# Howto - Updated method for Freeboard IOT interface with MQTT, NODE-RED for EMONTX **URL:** \ **Category:** Applications\ **Created:** [15 November 2017 23:52 UTC](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/t/howto-updated-method-for-freeboard-iot-interface-with-mqtt-node-red-for-emontx/5662 "2017-11-15T23:52:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stephen](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/user_avatar/community.openenergymonitor.org/stephen/32/19571_2.png) [@stephen](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/u/stephen)\ **Post date:** [15 November 2017 23:52 UTC](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/t/howto-updated-method-for-freeboard-iot-interface-with-mqtt-node-red-for-emontx/5662/1 "2017-11-15T23:52:14Z")
Here an Updated method for freeboard IOT interface for Banana, and other PIs for mQTT and emontx - it still my fave for IOT for ease of use … setting up a bananian iot ( or other PI type hardware) the quick way first install your image to SD update and upgrade it install apache2 – optional only if you want interactive interface in freeboard change listening port to another port other then 80 ``` nano /etc/apache2/ports.conf ``` if you wish to install influxdb add this to source list ``` nano /etc/apt/sources.list deb https://repos.influxdata.com/debian jessie stable ``` add this for websocket enabled mosquitto ``` deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian stretch main contrib non-free ``` update and install ``` apt-get update apt-get install mosquitto apt-get install mosquitto-clients ``` mosquitto websocket config ``` nano /etc/mosquitto/conf.d/websockets.conf ``` add this to it ``` listener 1883 protocol mqtt listener 9001 protocol websockets ``` once installed disable them – put a “#” in front of them if you wish to test websockets install hive ``` cd /var/www/html/ git clone https://github.com/hivemq/hivemq-mqtt-web-client.git mqtt-web chown www-data:www-data -R mqtt-web ``` to view webpage ``` http://localhost/mqtt-web ``` Install Node Red ``` curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_4.x | bash - apt-get install -y build-essential python-dev nodejs ``` Before installing Node Red if you had an earlier Node.js installation it is a good idea to… ``` npm cache clean ``` Now it’s time to install Node Red. ``` npm install -g node-red ``` You will see tons of warning and gyp errors that you should ignore. You will probably also see an error about the Bananian OS, that you should ignore also. After about 5 minutes, you will have Node Red installed on your Banana. To start Node Red you can run the following command(and change the size of RAM in MB that Node Red will use from 128 if you want): ``` node-red-pi --max-old-space-size=128 ``` You can open your browser, go to :1880 and you should see Node Red running. now there are a couple methods to install freeboard for basic install ``` cd /var/www/html git clone https://github.com/Freeboard/freeboard.git freeboard chown www-data:www-data -R freeboard ``` problem with this is the newer freeboard they disable the save interface it only saves a json file that needs to be loaded at start but this is my prefered method a pre compile version of node-red freeboard but with newer version of node-red freeboard is broken and require alot of reconfiguring to get working.( this version its interface is saved and load directly at start) the simpler way download this precompile package it contains everything all the plug ins are preconfigured and MQTT is working directly from with freeboard or you can also configure it through node-red interface if you like using all of node red modules in freeboard download this: ``` https://ufile.io/uy2oa ``` sorry link is good only for 30 days if expired let me know and i will upload it again - maybe I will find a free fileserver for it that does not expire or if someone has a suggestion let me know extract it to your working directory ``` tar zxf 2iot.tar.gz ``` now simply cd in to it ``` cd iot/node-red node red.js -v -s settings.js ``` freeboard is accessible at [http://localhost/freeboard](http://localhost/freeboard) this way will run on your normal node red folder modules but also run the modules with in this iot folder that contains freeboard . you can install newer modules in newer node-red yet is stay compatible with freeboard this version i uploaded is preconfigure for port 80 ( so if you install apache webserver change listing ports or change node-red’s – setting .js) also security has being enabled so you will need to edit ``` cd iot/node-red node -e "console.log(require('bcryptjs').hashSync(process.argv[1], 8));" your_password ``` then edit the section in setting.js and insert yours hash for you your\_password To have Node Red start on boot, you can install PM2, a process manager for Node.js. ``` npm install -g pm2 ``` create a bash file called iot.sh ( set it permissions as executable) insert this ``` #!