MQTT & Sparkplug B

AnywhereSCADA uses MQTT with the Sparkplug B specification as its connectivity layer. Every space comes with a fully managed MQTT broker — no infrastructure to set up or maintain.

Connection Details

Each space provides a dedicated set of credentials:

Setting	Value
Broker URL	mqtts://mqtt1.anywherescada.joyautomation.com:8883
Username	Your space's short ID (e.g. abc1234)
Password	Auto-generated (visible on your space page)
Protocol	Sparkplug B over MQTT 5.0

Find your credentials on your space page under the Broker URL, Username, and Password fields. Use the copy buttons to quickly copy each value.

What Is Sparkplug B?

Sparkplug B is an open specification built on top of MQTT that defines:

• Topic namespace — a structured hierarchy: spBv1.0/{group}/{message_type}/{node}/{device}
• Payload encoding — Protocol Buffers (protobuf) for efficient, typed data
• Birth/death certificates — automatic online/offline detection for nodes and devices
• State management — SCADA host state awareness for store-and-forward
• Alias resolution — numeric aliases for metric names to reduce message size

Message Types

Message	Direction	Purpose
NBIRTH	Node → Broker	Node comes online with its metric schema
NDEATH	Broker → Clients	Node went offline (Last Will & Testament)
DBIRTH	Node → Broker	Device comes online with its metrics
DDEATH	Broker → Clients	Device went offline
NDATA	Node → Broker	Node metric value update
DDATA	Node → Broker	Device metric value update
NCMD	SCADA → Node	Command to a node
DCMD	SCADA → Device	Command to a device
STATE	SCADA Host	SCADA application state (online/offline)

Supported Data Types

AnywhereSCADA stores and displays the following Sparkplug B metric types:

• Float / Double — floating-point values (temperature, pressure, flow rates)
• Integer — signed/unsigned 8, 16, 32, and 64-bit integers
• Boolean — true/false states (valve open/closed, motor running/stopped)
• String — text values

UDT Templates

AnywhereSCADA supports Sparkplug B User-Defined Types (UDTs). When your edge node publishes template definitions in birth certificates, metrics that belong to a UDT are grouped by template name on the dashboard and display a template badge for easy identification.

Connecting a Device

Step 1: Configure Your MQTT Client

Use any Sparkplug B-compliant client. Popular options:

• Eclipse Tahu — reference Sparkplug B implementation (Java, C, Python)
• Cirrus Link MQTT Modules — Ignition MQTT Transmission/Engine
• Tentacle — open-source edge server with built-in Sparkplug B and Modbus support
• Custom clients — any MQTT library + Sparkplug B protobuf encoding

Configure the client with your space's MQTT credentials (broker URL, username, password).

Step 2: Publish Birth Certificates

When your node connects, it should publish:

1. NBIRTH — declares the node and its metric schema
2. DBIRTH — declares each device and its metrics

AnywhereSCADA uses birth certificates to build the network topology and display metrics.

Step 3: Publish Data

Send NDATA or DDATA messages whenever metric values change. AnywhereSCADA receives updates in real time and displays them on the dashboard.

Topic Namespace

Sparkplug B topics follow this structure:

spBv1.0/{group_id}/{message_type}/{edge_node_id}
spBv1.0/{group_id}/{message_type}/{edge_node_id}/{device_id}

• group_id — logical grouping (e.g. Plant1, BuildingA)
• edge_node_id — the connecting application or gateway
• device_id — an individual device behind the edge node

TLS / Security

All connections use TLS on port 8883. Unencrypted connections are not accepted. Each space's credentials are isolated — devices in one space cannot access another space's data.

Troubleshooting

Device Not Appearing

• Verify your credentials (username = space short ID, not your email)
• Confirm you're connecting to port 8883 with TLS enabled
• Check that your client publishes proper NBIRTH / DBIRTH messages
• Look at the Network Visualization page for connection status

Metrics Not Updating

• Ensure you're sending DDATA or NDATA messages after the initial birth
• Verify the metric names in data messages match those declared in the birth certificate
• If using aliases, ensure the alias-to-name mapping was established in the birth certificate
• Check your client's MQTT connection status — reconnects require re-publishing births

Connection Drops

• Trial accounts: connections are terminated after the 8-hour window expires. Start a new session or upgrade to Production.
• Production accounts: check your network connectivity and MQTT client keep-alive settings