CMS (for Azure Stack Hub)

This is the operational manual for the CloudAxis CMS for Azure Stack Hub.

Introduction

Introduction

Overview

The CMS for Azure Stack Hub is a management and billing platform for Azure Stack Hub that connects technical service delivery with commercial operations. It is designed for service providers, enterprises, and partners who need to operate Azure Stack Hub as a structured, multi-tenant cloud service.

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At its core, the CMS provides a layered model that reflects how services are delivered and monetized:

This hierarchy ensures that both technical and commercial responsibilities are aligned. Usage flows upward from subscriptions to tenants, partners, and distributors, while pricing, commissions, and governance flow downward from the platform.

Key capabilities include:

The CMS provides the foundation to operate Azure Stack Hub as a commercial service, supporting both external service providers and internal enterprise IT. By unifying consumption data, pricing models, billing, and commissions under a single platform, it enables organizations to deliver cloud services with transparency, accountability, and commercial accuracy.

Introduction

Supported Scenarios

The CMS is designed to support a wide range of operational and business models for organizations using Azure Stack Hub. It combines a multi-tier commercial hierarchy with flexible deployment patterns, ensuring that both service providers and enterprises can align technical delivery with business outcomes.

Platform Administrators

Operate and govern the CMS at the highest level. Typical activities include publishing pricing and plans, managing usage processing, configuring branding and authentication, and ensuring compliance across regions.

Distributors

Represent the top commercial tier beneath the platform. They manage multiple partners, view aggregated billing and commission data, and apply distributor-level commission structures.

Partners

Act as the customer-facing entities for tenants. They onboard tenants, assign subscriptions, and manage billing at the tenant level. Partner-specific pricing and commission rates can be applied where required.

Tenants

Represent the consuming organizations (end customers or internal business units). Tenants manage their own subscriptions and users, while billing and usage data flow upward to their partner and distributor.

Subscriptions

Provide the unit of consumption within a tenant. Subscriptions map workloads to specific plans and quotas, generate usage records, and serve as the basis for billing and invoicing.

Industry Use Cases

Out of Scope

The CMS does not replace the core resource providers in Azure Stack Hub (Compute, Storage, Network) or native Azure monitoring tools. Instead, it complements them by adding commercial, operational, and governance layers on top of existing capabilities.

Introduction

System Requirements

The CMS is delivered as a .NET-based application backed by a MySQL database. It is packaged for deployment in containerized or virtualized environments and can be operated either alongside Azure Stack Hub infrastructure or on external platforms.

Software Requirements

Hardware Requirements

Network Requirements

Identity Requirements

High Availability and Recovery

The CMS can be deployed in a high-availability configuration using container clustering or database replication. Backup and recovery procedures should be established to protect the MySQL database and configuration state. For detailed operational guidance, see Backups & DR in the Operations chapter.

Getting Started

Getting Started

Installation

The CMS is deployed as a containerized service. Deployment involves preparing the database, configuring application settings, and validating connectivity to Azure Stack Hub.

Prerequisites

Installation Steps

  1. Database Setup

    • Create a dedicated MySQL database (e.g., cms).

    • Apply the schema migrations provided with the installation package.

  2. Application Deployment

    • Pull the container image from the registry or build it from source.

    • Run the container with environment variables specifying database connection strings, identity provider configuration, and API settings.

    • If deploying on Kubernetes, apply the provided YAML manifests to the cluster.

  3. Initial Configuration

    • Access the CMS portal at https://<hostname>.

    • Log in with the default administrator account created during setup.

    • Update branding, system settings, and identity provider integration through the Administration menu.

  4. Connectivity Validation

    • Confirm that the CMS can reach Azure Stack Hub endpoints.

    • Test authentication through Microsoft Entra ID or the configured identity provider.

    • Verify database connectivity and confirm that initial tenants and subscriptions can be created.

Post-Installation Tasks

Getting Started

First Login

Once the CMS has been deployed and initial configuration is complete, administrators and users can access the portal and API. The first login process establishes identity integration and sets the foundation for role-based access control (RBAC).

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Accessing the Portal

Default Roles

The CMS uses a role-based access model to control permissions. The following roles are provided by default:

First-Time Setup

On first login, the administrator should:

  1. Change the default password or confirm federated login is enforced.

  2. Configure additional administrators or delegated roles.

  3. Verify role mappings if using federated identity providers.

Getting Started

Quick Start Tutorial

Introduction

This page is intended to guide new operators through the steps required to onboard tenants.

