Static & dynamic groups
A rollout targets a group, not a single device. A group is a named set of devices in your fleet; you create the group once and then aim updates at it, which keeps the targeting decision separate from — and reviewable before — the act of rolling out.
Static groups
A static group is an explicit set of devices you name when you create it. You give the group a name and a list of device names; the platform resolves those names tothe devices in your fleet and records the membership.
Resolution is deliberate and visible:
- Names that don't match a device in your fleet are reported back as unknown rather than silently dropped, so a typo never quietly shrinks your target set.
- Decommissioned devices are not eligible. A retired device can never be added as a member, and an existing member that is later decommissioned drops out of the rollout-eligible count — including one would leave a wave waiting forever on a box that will never heartbeat again.
- A group's reported member count reflects its live, rollout-eligible devices — the same set a rollout to that group would actually touch.
group "edge-cameras-eu"
├─ cam-berlin-01
├─ cam-berlin-02
└─ cam-munich-07
Because membership is explicit, a static group is exactly auditable: the set that will receive an update is the set you can see, and group creation is recorded as an audit event like every other state change.
Choosing a target
Once a group exists, a rollout points at it and the platform partitions its members into waves (in stable name order). The first wave receives its assignments on the next heartbeat; later waves proceed as gates clear. Group membership is resolved against current devices at rollout time, so decommissioned devices are excluded even if they were named when the group was first built.
Dynamic groups
Groups today are static — membership is the explicit list you provide. Dynamic groups, whose membership is computed from a selector over device facts and tags and re-evaluated as devices enroll, change, or retire, are a planned extension; until then you express the same intent with a static group. See Capability selectors for the device facts and tags that drive targeting.