Version: Next

Cumulocity Mapper

The Cumulocity mapper, referred to as c8y-mapper in the rest of this document, maps data in thin-edge.io format into their equivalent Cumulocity format.

Registration

Cumulocity keeps the record of all the registered devices and their associated metadata in its inventory. The c8y-mapper creates and maintains inventory entries for all the devices and services registered with thin-edge.io. The mapper subscribes to the following topics to get a list of all registered devices and services:

mosquitto_sub -t 'te/+' -t 'te/+/+' -t 'te/+/+/+' -t 'te/+/+/+/+'

The registration messages received for child devices and services are mapped as follows:

Child device

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/child01//

Payload
{
  "@type": "child-device",
  "name": "child01",
  "type": "SmartHomeHub"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

101,<main-device-id>:device:child01,child01,SmartHomeHub

Where the <main-device-id> is added as the prefix to the external id to avoid id clashes with devices using the same name in other tedge deployments connected to the same tenant.

Child device with explicit id

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/child01//

Payload
{
  "@type": "child-device",
  "@id": "child01",
  "name": "child01",
  "type": "SmartHomeHub"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

101,child01,child01,SmartHomeHub

Where the provided @id is directly used as the external id.

Nested child device

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/nested_child01//

Payload
{
  "@type": "child-device",
  "@parent": "device/child01//",
  "name": "nested_child01",
  "type": "BatterySensor"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us/<main-device-id>:device:child01

Payload

101,<main-device-id>:device:nested_child01,nested_child01,BatterySensor

Main device service

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main/service/nodered

Payload
{
  "@type": "service",
  "name": "Node-Red",
  "type": "systemd"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

102,<main-device-id>:device:main:service:nodered,systemd,Node-Red,up

Child device service

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/child01/service/nodered

Payload
{
  "@type": "service",
  "name": "Node-Red",
  "type": "systemd"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us/<main-device-id>:device:child01

Payload

102,<main-device-id>:device:child01:service:nodered,systemd,Node-Red,up

Where the unique external IDs to be used in the cloud are derived from the entity identifier subtopics, replacing the / characters with :.

note

The main device is registered with the cloud via the tedge connect c8y command execution and hence there is no mapping done for main device registration messages. Inventory data updates for the main device are handled differently.

Auto Registration of an entity

Before any data messages from an entity can be processed, the entity has to be registered first. The entity can be registered either explicitly or implicitly (Auto registration).

With auto-registration, an entity does not need to explicitly send a registration message, and the registration is done automatically by the mapper on receipt of the first message from that entity. But, auto-registration is allowed only when the entity follows the default topic scheme: te/device/<device-id>/service/<service-id>.

For example, sending a measurement message to te/device/child1///m/temperature will result in the auto-registration of the device entity with topic id: device/child1// and the auto-generated external id: <main-device-id>:device:child1, derived from the topic id. Similarly, a measurement message on te/device/child1/service/my-service/m/temperature results in the auto-registration of both the device entity: device/child1// and the service entity: device/child1/service/my-service with their respective auto-generated external IDs, in that order.

Pros:

No need to have a separate registration message for an entity. This would be ideal for simple devices where programming an additional registration logic is not possible ( e.g: simple sensors that can only generate telemetry messages).

Cons:

Auto-registration of all entities is not possible in complex deployments with nested/hierarchical devices, as the parent of a nested child device can't be identified solely from its topic id (e.g: te/device/nested-child//). The parent information must be provided explicitly using a registration message so that any nested child devices are not wrongly auto-registered as immediate child devices of the main device.
Auto-registration results in the auto-generation of the device external id as well. If the user wants more control over it, then an explicit registration must be done.

Auto-registration can be enabled/disabled based on the complexity of the deployment. For simpler deployments with just a single level child devices, following the default topic scheme, auto-registration can be kept enabled. For any complex deployments requiring external id customizations or with nested child devices, auto-registration must be disabled.

