MobiusFlow Services are the starting point for any configuration. They are typically device drivers for a specific protocol or provide protocol interfaces such as an MQTT broker.

The main services page shows an overview and status of each service that has been added to the configuration. You can interact with services in a number of ways, including configuring a service, starting and stopping a service, or adding and configuring objects belonging to a service.

The main services page shows an overview of all services that have been added to an instance. Each service is represented by a card which provides status information and allows you to interact with the service.

As new services are added cards will appear on this this page. The service list is also visible in the main menu below the Services menu item.

Service Library

The service library is a list of all possible services that can be added to MobiusFlow. You can show and hide the library by clicking on the button in the top left of the page.

For more information on adding services please read the article.

Service cards show a lot of information about a service and allow you to interact with a service.

The service ID is a three digit hexadecimal number and is shown in the middle of the coloured service status circle in the top left corner of the card.

The service name is shown at the top of the main body of the card. The name can be set in the service settings and defaults to the service type.

The service status is shown in two places on the card.

The coloured circle in the top left corner gives a quick indication of the health of a service. The indicator colours are as follows:

In addition to the quick status indicator, detailed status information is shown in the main body of the card beneath the service name. If a service is in error, the error is shown here.

At the bottom left of the main body of the card is a timestamp showing the last time a service interacted with the MobiusFlow instance.

The service type is shown in the top right corner of the main body of the card.

In addition the internal Service Profile ID (SPID) which also indicates the service type is shown in the bottom right of the main body of the card

With the exception of system services, each service card has a toolbar in the top right. Hovering over the card will highlight the toolbar. The six buttons from left to right are:

Accessing the belonging to a service can be done in two ways. You can click on the main body of a service card or click on the service in the main menu.

Overview

To delete a service, first click on Services in the main menu and then find the correct service card.

In the service card toolbar click on the Delete button. A confirmation dialog will appear. Enter the text shown (you can click on the copy icon to save typing) and click Confirm.

💥 Interactive Demo

Supported Browsers

MobiusFlow Toolbox supports the latest versions of most modern web browsers. We recommend the following:

• Google Chrome

• Firefox

• Safari

• Edge

Open your web browser and navigate to your MobiusFlow Toolbox instance. This is typically a fully qualified domain name followed by /toolbox

The first time you login you must use the initial administrator credentials supplied to you. You can change the default admin password and create new users once you are logged in.

The about page shows you information about the connector. You can also update the connector's firmware by clicking on the Update Firmware button

Updating Firmware

Click on the Update Firmware button on the About page

Click on Choose File and select the firmware file you want to upload

Click on the Update button

After a few minutes the connector will reboot and start running the new firmware

Here is a downloadable Postman Collection for this API:

This demo uses Postman to exemplify use of this API.

To follow this ensure you download the relevant Postman Collection here.

💥 Interactive Demo

balenaCloud devices are configured using Device Variables. When deploying MobiusFlow® to a balenaCloud fleet a number of Device Variables are created with default values. These are defined at the fleet level but can be overridden at the device level. More information about working with balenaCloud Device Variables can be found .

The image below shows the Device Variables created when MobiusFlow® is deployed to balenaCloud.

Expand the items below for detailed information on each Device Variable

Here is a downloadable Postman Collection for this API:

The full MobiusFlow Manager training course can be here.

The Config Mode Password is used to login to the configuration pages of the connector. The default password is mobiusflow

You can change the password on this page

Click the Save button

Click the Home button on the settings saved confirmation page to return to the Home page

MobiusFlow V3 has been built from the ground up. We have listened to your feedback and added a host of new features to make MobiusFlow even more powerful and easier to use.

Tagging, we added it, custom object profiles, there too, and to make you even more productive we have added the ability for you to write your own data pre-processors and codecs. We are excite about these new features and are sure you will be too!

Both the MobiusFlow Engine (the heart of MobiusFlow) and MobiusFlow Toolbox have been completely rewritten to be more efficient and easier to use.

Object profiles define the shape and properties of MobiusFlow objects. Before version 3 object profiles were built into each release and could not be easily created or modified by users.

Version 3 has redefined how object profiles work. Object profiles can now be freely created by users in a simple editor. In fact each new instance of MobiusFlow has no object profiles defined. Instead we have taken all of the object profiles from version 2 (and a bunch of new ones) and created object profile templates.

Overview

All MobiusFlow Objects must belong to a service. To add, delete, modify, and view a service's objects you can either click on the main body of a service card on the Service's page or click on the service in the main menu.

For more information on managing objects please refer to the Objects page.

💥 Interactive Demo

This section covers different methods on moving your data from MobiusFlow to somewhere else. These methods include via MQTT, via REST and via WebScocket. Pick whichever method best suits your application / integration.

Engine vs Historian

If using REST or WebSockets for data extraction, both Engine and Historian are suitable. Here is a comparison so you know which one to use in any given situation.

Engine API / Engine WebSocket

• Contains telemetry as well as detailed information about MobiusFlow objects relating to MobiusFlow Engine.

• Historical data not available, only current data / live updates.

• Deeper granular control of which updates to subscribe to when using WebSocket

• Data is telemetry / MobiusFlow resource value updates only. No extra engine data.

• Full historical data available.

• WebSocket allows subscription to all updates only, no granular control

To create a new profile open the Object Profiles page, make sure that the sidebar is closed, and click on the Create button. This will open the Create Object Profile wizard.

The wizard will have three starting point options. Selecting one of the options will change the steps required to complete the wizard.

