Wiki source code of ThingsBoard

Version 185.1 by Dilisi S on 2025/03/27 22:47
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1 **Table of Contents:**
2
3 {{toc/}}
4
5 {{warning}}
6 Draft Document
7 {{/warning}}
8
9
10
11
12 = 1. Introduction =
13
14
15 This document guides you on integrating Dragino **-NB** and **-CB** series devices data with ThingsBoard. For this guide, we use ThingsBoard Cloud, which is one of the ThingsBoard versions that allows you to try it for free.
16
17 The **NB series** devices end with the suffix **-NB**, and the **CB series** devices end with the suffix **-CB**. For example, **S31B-NB** is an **NB device**, and **S31-CB** is a **CB device**.
18
19
20 = 2. Prerequisites =
21
22 To complete this tutorial, you need to have the following:
23
24 * ThingsBoard cloud account
25 * MQTT Broker (public or private) such as,
26 ** **[[HiveMQ Cloud>>https://www.hivemq.com]] - You can create a free account to try it or subscribe for a paid account. - We use HiveMQ Cloud as the MQTT broker to build example in this tutorial.**
27 ** [[emqx>>https://www.emqx.com/zh/mqtt/public-mqtt5-broker]] - The public MQTT server is only used for MOTT learning and testing, and should not be used in the production environment.
28 ** [[lns1.thingseye.io>>http://lns1.thingseye.io/]] - This is Dragino's MQTT broker, which requires a CA certificate to use.
29
30 == 2.1 ThingsBoard Cloud ==
31
32
33 Go to [[https:~~/~~/thingsboard.io/>>https://thingsboard.io/]]
34
35 Click on the **Try it now**.
36
37
38 [[image:thingsboard-1.png]]
39
40
41 Select either the **North America** or **Europe** region. Here, we use the Europe region.
42
43 [[image:thingsboard-2.png]]
44
45
46 You can sign up with your **Google**, **GitHub**, **Facebook**, or **Apple** account. If not you can create an account with providing your **name**, **email address** and a **password**.
47
48 Click on the **Sign up** button.
49
50 [[image:thingsboard-3.png||height="651" width="500"]]
51
52
53 You will be navigated to the following page.
54
55 [[image:thingsboard-5.png||height="109" width="500"]]
56
57
58 simultaneously, you will receive an email to confirm your email address. Click on the **Activate Your Account** button.
59
60
61 [[image:thingsboard-4.png||height="249" width="500"]]
62
63
64 Now losing to the account using your credentials:
65
66
67 [[image:thingsboard-6.png||height="244" width="500"]]
68
69
70 == 2.2 HiveMQ Cloud ==
71
72 === 2.2.1 HiveMQ Cloud ===
73
74
75 Go to [[https:~~/~~/www.hivemq.com>>https://www.hivemq.com]]
76
77 Click on the **Start Free** button.
78
79 [[image:hivwmq-1.png]]
80
81
82 Click on the **Sign Up FREE Now** button in the **HIVEMQ CLOUD** section.
83
84 [[image:hivemq-2.png]]
85
86
87 Click on the **Sign Up** button.
88
89 You can sign up with HiveMQ using your **GitHub**, **Google**, or **LinkedIn** account.
90
91 If not, provide your **email address** and a **password** to create an account by clicking on the **Sign Up** button.
92
93
94 [[image:hivemq-3.png]]
95
96
97 You will receive an email to verify your email address. Click on the **Confirm my account** button.
98
99
100 [[image:hivemq-4.jpg||height="889" width="400"]]
101
102
103 You will be redirected to a page asking you to complete your profile. Once done, click the **Continue** button.
104
105
106 [[image:hivemq-5.png||height="655" width="700"]]
107
108
109 Select the CloudMQ Cloud plan you need. For testing purposes, select the **Serverless FREE** plan by clicking on the **Create Serverless Cluster** button.
110
111
112 [[image:hivemq-6.png]]
113
114
115 You will be navigated to the **Your Clusters** page. Click on the **Manage Cluster** button.
116
117 [[image:hivemq-7.png]]
118
119
120 In your cluster page, you can find some useful parameters you need to create a MQTT connection.
121
122 **URL**: This is the host name. Click on the copy button to copy it.
