FlowFuseFlowFuse Device Agent
This module provides an agent that runs Node-RED instances deployed from the FlowFuse platform.
Prerequisites
- NodeJS v18 or later
A FlowFuse platform to connect to
For users that require NodeJS v14 and v16 support the v2.x stream will work.
Supported Operating Systems
The Device Agent can be installed on most Linux distributions, Windows, and MacOS.
Installing the Device Agent
The Device Agent is published to the public npm repository as @flowfuse/device-agent.
It can be installed as a global npm module. This will ensure the agent command is on the path.
Note: previous versions of the agent were published as @flowforge/flowforge-device-agent.
Linux/MacOS
sudo npm install -g @flowfuse/device-agentWindows
npm install -g @flowfuse/device-agentDocker
We publish a Docker container for the Device Agent as flowfuse/device-agent on DockerHub.
When running with the container you will need to mount the device.yml obtained when Registering the device:
docker run --mount type=bind,src=/path/to/device.yml,target=/opt/flowfuse-device/device.yml -p 1880:1880 flowfuse/device-agent:latestConfiguration
The agent configuration is provided by a device.yml file within its working
directory.
Configuration directory
By default the agent uses /opt/flowfuse-device or c:\opt\flowfuse-device as
its working directory. This can be overridden with the -d/--dir option.
For backwards compatibility with previous versions, the agent will use /opt/flowforge-device
if it is exists, unless overridden on the command-line.
NOTE: The device agent will attempt to create the working directory if it is not found, however if an error occurs, the device agent will exit and report a startup error.
Linux/MacOS
sudo mkdir /opt/flowfuse-device
sudo chown -R $USER /opt/flowfuse-deviceWindows (run elevated)
mkdir c:\opt\flowfuse-devicedevice.yml - for a single device
When the device is registered on the FlowFuse platform, a group of configuration details are provided. These can be copied from the platform, downloaded directly as a yml file or pulled from the FlowFuse server using the command issued by the platform when you create a device. More details on this can be found in the FlowFuse documentation.
This file should exist in the working directory as device.yml.
A different config file can be specified with the -c/--config option.
The file must contain the following options (these are the ones provided by FlowFuse)
| Required options | Description |
|---|---|
deviceId |
The id for the device on the FlowFuse platform |
token |
Access Token to connect to the FF platform |
credentialSecret |
Key to decrypt the flow credentials |
forgeURL |
The base url of the FlowFuse platform |
To enable MQTT connectivity, the following options are required. They are provided by the platform if MQTT comms are enabled.
| MQTT options | Description |
|---|---|
brokerURL |
The url for the platform broker |
brokerUsername |
The username to connect with - device:<teamId>:<deviceId> |
brokerPassword |
The password to connect with |
The following options can be added:
| Extra options | Description |
|---|---|
interval |
How often, in seconds, the agent checks in with the platform. Default: 60s |
intervalJitter |
How much, in seconds, to vary the heartbeat +/- intervalJitter. Default: 10s |
moduleCache |
If the device can not access npmjs.org then use the node modules cache in module_cache directory. Default false |
Node-RED options
The following options are passed through to Node-RED:
| Node-RED options | Description |
|---|---|
port |
The port to listen on. Default: 1880 |
https |
Enable HTTPS. See below for details |
httpStatic |
Enable serving of static content from a local path |
httpNodeAuth |
If set, any endpoints created in Node-RED flows will require this username and password to access them. Default: false |
localAuth |
When configured, local login is possible |
https configuration
The https configuration option can be used to enable HTTPS within Node-RED. The values
are passed through to the Node-RED https setting.
The ca, key and cert properties can be used to provide custom certificates and keys.
The values should be set to the contents of the certificate/key.
Alternatively, the properties caPath, keyPath and certPath can be used instead
to provide absolute paths to files containing the certificates/keys.
https:
keyPath: /opt/flowfuse-device/certs/key.pem
certPath: /opt/flowfuse-device/certs/cert.pem
caPath: /opt/flowfuse-device/certs/ca.pemhttpStatic configuration
This option can be used to serve content from a local directory.
If set to a path, the files in that directory will be served relative to /.
httpStatic: /opt/flowfuse-device/static-contentIt is also possible to configure it with a list of directories and the corresponding path they should be served from.
httpStatic:
- path: /opt/flowfuse-device/static-content/images
root: /images
- path: /opt/flowfuse-device/static-content/js
root: /jshttpNodeAuth configuration
This option can be used to apply basic auth to HTTP endpoints created in Node-RED. This will also protect node-red-dashboard. Full details can be found in HTTP Node security documentation.
Example:
httpNodeAuth:
user: user
pass: $2a$08$zZWtXTja0fB1pzD4sHCMyOCMYz2Z6dNbM6tl8sJogENOMcxWV9DN.localAuth configuration
The recommended way to securely access the Node-RED editor is via FlowFuse platform.
