What is MQTT?
MQTT is a machine-to-machine (M2M)/"Internet of Things (IoT)" connectivity protocol. It was designed as an extremely lightweight publish/subscribe messaging transport. It is useful for connections with remote locations where a small code footprint is required and/or network bandwidth is at a premium.
MQTT monitoring
This package aims to collect published MQTT messages by subscribing to an MQTT broker and subscribing to a topic. The MQTT v3.1.1 protocol is supported over unencrypted TCP connections with the optional use of username and password credentials.
The topic is used to classify data received and extract text and numeric indicators by class of topic.
Requirements
MQTT (tcp/1883) allowed between the ServicePilot Agent and the MQTT broker.
A custom ServicePilot packages needs to be loaded into the configuration defining a class, indicators and an object named the same as the resource name for ServicePilot to receive data of this type from the ServicePilot MQTT Agent.
Installation
Before adding a resource to monitor, make certain that all pre-requisites are in place.
Follow the documentation to add a resource to ServicePilot.
Key field notes
General tab:
- MQTT broker IP address/FQDN: Specify the IP address, host name or FQDN of the MQTT broker, as resolvable by the machine on which ServicePilot Agent is running
- MQTT broker port: MQTT broker TCP port number. The default port number is 1883.
- MQTT broker username: MQTT broker client username, if required
- MQTT broker password: MQTT broker client password, if required
- Topic RegEx: Regular expression to match message topic and create variables from the named capture groups
- Package Naming: Package and class name that will be created. Variables extracted from Topic RegEx and Payload RegEx can be used. When extracting variables from the Payload RegEx, only the fieldname part of the variable name is used.
- Resource Naming: Name of the resource that will be created. Variables extracted from Topic RegEx and Payload RegEx can be used. When extracting variables from the Payload RegEx, only the fieldname part of the variable name is used.
- View Naming: Name of the view in which the resource will be created. Variables extracted from Topic RegEx and Payload RegEx can be used. When extracting variables from the Payload RegEx, only the fieldname part of the variable name is used.
- Payload RegEx: Regular expression to extract indicators. Each extraction group will produce an indicator. Indicator name can be set using named extraction groups (ex: (?<fieldname>.+)). To force text indicator type use (ex: (?<fieldname_str>.+). To force number indicator type with . decimal separator use (ex: (?<fieldname_valus>.+). To force number indicator type with , decimal separator use (ex: (?<fieldname_valfr>.+).
- Topic subscription filter: Optional topic subscription filter. Single-level wildcard example: myhome/groundfloor/+/temperature. Multi-level wildcard example: myhome/groundfloor/#
IP and Geolocation tab:
- IP address RegEx: Optional regular expression to extract a source IP address
- Latitude RegEx: Optional regular expression to extract a latitude
- Longitude RegEx: Optional regular expression to extract a longitude
In the Policies tab, specify the policy or policies to apply to the resource and thresholds
Notes
The first message receive with a topic that has not been seen before will create a resource and object based on the class of data sent by the ServicePilot MQTT Agent. This custom class needs to be loaded into the ServicePilot configuration in a custom package before data of this type can be accepted.
If more than one datapoint is received for an object in a minute, then an average is taken of the numeric indicator values and only the last value of the text inidcators are kept.
For example, if the Topic RegEx is mytopic/(?<pactype>device|sensor)/(?<host>.+) and Package Naming is iot-{pactype} when the message topic received is mytopic/sensor/server1 then the class iot-sensor will be used.
For example, using the same Topic RegEx, mytopic/(?<pactype>device|sensor)/(?<host>.+) and Resource Naming is iot-{pactype}-{host} when the message topic received is mytopic/sensor/server1, the resource and object name will be set to iot-sensor-server1.
When a message is received, the content is parsed using the Payload RegEx. This will extract text and numerical values and assign them to indicators based on the topic of the message. Indicators are named according to the extraction group name used and the field type is based on the extraction group name suffix.
Example Payload RegEx patterns:
| Pattern | Payload text | Extracted indicators |
|---|---|---|
| (.+) | String | indicator1=String(Text) |
| (.+)\s(\d+) | String 123 | indicator1=String(Text) indicator2=123(Number) |
| Temp:(?<temp_valus>-?\d+\.\d+) | Temp:24.0C | temp=24.0(Number) |
| Temp:(?<temp_valfr>-?\d+,\d+) | Temp:24,0C | temp=24.0(Number) |
| Temp:\s*(?<Temp_valus>-?\d+(?:\.\d+)?).*Status:\s*(?<Status_str>[^\s]+) | Temp: 34 C and Status: ok | Temp=34(Number) Status=ok(Text) |
How to install a mqtt resource?
- Use your ServicePilot OnPremise installation or a SaaS account.
- Add a new mqtt resource via the web interface (
/prmviewsor/prmresources) or via API (/prmpackagespage), the default ServicePilot agent or another agent will be provisioned automatically.
Details of the mqtt package are located in the
/prmpackagespage of the software.
Benefits
ServicePilot enables you to deliver IT services faster and more securely with automated discovery and advanced monitoring features.
By correlating the technology MQTT with APM and infrastructure monitoring, ServicePilot is able to provide a more comprehensive view of an organization's IT environment.
This allows IT teams to quickly identify and diagnose issues that may be impacting application performance, and take corrective action before end-users are affected.
Start with a free trial of our SaaS solution. Explore ourplans or contact us to find what works best for you.
