How to Download and Use MQTT Explorer
MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight, publish-subscribe based messaging protocol designed for resource-constrained devices and low-bandwidth, high-latency, or unreliable networks. It is widely used in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, providing efficient communication between sensors, actuators, and other devices.
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If you are working with MQTT devices or services, you may need a tool that can help you visualize and interact with the MQTT topics and messages that are exchanged on your network. One such tool is MQTT Explorer, a comprehensive MQTT client that provides a structured overview of your MQTT topics and makes working with devices/services on your broker dead-simple.
In this article, we will show you how to download and use MQTT Explorer to connect to an MQTT broker, manage your topics and messages, and perform various tasks such as publishing, subscribing, deleting, filtering, plotting, and comparing topics.
What is MQTT and Why You Need It
MQTT Explained
MQTT is an open OASIS standard and an ISO recommendation (ISO/IEC 20922) that defines a messaging protocol for IoT applications. It employs a publish-subscribe communication pattern, where clients do not communicate directly with each other but through a central server called a broker.
A client can publish a message to a topic on the broker, which then distributes the message to all other clients that have subscribed to that topic. A topic is a hierarchical string that identifies the content or purpose of the message. For example, a topic could be "home/temperature" or "car/battery". A client can subscribe to multiple topics using wildcards such as "+" or "#".
MQTT supports three quality of service (QoS) levels for message delivery:
QoS 0: At most once delivery. The message is delivered at most once, but may be lost or duplicated.
QoS 1: At least once delivery. The message is delivered at least once, but may be duplicated.
QoS 2: Exactly once delivery. The message is delivered exactly once, without any loss or duplication.
MQTT also supports persistent sessions, which allow clients to resume their subscriptions and receive any missed messages when they reconnect to the broker.
Benefits of MQTT for IoT Applications
MQTT has several benefits for IoT applications, such as:
Low overhead and bandwidth consumption. The protocol uses a binary format and a minimal header to reduce the message size and network traffic.
Bidirectional communication. MQTT allows for messaging between device to cloud and cloud to device. This makes for easy broadcasting messages to groups of things.
Scalability. MQTT can scale to connect with millions of IoT devices.
Reliability. MQTT provides different QoS levels for reliable message delivery.
Support for unreliable networks. Many IoT devices connect over unreliable cellular networks. MQTT's support for persistent sessions reduces the time to reconnect the client with the broker.
What is MQTT Explorer and How It Can Help You
Features of MQTT Explorer
MQTT Explorer is a free and open source MQTT client that allows you to visualize and interact with MQTT topics and messages. It has a user-friendly interface that shows you a structured overview of your MQTT topics and their content. You can easily publish and subscribe to topics, delete and filter topics, plot and compare numeric topics, and more.
Some of the features of MQTT Explorer are:
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Topic grouping. You can group topics by common prefixes or suffixes, making it easier to navigate the topic tree.
Topic history. You can see the history of messages for each topic, including their QoS, retain flag, and timestamp.
Topic search. You can search for topics by name or content using regular expressions or JSON queries.
Topic statistics. You can see the statistics of each topic, such as the message count, rate, size, and payload type.
Topic diffing. You can compare the differences between two messages for the same topic or different topics.
Topic plotting. You can plot numeric topics on a chart and compare them with other topics.
Topic exporting. You can export topics and messages to CSV, JSON, or XML files.
Topic importing. You can import topics and messages from CSV, JSON, or XML files.
Topic scripting. You can write scripts in JavaScript or Python to manipulate topics and messages.
Topic debugging. You can debug your MQTT applications using the built-in console and log viewer.
Supported Platforms and Installation Methods
MQTT Explorer is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms. You can download the latest version from the official website or from GitHub. You can also install it using Homebrew on macOS or Snapcraft on Linux.
To install MQTT Explorer using Homebrew on macOS, run the following command in a terminal:
brew install --cask mqtt-explorer
To install MQTT Explorer using Snapcraft on Linux, run the following command in a terminal:
snap install mqtt-explorer
How to Connect MQTT Explorer to an MQTT Broker
Adding a New Connection
To connect MQTT Explorer to an MQTT broker, you need to add a new connection with the broker's details. To do this, follow these steps:
Open MQTT Explorer and click on the "+" button at the top left corner of the window.
A dialog box will appear where you can enter the connection name, broker URL, port number, protocol, username, password, client ID, and other options. You can also enable TLS encryption and select a certificate file if needed.
Click on "Save" to save the connection settings.
The connection will appear on the left panel of the window. Click on it to connect to the broker.
Configuring Connection Settings
You can configure various settings for your connection, such as:
The QoS level for publishing and subscribing to topics.
The retain flag for publishing messages.
The clean session flag for resuming subscriptions.
The keep alive interval for sending ping messages to the broker.
The reconnect interval for reconnecting to the broker after a connection loss.
The maximum number of messages to store in the history buffer.
To configure these settings, follow these steps:
Select your connection from the left panel of the window.