However, if you want to enable local login within Node-RED, you can use the localAuth configuration.
Example:
localAuth:
user: user
pass: $2a$08$zZWtXTja0fB1pzD4sHCMyOCMYz2Z6dNbM6tl8sJogENOMcxWV9DN.NOTE: localAuth.enabled can be set to false to disable local login without the need to remove the user and pass properties.
The editor is located on the path /device-editor e.g. http://localhost:1880/device-editor
device.yml - for provisioning
When a device should be auto registered on the FlowFuse platform, a group of provisioning configuration details are required. These are generated for you in FlowFuse Team Settings under the Devices tab when you create a provisioning token. These can be copied from the platform, or downloaded directly as a yml file.
This file should be copied into the working directory as device.yml.
A different config file can be specified with the -c/--config option.
The file must contain the following options (these are the ones provided by FlowFuse)
| Required options | Description |
|---|---|
provisioningName |
The name of the token |
provisioningTeam |
The team this device will be registered to |
provisioningToken |
Provisioning Token to connect to the FF platform |
forgeURL |
The base url of the FlowFuse platform |
The following options can be added:
| Extra options | Description |
|---|---|
interval |
How often, in seconds, the agent checks in with the platform. Default: 60s |
intervalJitter |
How much, in seconds, to vary the heartbeat +/- intervalJitter. Default: 10s |
Running
If the agent was installed as a global npm module, the command
flowfuse-device-agent will be on the path.
If the default working directory and config file are being used, then the agent can be started with:
$ flowfuse-device-agentFor information about the available command-line arguments, run with -h:
Options
-c, --config file Device configuration file. Default: device.yml
-d, --dir dir Where the agent should store its state. Default: /opt/flowfuse-device
-i, --interval secs
-p, --port number
-m, --moduleCache Use local npm module cache rather than install
Web UI Options
-w, --ui Start the Web UI Server (optional, does not run by default)
--ui-host string Web UI server host. Default: (0.0.0.0) (listen on all interfaces)
--ui-port number Web UI server port. Default: 1879
--ui-user string Web UI username. Required if --ui is specified
--ui-pass string Web UI password. Required if --ui is specified
--ui-runtime mins Time the Web UI server is permitted to run. Default: 10
Setup command
-o, --otc string Setup device using a one time code
--otc-no-start Do not start the agent after setup
--otc-no-import Do not ask to import Node-RED flows during setup
-u, --ff-url url URL of FlowFuse. Required for setup
Global Options
-h, --help print out helpful usage information
--version print out version information
-v, --verbose turn on debugging outputRunning with no access to npmjs.org
By default the Device Agent will try and download the correct version of Node-RED and any nodes required to run the Snapshot that is assigned to run on the device.
If the device is being run on an offline network or security policies prevent the Device Agent from connecting to npmjs.org then it can be configured to use a pre-cached set of modules.
You can enable this mode by adding -m to the command line adding moduleCache: true
to the device.yml file. This will cause the Device Agent to load the modules from the
module_cache directory in the Device Agents Configuration directory as described above.
By default this will be /opt/flowfuse-device/module_cache.
Creating a module cache
To create a suitable module cache, the device must be assigned to an instance. You will need to install the modules on a local device with access to npmjs.org, ensuring you use the same OS and Architecture as your target device, and then copy the modules on to your device.
- From the Instance Snapshot page, select the snapshot you want to deploy and select the option to download its
package.jsonfile. - Place this file in an empty directory on your local device.
- Run
npm installto install the modules. This will create anode_modulesdirectory. - On your target device, create a directory called
module_cacheinside the Device Agent Configuration directory. - Copy the
node_modulesdirectory from your local device to the target device so that it is under themodule_cachedirectory.
Running as a service
An example service file is provided here.
Running the agent with the Web UI enabled
The Device Agents Web UI is provided to enable the user to download a device configuration or a provisioning configuration file. This is an optional feature and is not enabled by default.
To enable the UI, use the -w/--ui option. This will start a web server on
the specified host and port. The default host is 0.0.0.0 and the default port is 1879.
When enabling the UI, a username and password must be provided with the
--ui-user and --ui-pass options.
The UI will only be available for the duration specified by the --ui-runtime. By
default this is 10 minutes. After this time, the web server will be disabled. The
application must be restarted to re-enable the UI. You can set this to 0 to
disable the timeout. This is not recommended.
Development
Scripts
The following scripts are available:
npm start- Start the agentnpm run dev- Build the agent and watch for changesnpm run lint- Run eslintnpm run lint:fix- Run eslint and fix any issuesnpm run test- Run all unit testsnpm run test:lib- Run the unit tests for the libnpm run test:frontend- Run the unit tests for the frontend