OCPP network operations

OCPP CSMS software with protocol-level visibility

Every CSMS claims OCPP support. Very few will show you the messages.

Sock8 connects OCPP charge points to a central system for status monitoring, transaction control, configuration, diagnostics and commercial operations — and lets your engineers drop from the fleet view straight into the raw request and response stream without changing tools.

OCPP 1.6J and OCPP 2.0.1, with every 2.0.1 functional profile implemented and all three security profiles supported.

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Built for the people who get paged at 2am

CPO engineering and operations teams

Charger OEM integration teams

Networks moving off a proprietary backend

Support teams tracing OCPP behaviour on a live fault

Protocol support

OCPP protocol support

Versions

Version	Status
OCPP 1.6J	Supported · JSON over WebSocket
OCPP 2.0.1	Supported · all functional profiles
OCPP 2.1	In development

The 2.0.1 device model, used properly

Address the component that owns the behaviour.

OCPP 2.0.1's real change over 1.6 isn't new messages — it's the component model. A charging station becomes a hierarchy of EVSEs, connectors and controllers, each individually addressable, configurable and monitorable.

Sock8 maps that hierarchy rather than flattening it back to a 1.6-style charge point. Read and set variables at the component that owns them, and monitor a single controller instead of guessing from station-level status.

OCPP 2.0.1 functional profiles

Most platforms implement Core and stop. Sock8 implements the full set:

Core

Boot, heartbeat, status, authorisation, transactions and metering.

Advanced Security

Security profiles, certificate handling and security event logging.

Local Auth List Management

Authorisation lists cached on the charger for offline operation.

Smart Charging

Charging profiles, limits and scheduling pushed from the CSMS.

Device Management

The 2.0.1 component model, variable get and set, and monitoring.

Advanced Device Management

Log retrieval, diagnostics and advanced monitoring.

Reservation

Connector reservation and cancellation.

Firmware Management

Signed firmware update and status tracking.

ISO 15118 certificate management

Certificate installation and lifecycle messages.

Security

Security profiles and certificates

All three OCPP security profiles

Profile	Transport	Authentication
Profile 1	Unsecured WebSocket	HTTP Basic
Profile 2	TLS	HTTP Basic over TLS
Profile 3	TLS	Mutual TLS · client certificate

Sock8 supports all three. The profile is chosen during discovery based on charger firmware and network topology.

For OCPP 1.6J, the security extensions from the OCA's 1.6 security whitepaper are supported on chargers whose firmware implements them.

Certificate expiry alerts

Chargers ship with factory certificates carrying one- or two-year validity. Eighteen months later, units can start silently failing to connect because nobody diarised renewal.

Sock8 alerts you before charger certificates expire, so renewal is a scheduled task rather than an outage.

Certificate installation and rotation are handled through the standard OCPP messages.

Compatibility

Compatibility, verified per model

OCPP version support is where compatibility starts, not where it ends. A charger can advertise OCPP 2.0.1 while its firmware drops smart-charging profiles silently or fails a TLS handshake under load. The label does not catch that. A bench test does.

The question is whether the platform works with your chargers, on your firmware version, over your network. That is what the validation process is built to answer.

View charger compatibility

Evidence instead of a logo list

A verified compatibility catalogue of specific model and firmware combinations we have tested
A documented validation run against your actual hardware before production onboarding
The raw message log, so you can check our behaviour yourself at any time

Diagnostics

The raw OCPP terminal

Every message, timestamped, per charger

The terminal streams BootNotification, Authorize, StatusNotification, MeterValues, Heartbeat and every remote command Sock8 sends.

✓Filter by action, charger or date range
✓Inspect the full request and response
✓Correlate protocol messages to business sessions
✓Export diagnostic history for a vendor ticket

Try the OCPP testing tool

Why this changes how support works

Without the raw stream, a fault becomes a relay race: your engineer suspects the charger, the manufacturer suspects the backend, and the CSMS vendor holds the only logs.

With the messages in front of you, malformed status notifications and failed commands become visible evidence you can send to the manufacturer the same hour.

