Hardware Station Step-by-Step Installation

Step 1- Download Update Service Client

To download the Update Service Client, click here (login required) and run the installer (ls-central-latest.exe).

Tip: Note that using the Update Service Client to install the Hardware Station is the easiest and fastest way to keep the Hardware Station up-to-date, but it will not give you control over when the Hardware Station should be updated on each POS.

Setting up your own Update Service server and creating your own installer for the Hardware Station will give you more flexibility controlling the updates by using Deployment circles. The same applies to the AppShell for LS Central.

For more information see How to set up Update Service server and How to create a POS bundle, an installer, and device rollouts with circles.

Step 2- Download and install Hardware Station

When the Update Service Client is installed, the client window opens.

Select the Install option to install the Hardware Station.
Click the Install button at the bottom of the window.
Select the Service Startup Type.
Install completed.

Step 3- Adding devices

Once the Hardware Station has been installed and started, the next step is to add the devices.

Before you can start adding devices, you need to start the Hardware Station service.
Devices are then added through the Management Portal.

For more information see How to add a device to Management Portal.

Step 4 - Use HTTPS in Hardware Station

Hardware Station should be configured to use a secure connection via HTTPS to ensure that the connection is encrypted and protected against interception by unauthorized parties.

For more information see How to Use HTTPS in Hardware Station.

Important: Note that when connecting to Hardware Station via HTTPS, you will need an SSL certificate. In a production environment, the certificate should be issued by an SSL Certificate Authority. While you can use a self-signed certificate for testing and sandbox environments, modern browsers may have difficulty accepting self-signed certificates because they are not recognized as trustworthy by default. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use an authority-signed certificate whenever possible.

Note: Obtaining an authority-signed certificate may involve additional costs.

Tips: To avoid buying Authority Signed Certificate for all Hardware Stations, you can buy one and deploy for all by following these steps:

Create a certificate for a domain, such as "hardwarestation.store.co.uk" and copy this certificate to each POS device. Then, for each POS, add a DNS record in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file.
Add the Hardware Station on https:
- 127.0.0.1 hardwarestation.store.co.uk
- #End of LS
- Install certificate on POS
- Install certificate on HWST
If all the POS devices are on the same domain:
- Have a logical naming convention on the POS, like STORE1 – Store99
- Cert “*.store.co.uk”
- Have the above installed on each POS and HWST
- Then, store1.store.co.uk should work.

Step 5 - Add devices to Hardware Profile

The setup for POS devices is configured in LS Central and the POS Hardware Profile Card.

You can only have one active profile for the POS and it can be configured for the Store and/or POS Terminals. If you have different types of devices on POSs, you must create a Hardware Profile for each set of devices.