| title | Automatic device management at scale | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| titleSuffix | Azure IoT Hub | ||
| description | Use Azure IoT Hub automatic configurations to manage multiple IoT devices and modules in the Azure portal and Azure CLI. | ||
| author | cwatson-cat | ||
| ms.service | azure-iot-hub | ||
| ms.topic | how-to | ||
| ms.date | 08/13/2025 | ||
| ms.author | cwatson | ||
| ms.custom |
|
||
| zone_pivot_groups | service-portal-azcli |
Azure IoT Hub automatic device management streamlines the process of managing large fleets of devices by automating repetitive and complex tasks. With automatic device and module configurations, you can target devices based on their properties, specify desired settings, and let IoT Hub apply updates as devices meet the defined criteria. This approach enables you to monitor configuration status, resolve conflicts, and roll out changes in phases for greater control and compliance.
[!INCLUDE iot-hub-basic]
Automatic device management operates by applying desired properties to groups of device twins or module twins and summarizing results using reported properties. This process uses a specialized JSON document called a Configuration, which consists of three main components:
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The target condition defines the scope of device twins or module twins to be updated. The target condition is specified as a query on twin tags and/or reported properties.
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The target content defines the desired properties to be added or updated in the targeted device twins or module twins. The content includes a path to the section of desired properties to be changed.
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The metrics component provides summary counts for configuration states like Success, In Progress, and Error. You can define custom metrics using queries on twin reported properties, while system metrics automatically track update status, including how many twins are targeted and how many are successfully updated.
Automatic configurations run for the first time shortly after the configuration is created and then at five-minute intervals. Metrics queries run each time the automatic configuration runs. A maximum of 100 automatic configurations is supported on standard tier IoT hubs; 10 on free tier IoT hubs. Throttling limits also apply. To learn more, see IoT Hub quotas and throttling.
:::zone pivot="azure-portal"
[!INCLUDE iot-hub-automatic-device-management-portal]
:::zone-end
:::zone pivot="azure-cli"
[!INCLUDE iot-hub-automatic-device-management-cli]
:::zone-end
In this article, you learned how to configure and monitor IoT devices at scale.
To learn how to manage IoT Hub device identities in bulk, see Import and export IoT Hub device identities in bulk