Configure Aruba IoT Operations

Our step-by-step guide to configure Aruba AP & compute infrastructure with Pareto Anywhere.

Aruba IoT Operations configuration with Pareto Anywhere

The TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

Configure (AOS 10.x) APs as IoT infrastructure for reelyActive's open source middleware

What will this accomplish?: The APs will forward Bluetooth Low Energy and/or EnOcean Alliance packets to a Pareto Anywhere instance.
What's Pareto Anywhere?: Pareto Anywhere is open source IoT middleware that makes the data from just about anything usable.
AOS 10.x only?: APs running AOS 8.x are also compatible with Pareto Anywhere (see Alternatives below).

Alternatives

Tutorials to consider instead

Configure an Aruba Instant AP
Configure access points running AOS 8.x to forward IoT data for processing by Pareto Anywhere.

Run Pareto Anywhere for Azure with Aruba APs
Use Aruba IoT Transport for Microsoft Azure and run our open source middleware as an Azure Function.

Prerequisites

One or more HPE Aruba Networking access points.

Aruba Central
AOS 10.x

Create a Connector Step 1 of 3

Instantiate an IoT Connector on the AP(s) or on an external server.

What's an IoT Connector?: The IoT Connector provisions multiple applications to be computed at the edge for agile IoT application support.
Where does it run?: An IoT Connector can run directly on some series of APs, or on an external server called a Data Collector.

Browse to IoT Operations Part 1

In Aruba Central:

Select the AP group which will collect the IoT data
Select Applications from the left menu
Select the IoT Operations tab in the top bar
Click on Add Connector in the Connectors card

A Manage Connector dialog should appear.

Create the Connector Part 2

In the Manage Connector dialog:

Select Access Point as the platform type
Check the box to Add all Access Points...

Then click Confirm to create the connector on each AP.

For larger-scale deployments, a Data Collector is the preferred platform. Consult the Aruba documentation should you choose this option.

The IoT Connector will begin to deploy to the AP(s).

Confirm operation Part 3

Observe the IoT Operations dashboard update as the IoT Connector is deployed.

The number of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices in range of the APs will appear in the IoT Devices card. The APs are already collecting ambient data! Classifying, filtering and interpreting this ambient data is covered in the next step.

Select the IoT Applications Step 2 of 3

Choose IoT Applications to classify the devices of interest.

What's an IoT App?: Each IoT App is an edge compute module developed by an Aruba partner to serve a specific purpose.
Where do they run?: IoT Apps are deployed on, and run inside, the IoT Connector.

Browse to IoT Applications Part 1

In Aruba Central, browse to the IoT Operations dashboard by selecting the target AP Group, Applications menu item and IoT Operations tab.

Click Manage in the IoT Applications card.

The list of available apps should appear, where each card represents an IoT Application.

Browse through the IoT Applications to determine which may be of interest in the context of your deployment.

IoT Applications are regularly added. It's worth checking the list periodically to discover new possibilities.

Install an IoT App Part 2

Select the card of any IoT Application of interest and click Install to deploy it to the IoT Connector(s).

The IoT Applications card in the IoT Operations dashboard will update to show the status of each app across all IoT Connectors.

As required, again click Manage in the IoT Applications card to install, update or remove apps.

reelyActive maintains IoT Applications both for technology partners and for our own open source IoT technologies.

Observe device classification Part 3

From the IoT Operations dashboard, in the IoT Devices card, click View to see the list of devices detected—and classified— by the AP(s).

Aruba IoT Operations devices table column selection

Click on the Address of any device to see additional data collected by the AP and processed by any corresponding IoT Apps.

Create a Transport Profile Step 3 of 3

Create an IoT Transport Profile.

What's IoT Transport?: An IoT transport profile specifies a secure WebSocket connection that forwards IoT data to a remote server.
Where does it run?: IoT transport profiles also run on the IoT Connector.

Browse to Transport Part 1

In Aruba Central, browse to the IoT Operations dashboard by selecting the target AP Group, Applications menu item and IoT Operations tab.

Click Manage in the Transports card.

Create the transport Part 2

Click ＋ in the transports table to create a new transport profile. An Add Transport Profile dialog should appear. Complete the fields as follows:

Parameter	Value	Notes
Name	reelyActive	User-defined
Description	Pareto Anywhere	User-defined
Stream Type	Data Frames	Forwards payload/sensor data
Subscriptions	...	Application-specific device class filters
Protocol Type	WSS	Only secure WebSockets are supported
URL	wss://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:3001/aruba/aos10	Specify the target IP & port
Format Type	protobuf	Efficient data encoding for transport
Authentication	Use token	Currently ignored by Pareto Anywhere

Click Create to create the IoT transport profile.

The IoT transport profile will deploy to the IoT Connector. A certificate will be required to establish a secure WebSocket connection, which is covered next.

Browse to Certificates Part 3

In Aruba Central:

Select the AP group which will collect the IoT data
Select Organization from the left menu
Select the Network Structure tab in the top bar
Click on Certificates in the Certificates card

Add the CA certificate Part 4

Click ＋ in the certificates table to add a new certificate. An Add Certificate dialog should appear. Complete the fields as follows:

Parameter	Value	Notes
Name	Pareto Anywhere	User-defined
Type	CA Certificate	Certification Authority (CA) certificate
Format	PEM	Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM)
Certificate File	certificate.pem	User-generated

The generation of the certificate file is outside the scope of this tutorial. For instructions to create a self-signed certificate for testing on a local network see the Creating Certificates for Secure WebSockets on Local Network section of our barnowl-aruba module documentation.

Click Add to upload the certificate.

Add CA certificate for Aruba IoT Transport

The certificate will automatically be deployed to the IoT Controller, and the secure WebSocket connection will be attempted. Observing data in Pareto Anywhere requires no additional action if an instance based on the pareto-anywhere package is running, or, for quick-and-dirty validation, run barnowl-aruba as described below.

If a Pareto Anywhere installation based on the pareto-anywhere package is already present and running on the target computer on the host network, the data forwarded by the IoT Transport Profile should be available in both the web apps and APIs.

Run Pareto Anywhere on a PC
Install and run Pareto Anywhere on a personal computer to make sense of things.

Run Pareto Anywhere on a Raspberry Pi
Install and run Pareto Anywhere on a Pi to make sense of things.

Add the corresponding certificate.pem and key.pem files to the /config folder of pareto-anywhere. Pareto Anywhere will automatically detect these files on boot and use HTTPS & WSS for secure operation, which is required by IoT Operations.

To quickly validate that data is correctly received on the target computer on the host network, it is possible to run barnowl-aruba standalone to initiate a WebSocket server on port 3001 using the /aruba/aos10 route as follows:

git clone https://github.com/reelyactive/barnowl-aruba.git
npm install
npm start

If the access point is correctly configured, and at least one compatible Bluetooth Low Energy device is advertising in range, raddec data should appear in the console.

AOS 10 requires secure WebSockets (wss://): consult the barnowl-aruba documentation regarding the npm run secure option.

Enjoy the real-time data stream

Our cheatsheet details the raddec, dynamb and spatem JSON output from the open source IoT middleware.

Developers Cheatsheet
"Owl" you need to know about Pareto Anywhere's core data structures.

Tutorial prepared with ♥ by jeffyactive.

You can reelyActive's open source efforts directly by contributing code & docs, collectively by sharing across your network, and commercially through our packages.

Where to next?

Continue exploring our open architecture and all its applications.

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reelyActive & HPE Aruba Networking
reelyActive is an Aruba Technology Partner