Sign in

Multi-factor authentication

Field Tools ensures increased security by enabling Entra ID multi-factor authentication (MFA). In addition to your Field Tools password requirements during the sign-in process, a second form of authentication can be configured through your utility's own Entra ID account. This verifies that you are actually who you claim you are during sign on. Multi-factor authentication also authenticates operations that communicate back to the FDM server, such as sync.

How Itron and your utility coordinate to deliver Entra ID MFA with Field Tools may differ depending on if Itron provides your Field Tools MFA, or if your utility already uses its own Entra ID .

Note: Depending on how Itron and your utility deliver Entra ID MFA, the regular sign-in process may require two sign-ins: the first with your Field Tools user account information, the second for your utility-assigned Entra ID network account.

To learn more about Entra ID MFA, read the Itron white paper, Multi-factor Authentication and Security as Applied to Field Tools for North American Gas and Water ERTs, available at Itron's Customer Center (available to registered users), or visit Microsoft's article, How it works: Entra Multi-Factor Authentication.

Local authentication

After the Field Tools app experiences a 30-minute period of inactivity, the app automatically locks out the user who is currently signed in. To reopen Field Tools, use your regular form of local authentication: PIN entry, facial recognition, or fingerprint match. The local authentication method Field Tools requires is the same one your mobile device is configured to use, that is, the same method you would normally use to unlock your device.

If your mobile device accepts more than one authentication method—for example, it is configured to accept both a finger print and PIN input— then Field Tools allows you to change the verification method. Field Tools will never ask you to input an authentication method your device isn't already configured to accept. For more information, see Signing in with local authentication.

For convenience and security, Field Tools saves an authentication token that is valid for 14 days. After 14 days, you will be automatically signed out and must sign back in to re-authenticate your user account. This allows Field Tools to issue you a new authentication token, valid for another 14 days.

Account lockout

Attempting to sign into your Field Tools account with an incorrect username or password too many times results in a locked account. If you become locked out of your account, contact your utility's Field Tools administrator.

Some Field Tools lockout settings are configurable at the FDM Tools server for FDM Tools users with the necessary permissions. For more information, see the latest Field Deployment Manager Tools Configuration Guide.