description
This section explains how to perform the process of subscription and deployment of a private Thinger.io platform server.

SERVER DEPLOYMENT

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Install on Ubuntu (starting from 16.04)

The server can be installed in any architecture, like x86, amd64, arm64, or armhf, which is compatible with the Ubuntu Snap packages (on only Ubuntu OS, check out this page) . However, it is recommended to use 64 bit architectures, as the MongodB database is limited to 2GB of data in 32 bits systems.

It is highly recommended to update your Ubuntu installation before doing any other step by running this commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Install MongoDB

Thinger.io IoT platform requires a MongoDB server for storing some server information. So, the first step is to install a MongoDB Server in your host. The following information has been obtained from the official documentation. https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-ubuntu/

Notice that this steps are for amd64/arm64 architectures. If you are installing the server in a different system, you should check the specific install instructions for the architecture.

Import the public key used by the package management system.

The Ubuntu package management tools (i.e. dpkg and apt) ensure package consistency and authenticity by requiring that distributors sign packages with GPG keys. Issue the following command to import the MongoDB public GPG Key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv 0C49F3730359A14518585931BC711F9BA15703C6

Create a list file for MongoDB

Create the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-3.4.list list file:

echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 ] http://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu xenial/mongodb-org/3.4 multiverse" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-3.4.list

Reload local package database.

Issue the following command to reload the local package database:

sudo apt update

Install the MongoDB packages

sudo apt install -y mongodb-org

Make MongoDB run at startup

Edit the following file to make MongoDB run at startup as a service.

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

Then copy the following configuration and save the file.

[Unit]
Description=High-performance, schema-free document-oriented database
After=network.target

[Service]
User=mongodb
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mongod --quiet --config /etc/mongod.conf

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start MongoDB

Now, start the MongoDB instance and enable it as a system service.

sudo systemctl start mongodb
sudo systemctl enable mongodb

Check that MongoDB is running

sudo systemctl status mongodb

alvaro@supermicro:~$ sudo service mongod status
● mongod.service - High-performance, schema-free document-oriented database
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mongod.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since sáb 2017-01-21 10:56:13 CET; 9h ago
     Docs: https://docs.mongodb.org/manual
 Main PID: 3825 (mongod)
    Tasks: 87
   Memory: 77.5M
      CPU: 2min 35.209s
   CGroup: /system.slice/mongod.service
           └─3825 /usr/bin/mongod --quiet --config /etc/mongod.conf

ene 21 10:56:13 supermicro systemd[1]: Started High-performance, schema-free document-oriented database.

Install Thinger.io Maker Server

Snap Command

Installing the server is as easy as installing a snap package. Just type in your terminal.

sudo snap install thinger-maker-server

Ubuntu Store

You can also install the server by installing it from the Ubuntu Store. Just search for Thinger.io and the package should appear.

Check service status

You can check the status of the Thinger.io daemon service by running:

sudo service snap.thinger-maker-server.thingerd status

It should return a result like the following:

alvaro@supermicro:/var/snap/thinger-maker-server/common$ sudo service snap.thinger-maker-server.thingerd status
● snap.thinger-maker-server.thingerd.service - Service for snap application thinger-maker-server.thingerd
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/snap.thinger-maker-server.thingerd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since vie 2017-01-20 22:39:19 CET; 4s ago
  Process: 30329 ExecStart=/usr/bin/snap run thinger-maker-server.thingerd (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
 Main PID: 30340 (thingerd)
    Tasks: 49
   Memory: 8.4M
      CPU: 73ms
   CGroup: /system.slice/snap.thinger-maker-server.thingerd.service
           └─30340 thingerd --fork --runpath=/var/snap/thinger-maker-server/common

ene 20 22:39:19 supermicro systemd[1]: Starting Service for snap application thinger-maker-server.thingerd...
ene 20 22:39:19 supermicro systemd[1]: Started Service for snap application thinger-maker-server.thingerd.

At this moment you should be able to open a browser pointing to your server IP address, and the web console should appear, just like the cloud console.

