The node.js client is used for simplifying the interaction with the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform. The following libraries contain instructions and guidance on using the nodejs ibmiotf node to interact with devices and applications within your organizations.
This client library is divided into three parts, Device, ManagedDevice and Application. The Devices section contains information on how devices publish events and handle commands using the nodejs ibmiotf module, ManagedDevice section contains information on how you can manage the device. More information on device management can be found here.. The Applications section contains information on how applications can use the nodejs ibmiotf module to interact with devices.
This library supports to be loaded in node.js and the browser.
The client code is in the src folder and the tests are in the test folder.
All code is written in JavaScript 6 and automatically transpiled to JavaScript 5 for testing and building the production version of the library.
- clone repo
npm install -g babel mochanpm install
npm run test- run the tests oncenpm run test:watch- run the tests in watch modenpm build- build the client and browser bundles
var Client = require('ibmiotf');Note: When this client library is used in the Node.js environment, it will use tcp/tls. But if a user wants to use websockets in Node.js, the user must add a new property enforce-ws in the configuration.
Note: From version 0.2.34, the user must build the library using the below command to get the necessary javascript files to use the library in browser.
npm run buildLoad the generated javascript file - iotf-client-bundle.js or iotf-client-bundle-min.js from the dist directory to your web application. Check out the sample on how to use the generated library in your web application.
| Feature | Supported? | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Device connectivity | ✔ | Connect your device(s) to Watson IoT Platform with ease using this library. Click here for detailed information on how devices can publish events and handle commands. |
| Gateway connectivity | ✔ | Connect your gateway(s) to Watson IoT Platform with ease using this library. Click here for detailed information on how gateways can publish events and handle commands for itself and for the attached devices. |
| Application connectivity | ✔ | Connect your application(s) to Watson IoT Platform with ease using this library. Click here for detailed information on how applications can subscribe to device events and publish commands to devices. |
| Watson IoT API | ✔ | Shows how applications can use this library to interact with the Watson IoT Platform through REST APIs. Click here for more information. |
| SSL/TLS support | ✔ | By default, this library connects your devices, gateways and applications securely to Watson IoT Platform registered service. Ports 8883(default one) and 443 support secure connections using TLS with the MQTT and HTTP protocol. Also, use the enforce-ws setting in order to connect your device/gateway/application over WebSockets. Also, note that the library uses port 1883(unsecured) to connect to the Quickstart service. |
| Client side Certificate based authentication | ✔ | Click here for more information on how to use Client side Certificates |
| Device Management | ✔ | Connects your device/gateway as managed device/gateway to Watson IoT Platform. |
| Device Management Extension(DME) | ✘ | Device Management Extension(DME) not supported now and will be added soon. |
| Scalable Application | ✔ | Provides support for load balancing for applications. Click here for more information about how to enable scalable application support using this library. |
| Auto reconnect | ✔ | When the connection is lost, the client library automatically tries to reconnect to the Watson IoT platform |
| Websocket | ✔ | Enables device/gateway/application to connect to Watson IoT Platform using WebSockets. To enable this feature, set enforce-ws option to true. |
| Event/Command publish using MQTT | ✔ | Enables device/gateway/application to publish messages using MQTT. Refer to Device, Gateway and Application section for more information. |
| Event/Command publish using HTTP | ✔ | Enables device/gateway/application to publish messages using HTTP. |
DeviceClient is device client for the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform service. You can use this client to connect to the service, publish events from the device and subscribe to commands.
The constructor builds the device client instance. It accepts a configuration JSON containing the following:
- org - Your organization ID
- type - The type of your device
- id - The ID of your device
- auth-method - Method of authentication (the only value currently supported is “token”)
- auth-token - API key token (required if auth-method is “token”)
- domain - (Optional)The messaging endpoint URL. By default, the value is "internetofthings.ibmcloud.com"(Watson IoT Production server).
- enforce-ws - (Optional)Enforce Websocket when using the library in Node.js
- use-client-certs - (Optional) Enforces use of client side certificates when specified as true
- server-ca - (Optional) Specifies the custom server certificate signed using device key
- client-ca - (Mandatory when use-client-certs:true) Specifies the path to device-client CA certificate
- client-cert - (Mandatory when use-client-certs:true) Specifies the path to device-client certificate
- client-key - (Mandatory when use-client-certs:true) Specifies the path to device-client key
- client-key-passphrase - (Optional) Specifies the passphrase for the device-client key if exists
If you want to use quickstart, then enter only the first three properties.
var Client = require("ibmiotf");
var config = {
"org" : "organization",
"id" : "deviceId",
"domain": "internetofthings.ibmcloud.com",
"type" : "deviceType",
"auth-method" : "token",
"auth-token" : "authToken"
};
var deviceClient = new Client.IotfDevice(config);
....