123
124 **Port**: 8883
125
126
127 Click on the **Getting Started** tab to setup the username and the password as the connection credentials.
128
129
130 [[image:hivemq-8.png]]
131
132
133 In the '**Create Connection Credentials**' section, provide a **username** and **password**, then click the **Add** button.
134
135
136 [[image:hivemq-9.png]]
137
138
139
140 If everything is successful, you will see the following message.
141
142
143 [[image:hivemq-10.png||height="206" width="500"]]
144
145
146 You will need these MQTT connection parameters when configuring the MQTT integration in the '**Add Integration**' section.
147
148
149 === 2.2.2 emqx ===
150
151
152 The [[emqx>>https://www.emqx.com/zh/mqtt/public-mqtt5-broker]] public MQTT server is only used for MOTT learning and testing, and should not be used in the production environment.
153
154
155 [[image:emqx.png||height="420" width="500"]]
156
157
158 === 2.2.3 Ins1.thingseye.io ===
159
160 [[lns1.thingseye.io>>http://lns1.thingseye.io/]] is the Dragino's MQTT broker, which requires a CA certificate file, Certificate file, and the Private key file to use.
161
162 If customers need to use this MQTT connection with ThingsBoard, they need to contact the TE team to obtain three license files.
163
164 [[image:ins1.png||height="310" width="500"]]
165
166
167 = 3. Creating Devices =
168
169
170 First, you need to create devices in ThingsBoard to represent your physical devices. For example, you can name it **Device A**, and the second device could be **Device B** or any name you prefer. The device name should be unique within the **Devices** space.
171
172
173 In the left navigation, click Entities -> Devices.
174
175 Click the **Add Device** button (the button with the **+** sign), and from the dropdown menu, click **Add new device**.
176
177 In the **Add new device** dialog box, enter the device name in the **Name** text box. For example, we will use **Device A**.
178
179 Click the **Add** button.
180
181 Skip the **connectivity testing** by clicking the **Close** button.
182
183 The device is created and listed on the **Devices** page. Note that its initial state is **Inactive** because it has not received any data yet.
184
185
186 = 4. Data Converters =
187
188
189 In **ThingsBoard**, **Data Converters** are components used to transform incoming or outgoing data between different formats, typically to convert raw telemetry data from devices into a structured format that ThingsBoard can understand, or vice versa.
190
191
192 == 4.1 Uplink ==
193
194
195 In the left navigation, click **Integrations center**, and then click **Data converters**.
196
197
198 [[image:data-converters-list-empty.png]]
199
200
201 On the **Data converters** page, click on the ‘**+**’ button, and then click on the **Create new converter** from the dropdown menu.
202
203
204
205 [[image:create-new-converter-menu.png||height="259" width="500"]]
206
207
208 The **Add data converter** window will appear. Name it ‘**MQTT Uplink Converter NB/CB**’ and select the Type as **Uplink**.
209
210 Click on the **TBEL** button if it has not been selected by default.
211
212 Modify the default TBEL function to match with your device as described below:
213
214
215 * Uncomment** line 11**:
216
217 //var data = decodeToJson(payload)//
218
219
220 * **Line 13**: Assign your device name to the **deviceName** field. - We used **Device A** as it is to match with our device, **Device A **in the Devices section.
221 * From **line 38**: Modify the telemetry section to allow parsed data to be assigned to the fields.
222
223 //telemetry: {
224 temperature: data.temperature,
225 humidity: data.humidity,
226 rawData: payloadStr
227 }//
228
229
230 The modified uplink decoder function to match with **Device A** is shown below.
231
232 {{code language="JavaScript"}}
233 // Decode an uplink message from a buffer
234 // payload - array of bytes
235 // metadata - key/value object
236
237 /** Decoder **/
238
239 // decode payload to string
240 var payloadStr = decodeToString(payload);
241
242 // decode payload to JSON
243 var data = decodeToJson(payload);
244
245 var deviceName = 'Device A';
246 var deviceType = 'thermostat';
247 var customerName = 'Customer C';
248 var groupName = 'thermostat devices';
249 var manufacturer = 'Example corporation';
250 // use assetName and assetType instead of deviceName and deviceType
251 // to automatically create assets instead of devices.