Auto-registration can be disabled using the following tedge config command:

sudo tedge config set c8y.entity_store.auto_register false

Auto-registration is enabled, by default. When the auto registration is disabled, and if the device is not explicitly registered, then the c8y-mapper will ignore all the data messages received from that device, logging that error message on the te/errors topic indicating that the entity is not registered.

Telemetry

Telemetry data types like measurements, events and alarms are mapped to their respective equivalents in Cumulocity as follows:

Measurement

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main///m/environment

Payload
{
  "temperature": 23.4
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/measurement/measurements/create

Payload
{
  "type": "environment",
  "time": "2021-04-22T17:05:26.958340390+00:00",
  "temperature": {
    "temperature": {
      "value": 23
    }
  }
}

Measurement without type

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main///m/

Payload
{
  "temperature": 23.4
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/measurement/measurements/create

Payload
{
  "type": "ThinEdgeMeasurement",
  "time": "2021-04-22T17:05:26.958340390+00:00",
  "temperature": {
    "temperature": {
      "value": 23
    }
  }
}

Measurement of child device

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/child01///m/

Payload
{
  "temperature": 23.4
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/measurement/measurements/create

Payload
{
  "externalSource":{
    "externalId":"<main-device-id>:device:child01",
    "type":"c8y_Serial"
  },
  "type":"ThinEdgeMeasurement",
  "time":"2013-06-22T17:03:14+02:00",
  "temperature":{
    "temperature":{
      "value":23
    }
  }
}

Measurement with unit

The unit is a metadata associated with measurements which can be registered as a metadata message for a given measurement type. If the following metadata message is registered for the environment measurement type:

tedge
mosquitto
mqtt

tedge mqtt pub -r 'te/device/main///m/environment/meta' '{
  "units": {
    "temperature": "°C"
  }
}'

mosquitto_pub -r -t 'te/device/main///m/environment/meta' -m '{
  "units": {
    "temperature": "°C"
  }
}'

Publish topic: retain=true

te/device/main///m/environment/meta

Payload
{
  "units": {
    "temperature": "°C"
  }
}

Then subsequent messages will be mapped with the registered unit value as follows.

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main///m/environment

Payload
{
  "temperature": 23.4
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/measurement/measurements/create

Payload
{
  "type": "environment",
  "time": "2021-04-22T17:05:26.958340390+00:00",
  "temperature": {
    "temperature": {
      "value": 23,
      "unit": "°C"
    }
  }
}

Events

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main///e/login_event

Payload
{
  "text": "A user just logged in",
  "time": "2021-01-01T05:30:45+00:00"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

400,login_event,"A user just logged in",2021-01-01T05:30:45+00:00

Event - Complex

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main///e/login_event

Payload
{
  "text": "A user just logged in",
  "time": "2021-01-01T05:30:45+00:00",
  "customFragment": {
    "nested": {
      "value": "extra info"
    }
  }
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/event/events/create

Payload
{
  "externalSource":{
    "externalId":"<main-device-id>",
    "type":"c8y_Serial"
  },
  "type":"login_event",
  "text":"A user just logged in",
  "time":"2021-01-01T05:30:45+00:00",
  "customFragment": {
    "nested": {
      "value": "extra info"
    }
  }
}

Alarms

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main///a/temperature_high

Payload
{
  "severity": "critical",
  "text": "Temperature is very high",
  "time": "2021-01-01T05:30:45+00:00"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

301,temperature_high,"Temperature is very high",2021-01-01T05:30:45+00:00

Alarm - Complex

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main///a/pressure_alarm

Payload
{
  "severity": "major",
  "time": "2023-01-25T18:41:14.776170774Z",
  "text": "Pressure alarm",
  "customFragment": {
    "nested": {
      "value": "extra info"
    }
  }
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/alarm/alarms/create

Payload
{
  "externalSource": {
    "externalId": "<main-device-id>",
    "type": "c8y_Serial"
  },
  "type": "pressure_alarm",
  "severity": "MAJOR",
  "time": "2023-01-25T18:41:14.776170774Z",
  "text": "Pressure alarm",
  "customFragment": {
    "nested": {
      "value": "extra info"
    }
  },
}

Health status

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic

te/device/main/service/my-service/status/health

Payload
{
  "status": "up",
  "pid": 21037
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/s/us/<service-external-id>

Payload

104,up

Twin

The twin metadata is mapped to inventory data in Cumulocity.