If you want to use registered mode with Client Side Certificates, you need to have use-client-certs defined to true and client-ca, client-cert and client-key referring to appropriate paths as shown below:
var Client = require("ibmiotf");
var config = {
"org" : "organization",
"id" : "deviceId",
"domain": "internetofthings.ibmcloud.com",
"type" : "deviceType",
"auth-method" : "token",
"auth-token" : "authToken",
"use-client-certs": [true / false],
"server-ca": "path to custom server certificate", # Optional, if there is custom server certificate, then can be used
"client-ca": "path to device-client ca certificate",
"client-cert": "path to device-client certificate",
"client-key": "path to device-client key"
};
var deviceClient = new Client.IotfDevice(config);
....
Connect to the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform by calling the connect function
deviceClient.connect();
deviceClient.on('connect', function () {
//Add your code here
});
....
After the successful connection to the IoTF service, the device client emits connect event. So all the device logic can be implemented inside this callback function.
The Device Client automatically tries to reconnect when it loses connection. When the reconnection is successful, the client emits reconnect event.
By default, all the logs of warn are logged. If you want to enable more logs, use the log.setLevel function. Supported log levels - trace, debug, info, warn, error.
deviceClient.connect();
//setting the log level to 'trace'
deviceClient.log.setLevel('trace');
deviceClient.on('connect', function () {
//Add your code here
});
....
Events are the mechanism by which devices publish data to the Internet of Things Platform. The device controls the content of the event and assigns a name for each event it sends.
When an event is received by the IOT Platform the credentials of the connection on which the event was received are used to determine from which device the event was sent. With this architecture it is impossible for a device to impersonate another device.
Events can be published at any of the three quality of service levels defined by the MQTT protocol. By default events will be published as qos level 0.
Events can be published by using
- eventType - Type of event to be published e.g status, gps
- eventFormat - Format of the event e.g json
- data - Payload of the event. Supported formats for data are String, Buffer and JSON
- QoS - qos for the publish event. Supported values : 0,1,2
var deviceClient = new Client.IotfDevice(config);
deviceClient.connect();
deviceClient.on("connect", function () {
//publishing event using the default quality of service
deviceClient.publish("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
//publishing event using the user-defined quality of service
var myQosLevel=2
deviceClient.publish("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}', myQosLevel);
});
....
The device events can also be sent using HTTP instead of JSON.
var deviceClient = new Client.IotfDevice(config);
//setting the log level to trace. By default its 'warn'
deviceClient.log.setLevel('debug');
deviceClient.publishHTTPS('myevt', 'json', '{"value": 23 }').then(function onSuccess (argument) {
console.log("Success");
console.log(argument);
}, function onError (argument) {
console.log("Fail");
console.log(argument);
});
....
When the device client connects, it automatically subscribes to any command for this device. To process specific commands you need to register a command callback function. The device client emits command when a command is received. The callback function has the following properties
- commandName - name of the command invoked
- format - e.g json, xml
- payload - payload for the command
- topic - actual topic where the command was received
var deviceClient = new Client.IotfDevice(config);
deviceClient.connect();
deviceClient.on("connect", function () {
//publishing event using the default quality of service
deviceClient.publish("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
});
deviceClient.on("command", function (commandName,format,payload,topic) {
if(commandName === "blink") {
console.log(blink);
//function to be performed for this command
blink(payload);
} else {
console.log("Command not supported.. " + commandName);
}
});
....
When the device clients encounters an error, it emits an error event.
var deviceClient = new Client.IotfDevice(config);
deviceClient.connect();
deviceClient.on("connect", function () {
//publishing event using the default quality of service
deviceClient.publish("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
});
deviceClient.on("error", function (err) {
console.log("Error : "+err);
});
....
Disconnects the client and releases the connections
var deviceClient = new Client.IotfDevice(config);
deviceClient.connect();
client.on("connect", function () {
//publishing event using the default quality of service
client.publish("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
//publishing event using the user-defined quality of service
var myQosLevel=2
client.publish("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}', myQosLevel);
//disconnect the client
client.disconnect();
});
....