252 // var assetName = 'Asset A';
253 // var assetType = 'building';
254
255 // Result object with device/asset attributes/telemetry data
256 var result = {
257 // Use deviceName and deviceType or assetName and assetType, but not both.
258 deviceName: deviceName,
259 deviceType: deviceType,
260 // assetName: assetName,
261 // assetType: assetType,
262 // customerName: customerName,
263 groupName: groupName,
264 attributes: {
265 model: 'Model A',
266 serialNumber: 'SN111',
267 integrationName: metadata['integrationName'],
268 manufacturer: manufacturer
269 },
270 telemetry: {
271 temperature: data.temperature,
272 humidity: data.humidity,
273 rawData: payloadStr
274 }
275 };
276
277 /** Helper functions 'decodeToString' and 'decodeToJson' are already built-in **/
278
279 return result;
280 {{/code}}
281
282
283 Once you modify the decoder function, click on the **Add** button.
284
285
286 [[image:mqtt-uplink.png||width="500"]]
287
288
289
290 You should see that the newly added **MQTT Uplink converter **NB/CB is listed on the **Data Converters** page.
291
292
293 [[image:data-converter-list-showing-uplink-dc.png]]
294
295
296 = 5. Add Integration =
297
298
299 In the left navigation, click **Integrations center**, and then click **Integrations**.
300
301
302 [[image:integrations-list-empty.png]]
303
304
305 On the **Integrations** page, click on the '**+**' button.
306
307
308 The **Add integration** window appears.
309
310 In the **Add integration** window, configure the following settings:
311
312
313 **Basic settings:**
314
315 * **Integration type**: MQTT
316 * **Name**: MQTT integration NB/CB
317 * **Enable integration**: YES
318 * **Allows create devices or assets**: YES
319
320 Click **Next** button.
321
322
323 [[image:add-integration-basic-settings.png||height="511" width="500"]]
324
325
326 **Uplink data converter:**
327
328 * Click on the **Select existing** button.
329 * **Uplink data converter**: Select **MQTT Uplink Converter NB/CB **from the dropdown list.
330
331 Click **Next** button.
332
333
334 [[image:add-integration-uplink-data-converter.png||height="511" width="500"]]
335
336
337 **Downlink data converter:**
338
339 Dragino NB/CB devices don't require a downlink data converter to decode their payloads, so you can skip this step.
340
341 * Click on the **Skip **button in the Downlink data converter section.
342
343 Click **Skip** button.
344
345
346 [[image:integration-dl-skip.png||height="511" width="500"]]
347
348
349
350 **Connection:**
351
352 * **Host**: Host URL (Eg. **//011731f7xxxxxxxxxxxfbbedfc63f4.s1.eu.hivemq.cloud//**)
353 * **Port**: 8883
354 * **Credentials type**: Basic
355 * **Username**: Username (from your HiveMQ Cloud Cluster with your credentials)
356 * **Password:** Password (from your HiveMQ Cloud Cluster with your credentials)
357 * **Enable SSL**: YES
358 * **Topic: device/a** (The topic can be anything; you can even use just the device name.)
359 * **QoS:** 0-At most once
360
361 [[image:add-integration-connection.png||height="511" width="500"]]
362
363
364 Click on the **Advanced settings** button.
365
366 * **Clean session:** YES
367 * **Retained**: YES
368
369 [[image:add-integration-connection-advanced-settings.png||height="510" width="500"]]
370
371
372 Click on the **Check connection** button to verify the MQTT connection using the provided parameters.
373
374
375 [[image:check-connection.png||height="83" width="300"]]
376
377
378 If the connection is successful, you will see the **Connected** message. If not, check your connection parameters again.
