On-premise IoTRoutes

       You can easily install an IoT Routes environment in your data center by downloading from github.com and installing the binaries on web servers of your choice. A minimal installation consists of:

1. Install and configure a MongoDB database instance
2. Install and configure the AOS server provided by IoTRoutes.
3. Install and configure the IoTRoutes web client.

1. Database servers

          IoTRoutes uses NoSQL databases for application configuration and to store IoT messages, as well as generated media or document files. MongoDB is optimized for the application and is also recommended for all on-premises installations. You can consult the documentation on the official MongoDB website for installation or cloud usage.

In production, it is strongly recommended to create separate databases for data and others for documents, generated reports, and media files.

2. IotRoutes AOS

IoT Routes AOS is deployed on a web server. After downloading and unzipping the files from the release page at https://github.com/IoTRoutes/iotroutes , please follow these steps to install and configure your servers.

  Windows : 

• Prerequisites: 
  • Windows Server (2012 R2 or later recommended)
  • IIS installed (Web Server (IIS) role in Server Manager)
  • .NET Hosting Bundle installed (matches AOS version downloaded, see downlod comments).
• Steps:
  1. Install and configure IIS as described in the official documentation, see this link.
  2. Install the .NET Core/.NET Hosting Bundle: From the link https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet, search for "ASP.NET Core Runtime Hosting Bundle", download and install the program, then restart the server.
  3. Create a root folder to host the AOS under your IIS, for example, C:\inetpub\wwwroot\IoTRoutes-AOS, and copy the unzipped files you downloaded earlier.
  4. Open IIS Manager if it is still closed and configure the web application as follows:
     1. Add the AOS website: Right-click "Sites" and "Add Website." Enter the site name "IoTRoutes-AOS" and the path "C:\inetpub\wwwroot\IoTRoutes-AOS" (based on the folder created in step 3).
     2. Adjust the entries in the appsettings.json configuration file. This file contains the settings that allow the AOS to function. Please see the section below for the configuration file structure.
     3. Set the Application Pool to "No Managed Code": In the Application Pools window, search for or create the pool you want to use. Right-click the name and then click "Settings." Set the .NET CLR version to "No Managed Code." and set "Managed Pipeline Mode" to "Integrated."
     4. Check Permissions and Firewall: Ensure the folder has read/execute permissions for IIS_IUSRS and IUSR. The log folder must have Write/Modify permissions.
     5. Allow inbound traffic on the port you configured IIS to listen on (default: 80 or 443 for HTTPS).
     6. Restart the pool and test your site: Using a web browser, access http://<server-ip>/swagger/index.html

Ubuntu

To host IoTRoutes on Ubuntu, we use Kestrel as the web server and Nginx as the reverse proxy. Here are the main steps to follow for deployment on Ubuntu (20.04 or later). For more details on Linux commands, please refer to the appropriate documentation.

1. Install the .NET SDK or Runtime on Ubuntu

   1. Add Microsoft apt repository
   2. Install the Runtime (.NET Core/ASP.NET)

   sudo apt install -y aspnetcore-runtime-8.0

2. Publish the AOS application to the server

   On your workstation, where the IoTRoutes AOS files are unzipped, please open the appsettings.json configuration file and adjust the values according to your platform, such as the server address and the databases used. Please see the section below which describes the configuration file structure.

   Then transfer the folder to your server, for example via SCP or rsync:

   scp -r ./publish user@your-server-ip:/var/www/iotroutesAOS

3. Create a systemd service for the AOS application

   1. create the file :  

      sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/iotroutesAOS.service

   2. For the contents of the file, please see the Ubuntu documentation..

   3. Save, then run

      sudo systemctl daemon-reexec
      sudo systemctl daemon-reload
      sudo systemctl enable iotRoutesApi
      sudo systemctl start iotRoutesApi

4. Test the AOS : sudo systemctl status iotroutesAOS
5. Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy
   1. Install Nginx :  sudo apt install nginx
   2. Create an Nginx config file: sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/iotroutesAOS
   3. Edit content, please see Nginx documentation.

   4. Activate the site :

      sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/iotroutesAOS /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
      sudo nginx -t   
      sudo systemctl restart nginx

   5. Access and test the AOS web application

      curl http://your-domain.com/iotroutesAOS/swagger

AOS configuration file

The file appsettings.json, contains configuration information such as database access settings and others.

• mongodbDataConnectionString : MongoDB database server connection string for Data database, example: mongodb://admin1:password1@serverName1:27017
• mongodbDataDbName : The application Data  database name .
• mongodbFilesConnectionString :  MongoDB database server connection string for files, documents and medias server,  For small infrastructure, you can use the same database.
• mongodbFilesDbName: The application files buckets database name .
• Jwt_TokenLifetime :JWT Token expiration time for authentication in hh:mm:ss format
• Jwt_RefreshDuration :  JWT Refresh Token expiration time.
• MQTTEndPointsURL : For very large installations, this key contains the path to the MQTT port reservation strategy file. In case you want to create multiple AOSs and/or multiple Brokers per AOS. A template MQTTEndPoints file is provided under the AOS folder with the name MQTTEndPoints_template.json

• DefaultAdmin : For a new installation with an initial database, this section allows you to define the information for the first administrator account to be created and which will receive notifications. The default account is "admin" and you should specify a temporary password here that you will later change from the web client.

   

Load balancing on a local environment

In large environments, multiple AOS instances can be run in parallel, leveraging a database configured for horizontal scaling and load balancing.

You can create one or more primary AOSs and one or more additional AOSs for load balancing. Each primary AOS contains its own database and zero or more additional environments to distribute work, message processing, or user access. 

Below is a diagram for an example of an environment with 3 AOSs sharing the same database. The first AOS is dedicated solely to communicating with devices for receiving messages and sending commands. The second AOS is reserved for jobs and batch processing, while the third AOS is dedicated to user access via the web client or mobile applications.

Next : IoTRoutes on-premise Web Client