Knowledge Base Archives - Page 8 of 71 - Industrial IoT Data Platform

January 21, 2024September 25, 2024

Getting Started Sparkplug B Edge of Network Node

OAS is can act as a Sparkplug B Edge of Network Node and Host Application.

The following guide are the steps to define OAS as a Sparkplug B EoN Node to enable OAS Tags as Metric values to Sparkplug B clients acting as a Host Application for Edge Node and Device control and client applications to send and receive tag values of any OAS Data Source.

If you would like OAS to act as a Host Application to control and send and receive data from other Edge of Network Node Devices see the Getting Started Sparkplug B Host Application guide.

You can view the Getting Started with Sparkplug B Video to familiarize yourself with the following steps to setup Sparkplug B communications.

Step 1 – Check MQTT License

Start the Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

Select Configure-License and verify that MQTT is one of the available Drivers in the lower left of the form. If you do not see the MQTT driver available contact support@oasiot.com to update your license.

NOTE: To configure remote OAS Engines enter the IP Address or node name in the Network Node field and click on Select.

NOTE: You will need to be running Open Automation Software Version 19.0.0.54 or greater to support Sparkplug B communications. Use Configure-Options-System Status to check the version of the running OAS Engine. You can download the latest version at www.openautomationsoftware.com/downloads/open-automation-software/ or use the Update Version button under Configure-License to update to the latest version of OAS.

Step 2 – Configure Sparkplug B Edge of Network Node Driver

Select Configure-Drivers.

Define the properties for the desired Sparkplug B Edge Node.

Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name.

Set the Driver property to Sparkplug B.

Enter the Host property to the IP Address of the of the host broker or just use localhost for a local broker.

Set the Port property of the host broker to connect to. The default port is 1883 or 8883 for SSL.

Note: The OAS MQTT Broker can be used to host data locally. To use another broker on the default ports on the same computer change the OAS MQTT Broker Port under Configure-Options-MQTT Broker.

Enter the User Name and Password if required.

Keep Alive Time – Default is 60 Seconds.

Reconnect Time – Default 1 Second. If the connection to the broker is lost the Reconnect Time determines how long to wait before attempting to reconnect.

To connect with Transport Layer Security enable the property SSL / TLS.

Specify the Private Key File and Certificate File to use.

Uncheck the property Create Certificate to specify a PFX Certificate File and PFX Certificate Password.

Set the MQTT Protocol Version to V311 or V500.

Set the Client ID to a unique value, each driver interface must have a specific value different than all other clients connecting to the host.

Optionally define a secondary failover Host Broker if the primary Host Broker fails with the property Enable Failover.

If both the primary and secondary broker are offline the Return to Online settings determines the retry frequency.

View Driver Interface Failover for more information and and video demonstrating communications failover.

Set the Mode to Edge Node.

Set the Hode Mode to Remote Hosted if a Host Application to control the state of this Edge Node including another OAS driver set as Host App. Set to Self Hosted to have this OAS driver control the state of the Edge Node.

Set the Host ID to the specific value that the Edge of Nodes will be using as the Host Application ID.

Set the Sparkplug B Version to 2.2 or 3.0.

Set the Group ID and Edge Node ID that defines this EoN Node.

NOTE: This Group ID and Edge Node ID values will be used to define which OAS tags will be enabled for hosting values in the next step to Define OAS Tags as EoN Node using the Host Group ID and Host Edge Node ID tag properties.

Optionally set the Device ID Filter to include only a specific device defined by the Tag property Host Device ID. Leave blank to include all tags with all Host Device IDs defined with same Group ID and Edge Node ID.

Select the Add Driver button in the left part of the window to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

NOTE: If you need to define several Driver Interfaces you can use the CSV Export and CSV Import on the toolbar in the upper right together with Microsoft Excel.

You can also programmatically define drivers using the .NET OASConfig assembly or OAS REST API.