379
380
381 [[image:connection-success.png||height="511" width="500"]]
382
383
384 Click on the **Add** button.
385
386 You should see that the newly added integration is listed on the **Integrations** page.
387
388 Since we haven't received data from a device yet, the integration **Status** is shown as **Pending.**
389
390
391 [[image:new-integration-pending.png]]
392
393
394 = 6. Verifying the receipt of data from virtual devices =
395
396
397 == 6.1 How does it work? ==
398
399
400 We use the Mosquitto MQTT client to simulate MQTT messages, acting as a virtual device. First, install the Mosquitto client on your computer from [[this link>>url:https://mosquitto.org/download/]]. The Mosquitto client publishes messages to the MQTT broker (HiveMQ) on a specified MQTT topic. ThingsBoard subscribes to these messages using the same topic.
401
402 The Mosquitto client publishes messages (payloads) on the topic **/device/a**. Of course, you can use any topic for testing.
403
404 (% id="cke_bm_37386S" style="display:none" %) (%%)The MQTT payload format is as follows:
405
406 {{code language="none"}}
407 {"IMEI": "350693903995577", "temperature":25, "humidity":80, "pressure":1005}
408 {{/code}}
409
410 Once ThingsBoard receives this message, it forwards this payload to the matching device through the integration.
411
412
413 == 5.2 Sending messages ==
414
415
416 On the terminal, issue the following MQTT command which simulates the device S31B-NB. The message payload contains the fields temperature and humidity, which hold the values S31B-NB and 27, respectively. This payload is also (technically) known as telemetry.
417
418 {{code language="none"}}
419 mosquitto_pub -d -q 1 -h 011731f7928xxxxx.s1.eu.hivemq.cloud -p 8883 -u "xxxxx" -P "xxxxx" -t "device/a" -m '{"IMEI":"350693903995577", "temperature":30, "humidity":80, "pressure":1005}'
420 {{/code}}
421
422 If the integration was performed without errors, the status of the integration changes to 'Active' after the first telemetry transmission.
423
424
425 [[image:integration-active.png]]
426
427
428
429
430 == 6.3 Viewing messages ==
431
432
433 Go back to the **Integrations** page.
434
435 Click on the **MQTT integration NB/CB** in the **Integrations** page to see its details.
436
437 Click on the **Edit** button (//**pen icon**//).
438
439 Click on the **Disabled** button in the upper-right corner.
440
441 Turn on the **All messages (15 min)** option. This will enable displaying all messages in the **Events** tab. This setting will expire in 15 minutes, and you will need to repeat the same steps if you want to view the messages in the Events tab later.
442
443 Click on the **Apply** button.
444
445 Then click on the **Apply changes** (//**tick icon**//) button.
446
447
448 [[image:Screenshot 2025-03-18 at 09.23.10.png]]
449
450
451 Now go to the **Events** tab.
452
453 Select the Event type as **Debug** from the dropdown list.
454
455 Now you can see all the Uplink messages you are simulating through the MQTT broker. The status should be **OK **if there is no errors in your integration.
456
457
458 [[image:Screenshot 2025-03-26 at 19.49.31.png]]
459
460
461
462
463 Then click on the **three dots (...)** in the **Message** column. You can see the uplink message's **payload** in the **Message** window.
464
465
466 [[image:Screenshot 2025-03-26 at 19.47.52.png]]
467
468
469
470
471 Now, you have successfully tested your integration with a simulated uplink payload and verified that it is received by ThingsBoard, and the device is provisioned.
472
473
474 = 7. Creating a Dashboard =
475
476 ThingsBoard **Dashboards** provide a powerful way to visualize and monitor real-time and historical data from connected devices. They allow users to create interactive, customizable panels displaying telemetry data, device status, and other key metrics. With a variety of widgets, including charts, maps, and tables, dashboards help users gain insights, track trends, and manage IoT deployments efficiently.
477
478
479 This section guides you on how to create a dashboard to display temperature and humidity data from the device on a time-series chart. You may also use other widgets in ThingsBoard to display data according to your requirements.
480
481
482 First simulate a few messages using MQTT. This time, we have added the 'humidity' field to the payload. Eg:
483
484 {{code language="none"}}mosquitto_pub -d -q 1 -h 011731f7928xxxxx.s1.eu.hivemq.cloud -p 8883 -t "v1/devices/me/telemetry" -u "xxxxx" -P "xxxxx" -m '{"IMEI": "S31B-NB", "temperature": 22, "humidity":80}'{{/code}}
485
486
487 In **ThingsBoard**, from the left navigation menu, click **Dashboards**. Then, click the **+** button and select **Create new dashboard** from the dropdown menu.