ApplicationClient is application client for the Internet of Things Platform service. This section contains information on how applications interact with devices.
The constructor builds the application client instance. It accepts an configuration json containing the following :
- org - Your organization ID
- id - The unique ID of your application within your organization.
- auth-key - API key
- auth-token - API key token
- type - use 'shared' to enable shared subscription
- domain - (Optional)The messaging endpoint URL. By default the value is "internetofthings.ibmcloud.com"(Watson IoT Production server).
- enforce-ws - (Optional)Enforce Websocket when using the library in Node.js If you want to use quickstart, then send only the first two properties.
var Client = require("ibmiotf");
var appClientConfig = {
"org" : orgId,
"id" : appId,
"domain": "internetofthings.ibmcloud.com",
"auth-key" : apiKey,
"auth-token" : apiToken
}
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
....
Connect to the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform by calling the connect function
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
//Add your code here
});
....
After the successful connection to the IoTF service, the application client emits connect event. So all the logic can be implemented inside this callback function.
The Application Client automatically tries to reconnect when it loses connection. When the reconnection is successful, the client emits reconnect event.
By default, all the logs of warn are logged. If you want to enable more logs, use the log.setLevel function. Supported log levels - trace, debug, info, warn, error.
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
//setting the log level to 'trace'
appClient.log.setLevel('trace');
appClient.on("connect", function () {
//Add your code here
});
....
Use this feature to build scalable applications which will load balance messages across multiple instances of the application. To enable this, pass 'type' as 'shared' in the configuration.
var appClientConfig = {
org: 'xxxxx',
id: 'myapp',
"auth-key": 'a-xxxxxx-xxxxxxxxx',
"auth-token": 'xxxxx!xxxxxxxx',
"type" : "shared" // make this connection as shared subscription
};
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
//Add your code here
});
appClient.on("error", function (err) {
console.log("Error : "+err);
});
....
When the application clients encounters an error, it emits an error event.
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
//Add your code here
});
appClient.on("error", function (err) {
console.log("Error : "+err);
});
....
Events are the mechanism by which devices publish data to the Internet of Things Platform. The device controls the content of the event and assigns a name for each event it sends.
When an event is received by the IOT Platform the credentials of the connection on which the event was received are used to determine from which device the event was sent. With this architecture it is impossible for a device to impersonate another device.
By default, applications will subscribe to all events from all connected devices. Use the type, id, event and msgFormat parameters to control the scope of the subscription. A single client can support multiple subscriptions. The code samples below give examples of how to subscribe to devices dependent on device type, id, event and msgFormat parameters.
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceEvents();
});
....
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceEvents("mydeviceType");
});
....
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceEvents("+","+","myevent");
});
....
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceEvents("myDeviceType","device01","myevent");
appClient.subscribeToDeviceEvents("myOtherDeviceType","device02","myevent");
});
....
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceEvents("myDeviceType","device01","+","json");
});
....
To process the events received by your subscriptions you need to implement an device event callback method. The ibmiotf application client emits the event deviceEvent. This function has the following properties
- deviceType
- deviceId
- eventType
- format
- payload - Device event payload
- topic - Original topic
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceEvents("myDeviceType","device01","+","json");
});
appClient.on("deviceEvent", function (deviceType, deviceId, eventType, format, payload) {
console.log("Device Event from :: "+deviceType+" : "+deviceId+" of event "+eventType+" with payload : "+payload);
});
....
By default, this will subscribe to status updates for all connected devices. Use the type and id parameters to control the scope of the subscription. A single client can support multiple subscriptions.