If you choose to start with a blank profile and click Next, you will jump to the last step which is Finalise Settings

Choosing to start from a template or existing profile and clicking Next will require you to select either a template or existing profile. These are shown in a table, which can be filtered. Select one of the rows before clicking on Next to view the last Finalise Settings step.

Depending on your starting point, the Finalise Settings form will be blank or have some fields pre-populated by the template or existing profile.

Fill in all required fields and optionally add a description and before clicking on Create Profile.

A unique profile ID as a four digit hexadecimal number from 0200 to FFFF.

The group is used by MobiusFlow toolbox to aid in filtering the object profiles. You can select from an existing group or type in a new group name.

The profile name is used to help identify this profile. It normally starts with a lower case letter and does not contain spaces, but can containg underscores and dashes.

The user interface name is a human readable name normally used by MobiusFlow View to make selecting profiles easier for non-technical users.

Overview

The Data Agent introduces an agentic / chat style interface to interact with your MobiusFlow data. The enables tasks such as:

• Reporting what data exists

• Summarising data, both present and historical

• Making data comparisons between multiple data sets

• Drawing conclusions about the nature of data

• Making suggestions about changes which could be made to improve real-world systems

• Generation of graphs supplement data reports

In the near future it will also allow:

• Generation of alerts

• Populating dashboards with formatted cards

The Data Agent can accessed via MobiusFlow View. The agent invokes the tools provided by the , whilst being powered by a OpenAI / Anthropic / Google Gemini LLM.

The Data Agent only knows about the data within MobiusFlow Historian. It does not know anything about the underlying MobiusFlow Engine or its configuration (i.e. the plumbing behind the data). As such, it cannot do the following:

• Reporting of current MobiusFlow Engine configuration

• Reporting of service statuses

• Reporting / advising why a specific device / service is not connecting / not functioning as expected

• Making engine configuration changes such as populating a service or updating an object

Most of the above tasks can achieved via using the instead.

The agent uses an a commercial LLM backend provided by one of the following provider:

• Open AI

• Anthropic

• Google Gemini

MobiusFlow does not currently manage token usage of these LLMs and as such, this is left to customers to manage this themselves. This means an account with one of the 3 providers is required. Once created, ensure some credit is added to the account so tokens can be consumed by the agent.

The MobiusFlow Data Agent is linked to your LLM provider via an API token. This token can be created on your chosen provider's respective platform. Once created, this API key must be copied and pasted into the Data Agent's settings page:

On the settings page you'll be asked to pick a provider / LLM model and set the API Key:

Ensure a valid API key is set for the chosen provider otherwise the agent will not function.

💥 Interactive Demo

MobiusFlow® connects, controls and communicates with 1000s of sensors and control devices to provide actionable insights and automated responses. Developed and successfully deployed with many projects over the past 17 years by engineers with first-hand experience in project management and installation such as CBRE, Ingram Micro, TD Synnex and IBM.

Whether you are looking for a full walkthrough or just dipping in to get more information about a single topic, our documentation site is the perfect companion to the training courses on our main site.

3️⃣

We have rebuilt MobiusFlow from the ground up. MobiusFlow V3 has a bunch of new features and enhancements improving both performance and adding improvements to data handling, searching and customisation.

This section is dedicated to guides and technical knowhow related to version 3.

📖 User Guides

The user guides are instructional walkthroughs. Follow these guides from start to finish or jump to a section to learn how to perform specific tasks.

⚙️ Technical Docs

Looking for more detailed technical information? These articles dive deeper into the more technical aspects of MobiusFlow®, from Architecture to API details, ports, protocols, configuring services creating flows, and more.

BalenaCloud is a small device fleet management platform which simplifies the process of managing and maintaining 1000s of edge devices. It allows secure remote access and monitoring of each device and installing and updating product firmware of an entire fleet with a few simple clicks. See for more information.

We currently have software images for thee different device types for balenaCloud. These are:

The MobiusFlow RPI Connector works with the following Raspberry Pi types:

Tags are a powerful way to organise your objects and resources making it easier to find and group similar pieces of data.

Tags can be a simple key word or phrase (much like a hashtag in social media apps) or a keyword or phrase with an associated value.

Tags can be added to and individual instances. Any tags added to an object profile will be automatically added to all objects created from that profile.

The process of managing tags on object profiles, objects, and their resources is the same. To view the tag editor select an object profile, object, or resource and the relevant sidebar will open showing the tag editor. Once the sidebar is open follow the steps below.

In the Add a tag textbox type in the tag name and press Enter

After signing up to follow their instructions to create a fleet and add your first device. We have simplified the process so you will only need to perform some of the actions they list. The steps below outline the process but for more information see the balena.io .

1. A balenaCloud account with Microservices access (this requires a paid account)

Navigate to your and login in

Navigate to the Fleets page

For most use cases, Deploying MobiusFlow in the MobiusFlow Cloud is simplest and most cost effective hosting option.

Customers can create new MobiusFlow instances themselves using the MobiusFlow manager platform. A full guide on how to use this platform can be found .

When creating a new MobiusFlow instance using manager ensure the Host instance on MobiusFlow Cloud option is checked:

On creation, there are several options that must be populated:

This is the URL the new MobiusFlow cloud instance will be hosted on. In the above example, Manager has automatically suggested average-pug-2488. As such, new Cloud instance will be accessible at the URL average-pug-2488.mobiusflow.io.

