FAQ

A preview release includes: 

•  pre-draft specification defining interactions between application repositories, workload fleet managers, and edge devices for the purpose of deploying applications to edge devices and monitoring application execution 
• A code first sandbox, which includes open-source implementations of an application repository, a workload fleet manager, a standalone cluster edge device, and a standalone device, including a tutorial for getting them running in your environment. 

Please note that as we want Margo’s Sandbox to be comprehensive and tested for the new specification enhancements, the Sandbox preview release typically lags a few weeks compared to the Preview Release milestone of the specification. Tagging of both Sandbox and specification will allow for clear identification of the Preview release it’s referring to.  

• The Margo website contains a live, up-to-date version of the specification.
• The spec can also be obtained from GitHub: https://github.com/margo/specification

A user will be able to… 

• Enroll an Edge Device with a Workload Fleet Manager 
  • Standalone Cluster and Standalone device supported 
• Enroll an Application Repository with a Workload Fleet Manager
• Deploy/Remove an application to an Edge Device 
  • Upload user-specific applications to the Sandbox 
• Observe an application’s telemetry via OTEL in a Workload Fleet Manager
• Observe infrastructure metrics in the Workload Fleet Manager 

• While part of our roadmap, preview releases do not include…
  • Device management. A user can deploy, configure and observe an application, but can’t change device state, such as updating the device operating system or configuring a device’s communication interface
  • Support for multi-node clusters as edge devices. Single-node clusters are supported
  • Policy enforcement on edge devices
  • Conformance testing
• Our envisioned system design can be found here.

GA1 will include a full suite of conformance testing tools. 

GA1 will also include fully conformant reference implementations of the major components of a Margo system. 

As far as scope goes, we are looking for feedback to help inform the decision that
GA1 may include… 

• Support for more application deployment types (e.g. proprietary runtime environments, WASM) 
• Support for more types of edge devices (e.g. cluster worker, constrained leaf devices) 
• Improved application to device capability matching (e.g., attached sensors/actuators, specific compute device capabilities) 
• Enhanced security for multi-vendor ecosystems, protecting data between different vendors of applications, edge devices, and fleet managers 
• More advanced application lifecycle management functionality 

We may not be able to address all of these in GA1, but your input will be critical to shaping the scope. Please let us know what is important to you! 

• We hope that application suppliers, workload footprint manager suppliers, and edge device suppliers will take time to use and evaluate Preview Releases. 
• We’d like feedback to ensure that the scope we are covering is valuable for potential adopters and that the spec is written in an implementable way. 
• Also, we’d like to hear about the areas of functionality we should focus on for the GA release. 

• We have set up a Discourse community for discussion and feedback on the Margo spec. Feedback will be used to help shape the GA1 release.
• You can provide specification requests via GitHub. The process is described here: https://github.com/margo/specification-enhancements

• Interoperability testing meetings, aka Plug Fests, will take place regularly. You can follow the schedule on our Events page. 
• The community continues working on specification expansion and enhancements defined for the next General Availability release. The estimated roadmap planning can be followed on Margo’s roadmap dashboard

• The APIs are incomplete and subject to change at this point. However, implementing Preview Releases would be very useful for building prototypes. It provides a useful way to get a head start and to ensure that the spec has the appropriate scope. 
• General Releases include stable APIs and conformance tools. 

Check out our lexicon.

Margo (Latin word for ‘edge’) is a new open standard initiative for interoperability at the edge for industrial automation ecosystems.

Margo is a blueprint for how to design modern applications and will specify how edge applications, edge devices, and orchestration software should interoperate to remove obstacles and simplify the process of building, deploying, scaling, and operating complex, multi-vendor edge environments for organizations of all sizes.

Margo’s North star is to address the interoperability pain points experienced by users in the industrial automation space when deploying applications at the edge at scale.

Organizations are facing these pain points while they are digitalizing their operations. This digitalization effort needs to be scalable, to allow future innovation through solutions like AI. At the same time, their operations need to be automated and require oversight of their heterogenous fleet of devices and applications through a single pane of glass, often referred to as orchestration planes or software.

The Margo initiative is committed to delivering the interoperability promise at the edge in an open, secure, modern, and agile way with a practical reference implementation, a comprehensive compliance testing toolkit and a standard defining the associated interaction patterns.

The strategy behind Margo is not to create “yet another standard” but to embrace and orchestrate existing & proven IT standards and enhancing these as needed, to ensure the specific OT requirements are met.

The Margo initiative has 2 working groups. The Technical working group ensures Margo’s technical oversight to deliver the interoperability promise. The working group is responsible to develop and maintain an open-source reference implementation, define and maintain associated open interoperability standards and develop and maintain a compliance framework, process and tooling. Activities also include education and training for adopters. The Marketing working group focusses on Margo’s marketing activities and is responsible to develop and maintain marketing content for project launch activities and public communications including but not limited to press release material, website content, social media, and events. Activities also include demand generation, market analysis, promotion, and branding for the project.

You can contribute in various ways to drive the Margo Initiative. It all depends on your affinity and expertise. As a developer, you can for example help building the open-source reference implementation by making contributions to Margo’s GitHub organization. If you are more interested in specifications work, we would love to have you in the team creating the open standard. If you are more looking for a governance and strategy role, you can help set the strategic directions of the Margo initiative by representing your organization on the steering committee or and in the working groups.

Click here to join the Margo initiative. Alternatively, you can also start contributing straight away to our open-source and open-specification repositories on GitHub. In both cases, we will guide you through a comprehensive onboarding process, regardless if you are a developer, a technology strategist, business leader….

Yes. Openness is one of its key pillars. The collaboration takes place in an open-source construct hosted by the Linux Foundation. Any interested party can contribute, and future Margo deliverables will be made available on a royalty-free basis. Steering and governing the initiative requires participation in the costs of the initiative though a sponsorship model.

No. Margo is not a commercial venture. Margo is hosted under the Linux Foundation and is open. The initiative focused on delivering an interoperability promise through an open-source reference implementation, an open an royalty free standard and a set of open-source compliance and test tools.

No. One can join Margo as a contributing member without sponsoring the initiative, and using the planned deliverables will be free of charge. If your organization desires to participate in the governance and set the strategy of the Margo Initiative,  an annual financial sponsorship will be requested to participate in the operational costs of Margo.

The Margo initiative will operate based on an agile approach. First deliverables are envisioned to become available in 2024, and through subsequent iterations, the scope will evolve from the initial minimum viable system to the full spectrum of the interoperability promise. You can follow the advancement of the project in Margo’s GitHub repositories.