Step 1: Add a Region

Note: Only Platform Administrators can onboard regions.

Step 2: Add a Distributor

Note: Only Platform Administrators can onboard distributors.

Step 3: Add a Partner

Note: Only Platform and Distributor Administrators can onboard partners.

Step 4: Add a Tenant

Note: Only Platform, Distributor and Partner Administrators can onboard tenants.

Step 5: Create a Subscription

Note: Any Administrator role can onboard a new subscription.

Step 6: Configure Users

Note: Create and scope users accordingly noting that at each level of the model (Distributors, Partners and Tenants) can manage their respective scoped users.

Step 7: Configure Pricing

Step 8: Generate Billing Records

Concepts

Concepts

Identity and RBAC

Introduction

The CMS implements it's own authentication flows as well as leveraging federated authentication with both Microsoft and Google.

Authentication

Authorization model

Supported Roles

Scope and inheritance

Audit and accountability

Federation controls (examples)

Concepts

Multi-Tenant Commercial Model

Purpose

This page explains the CMS hierarchy and how ownership, visibility, and billing flow across Distributors, Partners, Tenants, and Subscriptions. It also clarifies the role of platform administrators.

Roles in the hierarchy

Ownership and visibility

Delegation and access control

Data boundaries

Typical journeys

  1. Service-provider sales: Distributor onboards a new Partner → Partner onboards a Tenant → Platform Admin (or Partner) creates a Subscription → Tenant users begin consuming services → Usage flows to billing → Commissions are calculated and attributed upstream.
  2. Enterprise IT “internal reseller”: Central IT acts as Distributor; divisional IT acts as Partner; departments are Tenants; projects/business lines are Subscriptions.

Out of scope for this model

Concepts

Pricing, SKUs and Meters

Purpose

Defines how the CMS models chargeable items (SKUs), how prices are set (flat or tiered), how credits/discounts apply, and how this connects to commissions.

Core concepts

Scoping and precedence

When no custom scope is present, region defaults are used.

Currency and FX

Operational guidance

Commission linkage

Concepts

Regions and Usage

Purpose

Explains how regions (stamps) are represented and how usage flows from collection to rating and billing, including offline scenarios.

Regions (stamps)

Usage processing pipeline

  1. Collection: Pull raw usage records for a Region and time range.
  2. Mapping: Normalize and map records to Subscriptions and SKUs.
  3. Aggregation: Group by resource/meter and billing period with quantity roll-ups.
  4. Rating: Apply prices, thresholds, credits, and currency rules.
  5. Output: Persist rated usage and expose summaries for invoicing, analytics, and commissions.

Operations

Operations

Provisioning Workflows

Provisioning in the CMS follows the hierarchy of Distributor → Partner → Tenant → Subscription. Each workflow ensures that commercial alignment and technical access are established at the same time.

Adding a Distributor

Onboarding a Partner

Creating a Tenant

Assigning a Subscription

Checklist

Operations

Backups & DR

Protecting CMS data is essential for both compliance and operational recovery. The key data asset is the MySQL database, along with configuration files and TLS certificates.

Backup Strategy

Recovery Strategy

Recommendations

Operations

Monitoring & Alerts

The CMS provides monitoring hooks and reporting functions to ensure service continuity and compliance with billing accuracy.

Core Monitoring Areas

Alerts

Integrations

Operations

Tenant Onboarding

Introduction

This page is intended to give extended clarity regarding new Tenant onboarding within the CMS.

This process assumes the following activities have already occurred:

  1.  Regions have been added and tested.
  2.  Distributors and Partners have been added and tested.
  3. Pricing has been established for the Region.
Note: The steps below can be easily incorporated into an API driven workflow for CMS operators who already have a pre-existing customer front end. The API is described here.

Prerequisite Information

The table below attempts to help service providers with forward planning ahead of onboarding a new tenant.

Prerequisite Question to Ask Sample Answer
Entra Tenant for Azure Stack and CMS Authentication. Provide the Microsoft Entra Tenant you wish to use for Authentication to the Azure Stack? nwtraders.onmicrosoft.com
Entra User to be the default / initial owner of the Azure Stack Subscription / CMS Tenant.

Provide the Entra user who will be the initial owner of the Azure Stack subscription?

