Configure MQTT Sparkplug™ B Database Items in Geo SCADA Expert

On a Geo SCADA Expert system, you configure the Geo SCADA Expert database so that entries in the database correspond to the plant and measuring instruments on your system. This section summarizes the database items that you need to configure to represent the MQTT Sparkplug B devices on your system.

In order to represent MQTT Sparkplug B devices, both the MQTT and the Sparkplug B extension components have to be installed and running on the Geo SCADA Expert servers on your system (see Confirm that the MQTT Sparkplug™ B Server Component is Installed).

When you configure MQTT Sparkplug B items in the Geo SCADA Expert database, many of the settings for those items need to correspond to the settings of the relevant MQTT Sparkplug B devices on your system. Some settings are either fixed (incorporated into the design of the physical device), or are configured by an engineer. You need to have access to, or an understanding of, the settings of the MQTT Sparkplug B devices on your system before you can configure the MQTT Sparkplug B database items successfully. For example, you need to specify the Metric Name of each MQTT Sparkplug B Point on your system.

You also need to be aware of which optional features are required for each driver item. Such features might include:

Alarm views
Alarm redirections
Historic data storage
User methods.

You can also use core Geo SCADA Expert features with driver database items, including Lists, Trends, actions, and Mimics. For actions that are specific to this particular driver, see the relevant section in this driver guide. For information on core actions, see Actions that are Common to Many Drivers in the Geo SCADA Expert Guide to Drivers. For information about Lists, Trends, and Mimics, see the core documentation.

In order for Geo SCADA Expert to communicate with MQTT Sparkplug B devices, you have to configure:

An MQTT Sparkplug B Broker item for each MQTT broker with which Geo SCADA Expert is to communicate using the MQTT Sparkplug B driver (see Configure an MQTT Sparkplug™ B Broker Item).
An MQTT Sparkplug B Group for each logical grouping of EoN nodes that are associated with a particular MQTT Sparkplug B Broker (see Configure an MQTT Sparkplug™ B Group).
An MQTT Sparkplug B EoN Node for each MQTT Edge of Nework (EoN) node on an MQTT Sparkplug B Broker (see Configure an MQTT Sparkplug™ B EoN Node).
An MQTT Sparkplug B EoN Device for each physical or logical device that is connected to an EoN node on an MQTT Sparkplug B Broker (see Configure an MQTT Sparkplug™ B Device).
An MQTT Sparkplug B EoN Point of the appropriate type (Analog, Digital, String, or Time) for each Sparkplug B metric that Geo SCADA Expert is to receive from an EoN node or Sparkplug B device (see Points that are Used on the MQTT Sparkplug™ B Driver).
Instead of manually creating each MQTT Sparkplug B Point individually, you can use the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action to create the required suite of points on the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device with which the points are to be associated. This means of point creation automatically associates the points with the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device from which the pick action was triggered. You can optionally use the feature with a Property Translation Table to specify any configuration properties that Geo SCADA Expert is to set to particular values when it creates the points. For more information, including essential checks to perform before using the pick action, see Create Points from Birth Metrics, and see Configure an MQTT Sparkplug™ B Property Translation Table.

To minimize the time that it takes to configure the required databases items for this driver, you may want to configure them in the order listed above, as Group configuration requires you to specify a Broker, and EoN Node configuration requires you to specify a Group, and so on.