How to Log Sparkplug B Data to InfluxDB

Open Automation Software can be configured to connect to Sparkplug B devices using the Sparkplug B connector and log the data to an InfluxDB database. This guide walks you through downloading and installing OAS, configuring a Sparkplug B host application and EON node, configuring tags and logging them to an InfluxDB database.

Typically you will have your own Edge of Network (EoN) node configured. For the purposes of this guide, you will create a Sparkplug B hosting app and EoN node. You can also use your own EoN node if you already have one.

For this guide on how to log Sparkplug B data to InfluxDB you will need:

• An InfluxDB instance with appropriate permissions to create buckets/databases and write data

1 - Download and Install OAS

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.

Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows, run the downloaded setup.exe file to install the Open Automation Software platform. For a default installation, Agree to the End User License Agreement and then click the Next button on each of the installation steps until it has completed.

If you'd like to customize your installation or learn more, use the following instructions:

• Windows Installation
• Linux Installation
• Raspberry Pi Installation
• Docker Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.

Click on each START SERVICE button to start each of the three OAS services.

2 - Configure OAS

Web Configuration Application

Configuration of the OAS server is performed from the built-in Web Configuration Application. This is the main application for accessing any settings within the OAS server and is completely self-contained within the server.

You can reach this by opening your browser to:

http://<your server>:58725/app/config

If you are browsing from the OAS machine itself, you can use localhost, otherwise use the IP address of the machine. You will also need to ensure port 58725 is open on both the client and the server or you may not be able to reach the application.

On a new installation the OAS engine has no accounts yet, so the first screen you see is Create Admin Account. Once the administrator account exists that screen is not shown again, and browsing to the application displays the sign in screen instead.

1. Enter a name for the administrator in the Admin user name field. Typically you would use admin, but you can use whatever name you choose.

2. Enter a password in the Password field, then enter the same password again in the Confirm password field.

3. Click on the Create admin & sign in button. The account is created and you are signed in to the engine.

To sign in from then on, enter the Network node of the OAS engine, then the Username and Password of your account, and click on the Sign in button.

Legacy Configuration Application

1. From your operating system start menu, open the Configure OAS application.

2. Select the Configure > Tags screen.

   Important

   If this is the first time you have installed OAS, the AdminCreate utility will run when you select a screen in the Configure menu. This will ask you to create a username and password for the admin user. This user will have full permissions in the OAS platform.

   For further information see Getting Started - Security.

3. If this is the first time you are logging in, you will see the AdminCreate utility. Follow the prompts to set up your admin account. Otherwise, select the Log In menu button and provide the Network Node, username and password.

   

   

3 - Set up Sparkplug B Host App

In this section you will create a Sparkplug B driver configured using Host App mode. When you link EoN nodes to this host using the Host ID OAS will automatically create the Tags provided by the EoN node.

1. Select Drivers in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a name such as SpB Host App in the Driver Interface Name to give this driver interface a unique name, and click Create. Once created, the driver interface name should appear in the list of drivers.

3. Ensure the following parameters are configured:

   • Driver: Sparkplug B
   • Host: localhost
   • Port: 1883
   • User Name: sparkpluguser
   • Password: the password you configured in the previous step
   • Protocol Version: V500
   • Client ID: OAS_Client_Host
   • Mode: Host App
   • Host ID: OAS_Host (you will need to use this in your EoN node configuration)

   

   ℹ️ If you are using your own MQTT Broker, ensure that you configure the Host, Port, User Name, Password and Protocol Version accordingly.

4. Turn on Enable and click on the Apply changes button. The driver interface is not active until it is enabled and the changes are applied.

   

4 - Create Source Sparkplug B EoN node

In order to simulate the Edge of Network (EoN) node acting as a data source, we can use the features available in OAS to create an EoN using a Sparkplug B connector instance and leverage the built-in MQTT broker.

ℹ️ You can skip this section if you want to use your own existing EoN node. You'll have to ensure that your EoN node is configured with the details in step 3 below so that it can talk to the OAS Host App.

1. Select Drivers in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a name such as EoN Source Node in the Driver Interface Name to give this driver interface a unique name, and click Create. Once created, the driver interface name should appear in the list of drivers.

3. Ensure the following parameters are configured:

   • Driver: Sparkplug B
   • Host: localhost
   • Port: 1883
   • User Name: sparkpluguser
   • Password: the password you configured in the previous step
   • Protocol Version: V500
   • Client ID: OAS_Source_Node
   • Mode: Edge Node
   • Group ID: SourceGroup
   • Edge Node ID: SourceNode

   

4. Turn on Enable and click on the Apply changes button. The driver interface is not active until it is enabled and the changes are applied.

   

5 - Create a Tag attached to EoN for data source simulation

Now that the EoN node has been created we want to be able to publish data from it so we can simulate data being generated by the EoN node.

ℹ️ If you skipped creating an EoN node in OAS and you already have your own EoN node configured, you can skip this section as well and instead generate some data in your own EoN node.

1. Select Tags in the sidebar.

2. If you want to add a Tag to the root Tags group make sure another tag at the root is selected. Click the [+] button and select Add Tag.