 

This can be any user or guest user within the Entra Tenant?

 jdoe@northwindtraders.com.au
Billing Information (Tenant)

Provide the following Billing Contact information:

 

  • Contact Name
  • Contact Email Address
  • Contact Phone Number
  • Street Address
  • City
  • State / County / Region / Prefecture etc.
  • Post Code

John Doe

jdoe@northwindtraders.com.au

+61359763070

3 Schnapper Point Dr

Melbourne

Victoria

Australia


 
Billing Information (Internal)

If using the CMS for month end billing.

 

  • Payment Terms
  • Billing Currency

30 Days

Australian Dollar

Create a new Tenant

The first step involves create a new Tenant within the CMS.

Note: Follow the steps here to create a new Tenant.

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Setup Users for the New Tenant

One the Tenant has been created; the next step is to create at least one Tenant Administrators.

Note: Tenant Administrators can then create and manage additional users and Administrators within the Tenant.
Note: Follow the steps here to create a new User

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Note: One option of interest is the CMS Login Allowed. This can be switched to Federated Only, ensuring the user cannot login using the CMS authentication flow and making the tenants Entra or Google authentication system responsible. 

 

In most cases, as the Azure Stack requires an Entra tenant in order to authenticate with the Azure Stack anyway, it is far easier to simply set CMS login Allowed to Federated Login Only as shown below.

 

Again, this simply blocks the user from attempting CMS authentication and delegates the Auth responsibility to the tenants Entra authority.

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Create a new Subscription

Now that at least one user has been granted access to the CMS tenant, the first subscription can be created by a Platform Administrator, the Distributor who manages the Partner, the Partner who manages the Tenant or the Tenant themselves.

Note: Follow these steps to create a new subscription.

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Register the Entra Tenant with the Azure Stack

Note: This operation is managed through the Azure Stack itself and requires the tenant to complete the process, the tenant must use an Entra user with permission to register Entra Applications. Such as a Global Administrator.

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Note: The steps to complete the Azure Stack Entra Tenant registration can be found on the Microsoft website here.

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Create bespoke Pricing

Some opportunities may have been sold to tenants with custom pricing or with credits which need to be applied each month. The section below continues the flow by showing custom pricing and credits being applied to specific Azure Stack VM SKUs. 

Note: This is an optional step and only required if the tenant requires bespoke pricing or credits.
Note: Follow these steps to create a new price list.
Note: The tenant specific price list will apply during the next usage collection run or can be updated on demand in the pricing page using the recalculate button.

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Administration

Administration

Branding & Settings

The CMS is designed to be white-label and flexible. Platform administrators can adjust branding and system settings to align with the service provider or enterprise identity.

Branding Options

System Settings

Administration

Upgrades & Maintenance

The CMS is delivered as containerized services. Maintenance focuses on applying updates, securing the environment, and ensuring continuous availability.

Upgrades

Maintenance Tasks

Recommendations

Administration

Troubleshooting

When issues occur, the CMS provides multiple layers of diagnostic tools. Effective troubleshooting combines log analysis, API checks, and data validation.

Common Issues

Tools & Techniques

Escalation

API & Automation

API & Automation

REST API Overview

The CMS exposes a REST API that mirrors all major platform functions, allowing administrators, partners, and developers to automate operations.

API Design Principles

Authentication

Core Endpoints

Typical Automation Scenarios

Developer Notes

API & Automation

API Examples

PowerShell

Below is an example of how to authenticate and work with the CMS Api.

Note: Make sure the user you are using is permitted to perform CMS Authentication.

########################################################################
# Variables
########################################################################
# Modify for your endpoint
$BaseUrl     = 'https://api.cloudaxis.cloud/api/v1/'
# This user is permitted to do CMS Auth
$EmailAddress = 'sample@api.connection'
$Password     = 'D!dYouRe@llyTh1nkItW0uldB3Th4t3@sy'
########################################################################
# Functions
########################################################################
# Get a Token
function Get-CmsBearerToken
{
    [CmdletBinding(DefaultParameterSetName="Initial")]
    param([Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName="Initial")]
          [string]$EmailAddress,
          [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName="Initial")]
          [string]$Password,
          [Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ParameterSetName="Refresh")]
          [string]$RefreshToken,
          [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
          [string]$BaseUrl)
    end
    {
        New-CmsLogMessage -T Info "Retrieving $($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName) CMS bearer token."

