# Registering the device

The device establishment, or “registration”, is the first step in establishing the device information in **Verifone Central - Device Management**. When the device communicates to the **Verifone Central - Device Management** server for the first time, the registration is performed through a key exchange. In auto-registration process, the device information such as the serial number of the device, customer ID, model, and IP address is also sent to the server during the key exchange. Once this operation is completed successfully, the status of the device will be "**Active**" state. 

The devices can also be registered using auto-registration mode. Following are the steps to auto-register the device:

1. Define the IP address range in the hierarchy for the devices.
2. Ensure that the device information is not pre-boarded.
3. When the device communicates for the first time with the server, it performs a key exchange operation, and then it tries to determine the root node to place the device, based on the IP address communicated by the device.
4. The device is by default placed at the root node and the status of the device will be "**Active**" state. 


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