Connecting IoT Hub connected device to IoT Central App

Rick Kotermanski 21

New to IoT Central, but experienced with Azure IoT Hub. We have a working MQTT based connection of devices to IoT Hub and we would like to experiment with their use in IoT Central. From what I have been able to understand so far, there is not a way to directly connect IoT Central to IoT Hub provisioned devices without "something" in between.
Is there a better or recommended / best way to implement this scenario? (I've searched documentation and forums and it would. appear that the IoT Central Device Bridge and associated configuration would be needed?) Does the requirement to use DPS mean that there needs to be some component in between (or the device needs to support DPS to locate and make the connection?) Thanks!

QuantumCache 20,031 Reputation points

2020-07-02T00:42:15.687+00:00

Hello @Rick Kotermanski , Just checking back, could you please let us know if you need further help in this matter.
QuantumCache 20,031 Reputation points

2020-07-03T00:48:19.743+00:00

Hello @Rick Kotermanski ,Just checking back! please let us know if you are still stuck and we would be happy to help you on this issue.
Anonymous

2022-03-19T15:55:16.207+00:00

Hi anyone - i want to use this client application to connect my windows phone to IoT Central The application is: "MQQT Location tracker" from microsoft store. Can anyone provide me with a step-by-step on how to connect. @Sander van de Velde The connecting details is shown in the picture - but i dont know what details to fill in to the boxes. ( we have our Iot central application up and running) ![184808-win-20220319-16-47-12-scan.jpg][1] [1]: /api/attachments/184808-win-20220319-16-47-12-scan.jpg?platform=QnA
QuantumCache 20,031 Reputation points

2022-03-21T03:21:44.603+00:00

Hello anonymous user

Could you please refer to the below question which was responded by Roman, I hope that might be helpful to get started!

Connect to IoT Central app directly MQTT without SDK
Roman Kiss 2,241 Reputation points

2022-03-21T09:14:41.5+00:00
Hi,

The MQTTLocationTracker will not work either with Azure IoT Hub or Azure IoT Central. The following code snippet from its MqttBroker.cs file shows the reason such as a random clientId value:

internal void Connect() { if(this._client == null || !this._client.IsConnected) { Initialize(); } try { this._client.Connect(Guid.NewGuid().ToString(), this.username, this.password); } catch(Exception ex) { int k = 1; } }

After this fix and also a message payload, the MQTTLocationTracker can work with an Azure IoT Hub and IoT Central App. The following screen snippet shows an example with IoT Central App:

Thanks
Roman
QuantumCache 20,031 Reputation points

2022-03-21T15:42:07.177+00:00

Thank you Roman!
Anonymous

2022-03-21T15:51:13.35+00:00

Thank you @QuantumCache and @Roman Kiss

however i cant seem to find the "broker-name" url you provided in the screenshot.

the host name i got in my iot hub doesnt start with iotc-XXXXXXX..........

i cant find it in iot central app either.

How do i retrieve this "broker-name" from my iot central app?
Anonymous

2022-03-26T00:12:46.673+00:00

I have now the mqtt location tracker connected to iot central - but no raw data is showing up in the iot central app.
in the mqtt location tracker app i can see it is sending location messages according to the interval.
what are my doing wrong?
Roman Kiss 2,241 Reputation points

2022-03-26T11:49:01.143+00:00
Hi,

Can you see in the Azure IoT Central the device status connected (green icon)?

The Topic on the MQTTLocationtracker should be as the following example:

devices/mydeviceid/messages/events/$.ct=application%2Fjson&$.ce=utf-8

Thanks
Roman
QuantumCache 20,031 Reputation points

2022-04-04T04:21:23.3+00:00

Hi, If you are still blocked, then please post a separate thread\Question with your scenario and we would be able to help you!

Please check this page: iot-central-web-mqtt-device

2 answers

Sander van de Velde 28,311 Reputation points MVP

2020-06-24T17:47:55.93+00:00

Azure IoT Central is a SaaS platform which brings it's own Device Provisioning Service, IoTHub and other Azure resources. Together, they provide a simple but yet powerful platform to register IoT devices and IoT Edge devices, show telemetry in charts and dashboards and offers rules and exports.

This means you do not have to bring your own IoT Hub.

If you still want to have your own IoT Hub and pass the messages to IoT Central, you need to build a 'bridge' like Azure IoT Central Device Bridge.

The internal IoT Hub is not directly exposed. You iether need to generate the (DPS) credentials for IoT Central devices yourself and used them to connect or use the (DPS) secrets provided at application level so you can create device connections from one single point (as seen in the bridge example).

You talk about a MQTT based connection. Is this a MQTT connection without using the SDK? Keep in mind that connecting to IoT Central works best with the SDKs provided.
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3 people found this answer helpful.
Rick Kotermanski 21 Reputation points

2020-06-24T19:04:23.507+00:00

Thanks for the quick response. We are working with a 3rd party industrial controller / gateway that is currently working with IoT Hub (and not ours to change) - we will go with the Device Bridge for our eval (and talk with the vendor about direction / SDK).

Roman Kiss 2,241 Reputation points

2020-06-26T11:27:36.903+00:00

I do recommend to read the limitation of the Device Bridge such as only forwarding a telemetry data to the IoT Central App.

Also, keep on the mind, the IoT Central is charging based on the number of provisioned devices.

Thanks
Roman

QuantumCache 20,031 Reputation points

2020-06-30T14:44:27.047+00:00

Hello @Rick Kotermanski , Just checking back, could you please let us know if you need further help in this matter.Please accept helpful responses as 'Answer', which will be helpful to others as well with similar question.

Rick Kotermanski 21 Reputation points

2020-07-03T14:29:32.91+00:00

We have the project on hold. Ideally there would be a better supported / documented route for connecting existing / already deployed industrial edge controllers / bridges that support IoT Hub with MQTT - but don't yet have the SDK. I am thinking about all of the existing equipment deployments and potential value of IoT Central for rapid development of solutions. Going back to replace or update deployed and embedded hardware is going to be a non-starter for many customers (if that is an interesting market for the product). I'd be happy to chat more about perspective and potential if it would help.)

António Sérgio Azevedo 7,661 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2020-07-06T19:01:18.763+00:00

@RickKotermanski-0950 have you considered looking at the solutions provided by Azure Industrial IoT Cloud Platform or Azure Sphere as a Guardian Module? You can then Set up Azure IoT Central to work with Azure Sphere.
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Ziggy Zulueta 455 Reputation points MVP

2023-01-26T16:26:47.3233333+00:00

hi, i wanted to ask if there is a way to connect devices from Azure IoT Hub to Azure IoT Central?
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Roman Kiss 2,241 Reputation points

2023-01-26T19:28:18.93+00:00

Hi,

I have just answered your question in the SO.

Thanks

Roman
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