        switch ($PSCmdlet.ParameterSetName)
        {
            'Initial' {
                $Url = "$($BaseUrl.Trim('/'))/auth/token"
                $Body = @{
                    EmailAddress = $EmailAddress
                    Password = $Password
                } | ConvertTo-Json
            }
            'Refresh' {
                $Url = "$($BaseUrl.Trim('/'))/auth/token-refresh"
                $Body = @{
                    RefreshToken = $RefreshToken
                } | ConvertTo-Json
            }
        }

        $Headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"
        $Headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

        try {
            $Response = Invoke-RestMethod $Url -Method 'POST' -Headers $Headers -Body $Body
        } catch {
            New-CmsLogMessage -T Error "Token request failed. $($_.Exception.Message)"
            throw
        }
        return [CMS.Domain.Models.AuthResponse]$Response
    }
}
########################################################################
function New-CmsApiCall
{
    param([Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
          [string]$BearerToken,
          [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
          [string]$BaseUrl,
          [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
          [string]$Uri,
          [psobject]$Body,
          [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
          [ValidateSet("GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE")]
          [string]$Method,
          [bool]$ExpectNotFound=$false)
    end
    {
        $Url = ("$($BaseUrl.Trim('/'))/$($Uri.TrimStart('/'))").ToLower()
        New-CmsLogMessage -T Info "Processing Api call - $($Method) $($Url)."

        switch ($Method)
        {
            'PUT' {
                if ($null -eq $Body) {
                    New-CmsLogMessage -T Error "Api call using $($Method) cannot have an empty Body parameter."
                } else {
                    $Body = $Body | ConvertTo-Json
                }
            }
            'POST' {
                if ($null -eq $Body) {
                    New-CmsLogMessage -T Error "Api call using $($Method) cannot have an empty Body parameter."
                } else {
                    $Body = $Body | ConvertTo-Json
                }
            }
        }

        $Headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"
        $Headers.Add("Authorization", "Bearer $($BearerToken)")
        $Headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

        try {
            $Response = Invoke-RestMethod $Url -Method $Method -Headers $Headers -Body $Body
            return $Response
        } catch {
            if (!$ExpectNotFound) {
                New-CmsLogMessage -T Error "Api call failed. $($_.Exception.Message)"
                return $Response
            }
        }
    }
}
########################################################################
# Make Calls
########################################################################
# Get Token for the Api
$Token = Get-CmsBearerToken -EmailAddress $EmailAddress -Password $Password -BaseUrl $ApiEndpoint
if (!$Token) {
    Write-Host "No token could be retrieved.";
    exit 1
}
# Get Subscriptions
$ApiResponse = New-CmsApiCall -BearerToken $Token.Token -BaseUrl $ApiEndpoint -Uri "/subscriptions/" -Method GET
if ($ApiResponse.Code -ne 200) {
    Write-Host "Error retrieving subscriptions $($ApiResponse.Errors).";
    exit 1
} else {
    Write-Verbose "Loaded Subscripions."
    $Subscriptions = $ApiResponse.Data
}

How-To


How-To

Relationship Management

Introduction

Relationship management is a critical part of administering the system.

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Add a Distributor

Purpose
Register a new distributor as the top-level commercial entity under the platform.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships→ Distributors.

  2. Select Create.

  3. Enter Distributor Name and details.

  4. Assign a Distributor Administrator user.

  5. Select Save.

Edit a Distributor

Purpose
Update distributor details or administrators.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Distributors.

  2. Select the distributor you want to edit.

  3. Update Name, contact information, or administrator assignments.

  4. Select Save.

Delete a Distributor

Purpose
Remove a distributor permanently.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Distributors.

  2. Select the distributor you want to delete.

  3. Select Delete.

  4. Confirm deletion.

Add a Partner

Purpose
Register a new partner under a distributor.

Permission Level
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Partners.

  2. Select Create.

  3. Enter Partner Name and details.

  4. Assign Partner Administrator(s).

  5. Select the Distributor this partner belongs to.

  6. Select Save.

Edit a Partner

Purpose
Update partner details or administrator assignments.

Permission Level
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Partners.

  2. Select the partner you want to edit.

  3. Update details or administrators.

  4. Select Save.

Delete a Partner

Purpose
Remove a partner permanently.

Permission Level
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Partners.