Twin - Main device

A device's digital twin model can be updated by publishing to a specific topic.

The type part of the topic is used to group the data so it is easier for components to subscribe to relevant parts.

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic (retain=true)

te/device/main///twin/device_OS

Payload
{
  "family": "Debian",
  "version": "11"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update/<main-device-id>

Payload
{
  "device_OS": {
    "family": "Debian",
    "version": "11"
  }
}

Twin - Child Device

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic (retain=true)

te/device/child01///twin/device_OS

Payload
{
  "family": "Debian",
  "version": "11"
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update/<main-device-id>:device:child01

Payload
{
  "device_OS": {
    "family": "Debian",
    "version": "11"
  }
}

Twin - Service on Main Device

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic (retain=true)

te/device/main/service/tedge-agent/twin/runtime_stats

Payload
{
  "memory": 3024,
  "uptime": 86400
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update/<main-device-id>:device:main:service:tedge-agent

Payload
{
  "runtime_stats": {
    "memory": 3.3,
    "uptime": 86400
  }
}

Twin - Service on Child Device

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic (retain=true)

te/device/child01/service/tedge-agent/twin/runtime_stats

Payload
{
  "memory": 3.3,
  "uptime": 86400
}

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update/<main-device-id>:device:child01:service:tedge-agent

Payload
{
  "runtime_stats": {
    "memory": 3.3,
    "uptime": 86400
  }
}

Twin data - Root fragments

Data can be added on the root level of the twin by publishing the values directly to the topic with the key used as type. The payload can be any valid JSON value other than a JSON object. JSON objects must be published to their typed topics directly.

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic (retain=true)

te/device/main///twin/subtype

Payload

"my-custom-type"

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update/<main-device-id>

Payload
{
  "subtype": "my-custom-type"
}

warning

Updating the following properties via the twin channel is not supported

name
type

as they are included in the entity registration message and can only be updated with another registration message.

Twin - Deleting a fragment

thin-edge.io (input)

Topic (retain=true)

te/device/child01/service/tedge-agent/twin/runtime_stats

Payload

<<empty>>

Cumulocity IoT (output)

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update/<main-device-id>:device:child01:service:tedge-agent

Payload
{
  "runtime_stats": null
}

Base inventory model

The contents of {tedge_config_dir}/device/inventory.json are used to populate the initial inventory fragments of the the main thin-edge.io device in Cumulocity. For example, if the inventory.json contains the following fragments:

inventory.json
{
  "c8y_Firmware": {
    "name": "raspberrypi-bootloader",
    "version": "1.20140107-1",
    "url": "31aab9856861b1a587e2094690c2f6e272712cb1"
  },
  "c8y_Hardware": {
    "model": "BCM2708",
    "revision": "000e",
    "serialNumber": "00000000e2f5ad4d"
  }
}

It is mapped to the following Cumulocity message:

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update

Payload
{
  "c8y_Agent": {
    "name": "thin-edge.io",
    "url": "https://thin-edge.io",
    "version": "x.x.x"
  },
  "c8y_Firmware": {
    "name": "raspberrypi-bootloader",
    "version": "1.20140107-1",
    "url": "31aab9856861b1a587e2094690c2f6e272712cb1"
  },
  "c8y_Hardware": {
    "model": "BCM2708",
    "revision": "000e",
    "serialNumber": "00000000e2f5ad4d"
  }
}

Where the c8y_Agent fragment is auto-generated by thin-edge.io and appended to the contents of the file before it is published.

