FAQ about how to use the console
This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQ) about how to use the IoT Platform console.
Link to the IoT Platform console
How do I view logs in the IoT Platform console?
To view logs in the IoT Platform console, perform the following steps: Log on to the IoT Platform console, and click the instance that you want to manage. In the left-side navigation pane of the page that appears, choose . On the Device Log page, select the product whose logs you want to view from the drop-down list. The logs of all devices under this product appear.
For more information, see Device Log.
Can I change the region where a product or device is deployed in the IoT Platform console?
No, you cannot change the region where a product or device is deployed in the IoT Platform console.
You can use the device distribution feature to change the region of a device. For more information, see Device Distribution.
How do I activate a device?
When you succeed in connecting a device to IoT Platform by using the device certificate, the device is activated and no extra operations are required.
For more information, see Connect a device to IoT Platform.
What messages do custom topic categories whose names end with get, update, or error contain?
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error: an error message sent from a device to IoT Platform.
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get: a message that a device subscribes to from the cloud.
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update: a message sent from a device to IoT Platform.
You can create custom topics based on your business requirements. For more information, see Use custom topics for communication.
Why is the Define Feature tab not displayed on the Product Details page?
Your product runs Basic Edition. In this case, you cannot use a Thing Specification Language (TSL) model to define the product. Therefore, the Define Feature tab is not displayed in the IoT Platform console.
If you do not specify the AliyunCommodityCode parameter when you call the CreateProduct API, a Basic Edition product is created.
Publishing to custom topics by using an API
On the device details page in the IoT Platform console, select the Topic List tab. From the list of subscribed topics, select a custom topic (for example, /g18l4xxx/device1/user/get) and click Publish Message in the Actions column. In the dialog box that appears, enter the Topic and Message Content (up to 4,096 characters), select a QoS level (0 or 1), and then click Confirm to send the message to the device.
Yes, you can. You can call the Pub API to publish a message to a device through a custom topic.
Creating and configuring the rules engine
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In your instance in the IoT Platform console, go to the page to create and configure rules. For more information, see Configure data forwarding rules or Configure data parsers for data forwarding.
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Use the IoT Platform server-side SDK to call the relevant APIs. For more information, see APIs for Data Forwarding (old version) and APIs for Data Forwarding (new version).
Missing products and devices from public instance
Activating the Link IoT Platform service for your Alibaba Cloud account converts the public instance in IoT Platform into a legacy public instance. Legacy public instances have no ID, and all data is deleted.
This operation cannot be reversed and affects device-related services in your IoT Platform instance. The legacy public instance is billed on a pay-as-you-go basis.
You must create a new Alibaba Cloud account to use the IoT Platform service and its public instance. New public instances are free of charge.
Data retention period for device logs
The Device Log page stores logs for 7 days by default. If you require a longer retention period, you can enable log dumping. For more information, see Dump cloud-side operational logs.
Device simulation and remote control
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To simulate a device communicating with IoT Platform for uplink and downlink, see device simulator.
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After a device is online, you can use the Online Debugging feature to remotely access the device over SSH and run debugging commands in its console. For more information, see remote login.