Most platforms treat protocol data as their property. We treat it as yours.

Control

Remote commands

Issue supported OCPP commands directly and watch the response arrive in the terminal.

Remote start and stop transaction
Reset — soft and hard
Change and get configuration, or get and set variables on 2.0.1
Change availability
Trigger message
Unlock connector
Update firmware and retrieve diagnostics
Clear cache and manage the local authorisation list
Set, get and clear charging profiles

Command availability depends on what the connected charger's firmware actually implements — confirmed during validation, not assumed.

Extensions

Vendor-specific messages

The DataTransfer message is OCPP's official escape hatch. Manufacturers use it for proprietary payment terminal handshakes, display and LED control, custom diagnostics and cable-lock behaviour.

It is also where “OCPP compliant” chargers hide the features you actually bought.

Sock8 reviews required vendor extensions during integration and implements them where they are documented, testable and inside the agreed scope. Undocumented extensions are identified in the message log first, then discussed with the manufacturer rather than silently ignored.

Validation

From bench to production

01
Protocol profile
Document the required OCPP version, security profile, message set, smart-charging needs and any vendor extensions.
02
Bench connection
Connect a representative unit or simulator. Resolve charge point identity, networking, WebSocket endpoint and certificate requirements before anything ships.
03
Transaction validation
Exercise authorisation, start and stop, metering accuracy, offline recovery, resets and error states. Confirm behaviour under connection loss, not just on a clean network.
04
Production onboarding
Approve the model and firmware profile, add it to your compatibility record, then onboard field units with monitoring active from day one.

Each step produces a record. When a charger misbehaves in month eight, you can compare against what it did on the bench.

Integration boundary

Interfaces

Interface	Purpose
OCPP 1.6J / 2.0.1	Charger to CSMS
WebSocket (WSS)	Transport
OCPI 2.2.1	CSMS to eMSPs and roaming partners
OICP / Hubject	Roaming hub
REST API	Chargers, sessions, users, tariffs and CDRs
Webhooks	Event push into your systems

Read the API documentation

Where it runs

Choose the network boundary.

Run the EV charging management platform as a managed cloud service under your own brand, or install it inside infrastructure you control — private cloud or on-premise — where the OCPP endpoint must sit within your network boundary.

Self-hosted deployment View pricing

Protocol FAQs

Questions engineers ask

Does OCPP support guarantee charger compatibility?+

No. OCPP version support is the starting point. Model, firmware, configuration, networking, and actual message behaviour still need validation. Any vendor who tells you otherwise has not integrated enough chargers.

Can we inspect raw OCPP messages?+

Yes. The terminal exposes timestamped requests and responses for any connected charger, filterable and exportable.

Which OCPP 2.0.1 profiles are implemented?+

All of them: Core, Advanced Security, Local Auth List Management, Smart Charging, Device Management, Advanced Device Management, Reservation, Firmware Management, and ISO 15118 certificate management.

Which security profiles are supported?+

All three. Profile 1 uses Basic authentication, Profile 2 uses TLS with Basic authentication, and Profile 3 uses mutual TLS with client certificates. The right choice depends on charger firmware and network topology.

What happens when a charger certificate expires?+

Sock8 alerts you before expiry so renewal is planned. Installation and rotation use the standard OCPP certificate messages.

Is OCPP 2.1 supported?+

It is in development. We can discuss timelines and what your hardware roadmap needs during discovery.

How are vendor-specific messages handled?+

They are reviewed during integration and implemented where documented, testable, and in scope. Undocumented ones surface in the message log so they can be raised with the manufacturer.

Can Sock8 send remote commands?+

Yes, for commands the connected charger's firmware actually implements, including start, stop, reset, availability, configuration, firmware update, and charging profiles.

Can the OCPP endpoint run inside our own infrastructure?+

Yes, under the customer-hosted licence, with the deployment boundary agreed during scoping.

Next step

See the messages before you commit

Book a technical session and we'll connect a representative charger, run the validation flow, and show you the raw OCPP stream from your own hardware.