/bin/bash cd /home/user/iot/node-red/ ( node red.js -v -s settings.js ``` You can have Node Red autostart by placing the following commands: ``` pm2 start /home/user/iot.sh pm2 save pm2 startup ``` if you wish to use the interactive plug-ins for freeboard you have to enable cgi ``` cd /etc/apache2/mods-enabled sudo ln -s ../mods-available/cgi.load sudo service apache2 reload ``` extract and copy this file to it [mqtt.tar.gz](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/uploads/default/original/2X/f/febac33c8e6f437304c26288be0971ff04541ee1.gz) (477 Bytes) but you can check this post for more info on that [A Howto install freeboard with MQTT for emontx shield - #11 by stephen](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/t/a-howto-install-freeboard-with-mqtt-for-emontx-shield/1581/11) but since apache not using port 80 for CGI you have to insert your port number in example: ``` http://localhost:81/cgi-bin/MQTT.pl?topic/test+12347 ``` – Banana pi specific — if you wish every thing to run on a SATA HHD instead of a SD do this ( be weary - if you mess up you will need to reinstall again) Prepare the partitions ``` fdisk -l ``` That should give you a list of the disks connected to your Banana. You will most probably see a disk /dev/sda, and that is what you want. From here on you will need to delete all partitions from your hard drive, so don’t continue unless you backup any data you might have in there. Once you are ready to proceed… ``` fdisk /dev/sda ``` There are several options there. You will need to delete all partitions and then make a new one. So the options you should select are: ``` d ``` If there are multiple partitions, first delete partition 1(type 1 and enter). Repeat the process until all partitions are gone. Then to write the partition table changes: ``` w ``` Let’s enter the partition manager again: ``` fdisk /dev/sda ``` Create a new partition: ``` n ``` and make it a primary one: ``` p ``` Enter 1 as the partition number and select the default values of start and end sector(simply press enter), and at the end write the changes to the partition table: ``` w ``` Now to format our new partition to ext4 and mount it as /dev/sda1: ``` sudo mke2fs -t ext4 -L rootfs /dev/sda1 ``` Copy the OS to the SATA drive Now to copy everything to our hard drive. First, we need a temporary mount point where we will mount our SATA drive: ``` mkdir /tmp/sata mount /dev/sda1 /tmp/sata ``` and let’s copy everything. That should take a few minutes, depending on your SD card, your SATA drive and how much data there is to copy: ``` rsync -arx --progress / /tmp/sata ``` Prepare the Boot partition Once the copy is over, let’s prepare the boot partition so that the Banana will use the SATA drive. ``` mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /tmp/boot nano /tmp/boot/boot.cmd after changing to … root=/dev/sda1 .. apt-get install u-boot-tools cd /tmp/boot rm boot.scr mkimage -C none -A arm -T script -d boot.cmd boot.scr ``` reboot your bananapi and it running on SATA good luck have fun 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stephen](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/user_avatar/community.openenergymonitor.org/stephen/32/19571_2.png) [@stephen](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/u/stephen)\ **Post date:** [16 November 2017 14:21 UTC](https://community.openenergymonitor.org/t/howto-updated-method-for-freeboard-iot-interface-with-mqtt-node-red-for-emontx/5662/2 "2017-11-16T14:21:56Z")
to make it easier for anyone who might wants to try freeboard especially interactive buttons and gauges are tricky with out a little help – here are basic examples to get them working for you ## Interactive gauge: value - points to the mQTT data source to watch for changes datasource to send to- ``` http://192.168.168.150:2002/cgi-bin/MQTT.pl?therm+ ``` therm is the mqtt topic “+” denotes end of topic name ## Actuator: value - ``` (datasources["data2"] = datasources["lights"]); if (datasources["data2"] == "off") { (datasources["data2"]= "")} return datasources["data2"]; ``` * * * data processing when receiving Mqtt “lights” is the name of the mqtt datasourse to watch for changes “data2” is an internal function if using more then one actuator change data2 to different number to avoid bleed over * * * url on – ``` http://192.168.168.150:2002/cgi-bin/MQTT.pl?lights+on ``` url off – ``` http://192.168.168.150:2002/cgi-bin/MQTT.pl?lights+off ``` ## Interactive switch –same as above setting for actuator if you wish to make custom interactive button and sliders just use ## HTML insert code similar to this * * * ``` Turn Heating ON or OFF < action="http://192.168.168.150:2002/cgi-bin/MQTT.pl?switch+0" method="post"> Currently
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