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Overview

This tutorial takes you through each step needed to configure and deploy applications to your Edge Nodes in a real distributed Edge environment. You’ll learn the following topics:

  • What is a CARD?
    • Barbara PANEL is based on widgets called "cards" that contain information and actions related to a specific topic. These widgets allow you to intuitively monitor and manage your Edge Nodes and the apps running on them. You will have, for instance:
      • a card containing information and actions related to the network connectivity
      • another card containing information about the edge node's telemetry
      • etc.

General Info card

General Info card

  • In the example image above, the GENERAL INFO card refers to the Edge Node, displaying crucial data and metrics to monitor the Node’s health. You will find others that are App cards, showing details about specific apps you deploy

  • What SECRETS are and how to configure them

    • Secrets are privacy-protected Edge Node variables that the Edge apps access for authentication (e.g. usernames and passwords)

  • How to apply a specific configuration to an app through the APP CONFIG (local and global) feature

    • App Config files are JSON files that the apps read dynamically during run time and can be accessed by users (contrary to SECRETS)

  • How to deploy native applications to Edge Nodes

  • How to deploy containerized Docker applications and AI models to Edge Nodes

  • How to check your App's Status (BUILDING, RUNNING, WAITING, STOPPED) and Logs

  • How to create your own Docker apps to be deployed on your Edge Nodes.

Before starting, make sure at least one Edge Node has been added and configured on your Barbara PANEL instance. If your Node List is empty, follow the instructions in the following articles.

Install Barbara Core on:

Once you have added and activated an Edge Node on Barbara PANEL, you’re ready to start deploying apps to this Node.

note

We recommend you deploy the applications explained in the next section in the order that’s described there.

Playing around with the basic apps​

Your Barbara License gives you access to Barbara Marketplace, a repository of out-of-the-box edge apps. Some of them are categorized as "Basic"; these are free apps that will allow you to accelerate your use cases set up. In Marketplace you will be able to add any of these apps to your own app Library. Each step in this Guide explains each and every app required to make up a typical environment for Edge data acquisition, storage and visualization:

note

If you have been given a demo or trial account, these apps may be already added to your Library.

  1. MQTT Broker: This is an internal data broker that makes intercommunication and coordination between the different apps within an Edge Node possible. MQTT works with a “publish-subscribe” paradigm, allowing apps to share and exchange data.

  2. Industrial Data Simulator: This is a demo app that simulates how Barbara Data Connectors behave (e.g. a Modbus or an OPC-UA Connector). This application removes the need to have a real industrial device connected to your Edge Node while testing. The Industrial Data Simulator generates random data and publishes it through an MQTT Broker. It can also simulate writing operations in a Modbus registry by receiving data sent to a specific topic in the MQTT Broker.

  3. InfluxDB: It is a time series database that allows storing data provided by the Industrial Data Simulator or by any real-life industrial devices that are connected.

  4. Ingester (for InfluxDB): this app allows the MQTT Broker and the database to exchange information.

  5. Grafana: This app is a visualization dashboard that retrieves data stored in the database and presents it visually.

alt image

secrets_database

To install these apps, log in to Barbara Marketplace using your credentials, locate them (you have a direct link to each one below) and add them to your Library (Check this article for a more detail explanation on how to add apps from Marketplace to your Library):

Once you’re logged in, open the Nodes List view by clicking on the Nodes icon in the top menu on Barbara PANEL and select your Edge Node. Make sure its status is ONLINE (shown in the image below).

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Device List

When you click on the Edge Node name from the list, the respective Node Details view opens.

Node Details page

Node Details page

From the Node Details view, you can deploy each app. Make sure you follow the order defined by the steps in this Guide. Let's begin explaining what a card is in the following article.