Restart service

You can reload the service if you need to refresh config files.

sudo service snap.thinger-maker-server.thingerd restart

Stopping the service

Or you can just stop the service when required.

sudo service snap.thinger-maker-server.thingerd stop

Thinger.io Configuration

Config file

When using the snap package, the default config files, buckets exports, and logs are stored in:

/var/snap/thinger-maker-server/common/

{

  "deployment" : {
    "contact_email" : "[email protected]"
  },

  "ssl" : {
    "ssl_certificate" : "certificates/server.crt",
    "ssl_certificate_key" : "certificates/server.key",
    "tmp_dh_file" : "certificates/dh2048.pem",
    "ssl_ciphers" : "ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA:ECDHE-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA:AES256-GCM-SHA384:AES128-GCM-SHA256:AES256-SHA256:AES128-SHA256:AES256-SHA:AES128-SHA:DES-CBC3-SHA:HIGH:!aNULL:!eNULL:!EXPORT:!DES:!MD5:!PSK:!RC4",
    "ssl_prefer_server_ciphers" : true
  },

  "http_server" : {
    "address" : "0.0.0.0",
    "port" : "80",
    "ssl_port" : "443",
    "hosts" : [
      {
        "host": "*",
        "type": "rest",
        "cors": {
          "enabled" : true
        },
        "web_fallback" : {
          "enabled" : true,
          "root": "${SNAP}/console"
        }
      }
    ]
  },

  "thing_server" : {
    "address" : "0.0.0.0",
    "port" : "25200",
    "ssl_port" : "25202"
  },

  "database" : {
    "type" : "mongodb",
    "mongodb" : {
      "host" : "localhost",
      "database" : "thinger"
    }
  },

  "buckets" : {
    "storage" : {
      "type" : "mongodb",
      "mongodb" : {
        "host" : "localhost",
        "database" : "thinger_data",
        "table" : "buckets_data"
      }
    },
    "export" : {
      "type" : "filesystem",
      "filesystem" : {
        "export_path": "exports"
      }
    }
  },

  "util" : {
    "maxmind_database" : "data/GeoLite2-City.mmdb"
  },

  "log" : {
    "enabled" : false,
    "level" : "info",
    "output" : {
      "file" : {
        "enabled" : true,
        "flush" : true,
        "log_path" : "logs"
      },
      "clog" : {
        "enabled" : false
      }
    }
  },

  "rate_limiter" : {
    "enabled" : false,
    "type" : "memory"
  },

  "accounts" : {
    "invalid_usernames" : [],
    "invalid_email_domains" : [],
    "required_email_domains" : [],
    "require_email_verification": false,
    "min_password_length" : 6,
    "limits" : {
      "devices" : {
        "max_count" : -1
      },
      "buckets" : {
        "max_count" : -1,
        "min_interval" : -1
      },
      "endpoints" : {
        "max_count" : -1,
        "min_interval" : -1
      },
      "dashboards" : {
        "max_count" : -1
      },
      "tokens" : {
        "max_count" : -1
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure SMTP Server

It is possible to configure an SMTP Server for sending emails through the endpoints, for the sign in process, forgot password, etc. Just add another field with the following information. The following is an example for Gmail:

"email" : {
    "type" : "smtp",
    "domain" : "gmail.com",
    "sender" : "alvarolb",
    "smtp" : {
        "host" : "smtp.gmail.com",
        "port" : "465",
        "username" : "[email protected]",
        "password" : "your app password goes here (required if 2FA is enabled)",
        "secure" : true
    }
},

Upgrade Server

Snap Command

It is possible to upgrade the server just by doing a snap refresh, like:

sudo snap refresh thinger-maker-server

Note: Take into account that the config file will not replaced after a refresh. So, if new configurable parameters are available, they should be copied manually after the upgrade process.

It is also possible to upgrade from BETA channels to get the latests versions (which can be unstable):

sudo snap refresh thinger-maker-server --beta

Connect the devices to your server

Arduino Devices

Connecting the devices to your own server, does not require a complex setup. In your sketch, just add a definition to your server, by adding the THINGER_SERVER define pointing you your server IP Address or host name, as in the following example:

#define THINGER_SERVER "192.168.1.120"

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <ThingerESP8266.h>

#define USERNAME "your_user_name"
#define DEVICE_ID "your_device_id"
#define DEVICE_CREDENTIAL "your_device_credential"

#define SSID "your_wifi_ssid"
#define SSID_PASSWORD "your_wifi_ssid_password"

ThingerESP8266 thing(USERNAME, DEVICE_ID, DEVICE_CREDENTIAL);

void setup() {
  pinMode(BUILTIN_LED, OUTPUT);

  thing.add_wifi(SSID, SSID_PASSWORD);

  // digital pin control example (i.e. turning on/off a light, a relay, configuring a parameter, etc)
  thing["led"] << digitalPin(BUILTIN_LED);

  // resource output example (i.e. reading a sensor value)
  thing["millis"] >> outputValue(millis());

  // more details at http://docs.thinger.io/arduino/
}

void loop() {
  thing.handle();
}

Note: The THINGER_SERVER definition must appear before any other includes in the Sketch.