Step 3 – Configure OAS Tags as Sparkplug B EoN Node and Device Metrics

Select Configure-Tags.

Select an existing tag or add a new tag.

To update an existing tag jump to the step to specify the Host Group ID and Host Edge Node ID.

To add a new tag select Add Group to add a group to place tags in.

NOTE: You can add organizational Groups as many levels deep as you prefer and add tags to groups. To do this first add a Group to the root level, then right click on the Group in the right window to add additional Groups or Tags.

Select Add Tag to add a tag to the group selected.

The Data Source can be any OAS Data Source including Allen Bradley PLCs, Siemens controllers, Modbus devices or masters, OPC UA servers and clients, OPC DA servers and clients, MQTT brokers and clients, MTConnect, Calculations, Simulation, or other Sparkplug B Node Metrics.

Specify the Host Group ID and Host Edge Node ID to match the Group ID and Edge Node ID defined in the Edge Node Driver Interface.

Set the Host Device ID and Host Metric Name to any value you desire. Optionally leave the Host Device ID blank if you want the Metric to appear directly in the Edge Node. Each OAS tag must have a unique combination of Host Group ID, Edge Node ID, Device ID, and Metric Name. Two or more tags cannot share the same combination.

Select Apply Changes and the OAS tag value will be published to the specified Host anytime the tag value changes.

The value can also be updated with a NCMD or DCMD command to the specific Metric Name. If the OAS Tag is defined to another Data Source the value will be written to that source.

To define multiple tags use the CSV Export and CSV Import on the toolbar in the upper right together with Microsoft Excel.

When exporting tags choose which columns to include in the CSV file. There are over 800 properties available for use in each tag and reducing the amount of data can help to focus on the properties of interest.

NOTE: You can also programmatically define Tags using the free to use .NET OASConfig assembly or OAS REST API.

Step 4 – Save Sparkplug B Tags and Drivers

Select the Save button on the toolbar at the top.

Enter a file name to be saved in C:\ProgramData\OpenAutomationSoftware\ConfigFiles directory on Windows or ConfigFiles subdirectory on Linux.

When prompted to set the file as the default configuration to load on startup select Yes.

NOTE: The tags and and drivers are both saved into one file.

The tags defined are now ready for use in all OAS features like Data Logging, Data Route, and Open UIEngine.

January 21, 2024September 25, 2024

Getting Started Sparkplug B Host Application

OAS is can act as a Sparkplug B Edge of Network Node and Host Application.

If you would like OAS to act as an Edge of Network Node view the Getting Started Sparkplug B EoN Node setup guide.

The following guide are the steps to define OAS as a Sparkplug B Host Application to receive and update Edge Node Metric values. The interface can control the online state of each Edge of Node or just act as a client.

You can view the Getting Started with Sparkplug B Video to familiarize yourself with the following steps to setup Sparkplug B communications.

00:00 – Introduction
01:10 – Download OAS
01:46 – Quick Start
02:08 – Edge of Network Node
05:52 – EoN Tags
07:04 – Host Application
09:20 – SpB Client Tags
10:22 – Programatic Interface
10:59 – CSV Export / Import
12:27 – Multiple Metric Tags
13:46 – Modbus
16:10 – DCMD Metric Write
17:00 – Data Route
17:58 – Networking
18:17 – Save Configuration
18:56 – OAS Platform

Step 1 – Check MQTT License

Start Configure OAS application from the program group Open Automation Software.

NOTE: To configure remote OAS Engines enter the IP Address or node name in the Network Node field and click on Select.

Step 2 – Configure Sparkplug B Host Driver

Select Configure-Drivers.

Define the properties for the desired Sparkplug B Host.

Enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name that you will refer to this physical connection when defining Tags with Sparkplug B source.

Set the Driver property to Sparkplug B.

Enter the Host property to the IP Address of the of the host broker or just use localhost for a local broker.

Set the Port property of the host broker to connect to. The default port is 1883 or 8883 for SSL.