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceStatus();
});
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceStatus("myDeviceType");
});
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceStatus("myDeviceType","device01");
appClient.subscribeToDeviceStatus("myOtherDeviceType","device02");
});
To process the status updates received by your subscriptions you need to implement an device status callback method. The ibmiotf application client emits the event deviceStatus. This function has the following properties
- deviceType
- deviceId
- payload - Device status payload
- topic
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
appClient.subscribeToDeviceStatus("myDeviceType","device01");
appClient.subscribeToDeviceStatus("myOtherDeviceType","device02");
});
appClient.on("deviceStatus", function (deviceType, deviceId, payload, topic) {
console.log("Device status from :: "+deviceType+" : "+deviceId+" with payload : "+payload);
});
Applications can publish events as if they originated from a Device. The function requires
- DeviceType
- Device ID
- Event Type
- Format
- Data
Supported formats for data are String, Buffer and JSON
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
var myData={'name' : 'foo', 'cpu' : 60, 'mem' : 50};
myData = JSON.stringify(myData);
appClient.publishDeviceEvent("myDeviceType","device01", "myEvent", "json", myData);
});
Applications can publish events as if they originated from a Device. This method uses HTTP instead of MQTT to send messages
- DeviceType
- Device ID
- Event Type
- Format
- Data
Supported formats for data are text, JSON and XML. The 'Content-Type' will be set as application/json or application/xml
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.publishHTTPS("raspi", "pi01", "eventType", "json", { d : { 'temp' : 32}}). then (function onSuccess (argument) {
console.log("Success");
console.log(argument);
}, function onError (argument) {
console.log("Fail");
console.log(argument);
});
Applications can publish commands to connected devices. The function requires
- DeviceType
- Device ID
- Command Type
- Format
- Data
Supported formats for data are String, Buffer and JSON
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
var myData={'DelaySeconds' : 10};
myData = JSON.stringify(myData);
appClient.publishDeviceCommand("myDeviceType","device01", "reboot", "json", myData);
});
Disconnects the client and releases the connections
var appClient = new Client.IotfApplication(appClientConfig);
appClient.connect();
appClient.on("connect", function () {
var myData={'DelaySeconds' : 10}
appClient.publishDeviceCommand("myDeviceType","device01", "reboot", "json", myData);
appClient.disconnect();
});
GatewayClient is Gateway client for the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform service. You can use this client to connect to the platform, publish gateway events, publish device events on behalf of the devices, subscribe to both gateway and device commands.
The constructor builds the Gateway client instance. It accepts an configuration json containing the following :
- org - Your organization ID
- type - The type of your gateway
- id - The ID of your gateway
- auth-method - Method of authentication (the only value currently supported is “token”)
- auth-token - API key token (required if auth-method is “token”)
- domain - (Optional)The messaging endpoint URL. By default the value is "internetofthings.ibmcloud.com"(Watson IoT Production server).
- enforce-ws - (Optional)Enforce Websocket when using the library in Node.js
- use-client-certs - (Optional) Enforces use of client side certificates when specified as true
- server-ca - (Optional) Specifies the custom server certificate signed using gateway key
- client-ca - (Mandatory when use-client-certs:true) Specifies the path to gateway-client CA certificate
- client-cert - (Mandatory when use-client-certs:true) Specifies the path to gateway-client certificate
- client-key - (Mandatory when use-client-certs:true) Specifies the path to gateway-client key
- client-key-passphrase - (Optional) Specifies the passphrase for the gateway-client key if exists
var Client = require("ibmiotf");
var config = {
"org" : "organization",
"type" : "gatewayType",
"id" : "gatewayId",
"domain": "internetofthings.ibmcloud.com",
"auth-method" : "token",
"auth-token" : "authToken",
"use-client-certs": [true / false],
"server-ca": "path to custom server certificate", # Optional, if there is custom server certificate, then can be used
"client-ca": "path to gateway-client ca certificate",
"client-cert": "path to gateway-client certificate",
"client-key": "path to gateway-client key"
};
var gatewayClient = new iotf.IotfGateway(config);
....
Connect to the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform by calling the connect function
gatewayClient.connect();
gatewayClient.on('connect', function(){
//Add your code here
});
....
After the successful connection to the platform, the gateway client emits connect event. So all the programming logic can be implemented inside this callback function.
The Gateway Client automatically tries to reconnect when it loses connection. When the reconnection is successful, the client emits reconnect event.
By default, all the logs of warn are logged. If you want to enable more logs, use the log.setLevel function. Supported log levels - trace, debug, info, warn, error.
//setting the log level to trace. By default its 'warn'
gatewayClient.log.setLevel('debug');
gatewayClient.connect();
gatewayClient.on('connect', function() {
//Add your code here
});
....
Events are the mechanism by which devices publish data to the IBM Watson Internet of Things Platform. The gateway controls the content of the event and assigns a name for each event it sends.
Events can be published at any of the three quality of service levels defined by the MQTT protocol. By default events will be published as qos level 0.