  2. Select the partner you want to delete.

  3. Select Delete.

  4. Confirm deletion.

Add a Tenant

Purpose
Onboard a consuming organization under a partner.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Tenants.

  2. Select Create.

  3. Enter Tenant Name and details.

  4. Assign Tenant Administrator(s).

  5. Select the Partner this tenant belongs to.

  6. Select Save.

Edit a Tenant

Purpose
Update tenant details or administrators.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Tenants.

  2. Select the tenant you want to edit.

  3. Update details or administrators.

  4. Select Save.

Delete a Tenant

Purpose
Remove a tenant permanently.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Relationships → Tenants.

  2. Select the tenant you want to delete.

  3. Select Delete.

  4. Confirm deletion.

How-To

Region Management

Introduction

This page covers day-to-day region administration.

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Add a Region

Purpose
Register a new region so usage can be collected and processed.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Regions.

  2. Select Create.

  3. Enter Region Name and details.

  4. Provide required endpoints and credentials.

  5. Set default time zone and collection window.

  6. Select Save.

Edit a Region

Purpose
Update credentials, endpoints, or metadata for an existing region.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Regions.

  2. Select the region you want to edit.

  3. Update Region Name, credentials, endpoints, or time zone as required.

  4. Select Save.

Start Usage Processing

Purpose
Manually trigger usage processing for a region.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Regions.

  2. Select the region you want to process.

  3. Select Update Usage

  4. Choose the date range (start and end).

  5. Confirm and monitor the job status.

Remove a Region

Purpose
Delete a region that is no longer in use.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Regions.

  2. Select the region you want to delete.

  3. Select Delete.

  4. Confirm the deletion.

Check Region Health

Purpose
View the health and last run status of a region.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Regions.

  2. Open the Health or Status panel for the region.

  3. Review last run time, errors, and next scheduled run.

  4. Drill into failed jobs if needed.

How-To

User Management

Introduction

This page covers day-to-day user administration across the commercial hierarchy (platform, distributor, partner, tenant). It includes adding, editing, disabling, deleting users, assigning roles and scopes, and handling password/MFA resets.

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Add a new User

Purpose

Add a new user to the system.

Permission Level
Steps
  1. Go to Settings→ Users.
  2. Select Create.
  3. Enter First Name, Last Name, Email Address, and optionally Phone Number.
  4. Select User Role. Select Distributor, Partner, and Tenant to define the user’s scope.
  5. (Optional) Toggle MFA Required if your policy requires MFA at next sign-in.
  6. (Optional) Toggle Federated Only to prevent local password login for this user.
  7. Save.

Modify an existing User

Purpose

Modify an existing user’s details, role, scope, or security options.

Permission Level
Steps
  1. Go to Settings → Users.
  2. Select the user you want to edit.
  3. Update First Name, Last Name, Email Address, or Phone Number if required.
  4. Adjust User Role.
  5. Update Distributor, Partner, and Tenant scope as needed.
  6. Adjust toggles: MFA Required, Federated Only, Disabled, or Locked Out.
  7. Select Save.

Disable or Enable a User

Purpose

Temporarily block or restore user access without deleting the account.

Permission Level
Steps

Unlock a User

Purpose
Clear a lockout after failed login attempts.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Partner Administrator
Tenant Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Settings → Users.

  2. Select the user you want to edit.

  3. Unset the Locked Out indicator.

  4. Select Save.

Enforce MFA

Purpose
Require the user to register or re-register MFA at next sign-in.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Partner Administrator
Tenant Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Settings  → Users.

  2. Select the user you want to edit.

  3. Toggle MFA Required on.

  4. Select Save.

Force Federated Only

Purpose
Restrict the account to federated sign-in only (no local password).

Permission Level
Platform Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Partner Administrator
Tenant Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Settings → Users.

  2. Select the user you want to edit.

  3. Toggle Federated Only on.

  4. Select Save.

Delete a User

Purpose
Remove a user account permanently.

Permission Level
Platform Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Partner Administrator
Tenant Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Settings → Users.

  2. Select the user you want to delete.

  3. Choose Delete.

  4. Confirm the deletion.

How-To

Subscription Management

Introduction

This page covers creating, managing and removing subscriptions in the system.

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Add a Subscription

Purpose
Create a new subscription for a tenant.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Subscriptions.

  2. Select Create.

  3. Enter Subscription Name.

  4. Select the tenant required.

  5. Enter in the Entra tenant and initial owner information.

  6. Select Save.

Edit a Subscription

Purpose
Update subscription detail.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Subscriptions.