Note: The OAS MQTT Broker can be used to host data locally. To use another broker on the default ports on the same computer change the OAS MQTT Broker Port under Configure-Options-MQTT Broker.

Enter the User Name and Password if required.

Keep Alive Time – Default is 60 Seconds.

Reconnect Time – Default 1 Second. If the connection to the broker is lost the Reconnect Time determines how long to wait before attempting to reconnect.

To connect with Transport Layer Security enable the property SSL / TLS.

Specify the Private Key File and Certificate File to use.

Uncheck the property Create Certificate to specify a PFX Certificate File and PFX Certificate Password.

Set the MQTT Protocol Version to V311 or V500.

Set the Client ID to a unique value, each driver interface must have a specific value different than all other clients connecting to the host.

Optionally define a secondary failover Host Broker if the primary Host Broker fails with the property Enable Failover.

If both the primary and secondary broker are offline the Return to Online settings determines the retry frequency.

View Driver Interface Failover for more information and and video demonstrating communications failover.

Set the Mode to Host App for OAS to control the online state of each Edge of Node defined to the shared Host Application ID.

Note: To enable a communication interface to Edge of Nodes, but not set the state of the Host ID set the mode to Client App.

Set the Host ID to the specific value that the Edge of Nodes will be using as the Host Application ID.

Set the Sparkplug B Version to 2.2 or 3.0.

To automatically add tags for each Metric from the matching Group, Edge of Nodes, and Devices enable the property Add Client Tags Automatically.

When enabled optionally set the Filter Groups, Edge Nodes, and Devices that tags should be added from for each of their Metrics. Leave the Filter fields blank to include all Edge of Nodes publishing data to the broker.

Select the Add Driver button in the left part of the form to add the Driver Interface as an available selection when defining Tags in the next step.

NOTE: If you need to define several Driver Interfaces you can use the CSV Export and CSV Import on the toolbar in the upper right together with Microsoft Excel.

You can also programmatically define drivers using the .NET OASConfig assembly or OAS REST API.

Step 3 – Configure Tags to Define Metric Data from Edge Nodes

Select Configure-Tags.

NOTE: If the Driver Interface property Add Client Tags Automatically was enabled tags will be created for you, you can skip this step to add tags manually.

Select Add Group.

Select Add Tag to add a tag to the group selected.

Change the Data Source Tag property to Sparkplug B.

Select the correct Driver Interface from the Driver Interface pull down list.

Specify the Client Group ID, Client Edge Node ID, Client Device ID, and Client Metric Name for the Edge of Node Metric value to read and write.

Select the Data Type of the Tag to match the data type of the Metric.

Select Apply Changes and the current value for the Metric should appear with Good Quality.

NOTE: The above tag was automatically created using the Sparkplug B Test Compliance Kit as an Edge of Node source.

To define multiple tags use the CSV Export and CSV Import on the toolbar in the upper right together with Microsoft Excel.

NOTE: You can also programmatically define Tags using the free to use .NET OASConfig assembly or OAS REST API.

Step 4 – Save Sparkplug B Tags and Drivers

Select the Save button on the toolbar at the top.

Enter a file name to be saved in C:\ProgramData\OpenAutomationSoftware\ConfigFiles directory on Windows or ConfigFiles subdirectory on Linux.

When prompted to set the file as the default configuration to load on startup select Yes.

NOTE: The tags and and drivers are both saved into one file.

The tags defined are now ready for use in all OAS features like Data Logging, Data Route, and Open UIEngine.

To setup automated data transfer of any OAS Tag to and from the Sparkplug B Tags see Getting-Started – Data Route.

April 6, 2023April 23, 2025

Videos – Azure Event Hubs

Azure IoT Connector

Publish data to Azure Event Hubs and Azure IoT Data Hub.