When using TLS you will need to set the correct CA / Server certificates. You can have up to three certificates set. If the connector fails to connect using one of the certificates it will cycle through all three, trying each one until it connects

The default certificates are ISRG Root X1 certificates which are used when connecting to MobiusFlow® hosted instances of MobiusFlow®

You can set the certificate by pasting the certificate text into the selected certificate slot

If your setup requires the use of Client certificates you can set up to four different certificates and keys. Paset these into the selected certificate and key slots

Please see main MobiusFlow toolbox section here. There are many Interactive Demos in these articles breaking down the fundamentals of MobiusFlow toolbox into bitesize chunks. Look out for the tag 💥 Interactive Demo to follow these.

All access to MobiusFlow Toolbox and the MobiusFlow Engine API requires a valid username and password. Adding, deleting, and modifying users is done on the User Management tab on the Settings page.

The User Management page shows a list of all users with their roles, whether they are active or not, and an Actions button for additional user management.

User Roles

There are three user roles, Viewer, Editor, and Administrator.

Viewers

• View services, objects and live data

• View flows

• Add, edit, and delete services, objects and live data

• Start and stop services

• Add, edit and delete flows

• Add edit and delete object profiles

• Add, edit, and delete services, objects and live data

• Start and stop services

• Add, edit and delete flows

• Add edit and delete object profiles

Click on the Add User button to view the Add User dialog

Enter a Username, select a role, and enter the user's initial password. Users can change their own password later

The new user will appear in the users list

Click on the Action button (three vertical dots) next to a user to open the user management menu

Change the password of an existing user. This is useful if a user forgets their password or you want to change the password of a

Change the role of an existing user

Users are active by default but can be activated or deactivated. Deactivated users will no longer be able to log in.

Permanently delete an existing user. You will need to confirm your action before the user is deleted.

Access to the requires a valid user with the correct role.

We recommend creating service account users with the Editor or Viewer role for API access. You should consider a separate account for each service that requires access as revoking access to a specific service can be as simple as deactivating that service account.

MobiusFlow® connectors send and receive data via MQTT. You need to configure the MQTT settings to match the configuration you set in the section of this guide.

You can choose any MQTT client ID but this must be unique for your MQTT broker. The default is the connector's serial number

Enter the IP Address or URL of the MQTT broker. You do not need to specify MQTT:// or MQTTS:// before the URL

Enter the MQTT Port number. This is normally 1883 or 8883 for TLS enabled connections

If required enter the MQTT broker authorisation Username

Mobius system

A typical MobiusFlow system consists of a single or multiple MobiusFlow nodes connected together via a TCP/IP network. Each node is capable of operating independently of the rest of the system, but nodes can interact with each other to form a complex system. All node interaction takes place through one or more brokers via a node’s router.In a multi-node system, the location of the broker is not important. It can reside on the same device as one of the nodes or on an independent device.

Each node is classed as, and exhibits the behavior of, an edge computing device. In this context edge devices are not only field devices but could also be on the edge of a server or cloud server providing the server with connectivity to all of the true edge or field devices.

Mobius nodes

A Mobius node consists of a central Mobius hub, one or more Mobius services and optionally one or more Mobius routers.

Services contain the service logic and an object data store. Connections to sensors, actuators and other communication interfaces such as Modbus or BACnet can be added depending on the service’s purpose and controlled through the service's logic.

The object data store models the physical or virtual connections and provides a standardised method for services and other nodes to communicate and share data with each other through Mobius objects.

All of the communications between services through the hub or nodes through routers and brokers is based on the MQTT protocol. The MobiusFlow protocol has been defined on top of this MQTT protocol providing a well-defined API enabling different physical devices and protocols to communicate with each other in a consistent way.

Mobius nodes follow the microservice architecture pattern, where each service is a stand-alone process capable of communication with other microservices creating a large application from small manageable pieces.

Routers are used to cross node boundaries. They provide a secure mechanism for nodes to share data using the MobiusFlow protocol.

The logical structure of a node is detailed below. This diagram shows the hierarchical relationship between all of the parts which make up a node and how objects contain resources, services contain objects and hubs connect to services and routers.

The Mobius URI structure allows addressing any part of a node at any depth.

A Mobius hub is the foundation of a node. At its heart, a Mobius hub is just an MQTT broker which manages and links Mobius services and Mobius routers. Hubs are responsible for ensuring that all services and routers are valid members of a node by verifying their pre-shared authentication key on connection.

Each hub within a Mobius system is given a unique ID. This is a six digit hex number which forms the first part of the Mobius URI hierarchy. When referencing a hub, for example during a discovery process, this unique ID must be used (see ).

When service or router connects to a hub, and has been validated, the hub provides it with a copy of the Mobius object profiles and pre-shared keys files, ensuring that all services and routers connected to the hub are able to communicate and understand one another.

Mobius services are the engines which drive MobiusFlow. Each service is essentially a microservice performing a specific task and possibly acting as an interface to a piece of hardware or a 3rd party service such as Microsoft's Azure platform or the IBM Cloud.

All services MUST implement the full MobiusFlow protocol to enable them to connect to hub and communicate with other services. In addition to implementing the MobiusFlow protocol, services can create Mobius objects to store and share data and can also contain service specific logic to perform the task that they are designed for. When creating services, try an keep them focused on one task and create additional services to perform other tasks. This ensures that services are reusable and Mobius systems can be configured to only contain the logic that they require.

Each service within a Mobius node is given a unique ID. This is a three digit hex number which forms the second part of the Mobius URI hierarchy. When referencing a service, for example during a discovery process, this unique ID must be used.

Mobius routers control all MobiusFlow communication into and out of a node. This ensures that nodes are secure and allows nodes to discover each other within a MobiusFlow system.