488
489
490 [[image:dashboard-1.png]]
491
492
493 In the **Title** text box, enter **NB/CB Test Dashboard** as the title of the dashboard.
494
495 Click on the **Add** button.
496
497
498 [[image:dashboard-2.png||height="526" width="500"]]
499
500
501 Click on the **Add widget / Add new widget** button.
502
503
504 [[image:dashboard-3.png]]
505
506
507 In the **Select widgets bundle** window, click **Charts**.
508
509
510 [[image:dashboard-4.png||height="537" width="700"]]
511
512
513
514 In the **Charts: select widget** window, click **Time series chart**.
515
516
517 [[image:dashboard-5.png||height="525" width="700"]]
518
519
520 Configure the **Time series chart** widget as follows:
521
522 * **Datasource** - select S31B-NB device you provisioned.
523 * **Series**:
524 ** **temperature** - you can see this key by default.
525 ** **humidity** - Click **Add series** button. Then add the **humidity** for the key and then type **%** as its unit.
526 * Click on the **Add** button.
527
528 [[image:timeseries-1.png||height="491" width="700"]]
529
530
531 The time-series chart will appear in edit mode. Resize it by clicking and dragging the lower-right corner.
532
533 Click the **Save** button to add the widget to the dashboard.
534
535
536 [[image:timeseries-3.png||height="347" width="700"]]
537
538
539 Now send the following MQTT messages from the terminal to simulate the data.
540
541
542 {{code language="none"}}
543 mosquitto_pub -d -q 1 -h 011731f7928xxxxx.s1.eu.hivemq.cloud -p 8883 -t "v1/devices/me/telemetry" -u "xxxxx" -P "xxxxx" -m '{"IMEI": "S31B-NB", "temperature": 22, "humidity":70}'
544
545 mosquitto_pub -d -q 1 -h 011731f7928xxxxx.s1.eu.hivemq.cloud -p 8883 -t "v1/devices/me/telemetry" -u "xxxxx" -P "xxxxx" -m '{"IMEI": "S31B-NB", "temperature": 27, "humidity":72}'
546
547 mosquitto_pub -d -q 1 -h 011731f7928xxxxx.s1.eu.hivemq.cloud -p 8883 -t "v1/devices/me/telemetry" -u "xxxxx" -P "xxxxx" -m '{"IMEI": "S31B-NB", "temperature": 19, "humidity":80}'
548
549 {{/code}}
550
551 The chart will update with the values in realtime, as shown in the below image.
552
553
554 [[image:timeseries-4.png||height="316" width="700"]]
555
556
557 = 8. Configure NB-IoT Sensor =
558
559
560 Now, let's experiment with sending data to ThingsBoard using a real NB-IoT device. For example, we will use the **TS01-NB**.
561
562 First, configure the NB-IoT device with the necessary MQTT settings using AT commands. Below is a list of AT commands you can use.
563
564
565 **AT Commands**
566
567 * **AT+PRO=3,3    **~/~/ Use MQTT to connect to ThingsBoard. Payload Type set to 3.
568 * **AT+SUBTOPIC=<MQTT subscribe topic> Eg: TS01-NB**
569 * **AT+PUBTOPIC=<MQTT publish topic> Eg: TS01-NB**
570 * **AT+CLIENT=null**
571 * **AT+UNAME=<MQTT Username>**
572 * **AT+PWD=<MQTT Password>**
573 * **AT+SERVADDR=<Broker address, Port>**
574
575 Test your uplink by pressing the ACT button for 1 second.
576
577
578
579 The following image shows the uplink payload of a real Dragino device. The publish topic is **TS01-NB**, and the device name is **861275077962896**, which is represented by the **IMEI**.
580
581 {{info}}
582 The ThingsBoard uses the device's IMEI number included in the payload to create a device in the Devices section.
583 {{/info}}
584
585 [[image:image-4.png]]
586
587
588

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