Azure IoT Event Hubs

How to setup communications to Azure Event Hubs

00:00 – Introduction
00:45 – Getting Started Guide
01:10 – Create Event Hub
01:44 – Azure Portal
02:25 – Setup Driver
04:00 – Publish Select Tags
07:15 – Save Configuration
08:00 – Monitor Data
10:20 – IoT Publish

IoT Publish

How to publish data to Azure IoT Hub, AWS IoT Gateway, and MQTT Brokers.

00:00 – Introduction
00:23 – Set up Tags in OAS
00:41 – Configure Azure IoT
01:53 – Publish Selected Tags
05:31 – Visual Studio Code
08:00 – Step by step instructions
08:12 – Bulk Publish to AWS IOT
09:21 – Step by step instructions / Publish Data to AWS IOT Gateway
09:33 – Bulk Publish to mqtt broker
10:29 – MQTT Explorer
11:20 – Step by step instructions/ Getting Started MQTT
11:34 – Save button of the OAS Configuration tool

March 19, 2023February 5, 2025

Getting Started Azure Event Hubs

Create an Event Hub

Create an Azure IoT Driver

Publish Live Data to your Azure IoT Hub.

Option 1 - Publish Selected Tags to your Azure Event Hub.

Option 2 - Use Data Route to Send Data to Azure Event Hub

Use Visual Studio Code to Monitor Events.

View the following video on how to setup publishing data to Azure Event Hubs.

00:00 – Introduction
00:45 – Getting Started Guide
01:10 – Create Event Hub
01:44 – Azure Portal
02:25 – Setup Driver
04:00 – Publish Select Tags
07:15 – Save Configuration
08:00 – Monitor Data
10:20 – IoT Publish

Create an Event Hub

You need to create an Event Hub for your device to connect to. The following steps show you how to complete this task using the Azure portal:

Step 1

Step 2

From the left menu, click Create a resource, then click Analytics, and then click Event Hubs.

Step 3

On the Basic tab of the Create Namespace step that appears enter your Project Details.

Select the Azure Subscription to use for the Event Hub.
Select existing or create a a new Resource group.
Enter a Namespace name.
Select Location.
Select a Pricing tier.
Set the Throughput Units.

Select Review + create

Then the Create button after the Validation succeeded.

You will see Deployment is in progress for a minute, then when finished you will see Your deployment is complete and the resource will be ready for use.

Select Go to resource.

Step 4

In Event Hubs Namespace select + Event Hub to add an Event Hub to publish data to.

Set the Event Hub Name and select Review + create.

Select Create when the prompt of Validation succeeded appears.

The Event Hub is now ready for use with OAS to publish data to.

Step 5

Next click Shared access policies from the left menu. In the pane that appears to the right, click RootManageSharedAccessKey or use + Add to create a new key.

In the panel that appears to the right, select the Copy to clipboard icon next to Connection string – primary key. Save this as well, you will need it later.

You have now created your Event Hub the connection string you need to complete the rest of this tutorial.

Step 6 (Optional Schema)

If you wish to transfer data with an Avro schema define a Schema Group in the Schema Registry. Azure Event Hub Schemas provide a serialization to reduce the message size during transmit. Note: Schemas are not available for use in a Basic Azure Event Hubs account, a Standard, Premium, or Dedicated account is required to use schemas.

It is important to note that the data type in the schema definition must match the value data type of the tag.

Following is example.

{

“namespace”: “com.oasiot.oas-data”,

“type”: “record”,

“name”: “oas-data”,

“fields”: [

{

“name”: “Ramp”,

“type”: “double”

{

“name”: “Sine”,

“type”: “double”

{

“name”: “Pump”,

“type”: “boolean”

{

“name”: “Status”,

“type”: [

“string”,

“null”

“default”: null

}

]

}

Notice the Status field that include a definition of both the data type and null to allow transfer if the data quality is bad.

“type”: [

“string”,

“null”

]

In the example above if Ramp, Sine, or Pump is bad quality the complete message will be rejected and not transfer. While the tag defined to the Status field could be bad quality.