Container IDs for PnP-X devices

PnP extensions (PnP-X) extend Windows Plug and Play (PnP) to support devices that are connected to the computer through an IP-based network. For more information about PnP-X, see the PnP-X: Plug and Play Extensions for Windows.

PnP-X devices can specify a container ID as an XML element in their device metadata. Two protocols are supported:

• Device Profile for Web Services (DPWS).

  For more information about DPWS, see the DPWS specification.

  For more information about supporting container IDs through DPWS, see Container IDs for DPWS Devices.

• Universal PnP (UPnP).

  For more information, see the UPnP Device Architecture specification.

  For more information about supporting container IDs through UPnP, see Container IDs for UPnP Devices.

If a PnP-X device doesn't specify a container ID in the DPWS device metadata or the UPnP device description document, the PnP manager generates a container ID for the device through an algorithm specific to the protocol the device supports:

• For DPWS devices, the generated container ID is either created from the GUID in the device's endpoint reference address (EPR) or is an SHA-1 hash of the device's EPR (if not a GUID).

• For UPnP devices, the generated container ID is the device's Unique Device Name (UDN).

  Note

  In Windows 10, the PnP manager will always generate a container ID for DPWS devices by using the above algorithms, even if a container ID has been specified in the device metadata.

For devices which operate on a single bus or PnP-X protocol, the PnP-X generated container ID is sufficient.

Multiprotocol devices might want to specify a container ID. In a multiprotocol device, the same container ID would be shared on each protocol to allow Windows to group all instances of the device into one device container. In this manner, a container ID for the device can be specified through both DPWS and UPnP.