  2. Select the subscription you want to edit.

  3. Update as required.

  4. Select Save.

View Subscription Details

Purpose
See subscription usage, billing, and configuration.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator
Tenant Administrator (limited to own subscriptions)

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Subscriptions.

  2. Select the subscription to open its details.

  3. Review usage metrics, plan assignments, and status.

Update Usage (Manual)

Purpose
Trigger a manual usage update for a subscription.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Subscriptions.

  2. Select the subscription you want to update.

  3. Choose Update Usage.

  4. Enter date range if prompted.

  5. Confirm.

View Subscription Summary

Purpose
Generate a usage and billing summary for reporting or reconciliation.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Subscriptions.

  2. Select Summary.

  3. Enter filters (tenant, date range).

  4. Run summary.

  5. Review usage totals and billing results.

Delete a Subscription

Purpose
Remove a subscription that is no longer required.

Permission Level
Partner Administrator
Distributor Administrator
Platform Administrator

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Subscriptions.

  2. Select the subscription you want to delete.

  3. Select Delete.

  4. Confirm deletion.

How-To

System Settings

Introduction

Configure global CMS behavior, including provisioning rules, billing defaults, invoice appearance, calculators, and health checks.

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Permission Level

Platform Administrator

Tenant Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Tenants.

  2. Toggle or select values as needed.

  3. Select Save.

Subscription Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Subscriptions.

  2. Adjust values.

  3. Select Save.

Invoice Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Invoices.

  2. Adjust visual, timing, and delivery settings.

  3. Select Save.

User Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Users.

  2. Adjust toggles.

  3. Select Save.

Billing Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Billing.

  2. Adjust defaults.

  3. Select Save.

Calculator Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Calculator.

  2. Adjust visibility.

  3. Select Save.

Platform Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Platforms.

  2. Toggle settings.

  3. Select Save.

Job Settings

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → System Settings → Jobs.

  2. Adjust the maximum runtime.

  3. Select Save.

How-To

Price Management

Introduction

Manage all pricing constructs for the CMS. Pricing is scoped either at the Region or Tenant level. Features include SKU and meter pricing, credits, tiered thresholds, cloning price lists, applying modeled price increases, and estimating impact.

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Permission Level

Platform Administrator

Create or Edit a Price List

Purpose
Define rates for a region or tenant.

Steps

  1. Go to Pricing.

  2. Choose Region or Tenant scope.

  3. Enter a Display Name and Description.

  4. Add Pricing Items:

    • Meter / SKU — Select from available meters.

    • Rate — Enter base rate.

    • (Optional) Credits — Enter credits to offset usage.

    • (Optional) Tiered Thresholds — Define usage ranges with rates.

  5. Save.

Clone a Price List

Purpose
Quickly create a new list by copying an existing one.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Pricing.

  2. Select the price list to clone.

  3. Choose Clone Price List.

  4. Select target scope (Region or Tenant).

  5. Update details as required.

  6. Save.

Add or Edit Meter and SKU Pricing

Purpose
Set or adjust prices for specific meters and SKUs.

Steps

  1. Open a Price List.

  2. Select Add Meter/SKU.

  3. Choose the desired Meter.

  4. Enter Rate, Unit, and Description.

  5. (Optional) Apply Credits or Tiered Thresholds.

  6. Save.

Configure Credits

Purpose
Offset costs for specific meters, subscriptions, or tenants.

Steps

  1. Open a Price List.

  2. Select a Meter or SKU.

  3. Enter Credit amount.

  4. Save.

Configure Tiered Pricing

Purpose
Apply progressive rates based on usage ranges.

Steps

  1. Open a Price List.

  2. Select a Meter or SKU.

  3. Add Tiered Threshold.

  4. Enter From Quantity, To Quantity, and Rate.

  5. Save.

Apply Price Increases (with Modeling)

Purpose
Increase pricing by percentage or fixed amount and preview the impact before applying.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Pricing Tools → Price Increase.

  2. Choose Scope (Region or Tenant).

  3. Select Increase Type: Percentage or Fixed Amount.

  4. Enter Increase Amount.

  5. Run Model to preview impacts across meters and tenants.

  6. Review modeled results.

  7. Apply changes to generate updated Price List.

Estimate Costs (Estimator Tool)

Purpose
Model tenant or subscription costs using current or proposed pricing.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Pricing Tools → Estimator.

