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Important
Devices (preview) are new in version 1.2.x of Azure IoT Operations. To view the asset endpoint documentation, see Asset management overview on the previous versions site.
Azure IoT Operations uses the terms namespace asset and device to refer to configuration resources. These configuration resources don't map directly to the physical assets and devices in your environment. Instead, they define how a connector in Azure IoT Operations connects to and interacts with the physical assets and devices in your environment. In Azure IoT Operations:
- A device (preview) is a configuration resource that encapsulates the connection information required to connect to one or more physical devices or assets.
- A namespace asset (preview) is a configuration resource that encapsulates information about the data that a physical asset or device exchanges with IoT Operations.
Asset data points, streams, and events define the data that's collected from a physical asset or device.
An IT user adds connector templates in the Azure portal. A connector template defines a type of connector, such as the media connector, that an OT user can configure in the operations experience.
Cloud and edge resources
Azure Device Registry registers assets and devices as Azure resources. Azure Device Registry also syncs these cloud resources to the edge as Kubernetes custom resources.
You can create, edit, and delete devices and assets by using the Azure IoT Operations CLI or the operations experience web UI. For more information, see Manage asset configurations.
Devices
Before you can create an asset, you need to define a device. A device is a profile that describes southbound edge connectivity information for one or more assets.
Currently, the only southbound connectors available in Azure IoT Operations are the connector for OPC UA, the media connector (preview), the connector for ONVIF (preview), and the connector for REST/HTTP (preview). You can use the Azure IoT Operations SDKs to create custom connectors. Devices are configurations for a connector that enable it to connect to an asset. For example:
- A device for OPC UA stores the information you need to connect to an OPC UA server.
- A device for the media connector stores the information you need to connect to a media source.
For more information, see What is the connector for OPC UA?
The following table highlights some important properties that are included in A device definition.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Cluster or Location | The custom ___location or cluster name for the Azure IoT Operations instance where the device custom resource will be created. In the operations experience, this property is set by choosing the instance before you create the device. |
| Target address | The local IP address of the OPC UA server or IP camera. |
| User authentication | Can be anonymous authentication or username/password authentication. For username/password authentication, provide pointers to where both values are stored as secrets in Azure Key Vault. |
Assets
An asset is a configuration resource that represents a physical device or asset in the cloud as an Azure Resource Manager resource and at the edge as a Kubernetes custom resource. When you create an asset, you can define its metadata and the data points, events, and streams that it emits.
When you define an asset using either the operations experience or Azure IoT Operations CLI, you can configure data points, events, and streams for each asset.
The following table highlights some important properties that are included in an asset definition.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Cluster or Location | The custom ___location or cluster name for the Azure IoT Operations instance where the asset custom resource will be created. In the operations experience, this property is set by choosing the instance before you create the device. |
| Device | The name of the device endpoint that this asset connects to. |
| Custom attributes | Metadata about the asset that you can provide using any key=value pairs that make sense for your environment. |
| Data point, Event, or Stream | A set of key=value pairs that define the data the asset emits. |
Data points
A data point is a value that the asset collects. For example, OPC UA data points provide real-time or historical data about a physical asset connected to the OPC UA server. Data points include the following properties:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Node Id | The OPC UA node ID that represents a ___location on the OPC UA server where the asset emits this data point. |
| Name | A friendly name for the tag. |
| Queue size | How much sampling data to collect before publishing it. Default: 1. |
| Observability mode | Accepted values: none, gauge, counter, histogram, log. |
| Sampling interval | The rate in milliseconds that the OPC UA server should sample the data source for changes. Default: 500. |
Events
An event is a notification of a state changes to your asset. For example, a physical asset connected to an OPC UA server might generate an event when a temperature reaches a certain threshold. Events include the following properties:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Event notifier | The OPC UA node ID that represents a ___location on the OPC UA server where the server emits this event. |
| Name | A friendly name for the event. |
| Observability mode | Accepted values: none, log. |
| Queue size | How much event data to collect before publishing it. Default: 1. |
Streams
A stream is streaming data from a physical device. For example, a camera connected to the media connector can stream video data. Streams include the following properties:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Stream type | The type of stream. For example, video, audio, or data. |
| Stream URL | The URL of the stream. For example, the URL of a video stream from a camera. |