E.3 Initial integration of Components

When setting up a Vending Machine the components of the Vending Machine need to be configured with respect to their security certificates in order to allow them to communicate with each other. The components implement the global certificate management server facet (see E.2) that allows the configuration via an off-the-shelf GDS product or tailored applications to configure a vending machine, using the standardized OPC UA interfaces (see OPC 10000-12). When using this, it is reasonable to use the concept of a CA (certificate authority) to sign certificates instead of using self-signed certificates. That implies, that all components trust the CA and get their certificates signed by the CA, and thereby they trust each other. More precise, an GDS can manage several certificate groups. The scope of such a group can be handled differently. The most restrictive configuration would be to put all components of a Vending Machine into a certificate group. This guarantees that only the components of the Vending Machine can communicate to each other. But other settings are possible, as well. For example, an Operator may choose to put all its components into one certificate group or all components of a specific type of Vending Machine, etc. This is decreasing the security to a certain degree, but simplifies the usage.

All components of a Vending Machine need to be integrated into the same certificate group, and switched from provisioning mode into normal operation mode (that may be done by restarting the component after the certificates have been configured). Afterwards, they will be able to communicate to each other. The Vending Machine can be configured and deployed in its intended destination.