Remote Control for Android Devices

The remote control feature allows administrators to troubleshoot devices that are enrolled with WSO2 IoT Server using the device management console. You can create a remote session, send adb shell commands, view the device logs, and remotely view and interact with the screen of an Android device.

Let's take a look at how you can start using it.

Create a remote session

Follow the steps given below to create a remote session between the device and WSO2 IoT Server:

1. Start WSO2 IoT Server's core profile, which corresponds to the WSO2 Connected Device Management Framework (WSO2 CDMF) profile.
   
2. Access the device management console: https://<IOTS_HTTPS_HOST>:9443/devicemgt
For example: https://localhost:9443/devicemgt
3. Sign in as an administrator. By default, the username is admin and the password is admin.
4. Under Devices, click View.
   
   A page appears that lists all the devices that are enrolled with WSO2 IoT Server because you have administrator privileges.
5. Click the device you want to troubleshoot.
6. Click the Remote Session tab.
   
7. Click Connect to Device to start a remote session with the device. 
   After the server connects to the device, you see the following screen:
   
8. You can now troubleshoot the device as described in the next sections. To stop the remote sharing session, click Close Session.

Send adb shell commands

Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a command line tool that lets you communicate with an emulator or connected Android device. Follow the steps given below to troubleshoot the device using adb shell commands:

1. If you haven't already set up a remote session, set it up now.
2. Click Shell.
3. Write the shell command (see adb shell commands for the available commands) and press Enter.
   For example, if you want to get the CPU and memory usage of the device, use the top adb command.
   Sample output:
   

View device logs

Logcat is a tool that displays messages from the device log in real time and keeps a history so you can view the old messages. Follow the steps given below to view the device logs.

1. If you haven't already set up a remote session, set it up now.
2. Click Logcat.

You can now see the log for the device. 

View and interact with the device screen

To troubleshoot a device, it can be helpful to view the device's screen so you can monitor how the device owner is using it and then take actions yourself, such as opening applications and configuring settings. To view the screen, take the following steps: 

1. If you haven't already set up a remote session, set it up now.
2. Click Screen Share > Start.
   
3. A message is sent to the device asking the device owner to share the screen with WSO2 IoT Server. After the device owner accepts this message, you can view the device's screen and start interacting with it using the mouse.
   
4. Click Stop to stop viewing the screen of the device.