Routers are split into two parts, one side of the router communicates internally with its associated hub and all of the services within a node, while the other side of the router communicates externally through a 'no-mans' broker to other routers on other nodes. All external communication is done using MQTT over the WebSocket protocol. This could be done over a secure or non-secure connection (ws:// or wss://).

Routers are capable of routing messages between services belonging to different nodes, essentially allowing a service on one node to read, write and subscribe to change-of-value events on objects in another node.

The key to the MobiusFlow system is Mobius objects. These objects typically model real-world objects and provide a mechanism for sharing data and storing state in a consistent way. Each object has a unique identifier or which can be discovered and used by any part of the MobiusFlow system.

Mobius objects are predefined in an object profiles file which is passed to a services by the hub when a service connects.

Each object within a Mobius node is given a unique ID. This ID consists of two parts and is made up of the object profile ID (PID) which describes the object's type, and the object's instance number (INS). The PID is a four digit hex number which forms the third part of the Mobius URI hierarchy and the INS is a four digit hex number which forms the fourth part of the Mobius URI hierarchy. When referencing an object, for example during a discovery process, this unique ID must be used.

Mobius objects contain one or more resources. It is these resources which are used to define objects that mimic or represent real-world objects. An example of a single object is a room temperature sensor. This object may have resources which define the sensor’s name, location, asset reference, engineering units, set point and actual measured value.

Each resource is capable of storing a single value which can currently be of type Boolean, Number, String, DateTime or TimeSpan. Resources also store meta-data about the value. The actual meta-data depends on the value type chosen. Resources can be read only or read/write. Read only resources have their values set when they are created.

Each resource within an object is given a unique ID. This is a two digit hex number which forms the fifth and final part of the Mobius URI hierarchy. When referencing a resource, for example during a read, this unique ID must be used.

Resources store their values in a priority array. This priority array works in a similar manner to a BACnet priority array. The array has 16 possible locations with location 1 being the highest priority and location 16 being the lowest priority.

When reading the value of a resource the actual value is returned in the PV(present value) property. The PV is always equal to the value of the highest active (non null) priority in the resource's priority array.

Open the Object Profiles page and click on the profile you want to modify. The Object Profiles sidebar will open on the left of the window.

At the top of the sidebar is the object profiles settings toolbar. You can use this toolbar to switch between the four sidebar modes and to delete the profile if it is not being used. Use the X to the right of the toolbar to close the sidebar.

Below the toolbar are the Undo and Save buttons. Clicking on the Undo button will revert any changes and clicking on Save will save the changes.

Sidebar Modes

The four sidebar modes are shown in the table below. Click on the links for more information.

Click on the profile you wish to delete. When the sidebar is open click on the Delete button, enter the confirmation text and click Confirm.

Select Network Type

You can choose to use a wired or wireless (2.4GHz WiFi) connection to connect a connector to your MobiusFlow® instance

Select your network type using the Connect Via dropdown. The page layout will change depending on the option selected

When using a wireless connection you need to enter the WiFi network's SSID (name) and password. You can click on the Scan WiFi Networks button to get a list of available WiFi networks

You can set a connection timeout in minutes. If the connector fails to connect to a network within this time it will reboot and try again

Select TCP/IP Mode

You can choose to use a DHCP server to allocate the connector an IP Address or set a static IP Address. If you choose to use a static IP Address a few more options will be shown. Set these according to your network

Once you have configured all network settings click the Save button

Click the Home button on the settings saved confirmation page to return to the Home page

MobiusFlow has been containerised and is run via docker.

Below is an example docker-compose.yml file you could use when running MobiusFlow. In this example, an online version of MobiusFlow 1.19.1 is used. Note that, as well as the MobiusFlow service (labelled simply 'mobius'), the file also containers a reference to an nginx and mongodb containers.

The nginx container is used for port mapping, and mongodb container used as a database. Neither of these are required to run MobiusFlow.

This file can also be downloaded here:

It is important to include the correct licensing information within the environment variables of your docker-compose.yml file.

See the main on licensing for a full explanation of what is required for online and offline licensing as well updating a given licence.

The MobiusFlow software has been developed as an MQTT object bus which normalises all device data into standardised MobiusFlow objects which allow interoperability between all devices either real or virtual in the field or Cloud.

MobiusFlow enables actuators, sensors & controllers to connect, control and communicate with each other and to the Cloud so that IoT solutions using scalable monitoring, visualisation and predictive analytics can provide valuable insights into your business and act upon them automatically.

• A complete control and communications platform

The service diagnostics and control page shows all of the configured services, their current status and controls to start and stop services.

The Run State column (2) shows the current run state of the services in a traffic light. The colours are defined as follows:

• Grey - Not running, never started

• Red - Not running, manually stopped

The MobiusFlow software has been developed as an MQTT object bus which normalises all device data into standardised MobiusFlow objects which allow interoperability between all devices either real or virtual in the field or Cloud.

MobiusFlow enables actuators, sensors & controllers to connect, control and communicate with each other and to the Cloud so that IoT solutions using scalable monitoring, visualisation and predictive analytics can provide valuable insights into your business and act upon them automatically.

• A complete control and communications platform

• Microservice based architecture

• Secure, open protocol based on MQTT

• Scalable to 1000s of devices

• Platform and language independent

• Does not depend on a network connection for local control

• Provides full discovery of nodes, objects and resources in all directions

• Pub / Sub change of value notifications

• All sensor and actuator data is normalised from any source such as / / / / LoRaWAN / Analog / Digital etc.

