Computer implemented method and distributed computing infrastructure for automated plug and play configuration

A method for automated configuration and/or integration of a joining computing device into a computing system, the method comprising:

• using a device management service to listen in a local distributed computing infrastructure for broadcasting messages from joining computing devices;
• automatically connecting using the device management service via secure shell (SSH) and factory default credentials to a discovered joining computing device;
• automatically configuring the joining computing device based on computer readable device descriptions, including:
• downloading a device description from the joining computing device;
• creating new security certificates for the joining computing device which enable secure communication;
• closing the default SSH services on the joining computing device and triggering a reboot of the joining computing device;
• reading the device description from the joining computing device;
• using the device description information to identify the set of connectors required for the container runtime environment to be deployed on the joining computing device, wherein individual connectors in the set of connectors connect to communication protocols, sensors, and/or field programmable gate arrays;
• deploying the container runtime environment on the joining computer device;
• and
• executing containerized software in the deployed container runtime environment on the joining computer device.