The fragments in this file are also published to the te/device/main///twin/<fragment-key> topics so that the local twin metadata on the broker is also up-to-date and other components can also consume it. For example, the above inventory.json would result in the following twin messages:

Topic

te/device/main///twin/c8y_Agent

Payload
{
  "name": "thin-edge.io",
  "url": "https://thin-edge.io",
  "version": "x.x.x"
}

Topic

te/device/main///twin/c8y_Firmware

Payload
{
  "name": "raspberrypi-bootloader",
  "version": "1.20140107-1",
  "url": "31aab9856861b1a587e2094690c2f6e272712cb1"
}

Topic

te/device/main///twin/c8y_Hardware

Payload
{
  "model": "BCM2708",
  "revision": "000e",
  "serialNumber": "00000000e2f5ad4d"
}

warning

The following keys in the inventory.json file are also ignored:

name
type

as they are included in the entity registration message and can only be updated with another registration message.

Updating entity type in inventory

After updating the inventory with inventory.json file contents, the device type of the main device, set using the device.type tedge config key, is also updated in the inventory with the following message:

Topic

c8y/inventory/managedObjects/update

Payload
{
  "type": "configured-device-type"
}

Operations/Commands

Operations from Cumulocity are mapped to their equivalent commands in thin-edge.io format.

Supported Operations/Capabilities

All the supported operations of all registered devices can be derived from the metadata messages linked to their respective cmd topics with a simple subscription as follows:

mosquitto_sub -v -t 'te/+/+/+/+/cmd/+'

If that subscription returns the following messages:

Output
[te/device/main///cmd/restart] {}
[te/device/main///cmd/log_upload] { "types": ["tedge-agent", "mosquitto"] }
[te/device/child01///cmd/config_snapshot] { "types": ["mosquitto", "tedge", "collectd"] }
[te/device/child01///cmd/config_update] { "types": ["mosquitto", "tedge", "collectd"] }

The cmd metadata registered for both the main device and the child device child01 are mapped to the following supported operations messages:

[c8y/s/us] 114,c8y_Restart,c8y_LogfileRequest
[c8y/s/us/<main-device-id>:device:child01] 114,c8y_UploadConfigFile,c8y_DownloadConfigFile

The operation specific metadata like types for log_upload, config_snapshot and config_update are also mapped to their corresponding supported logs and supported configs messages as follows:

[c8y/s/us] 118,"tedge-agent", "mosquitto"
[c8y/s/us/<main-device-id>:device:child01] 119,"mosquitto", "tedge", "collectd"

Device Restart

Request

Cumulocity IoT (input)

Topic

c8y/s/ds

Payload

510,<main-device-id>

thin-edge.io (output)

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/restart/<cmd-id>

Payload
{
    "status": "init"
}

Response

Even though operations on tedge can have different kinds of status for each operation type, the mapper recognizes and maps only the following status values as follows:

thin-edge.io (input) Cumulocity IoT (output)

thin-edge.io (input)	Cumulocity IoT (output)
Topic `te/device/main///cmd/restart/<cmd-id>` Payload `{ "status": "executing" }`	Topic `c8y/s/us` Payload `501,c8y_Restart`
Topic `te/device/main///cmd/restart/<cmd-id>` Payload `{ "status": "successful" }`	Topic `c8y/s/us` Payload `503,c8y_Restart`
Topic `te/device/main///cmd/restart/<cmd-id>` Payload `{ "status": "failed" }`	Topic `c8y/s/us` Payload `502,c8y_Restart`

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/restart/<cmd-id>

Payload
{
    "status": "executing"
}

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

501,c8y_Restart

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/restart/<cmd-id>

Payload
{
    "status": "successful"
}

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

503,c8y_Restart

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/restart/<cmd-id>

Payload
{
    "status": "failed"
}

Topic

c8y/s/us

Payload

502,c8y_Restart

All other status values are just ignored.