Events can be published by using
- eventType - Type of event to be published e.g status, gps
- eventFormat - Format of the event e.g json
- data - Payload of the event. Supported formats for data are String, Buffer and JSON
- QoS - qos for the publish event. Supported values : 0,1,2
A gateway can publish events from itself and on behalf of any device connected via the gateway.
var gatewayClient = new iotf.IotfGateway(config);
//setting the log level to trace. By default its 'warn'
gatewayClient.log.setLevel('debug');
gatewayClient.connect();
gatewayClient.on('connect', function(){
//publishing gateway events using the default quality of service
gatewayClient.publishGatewayEvent("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
//publishing event using the user-defined quality of service
var myQosLevel=2
gatewayClient.publishGatewayEvent("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}', myQosLevel);
});
....
The Gateway can publish the device events on behalf of the device that is connected to the Gateway. Function publishDeviceEvent needs device Type and the Device Id to publish the device events.
var gatewayClient = new iotf.IotfGateway(config);
//setting the log level to trace. By default its 'warn'
gatewayClient.log.setLevel('debug');
gatewayClient.connect();
gatewayClient.on('connect', function(){
//publishing device events with deviceType 'Raspi' and deviceId 'pi01' using the default quality of service
gatewayClient.publishDeviceEvent("Raspi","pi01", "status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
//publishing event using the user-defined quality of service
var myQosLevel=2
gatewayClient.publishDeviceEvent("Raspi","pi01","status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}', myQosLevel);
});
....
Commands are the mechanism by which applications can communicate with devices. Only applications can send commands, which must be issued to specific devices.
The Gateways can receive gateway commands as well as Device commands on behalf of the device. Function subscribeToGatewayCommand is to be used to subscribe to a Gateway command and subscribeToDeviceCommand is to be used to subscribe to a Device command for the device connected to the gateway. To unsubscribe to commands, you can use the functions unsubscribeToGatewayCommand and unsubscribeToDeviceCommand.
To process specific commands you need to register a command callback function. The device client emits command when a command is eceived. The callback function has the following properties
- type - type of the Gateway/Device.
- id - id of the Gateway/Device.
- commandName - name of the command invoked
- format - e.g json, xml
- payload - payload for the command
- topic - actual topic where the command was received
var gatewayClient = new iotf.IotfGateway(config);
//setting the log level to trace. By default its 'warn'
gatewayClient.log.setLevel('debug');
gatewayClient.connect();
gatewayClient.on('connect', function(){
//subscribe to command "blink" for the device with Type 'raspi' and id 'pi2'
gatewayClient.subscribeToDeviceCommand('raspi','pi2','blink');
//subscribe to all commands for the device with Type 'raspi' and id 'pi3'
gatewayClient.subscribeToDeviceCommand('raspi','pi3');
//subscribe to command 'blink' for this gateway.
gatewayClient.subscribeToGatewayCommand('blink');
//unsubscribe command function
gatewayClient.unsubscribeToGatewayCommand('blink');
gatewayClient.unsubscribeToDeviceCommand('raspi','pi2','blink');
});
gatewayClient.on('command', function(type, id, commandName, commandFormat, payload, topic){
console.log("Command received");
console.log("Type: %s ID: %s \nCommand Name : %s Format: %s",type, id, commandName, commandFormat);
console.log("Payload : %s",payload);
});
....
When the device clients encounters an error, it emits an error event.
var gatewayClient = new iotf.IotfGateway(config);
//setting the log level to trace. By default its 'warn'
gatewayClient.log.setLevel('debug');
gatewayClient.connect();
gatewayClient.on('connect', function(){
//publishing gateway events using the default quality of service
gatewayClient.publishGatewayEvent("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
//publishing event using the user-defined quality of service
var myQosLevel=2
gatewayClient.publishGatewayEvent("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}', myQosLevel);
});
gatewayClient.on("error", function (err) {
console.log("Error : "+err);
});
....
Disconnects the client and releases the connections
var gatewayClient = new iotf.IotfGateway(config);
//setting the log level to trace. By default its 'warn'
gatewayClient.log.setLevel('debug');
gatewayClient.connect();
gatewayClient.on('connect', function(){
//publishing gateway events using the default quality of service
gatewayClient.publishGatewayEvent("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}');
//publishing event using the user-defined quality of service
var myQosLevel=2
gatewayClient.publishGatewayEvent("status","json",'{"d" : { "cpu" : 60, "mem" : 50 }}', myQosLevel);
//disconnect the client
gatewayClient.disconnect();
});
....
The API documentation can be found here.