Click on the gear icon at the top right corner of the window.
A dialog box will appear where you can adjust the settings as per your requirements.
Click on "Save" to save the settings.
Navigating the Topic Tree
Once you are connected to an MQTT broker, you can see the topic tree on the right panel of the window. The topic tree shows you the hierarchical structure of the topics and their messages. You can expand or collapse the topics by clicking on the arrows next to them. You can also group topics by common prefixes or suffixes by right-clicking on them and selecting "Group by prefix" or "Group by suffix".
To see the details of a topic, such as its QoS, retain flag, timestamp, and payload, you can click on it and a new tab will open on the bottom panel of the window. You can also see the history of messages for that topic by scrolling down the tab. You can switch between different tabs by clicking on them or closing them.
Publishing and Subscribing to Topics
To publish a message to a topic, you can use the "Publish" button at the top right corner of the window. A dialog box will appear where you can enter the topic name, message payload, QoS level, and retain flag. You can also use variables such as $timestamp or $random in your message payload. Click on "Publish" to send the message to the broker.
To subscribe to a topic, you can use the "Subscribe" button at the top right corner of the window. A dialog box will appear where you can enter the topic name and QoS level. You can also use wildcards such as "+" or "#" in your topic name. Click on "Subscribe" to receive messages from the broker.
You can also publish or subscribe to topics by right-clicking on them and selecting "Publish" or "Subscribe". You can also unsubscribe from topics by right-clicking on them and selecting "Unsubscribe".
Deleting and Filtering Topics
To delete a topic, you can right-click on it and select "Delete". This will remove the topic and its messages from your MQTT Explorer window. However, this will not affect the broker or other clients that may have subscribed to that topic.
To filter topics, you can use the "Filter" button at the top right corner of the window. A dialog box will appear where you can enter a regular expression or a JSON query to match topics by name or content. For example, you can enter "/temperature$" to filter topics that end with "/temperature" or "value: $gt: 20" to filter topics that have a JSON payload with a value greater than 20. Click on "Apply" to apply the filter.
Plotting and Comparing Numeric Topics
If you have numeric topics, such as sensor readings or device statuses, you can plot them on a chart and compare them with other topics. To do this, follow these steps:
Select one or more numeric topics from the topic tree by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on them.
Right-click on one of them and select "Plot". A new tab will open on the bottom panel of the window with a chart showing the values of the selected topics over time.
You can zoom in or out of the chart by using your mouse wheel or dragging your mouse over it. You can also change the time range of the chart by using the slider at the bottom of it.
You can add more topics to the chart by dragging and dropping them from the topic tree. You can also remove topics from the chart by right-clicking on them and selecting "Remove".
You can change the color, style, or width of each line on the chart by right-clicking on it and selecting "Edit". You can also change the title, legend, axis labels, grid lines, or background color of the chart by right-clicking on it and selecting "Settings".
Conclusion and FAQs
In this article, we have shown you how to download and use MQTT Explorer, a powerful MQTT client that allows you to visualize and interact with MQTT topics and messages. We have covered how to connect to an MQTT broker, how to manage your topics and messages, and how to perform various tasks such as publishing, subscribing, deleting, filtering, plotting, and comparing topics.
We hope that this article has helped you understand how MQTT Explorer works and how it can help you with your IoT projects. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact us or leave a comment below.
Here are some frequently asked questions about MQTT Explorer:
Q: How do I update MQTT Explorer?
Q: How do I update MQTT Explorer?
A: You can update MQTT Explorer by downloading and installing the latest version from . You can also update it using Homebrew on macOS or Snapcraft on Linux by running the same commands as for installation.
Q: How do I use MQTT Explorer with a cloud-based MQTT broker?
A: You can use MQTT Explorer with any MQTT broker that supports TCP, WebSocket, or SSL/TLS connections. You just need to enter the broker URL, port number, protocol, username, password, and other options in the connection settings. For example, if you are using AWS IoT Core as your MQTT broker, you can follow to connect MQTT Explorer to it.
Q: How do I use MQTT Explorer with a local MQTT broker?
A: You can use MQTT Explorer with a local MQTT broker that runs on your own computer or network. You just need to enter the IP address or hostname of your broker, along with the port number, protocol, username, password, and other options in the connection settings. For example, if you are using Mosquitto as your local MQTT broker, you can follow to install and run it on your computer.
Q: How do I use MQTT Explorer with a custom MQTT client?
A: You can use MQTT Explorer with any MQTT client that follows the MQTT protocol and communicates with an MQTT broker. You just need to make sure that your client and MQTT Explorer are connected to the same broker and use the same topics and messages. For example, if you are using Node-RED as your custom MQTT client, you can follow to connect it to an MQTT broker and use MQTT Explorer to visualize and interact with the topics and messages.
Q: How do I report a bug or request a feature for MQTT Explorer?
A: You can report a bug or request a feature for MQTT Explorer by creating an issue on to chat with other users and developers of the tool. 44f88ac181
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