   

   If you want to add a Tag to a Tag Group, select the Tag Group first and then click on the [+] button. Alternatively, you can right click on a Tag Group and select Add Tag.

   You can also add Tag Groups by clicking the [+] and selecting Add Group.

3. Provide a Tag Name such as TemperatureSensor and click the Create button.

   

4. To assign this Tag to a Sparkplug B node configure the Host properties to match your EoN node Group ID and Edge Node ID properties.

   • Host Group ID: SourceGroup
   • Host Edge Node ID: SourceNode
   • Host Device ID: EoN Data Source
   • Host Metric Name: Temperature

   

5. Click on the Apply changes button to apply the changes.

6 - Set Host Configuration on Tag

In this section you will configure the Sparkplug B Host parameters for the EoN node where the Tag value should be sent to.

1. On the Tags configuration screen, select the data source Tag.

   

2. Configure the Host parameters according to your Sparkplug B destination EoN node.

   • Host Group ID: DestinationGroup
   • Host Edge Node ID: DestinationNode
   • Host Device ID: EoN Data Destination
   • Host Metric Name: Temperature

   

3. Click on the Apply changes button to apply the changes.

7 - Verify Host App Tag Generation for Data Source

You will now check to make sure the Tag Group folder structure and Tag for the Temperature metric was automatically generated and that any updates to the TemperatureSensor tag will flow through from the EoN node to the generated Tag.

1. Select Tags in the sidebar.

   Tips

   If you were already on the Tags screen, you may need to click on the ↻ refresh button next to the Node field to refresh the tag list.

2. You will see a Tag Group structure starting with a parent folder called SpB Host App and then a sub-folder for SourceGroup, another sub-folder for SourceNode and finally a sub-folder for the EoN node called EoN Data Source. The Temperature tag representing the Temperature metric is inside this final sub-folder.

   As you can see the Sparkplug B host app driver has automatically generated the folder structure and Tags.

   

3. Select the Temperature tag in the EoN Data Source sub-folder. You should see a value of zero (0) and the Client parameters configured according to the EoN node Host properties. These properties were automatically configured by OAS.

   

4. Now you will test the data flow.

   ℹ️ If you have your own EoN node configured and you skipped creating an EoN node in OAS then you can trigger a data change in your EoN node to test the configuration.

   If you created an EoN node in OAS you can select the TemperatureSensor tag in the root Tags folder. Type in a value of 24.9 in the Enter Value field and click on the Apply changes button. If everything is working correctly, this change should trigger the EoN node to publish a new value via the OAS MQTT Broker.

   

5. Select the Temperature tag again in the EoN Data Source sub-folder. You should now see a value of 24.9.

   

8 - Configure Data Logging

You will now configure data logging to an InfluxDB database.

1. Select Data Logging in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a meaningful Logging Group Name to give this data logging group a unique name, and click Create. Once created, the data logging group name should appear in the list of logging groups. A data logging group is simply a data logging configuration for a set of Tags.

3. In the Common section leave all the default values. This will create a configuration that uses Continuous logging with a 1 second Logging Rate. This simply means, log data at a rate of 1 second.

   

4. In the Tags section you will add all of the Tags that you want to log. Each Tag will be a field (column) in the database. Click on the Add button to bring up the Browse for Tag window.

5. Select the Tag you want to add and then click on the Use this tag button.

   

   Tips

   Each Tag has dozens of properties that are available for you to access. The Value property is selected for you, shown at the bottom of the window as TagName.Value. It is the most commonly used property as it presents the Tag's current value. This is what we want to log to the database.

6. The Database tag window will appear. This is where you set the database field name (column name) and the database data type that will be used. The most common types will be Double Float, Boolean, Integer and String.

   The Field name is filled in for you from the Tag name. Let's replace it with Temperature. Now click on the OK button.

   

7. The Tag will appear in the list of Tags to be logged.

   

8. In the Database section you will configure the database type and connection parameters:

   • Turn on Log to Database to enable logging to a database
   • Set Provider to InfluxDB
   • Set Version to your required version
   • Set Server to your InfluxDB server (e.g., localhost)
   • Set Database to oas_logging
   • Set Table to a table name such as Temperatures
   • Set User Name to a user with permissions to manage the oas_logging database
   • Set Password to the user password

   You can update the Indexed Fields and the Retention Time properties as required.

   

9. Return to the Common section and turn on Logging Active. New logging groups are created inactive, so this is what starts the group logging.

   

10. Click on the Apply changes button to apply the data logging group configuration.

    

11. Your database logging group is now active.

9 - Save Changes

Once you have successfully configured your OAS instances, make sure you save your configuration.

On each configuration page that has a Save button, click on it.

If this is the first time you are saving the configuration, or if you are changing the name of the configuration file, OAS will ask you if you want to change the default configuration file.

If you select Yes then OAS will make this configuration file the default and if the OAS service is restarted then this file will be loaded on start-up.

If you select No then OAS will still save your configuration file, but it will not be the default file that is loaded on start-up.