  2. Select Tenant or Subscription.

  3. Choose a Price List.

  4. Enter estimated usage quantities.

  5. Run Estimate.

  6. Review projected cost breakdown.

Delete a Price List

Purpose
Remove an obsolete price list.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Pricing.

  2. Select the price list.

  3. Choose Delete.

  4. Confirm.

How-To

Billing Management

Purpose

Manage invoicing and commission processing in the CMS.
Invoices capture tenant consumption and apply pricing rules.
Commissions remunerate partners and distributors based on consumption.

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Permission Level

Platform Administrator
Distributor Administrator (limited to own scope)
Partner Administrator (limited to own scope)

Generate Invoices

Purpose
Create invoices for a billing period.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Invoices.

  2. Select Generate.

  3. Choose Billing Period (e.g. month).

  4. Select Tenant(s) or run for all.

  5. Confirm generation.

View Invoice

Purpose
Review invoice details before issuing to tenants.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Invoices.

  2. Select the invoice.

  3. Review consumption, pricing, discounts, and totals.

  4. Verify currency and payment terms.

Issue Invoice

Purpose
Move invoice from preview to issued.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Invoices.

  2. Open the preview invoice.

  3. Select Issue.

  4. Confirm.

Email Invoice

Purpose
Send an issued invoice to tenant billing contacts.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Invoices.

  2. Select the invoice.

  3. Choose Email Invoice.

  4. Confirm.

Store Invoice in Azure Stack

Purpose
Upload invoices to configured Azure Stack storage.

Steps

  1. Ensure “Store Invoices in Azure Storage” is enabled under System Settings → Invoices.

  2. Generate or Issue an invoice.

  3. Verify invoice appears in the storage account.

Delete an Invoice

Purpose
Remove an invoice (typically in preview status).

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Invoices.

  2. Select the invoice.

  3. Choose Delete.

  4. Confirm.

Commission Management

Purpose

Calculate and review commissions for partners and distributors.

Configure Commission Rates

Purpose
Set commission tiers based on consumption.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Commissions → Rates.

  2. Select Distributor or Partner.

  3. Add one or more Tiers: From Amount, To Amount, Percentage.

  4. Save.

Generate Commission Summary

Purpose
Produce commission calculations for a billing period.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Commissions.

  2. Select Generate Summary.

  3. Choose Period (month or year).

  4. Confirm.

View Commission Summary

Purpose
Review commission results for a distributor or partner.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Commissions.

  2. Select the entity.

  3. Review calculated totals and tier application.

Export Commission Data

Purpose
Download commission summaries for financial reporting.

Steps

  1. Go to Administration → Billing → Commissions.

  2. Select Export.

  3. Choose format (CSV, Excel, etc.).

  4. Confirm.

How-To

Container Management

Introduction

This section will outline the steps necessary to patch and maintain the CMS software delivered as containers.

Patch Docker Host

Purpose
Deploy the latest updated to the Docker host itself.

Permission Level
Docker Host Administrator

Notes

Steps

  1. Connect via SSH to the host.
  2. Execute sudo apt update
  3. Execute apt list --upgradable
  4. Execute sudo apt upgrade -y
  5. Execute cd /mnt/cms
  6. Execute docker ps -a

Update Containers

Purpose
Update all containers in the CMS service to the latest version.

Permission Level
Docker Host Administrator

Notes

Steps

  1. Connect via SSH to the host.
  2. Execute cd /mnt/cms
  3. Execute docker compose down
  4. Execute docker compose pull
  5. Execute docker compose up -d
  6. Execute docker ps -a
  7. Execute docker system prune -a

Knowledge Base

A set of common issues and solutions

Knowledge Base

Networking Stack

Idle Time-Outs

Issue Overview

In some instances, the default time out for the Signal-R portal circuit may require increasing. This issue is caused by the default time out windows imposed by the Nginx reverse proxy.

Symptoms

Solution

1. Connect to the Docker host.

2. Modify the Nginx configuration and add the following.

location / {
    proxy_pass http://cms_portal:8080;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    proxy_set_header Host $host;

    # Important for SignalR long-lived connections:
    proxy_read_timeout 3600s;
    proxy_send_timeout 3600s;
}

3. When complete. Restart the Nginx container.

docker compose exec nginx nginx -t && docker compose exec nginx nginx -s reload