MobiusFlow has been designed from the ground up as a micro service based design with a simple but common set of API commands. All communication between micro services is performed using the MQTT protocol, ensuring that micro services can be written in any programming language and will run on any device capable of TCP/IP network communications. The only requirement for any MobiusFlow system is that it contains at least one Node. This Node consists of a MobiusFlow Hub which initiates and facilitates communication between micro services in a secure way. Micro services can run on the same device as the Hub, or on another device such as a temperature sensor, connected to the Hub via a connection capable of transmitting via TCP/IP (provision has been made for future expansion, by adding translation services, to allow micro services to communicate with the Hub over any transmission medium capable to transmitting binary data).

Each Node is typically a stand-alone island which does not require any connection to any other device in order to perform local control. Nodes can be connected together via secure MobiusFlow Routers allowing the creation of a network of interconnected Nodes. When used in this configuration, Nodes can share data with each other and influence the control algorithms running on any connected Node.

Vanilla MQTT has some limitations in its usefulness as a peer to peer messaging and control protocol. It is based around the Publish / Subscribe pattern which is ideal where multiple devices are sending data to a single end point for logging etc. MQTT can be used where devices or services need to have a two way peer to peer flow of communication but the different services need to be aware of each other at design time. MobiusFlow defines a protocol layer above MQTT which enables discovery of devices and services at runtime and then allows two way peer to peer communication to take place, ensuring that new devices and services can be added at any time without having any design time knowledge of the other devices and services in a system.

MobiusFlow Objects represent real or virtual devices such as sensors, rooms, pieces of equipment, and machinery. All objects are based on an Object Profile which describes the shape of the object i.e. what properties (resources) an objects has, the data type of each property (resource), and metadata describing the object and it properties.

For more information on objects and resources read the MobiusFlow Architecture article.

Objects must belong to a service. To add new objects or configure existing objects on a service open the Service's Objects page by clicking on the service in the main menu or clicking on the main body of a service's card on the Services page.

Services can be started and stopped individually and if enabled, and set to run at start, will start automatically whenever the MobiusFlow instance is started.

Some services have which affect how they operate e.g. the ports used by the MQTT broker service. These settings are typically only loaded on service start so changes to these settings may require a service to be stopped and started before they take effect. If a service is running and any critical settings are changed MobiusFlow Toolbox will notify you that a restart is required.

In addition to service settings changes requiring a restart, changes to object settings will only take affect if a service is restarted or if a hot reload takes place. Any objects that have changes requiring a restart or hot reload are highlighted in the service's page.

The controls used to start, stop, and hot reload services are located on the service's card on the Services page and on the service's objects page. The buttons have the following icons (Start, Stop, Hot Reload).

balenaCloud devices can run multiple microservices in separate Docker containers. Deploying MobiusFlow® to your device will create three microservices. You can start, stop and view logs for each service on the balenaCloud device summary page.

This microservice runs the MobiusFlow® application.

Manages network interfaces. See for more information

A full version of MongoDB which you can use to store / retrieve data in flows.

The default settings are

Navigating around the Toolbox UI is very simple. The key areas are as follows:

• The current user is shown in the top right of the window. You can click on this button to change your password or log out

• The collapsable menu on the left side of the window is a quick way to access your configured Services, Flows, Historian settings, Object Profiles and instance Settings. Clicking on the menu icon in the the top left corner will either collapse or expand the menu. As you add new to your configuration they will shown in the menu under the Services heading

MobiusFlow hosts an official demo-site for MobiusFlow View. This can be accessed .

You may also use our demo view user:

Email:

demo.viewer@mobiusflow.com

Password:

demodemo1

If you would rather your own login account please contact support@mobiusflow.com.

As each application differs you will need to chose which services are required for your application.

To add a service, first click on Services in the main menu and then click on the Show Library button to show the list of available services, find the service you want to add, and click on the Add button for that service.

The service will get added to the configuration with the next available Service ID (SID)

You can click on the Hide Library button to hide the service library when you are done.

This demo uses to exemplify use of this API.

To follow this ensure you download the relevant Postman Collection .

Preprocessors are run every time a new value is written to a resource. They are used to modify the value before it is written e.g. change from °C to °F, or update another resource e.g. update a message counter

This feature is coming soon.

Value persistence ensures that objects keep their values between restarts.

In MobiusFlow versions before v3 any restart would cause all resources to be reset to their default values. This would often cause anomalies or loss of data such as all temperature values dropping to zero, meter readings being lost or people counts resetting.

MobiusFlow 3 has solved this problem by adding optional value persistence. This can be configured on a service by service basis in the service settings. To access a service's settings follow the instructions here.

When a service starts it first creates all objects with their default values and then applies any persisted values before running.

Enabling / Disabling Persistence

You can enable or disable persistence on each service. Changing the persistence enabled state will affect all objects belonging to that service.

You can enable or disable persistence by clicking on the Enable Persistence switch in the service's settings.

Disabling persistence will also delete any persisted values. If you need to reset the persisted values you can disable and then re-enable persistence.

In order to lower CPU load values are only persisted at regular intervals and not on every value change. You can set this interval (in minutes) in the service's settings. Try to find a reasonable balance between saving the current values and load on the system. The more objects a service has, the greater the CPU load required to persist the values.

Services have persistence enabled with an interval of 5 minutes by default.

The Administration page covers user management, backup and restore, licence settings, security as well as setting the node's Hub ID. The page is divided into corresponding tabs accordingly.

User administration

Users can be added, modified and deleted from within the User Management Tab on the Administration page.

Backup/Restore

Backup and restore functionality is accessed via the settings tab on the Administration page. A full article covering backup and restore can be found here.

