Configure the Azure IoT Hub target

Complete the procedure below to configure the Azure IoT Hub target and test your connection to Azure IoT Hub.

Create the Azure IoT Hub. Create or identify the Azure IoT Hub shared access policy that PI Integrator for Business Analytics will use. If you create a device to which all PI Integrator for Business Analytics views are written by specifying the Device ID, then "Registry read" is the minimum required permission. If PI Integrator for Business Analytics automatically creates a device for each view, then "Registry write" is the minimum required permission.

Note: Symmetric key is the only authentication supported in this release.

1. On the Administration page, click the Targets tab. Then select the target in the Publish Targets list.

   Note: If you have already selected your target, skip to the next step.

2. Retrieve the IoT Hub connection string. The connection string format is shown below:

   HostName=<Host Name>;SharedAccessKeyName=<Key Name>;SharedAccessKey=<SAS Key>

3. Configure the Azure IoT Hub with the following parameters:

   Parameter	Description
   Host Name	The hostname of the IoT Hub which data is published to. This is the HostName value in the IoT Hub connection string.
   Shared Access Key Name	Used in combination with Shared Access Key to connect to the IoT Hub. This is the SharedAccessKeyName value in the IoT Hub connection string.
   Shared Access Key	Primary or secondary key of the IoT Hub that is used in combination with Shared Access Key Name to connect to the IoT Hub. This is the SharedAccessKey value in the IoT Hub connection string.
   Character Encoding	Character set in which data is encoded. Default: UTF-8. Other options are ASCII, UTF-7, UTF-32, and Unicode.
   Device ID	(Optional) Device ID of the IoT Device or IoT Edge Device. This is the name assigned to the device. Device ID is required for IoT Edge Devices. It is optional for IoT Devices. If no name is specified, an IoT Device is created for each view.

   Note: Only one view should be created per IoT Hub target if the Device ID is provided in the target configuration. The Connection string and Device ID combination should be unique across the IOT Hub targets created. Connection errors may occur when multiple views are using the same Connection string and Device Id.

   The following screen capture shows where to find the connection string for the IoT Hub in Microsoft Azure Portal. Note that PI Integrator for Business Analytics requires the connection string from the IoT Hub Shared access policies (not the connection string at the device level). The policy selected on this page determines the permissions for the connection string. Therefore, select or create a policy that provides the permissions required, depending on whether Device ID is selected or not, and provide the selected policy's connection string for the PI Integrator for Business Analytics target. Connection strings on the device level are not supported.

   

   The following screen capture shows where to find the Device ID parameters and where to set the Authentication Type in Microsoft IoT Portal for the IoT Hub device.

   

   Note: With subsequent portal updates, the screen may look different and the parameters may be located elsewhere.

4. Click Verify IoT Hub Writer to verify that the IoT Hub is valid.

   If a Device ID is specified, PI Integrator for Business Analytics attempts to find the device. If no Device ID is specified, then a device is created and once the verification is completed, it is deleted.

5. Click Save Changes.

6. Give users access to the Azure IoT Hub target. For more information, see Grant access to targets.