# README
Things
Things service provides an HTTP API for managing platform resources: things and channels. Through this API clients are able to do the following actions:
- provision new things
- create new channels
- "connect" things into the channels
For an in-depth explanation of the aforementioned scenarios, as well as thorough understanding of Mainflux, please check out the official documentation.
Configuration
The service is configured using the environment variables presented in the following table. Note that any unset variables will be replaced with their default values.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| MF_THINGS_LOG_LEVEL | Log level for Things (debug, info, warn, error) | error |
| MF_THINGS_DB_HOST | Database host address | localhost |
| MF_THINGS_DB_PORT | Database host port | 5432 |
| MF_THINGS_DB_USER | Database user | mainflux |
| MF_THINGS_DB_PASS | Database password | mainflux |
| MF_THINGS_DB | Name of the database used by the service | things |
| MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_MODE | Database connection SSL mode (disable, require, verify-ca, verify-full) | disable |
| MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_CERT | Path to the PEM encoded certificate file | |
| MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_KEY | Path to the PEM encoded key file | |
| MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_ROOT_CERT | Path to the PEM encoded root certificate file | |
| MF_THINGS_CLIENT_TLS | Flag that indicates if TLS should be turned on | false |
| MF_THINGS_CA_CERTS | Path to trusted CAs in PEM format | |
| MF_THINGS_CACHE_URL | Cache database URL | localhost:6379 |
| MF_THINGS_CACHE_PASS | Cache database password | |
| MF_THINGS_CACHE_DB | Cache instance name | 0 |
| MF_THINGS_ES_URL | Event store URL | localhost:6379 |
| MF_THINGS_ES_PASS | Event store password | |
| MF_THINGS_ES_DB | Event store instance name | 0 |
| MF_THINGS_HTTP_PORT | Things service HTTP port | 8182 |
| MF_THINGS_AUTH_HTTP_PORT | Things service Auth HTTP port | 8989 |
| MF_THINGS_AUTH_GRPC_PORT | Things service Auth gRPC port | 8181 |
| MF_THINGS_SERVER_CERT | Path to server certificate in pem format | |
| MF_THINGS_SERVER_KEY | Path to server key in pem format | |
| MF_THINGS_STANDALONE_EMAIL | User email for standalone mode (no gRPC communication with users) | |
| MF_THINGS_STANDALONE_TOKEN | User token for standalone mode that should be passed in auth header | |
| MF_JAEGER_URL | Jaeger server URL | localhost:6831 |
| MF_AUTH_GRPC_URL | Auth service gRPC URL | localhost:8181 |
| MF_AUTH_GRPC_TIMEOUT | Auth service gRPC request timeout in seconds | 1s |
Note that if you want things service to have only one user locally, you should use MF_THINGS_STANDALONE env vars. By specifying these, you don't need auth service in your deployment for users' authorization.
Deployment
The service itself is distributed as Docker container. Check the things service section in
docker-compose to see how service is deployed.
To start the service outside of the container, execute the following shell script:
# download the latest version of the service
git clone https://github.com/MainfluxLabs/mainflux
cd mainflux
# compile the things
make things
# copy binary to bin
make install
# set the environment variables and run the service
MF_THINGS_LOG_LEVEL=[Things log level] \
MF_THINGS_DB_HOST=[Database host address] \
MF_THINGS_DB_PORT=[Database host port] \
MF_THINGS_DB_USER=[Database user] \
MF_THINGS_DB_PASS=[Database password] \
MF_THINGS_DB=[Name of the database used by the service] \
MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_MODE=[SSL mode to connect to the database with] \
MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_CERT=[Path to the PEM encoded certificate file] \
MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_KEY=[Path to the PEM encoded key file] \
MF_THINGS_DB_SSL_ROOT_CERT=[Path to the PEM encoded root certificate file] \
MF_HTTP_ADAPTER_CA_CERTS=[Path to trusted CAs in PEM format] \
MF_THINGS_CACHE_URL=[Cache database URL] \
MF_THINGS_CACHE_PASS=[Cache database password] \
MF_THINGS_CACHE_DB=[Cache instance name] \
MF_THINGS_ES_URL=[Event store URL] \
MF_THINGS_ES_PASS=[Event store password] \
MF_THINGS_ES_DB=[Event store instance name] \
MF_THINGS_HTTP_PORT=[Things service HTTP port] \
MF_THINGS_AUTH_HTTP_PORT=[Things service Auth HTTP port] \
MF_THINGS_AUTH_GRPC_PORT=[Things service Auth gRPC port] \
MF_THINGS_SERVER_CERT=[Path to server certificate] \
MF_THINGS_SERVER_KEY=[Path to server key] \
MF_THINGS_STANDALONE_EMAIL=[User email for standalone mode (no gRPC communication with auth)] \
MF_THINGS_STANDALONE_TOKEN=[User token for standalone mode that should be passed in auth header] \
MF_JAEGER_URL=[Jaeger server URL] \
MF_AUTH_GRPC_URL=[Auth service gRPC URL] \
MF_AUTH_GRPC_TIMEOUT=[Auth service gRPC request timeout in seconds] \
$GOBIN/mainfluxlabs-things
Setting MF_THINGS_CA_CERTS expects a file in PEM format of trusted CAs. This will enable TLS against the Users gRPC endpoint trusting only those CAs that are provided.
In constrained environments, sometimes it makes sense to run Things service as a standalone to reduce network traffic and simplify deployment. This means that Things service
operates only using a single user and is able to authorize it without gRPC communication with Auth service.
To run service in a standalone mode, set MF_THINGS_STANDALONE_EMAIL and MF_THINGS_STANDALONE_TOKEN.
Usage
For more information about service capabilities and its usage, please check out the API documentation.