Setting the Hub ID

All Mobius nodes are identified by their hub ID. This is a six character hexadecimal number and should be unique within any group of Mobius nodes. See MobiusFlow Architecture and MobiusFlow Uniform Resource Identifiers for more information about Hub IDs.

This demo uses Postman to exemplify use of this WebSocket.

💥 Interactive Demo

If the Connector is hosted via BalenaCloud and has an internet connection, the configuration can be accessed anywhere via the BalenaCloud Public Device URL.

If the connector is hosted by MobiusFlow, please contact support to receive the Public Device URL.

The BalenaCloud Public Device URL can be found by Navigating to the connector device on the BalenaCloud fleet.

By default, the MobiusFlow connector will broadcast a WiFi access point, the name of which matches the connector's serial number (in the form of MF_XXXXX). Connect to this access point on a computer or mobile device. Then the configuration window is accessible by browsing to 10.42.0.1.

If the connector is connected to a local network via Ethernet or WiFi (with a known IP address) and you're able to also connect to this network using a computer or mobile device, then simple browse to the local IP of the connector.

All MobiusFlow® instances require a valid licence to run. Licences define the maximum number of MobiusFlow® objects that you can add to an instance. For more information about MobiusFlow® licences refer to the page.

1. A valid MobiusFlow® licence (licences can only be used on one device)

Licences are added to balenaCloud devices by setting a device variable. All required device variables are created automatically when you deploy MobiusFlow® to a fleet. For more information see .

Navigate to your

To update a service's settings, first click on Services in the main menu and then find the correct service card.

On the service card toolbar click on the Settings button to open the service settings dialog.

The service settings dialog is shown above. All services have these default settings, but some services may have additional service specific settings. It is beyond the scope of this article to describe any service specific settings, please see the article for that specific service type for more information.

The SID or Service ID is a three digit hexadecimal number. It forms part of a .

When a service is it is given the next available SID, but this can be changed if required. SIDs must be unique within a MobiusFlow instance so you cannot assign a service an existing SID.

It is possible to have up to two radios for wireless sensors in a single connector. This is useful when you have combination of sensors using different protocols.

The current options are EnOcean and Workplace Occupancy using either 868MHz for the EMEA region of 915MHz for the USA and Canada.

To create a copy of a service along with all of its settings and objects you can click on the Clone button on the service card of the service you want to copy. The new service will be given the next available . You can change the SID in the service's settings if required.

Configuring MobiusFlow for use with Connectors uses the MobiusFlow Connectors service. A full guide on how to use this service can be found here.

COMING SOON

MobiusFlow® is a middleware software application

MobiusFlow® connects, controls and communicates with 1000s of sensors and control devices to provide actionable insights and automated responses. Developed and successfully deployed with many projects over the past 17 years by engineers with first-hand experience in project management and installation such as CBRE, Ingram Micro, TD Synnex and IBM.

MobiusFlow with LoRaWAN Stack

It is optional to include the LoRaWAN Stack when specifying the hosting type on instance creation. This Stack will grant the ability to use the MobiusFlow LoRaWAN LNS.

If included, an instance of Chirpstack and it associated infrastructure will be hosted in the background. Accessing this is not necessary to use the LNS, however it is accessible if required. Full details can be found within the LNS Service documentation.

Port Mappings (Simple)

The table below shows a simple overview illustrating how the ports are mapped. This is a simple overview suitable for most users.

Different parts of the MobiusFlow solution run in different docker containers. These communicate via docker routing. Docker routing allows container names to be resolved in the Host OS, for example, to refer to the Mobius Engine API from the Host OS or a container that is not the mobius container, one could use mobius:8442 (container name followed by Host OS Port).

This means that, if communication between containers is required, the Host OS port and container is required. As such, these are included in the advanced port mappings table below.

The table below gives a full description of the port mappings a MobiusFlow Cloud hosted environment is subject to.

If you forget your connector's Config Mode Password or want to fully reset all settings to the factory default follow the procedure below

1. A SIM card removal tool, large paper clip or pin to push the configuration mode button

Using a pin hold in the configuration mode button (inside the small hole to the right of the USB connector) on the front panel for 10 seconds

While you are holding the button in the green LED will start to flash rapidly and after 10 seconds the connector will reboot. Once you see the power on LED sequence release the configuration mode button

The historian MCP is hosted as part of the Historian Data API on the following endpoint:

Please note that the server does not support connection via the deprecated STDIO standard.

Authentication

Authentication works in the same way as all calls in the Historian Data API. You must include x-api-key as a header:

Keys can be managed via the MobiusFlow View application.

Tools

All tools are exposed when connecting to the MCP server. Currently available tools include:

• get-all-objects-name-uri-map

• get-closest-matching-object-by-name

• get-telemetry-for-mulitple-series

• get-profiles

Input formats for all tools can be obtained by connecting to the MCP server.

Documentation for output formats is coming soon, however is not normally required for agentic application.

Within a MobiusFlow system all hubs, services, objects and resources are identified by a unique address known as a Uniform Resource Identifier or URI. These URIs are hierarchical so given the URI for a Mobius resource it is possible to identify which object the resource belongs to, what the object type is, which service the object belongs to and which Mobius node the service is running on.

Mobius URI Definition

An object’s URI (or name) is defined in 4 parts, namely the hub ID (HID), service ID (SID), object profile ID (PID) and instance number (INS). A fifth part is added when accessing a specific resource, the resource ID (RID).

Each part of an object’s URI is a uppercase string of a defined length (as shown in the table below). The URI’s parts are separated with a forward slash (/).

A full URI is typically defined as HID/SID/PID/INS/RID.