Restart: Child device

Cumulocity IoT (input)

Topic

c8y/s/ds

Payload

510,<main-device-id>:device:child01

thin-edge.io (output)

Topic

te/device/child01///cmd/restart

Payload

{}

Software Update

Cumulocity IoT (input)

Topic

c8y/s/ds

Payload

528,<main-device-id>,nodered::debian,1.0.0,<c8y-url>,install,collectd,5.7,,install,rolldice,1.16,,delete

thin-edge.io (output)

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/software_update/<cmd_id>

Payload
{
    "status": "init",
    "updateList": [
        {
            "type": "debian",
            "modules": [
                {
                    "name": "nodered",
                    "version": "1.0.0",
                    "url": "<tedge-url>",
                    "action": "install"
                },
                {
                    "name": "collectd",
                    "version": "5.7",
                    "action": "install"
                },
                {
                    "name": "rolldice",
                    "version": "1.16",
                    "action": "remove"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Where the collectd binary from the <c8y-url> is downloaded to the tedge file transfer repository by the mapper, and the local <tedge-url> of that binary is included in the mapped request.

Configuration Snapshot

Cumulocity IoT (input)

Topic

c8y/s/ds

Payload

526,<main-device-id>,collectd

thin-edge.io (output)

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/config_snapshot/<cmd_id>

Payload
{
    "status": "init",
    "type": "collectd",
    "url": "<tedge-url>"
}

Where the url is the target URL in the tedge file transfer repository to which the config snapshot must be uploaded.

Configuration Update

Cumulocity IoT (input)

Topic

c8y/s/ds

Payload

524,<main-device-id>,<c8y-url>,collectd

thin-edge.io (output)

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/config_update/<cmd_id>

Payload
{
    "status": "init",
    "type": "collectd",
    "url": "<tedge-url>"
}

Where the collectd configuration binary from the <c8y-url> is downloaded to the tedge file transfer repository by the mapper, and the local <tedge-url> of that binary is included in the mapped request.

Log Upload

Cumulocity IoT (input)

Topic

c8y/s/ds

Payload

522,<main-device-id>,tedge-agent,2013-06-22T17:03:14.000+02:00,2013-06-22T18:03:14.000+02:00,ERROR,1000

thin-edge.io (output)

Topic

te/device/main///cmd/log_upload/<cmd_id>

Payload
{
  "status": "init",
  "type": "tedge-agent",
  "tedgeUrl": "<tedge-url>",
  "dateFrom": "2013-06-22T17:03:14.000+02:00",
  "dateTo": "2013-06-23T18:03:14.000+02:00",
  "searchText": "ERROR",
  "lines": 1000
}

Where the url is the target URL in the tedge file transfer repository to which the config snapshot must be uploaded.

Registration​

Child device​

Child device with explicit id​

Nested child device​

Main device service​

Child device service​

Auto Registration of an entity​

Telemetry​

Measurement​

Measurement without type​

Measurement of child device​

Measurement with unit​

Events​

Event - Complex​

Alarms​

Alarm - Complex​

Health status​

Twin​

Twin - Main device​

Twin - Child Device​

Twin - Service on Main Device​

Twin - Service on Child Device​

Twin data - Root fragments​

Twin - Deleting a fragment​

Base inventory model​

Updating entity type in inventory​

Operations/Commands​

Supported Operations/Capabilities​

Device Restart​

Request​

Response​

Restart: Child device​

Software Update​

Configuration Snapshot​

Configuration Update​

Log Upload​

Registration

Child device

Child device with explicit id

Nested child device

Main device service

Child device service

Auto Registration of an entity

Telemetry

Measurement

Measurement without type

Measurement of child device

Measurement with unit

Events

Event - Complex

Alarms

Alarm - Complex

Health status

Twin

Twin - Main device

Twin - Child Device

Twin - Service on Main Device

Twin - Service on Child Device

Twin data - Root fragments

Twin - Deleting a fragment

Base inventory model

Updating entity type in inventory

Operations/Commands

Supported Operations/Capabilities

Device Restart

Request

Response

Restart: Child device

Software Update

Configuration Snapshot

Configuration Update

Log Upload