Can we test the Azure IoT Hub without using IoT device?

Question

Maybe it's a silly question, but we want to know that can we work on Azure IoT Hub without using the IoT Device?

Answer 1

If you mean without using a physical device (such as a Raspberry Pi), then yes.

There are plenty of ways to simulate the behaviour of an IoT device - you can run all the IoT Hub quickstarts on a Windows or Linux desktop: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/iot-develop/quickstart-send-telemetry-iot-hub?toc=%2Fazure%2Fiot-hub%2Ftoc.json&bc=%2Fazure%2Fiot-hub%2Fbreadcrumb%2Ftoc.json&pivots=programming-language-ansi-c

Answer 2

Hi @Priyansh Kumar ,

Have a look at the Azure IoT Hub Tester. It allows to create a virtual Plug and Play device in isolated app domain and simulate its device model to the Azure IoT Hub directly using the MQTT protocol.

Also,, have a look at the mobil version Azure IoT Central Tester, small tool for exploring Azure IoT Central with Android Phone as a virtual Plug and Play Device (PnP Device).

Thanks
Roman

Answer 3

Hello @Priyansh Kumar ,

yes, for most customers we build simulations first.

Most of the time because development is not done near the location of the actual devices to be connected to the cloud.

This is also used for incidental load testing.

We mostly build custom simulations but there are already a number of simple device simulations for Azure IoT Hub.

The most simple one (I think) is this Raspberry PI simulation.

If you are planning to use Azure IoT Edge, the temperature simulation module is a good starting point.

If you want to do more elaborate testing, check out this Azure IoT Device Telemetry Simulator. It can also be used for testing at scale.

Answer 4

Hi,

Adding few more helpful suggestions!!

Install and use Azure IoT explorer

The Azure IoT explorer is a graphical tool for interacting with devices connected to your IoT hub. This article focuses on using the tool to test your IoT Plug and Play devices.

Use Azure IoT explorer

For a device, you can either connect your own device, or use one of the sample simulated devices. For some example simulated devices written in different languages, see the Connect a sample IoT Plug and Play device application to IoT Hub tutorial.

Alternatively, you can also use Azure IoT Hub's REST APIs or Azure IoT SDKs to send and receive data from the IoT Hub. With these APIs and SDKs, you can create a simulated IoT device using any programming language of your choice.

Please comment in the below section for further help in this matter.