It is possible to address any part of the system by only using the required parts of the URI. e.g. to address a service only the first two parts of the URI are used HID/SID and to address an object only the first four parts are used HID/SID/PID/INS.

An example of an object URI for an object of instance 1, profile 3A, created by service 1F connected to hub 1 is:

000001/01F/003A/0001

and if addressing resource 40 on that object the full URI would be:

000001/01F/003A/0001/40

Under certain conditions, such as subscribing to a resource’s change of value event, it is possible to use wildcards in the URI. These wildcards are described in the table below and follow the MQTT standard.

Object Profiles describe the shape of Objects i.e. what properties (resources) an objects has, the data type of each property (resource), and metadata describing the object and it properties.

For more information on objects and resources read the MobiusFlow Architecture article.

Before creating objects you must first define an object profile. Profiles can be created from scratch, or based on a predefined template or existing object profile.

Profile IDs (PIDs)

All object profiles must have a unique profile ID or PID. This is a four digit hexadecimal number and can be any value from 0200 to FFFF as long as a profile with that PID does not already exist. The PID will form part of an object's URI identifying the object's type, and can be used when subscribing to object or resource COVs to filter by object type.

See MobiusFlow Uniform Resource Identifiers for more information.

Resources

All live data in MobiusFlow is stored in object resources. Each resource stores a single simple value of a specific type. These types include

When writing a value to a resource it should always be of the correct type although values will be coerced to the correct type if possible.

In addition to setting the data type for a resource you can also define some settings for each resource. These settings will depend on the type e.g. a string resource will have a setting for the maximum length and a number resource will have settings for the maximum and minimum value that can be stored.

For each object profile you can also define a , , and .

What You Will Need?

1. A balenaCloud account with Microservices access (this requires a paid account)

2. A compatible balenaCloud fleet (Up Board, Intel NUC or Raspberry Pi 4)

Deploying from balenaHub

Navigate to your balenaCloud dashboard and login in

Navigate to balenaHub to select which version of MobiusFlow® to deploy

Navigate to the Apps page

Search for MobiusFlow

Select the correct device type

Click on the Deploy button

Balena will switch to your balenaCloud dashboard

You can create a new fleet here or deploy to an existing fleet. If creating a new fleet refer to the section for details on what settings are required

If you already have a new fleet or want to upgrade the MobiusFlow® version on existing devices, select Use an existing fleet instead

Select the fleet from the drop down and click on the Deploy to fleet button

After a few seconds you will see the new release being built for your fleet

This will take a minute or two. Once the build is complete you will see the release on the dashboard. All devices, which have not been pinned to a specific release, in your fleet will automatically start to update to the new release.

You can also view the release history in the Releases page of your fleet.

Click on a device Summary to see which release it is running. You can also pin device to specific releases on this screen

What You Will Need?

1. A device with a web browser such as a laptop, tablet or smart phone, capable of connecting to a 2.4GHz WiFi access point

2. A SIM card removal tool, large paper clip or pin to push the configuration mode button

3. A powered MobiusFlow® connector

4. The connector's Serial Number

The connector's configuration mode can be enabled in two ways:

Using a pin hold in the configuration mode button (inside the small hole to the right of the USB connector) on the front panel for 2 seconds

Release the button and the green LED will flash rapidly

Using your laptop / tablet / smartphone look for a WiFi network with the same name as the connectors serial number

Connect to this network and enter the connector's Config Mode Password. The default is mobiusflow

Open a web browser on your laptop / tablet / smartphone and enter http://192.168.4.1 into the browsers address bar and hit enter

The web browser will show the connector's configuration Home page

Make sure that the connector and your laptop / tablet / smart phone are connected to the same Ethernet network

Open a web browser and browse to <your connector IP address>:8080 e.g. 192.168.1.20:8080

You will need to enter a user name and password. The user name is admin and the password is the same as the connector's Config Mode Password. The default is mobiusflow

After a short delay the web browser will redirect to the connector's configuration Home page

Object Profiles Page

To open the Object Profiles page click on Object Profiles in the main menu.

The object profiles table shows a list of all of the profiles that exist on this instance of MobiusFlow. Any profiles that have not been used to create objects, and therefore can be deleted are shown with a greyed out PID and icon.

Above the table is a toolbar with options to

• Create a new profile

• Filter the list by profile group

• Search for a profile - this filters by PID and profile name

• Import and export profiles

• Set the density of the grid

Clicking on a profile in the table opens the Profile Settings Sidebar. The width of the sidebar can be changed by dragging on the vertical splitter.

A Raspberry Pi is required. Currently supported Raspberry Pi models include:

• Raspberry Pi 4

• Raspberry Pi 5

An SD card for each Raspberry Pi is required to store the connector image. We recommend a minimum storage of 8GB.

Most protocol types require specific hardware to translate that protocol to the Raspberry Pi.

The Connector collects data from sensors and sends data to actuators via standard wireless sensor protocols such as EnOcean and Workplace Occupancy, and sends this data securely to a MobiusFlow using an MQTT based Protocol.

Once the data has been received by a MobiusFlow instance, it is decoded and the associated MobiusFlow object is updated with the latest sensor readings which can then be processed by the gateway.

A full guide on configuring MobiusFlow for use with Connectors can be found .

There are several hardware options for the MobiusFlow Connector software:

The configuration page is used to create and configure the MobiusFlow configuration for a Mobius node (see ). The page is split into five main sections:

1. The main menu

2. The services palette

Page coming soon. Please contact support@mobiusflow.com to arrange a support call on this topic.

