# Identity Attribute - Default vs Commissioned Device

**URL:** <https://hub.mender.io/t/identity-attribute-default-vs-commissioned-device/911>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [August 13, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/identity-attribute-default-vs-commissioned-device/911 "2019-08-13T11:31:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![brianPTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a587f6/32.png) [@brianPTL](https://hub.mender.io/u/brianPTL)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/identity-attribute-default-vs-commissioned-device/911/1 "2019-08-13T11:31:14Z")

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Hi All,

I am reading the documentation here: [link](https://docs.mender.io/2.0/client-configuration/identity) and I see the statement:

> identity attributes must _never change_ for the lifetime of a device, so that a device can be recognized over its lifetime

My use case is as follows:

- Build standard yocto image
- Deploy the same image to multiple SD cards, one per device
- On first boot, commission the device to have unique identifiers

I do have a unique MAC address per device, but ideally I would like a “friendly” name for each device to be visible so that I can see the device easily in the Mender GUI.

My question is:

- On first boot there will be a default “friendly” name for each device but a unique MAC address. The friendly name will then be changed, however we may have had an initial communication with the Mender server by then. Is this allowed? - It is going against the “never change” advice. Will we end up with two devices initially? Is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![mirzak](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/mirzak/32/2056_2.png) [@mirzak](https://hub.mender.io/u/mirzak)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/identity-attribute-default-vs-commissioned-device/911/2 "2019-08-13T13:03:08Z")

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Hi @brianPTL,

> It is going against the “never change” advice. Will we end up with two devices initially?

Yes, I suspect that you will end up with two devices in “Pending” tab.

> - Is there a better way of doing this?

If you have a process to set/change the “friendly” on each device, I would recommend to keep the `mender.service` service disabled by default and enable it once the “friendly” name is set/changed. This will though require you to have different images, eg one for manufacturing and one for production.

Another approach would be doing it offline,

- Deploy the same image to multiple SD cards, one per device
- Set unique identifiers on SD cards (loopback mounting or using mender-artifact to modify them)
- Do nothing on first boot 🙂