Azure IoT Central Documentation

Quick Links

What is Azure IoT Central?

Azure IoT Central is a fully managed SaaS application platform that makes it easy to connect, monitor, and manage your IoT devices and solutions. It provides a robust set of features for building scalable and secure IoT applications without requiring deep expertise in cloud infrastructure.

With IoT Central, you can:

  • Connect diverse IoT devices securely.
  • Monitor device health and performance in real-time.
  • Analyze telemetry data to gain insights.
  • Automate workflows and device actions.
  • Integrate with other business applications and services.

Getting Started with IoT Central

Begin your IoT Central journey by creating your first application and connecting a device.

Steps:

  1. Create an IoT Central Application: Navigate to the Azure IoT Central website and create a free trial or sign in with your Azure account.
  2. Set up a Device Template: Define the capabilities and properties of your IoT devices using device templates. This includes telemetry, properties, and commands.
  3. Connect a Device: Register your physical or simulated device and connect it to your IoT Central application using connection strings or SAS tokens.
  4. Visualize Data: Use dashboards to monitor incoming telemetry and device status.

Explore our comprehensive quickstart guide for detailed instructions.

Device Management

Efficiently manage your fleet of IoT devices throughout their lifecycle.

Device Templates

Device templates are the blueprint for your devices. They define:

  • Telemetry: Data emitted by devices (e.g., temperature, humidity).
  • Properties: Device state that can be read or written (e.g., firmware version, desired temperature).
  • Commands: Actions that can be invoked on devices (e.g., reboot, set configuration).

Learn more about creating and managing device templates.

Device Groups

Organize your devices into groups for easier monitoring and management. Apply rules, jobs, and dashboards to entire groups.

Jobs

Execute commands or update properties on one or more devices simultaneously using the Jobs feature.

Data Processing & Analytics

Leverage the data from your devices for powerful insights and automation.

Rules Engine

Create rules to monitor telemetry and properties. Trigger actions such as sending notifications, running jobs, or exporting data when conditions are met.

Dashboards

Build custom dashboards with various visualization components (charts, gauges, maps) to monitor your devices in real-time.

Data Export

Continuously export your device telemetry and property changes to other Azure services like Azure Blob Storage, Azure Data Explorer, Azure Event Hubs, or Azure Service Bus for further analysis and integration.

For advanced analytics, integrate with services like Azure Stream Analytics or Azure Databricks.

Customization & Extensibility

Tailor IoT Central to your specific business needs.

Custom Dashboards

Create highly customized dashboards using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for advanced visualizations and user interfaces.

Rules and Actions

Configure complex rules and integrate with external systems via webhooks.

Branding

Customize the look and feel of your IoT Central application to match your brand identity.

Security

IoT Central offers robust security features to protect your devices and data.

  • Secure device provisioning using X.509 certificates or SAS tokens.
  • Role-based access control (RBAC) for managing user permissions.
  • Secure communication protocols (MQTT, HTTPS).

API & SDKs

Interact with your IoT Central application programmatically.

REST API

The IoT Central REST API allows you to manage applications, devices, device templates, jobs, and more from external applications and scripts.

Key API endpoints include:

SDKs

Use our SDKs for various programming languages (e.g., Python, Node.js, Java) to simplify device connectivity and application development.

# Example using Python SDK for device connection
import iotc_device_client

# Replace with your device connection string
CONNECTION_STRING = "YOUR_DEVICE_CONNECTION_STRING"

client = iotc_device_client.IoTCentralDeviceClient.create_from_connection_string(CONNECTION_STRING)

# Connect the device
client.connect()

# Send telemetry
client.send_telemetry({"temperature": 25.5, "humidity": 60})

# Disconnect
client.disconnect()

Tutorials

Follow step-by-step tutorials to learn how to build specific IoT solutions.

API Reference

Detailed reference documentation for all available REST API endpoints and SDK methods.