💥 Interactive Demo

The Home page has the following buttons

Configure the wired or wireless Ethernet network settings

Manage all certificates for TLS connections. The default certificates are for MobiusFlow® cloud hosted instances but you can add your own if required

Configure the connection to the MQTT broker you chose when

Change the configuration mode password

See information about the connector such as the software version, serial number, andwhich modules are installed

System Services are required my MobiusFlow to function correctly. Examples include the Engine API and Historian services.

The MobiusFlow Engine API service is a RESTful API used by MobiusFlow Toolbox, Flows, and user applications to both configure an instance of MobiusFlow and read and write data to MobiusFlow objects.

It is not possible to configure or stop this service from MobiusFlow Toolbox as this would prevent Toolbox from communicating with the MobiusFlow Engine.

More details about this API can be found .

MobiusFlow Historian is a time-series database for storing data generated and collected by MobiusFlow. This time-series data can then be used my MobiusFlow View to create dashboards or by external applications for data analytics and artificial intelligence.

The MobiusFlow Historian service pushes data whenever it changes to a MobiusFlow Historian database. More information can be found .

Power Options

You have three options to power the connector

You can connect to your network via wired Ethernet or 2.4GHz WiFi

The image and table below describe the connections and LED indicators on the front panel of the connector.

The product label is on the bottom of the connector. It shows the , software version and serial number of the product.

What You Will Need?

1. A balenaCloud account with Microservices access (this requires a paid account)

2. A balenaCloud Raspberry Pi 4 Fleet (see Creating a Fleet)

3. A Raspberry Pi 4 with minimum 1Gb RAM and 8Gb storage (eMMC or microSD card. The following instructions are for an SD card)

4. A power supply for your Raspberry Pi 4

5. An Ethernet network cable

6. An internet router with a free Ethernet port (or an Ethernet port on your LAN with internet access)

7. An SD card adaptor for your laptop or PC

8. balenaEtcher installed on your laptop or PC. You can download balenaEtcher

Navigate to your and login in

Navigate to the Fleets page

Click on the fleet you want to add a device to

Click on the Add device button

Leave all of the default settings. You can add a WiFi network (client or AP) later.

Select the Download balenaOS option in the drop down button. The balenaOS will start to download

Place your microSD card into your SD card adaptor and connect it to your laptop or PC

Open balenaEtcher

Select Flash from file and choose the balenaOS image you downloaded above

Select your SD card as the target

Click on the Flash button

balenaEtcher will burn the balenaOS to your SD card and make it a bootable image. Wait for this to complete and for the image to be verified

Remove the SD card from the SD card adaptor and insert it into your Raspberry Pi 4's SD card slot

Plug the Ethernet cable into your Raspberry Pi 4's Ethernet port and your network

Power up your Raspberry Pi 4

After a few minutes your new device will appear in the balenaCloud dashboard. Navigate to your balenaCloud dashboard, select your fleet and view the fleet's Summary page.

You device will be added to the list at the bottom of the page. It will be given a random name which you can change on the device's summary page

You have successfully added a new device to your balenaCloud fleet. To deploy MobiusFlow® to this device go to

The configuration of the network interfaces of a MobiusFlow® balenaCloud device is handled by the manage microservice. All configuration is stored in a JSON file which can be updated by plugging in a properly configured USB memory stick or through the balenaCloud device terminal.

Network Configuration File Structure

[
  {
    "connection

[
  {
    "connection": {
      "enabled": true,
      "type": "ethernet",
      "id": "Wired connection 1",
      "interface-name": "eth0"
    },
    "ipv4": {
      "method": "auto",
      "address": "",
      "prefix": 24,
      "gateway": "",
      "dns": ""
    }
  },
  {
    "connection": {
      "enabled": false,
      "type": "wifi",
      "id": "WiFi connection 1",
      "interface-name": "wlan0"
    },
    "ipv4": {
      "method": "auto",
      "address": "",
      "prefix": 24,
      "gateway": "",
      "dns": ""
    },
    "wifi": {
      "ssid": ""
    },
    "wifi-security": {
      "psk": "",
      "auth-alg": "open",
      "key-mgmt": "wpa-psk"
    }
  },
  {
    "connection": {
      "enabled": false,
      "type": "hotspot",
      "id": "WiFi hotspot 1",
      "interface-name": "wlan0"
    },
    "wifi": {
      "ssid": "",
      "channel": 6
    },
    "wifi-security": {
      "psk": "",
      "key-mgmt": "wpa-psk"
    }
  }
]

Editing the Network Configuration

Using the balenaCloud Device Terminal

Navigate to your balenaCloud dashboard and login in

Navigate to the Device Summary page of the device you want to configure

Open a terminal in the manage microservice

Change to the /data/.mobius/manage directory and edit the networks.json file by running the following commands:

This will open the network configuration file for editing using the vi editor

Make any required changes and save the file

Exit the terminal and restart the manage microservice by clicking on the restart icon next to the manage service

Using a USB memory stick to update the network interfaces is useful when none of the network interfaces is configured to connect to the internet so it is not possible to use the balenaCloud device terminal. You will obviously need physical access to the device to use this method.

Format the USB memory stick as FAT32

Rename the USB memory to MOBIUSCONF

Create a file on the USB memory stick called networks.json

Open the file on your laptop or PC in your favourite text editor and paste in the correct JSON configuration from the examples above

Make any required changes

Save the file and unplug the USB memory stick from your laptop or PC

Plug the USB memory stick into any of the USB ports on your device

Reboot your device

When the device reboots it will copy the networks.json onto the device and use the new configuration for its network interfaces (this will take a minute or two)

You can then remove the USB memory stick and your device will continue to use the new network configuration.