision a fleet

Pick the route that matches your tooling.

With an MDM. Push region and activation key per device at enrollment. Each device gets its own key, so you'll need a mapping from device serial to display record. Create the display records in Builder first, export the activation keys, then build the MDM assignments from that.

Without an MDM. On Android and Fire TV, launch extras are written to the device and persist across reboots, so configure each device once before it ships. On Windows and macOS, command-line options aren't saved. Either bake them into the startup shortcut permanently, or configure the machine once through the provisioning screen.

With neither. Ship the devices unconfigured and have the site adopt them with screen codes. It's slower per device, but it needs no tooling and no per-device mapping. For fewer than about twenty screens, this is usually the right one.

FAQ

Why does my Windows PC go back to the provisioning screen?

Command-line options aren't saved. Make sure every launch passes them, or configure the machine through the provisioning screen instead.

Can I reconfigure a managed Android device on site?

No. Managed configuration wins over anything set locally.

Something I need isn't documented here.

Contact us. There's usually a supported way to do what you're after.

Next steps

• Connect a display to your account

• Set a display's location source
• Open the on-device settings overlay