Every OCPP charger holds exactly one address for its backend: the CSMS WebSocket URL, something like wss://ocpp.example.com/1.6/CP12345. Change a billing provider, move to a new charge point operator, or swap out a management platform, and this is the one setting that has to change on every affected charger. It sounds small. On a fleet of chargers, it is the whole migration.
Where the OCPP URL actually lives
The setting is not exposed the same way on every charger, but it lands in one of three places.
The manufacturer's app or cloud portal. Most modern AC and DC chargers ship with a companion app that includes an "OCPP" or "external management" section. Wallbox's app, for example, has you open the charger's settings, go to External Management, pick OCPP, then either choose a listed provider (which auto-fills the URL) or type the CSMS URL and charge point ID manually. The charger restarts automatically once the new backend is saved.
The charger's own local web interface. Some chargers broadcast a local WiFi network or expose a local IP address you can reach from a laptop on the same network. Logging in there (default installer credentials, unless someone changed them) gets you to the same kind of settings page: CSMS URL, charge point identity, and a save-and-reboot action.
An installer or service menu. On chargers with no consumer-facing OCPP settings, the URL sits behind an installer app, a physical service menu on the unit, or a configuration card the installer taps or scans. This is the slowest path: it usually means the installer, not the owner, has to go back to site.
Changing it, step by step
Whichever interface applies to your charger, the sequence is the same:
- 1.Get the new CSMS URL and station identity from the receiving platform. You need the exact WebSocket address (
wss://orws://), the charge point ID it expects, and any auth key or password. A typo here is the single most common cause of a charger that "won't connect" after a change. - 2.Open the OCPP or external management settings in whichever of the three places above your charger uses.
- 3.Enter the new URL and credentials, replacing the old backend's values rather than adding a second entry (most chargers hold one CSMS connection at a time).
- 4.Save and reboot the charger. Almost every charger only picks up a new backend URL on restart; saving alone is usually not enough.
- 5.Confirm the connection on the new backend. Check that the charger shows online and that a test session authorizes and reports correctly before you consider the old platform disconnected.
What goes wrong
The failures are mundane and repeat across brands: the wrong WebSocket scheme (ws:// where wss:// was required, or the reverse), a charge point ID that does not match what the new backend expects, a firewall or NAT rule on site still pointing outbound traffic at the old backend's IP range, or simply forgetting the reboot. On a single charger this costs a support call. Across a fleet commissioned over several years, with several installer generations and no central record of which method each charger uses, it is a project with its own timeline and its own downtime window, which is exactly why "how do I change my charger's OCPP URL" is a search people run when they are already stuck partway through a platform switch.
Doing this once instead of every time
The reconfiguration above is unavoidable the first time you connect a charger to anything. What is avoidable is doing it again every time you change what sits behind that connection. That is what an OCPP proxy is for: point the charger's CSMS URL at the proxy once, and which platform actually receives the traffic becomes a setting in the proxy, not on the charger.
Plugchoice runs an OCPP Proxy built on that model, free on every account. Chargers connect to Plugchoice's endpoint and stay there; billing, analytics or automation platforms are added and removed as routed operators, each with its own role, without the charger's configuration changing again. Disconnecting a platform is a toggle in the portal, not a reboot on site, and the proxy buffers OCPP traffic if a connected operator drops offline so nothing gets lost in the gap.
If you are about to go through the steps above for a backend that might not be your last one, connect the charger to Plugchoice first and route from there instead.