IoT Tips

Embedded databases come with the installation of the ThingWorx Platform No additional installation or configuration is required for embedded databases Read about the various benefits and pitfalls of embedded versus external below Database Options H2 RDBMS (relational database management system), written in Java Has a small memory footprint Embedded into ThingWorx for easy installation Not as robust as other database options Not scalable in production environments (unless used alongside a separate, external database for stream, value stream, and other data) ​ See KCS Article CS243975 for further reading on the use of external databases Meant to be used for quick deployments and testing environments PostgreSQL ORDBMS (object-relational database management system), written in C PostgreSQL is the ThingWorx recommended database for production systems More Robust External database installed separately from ThingWorx Beneficial because external databases can be specifically configured for use in production, while embedded databases cannot Able to efficiently handle larger amounts of data and store more data without affecting ThingWorx system performance Greater Stability Recover from data corruptions more easily by accessing the database from an external application (separate from ThingWorx) using simple SQL statements Easier to back-up the database in case of issues (further reading in KCS Article CS246598) Less risky and simpler upgrade procedure, which occurs "in-place" Instead of exporting and importing data and entities, a simple schema update allows these to automatically persist into the new version If ThingworxStorage folder is accidentally deleted, entities and data are secure in the external database More Secure HA (High Availability) allows for multiple server instances at different locations in the network Assists in time of failover, i.e. if one server fails, the other can immediately take over Secures the data and prevents further data loss in the event of a failure Customizable security settings and complex password requirements Fewer security vulnerabilities than other databases Because Postgres is an external database, it can be harder to install Follow the steps in the installation guide closely See KCS Articles CS235937 and CS230085 for troubleshooting and help with installation and configuration Hana RDBMS (relational database management system) In-memory, column based data storage For more information on this database, please see the Getting Started with SAP HANA Guide Neo4J GDBMS (graph database management system), written in Java Data is not easily accessed by external applications, and CQL must be used instead of SQL, making recovery from corruptions very difficult Embedded database with limited configuration options Known to have issues with deadlocks Deprecated in version 7.0 (related KCS Article: CS228537) For full installation steps for H2 and PostgreSQL, see the ThingWorx Installation Guide

Let's consider that we have two Streams Stream1 and Stream2 with same DataShape StreamDS. DataShape StreamDS has two fields Id (number) and Name (string). We want to copy all the entries from Stream1 to Stream2. Steps: 1. Open Stream1 Stream in Composer and run GetStreamEntriesWithData service. 2. In the popup click on Create DataShape from Result option to create a new DataShape GetStreamEntriesDS. 3. Create a Service and use JavaScript like below (Added Comments for Details): // Create Temporary Infotable to hold output of GetStreamEntriesWithData Service var paramsForInfotable = {   infoTableName: "InfoTable" /* STRING */,   dataShapeName: "GetStreamEntriesDS" /* DATASHAPENAME */ }; // result: INFOTABLE var InfotableForCopy = Resources["InfoTableFunctions"].CreateInfoTableFromDataShape(paramsForInfotable); //Save output of GetStreamEntriesWithData Service to Temporary Infotable InfotableForCopy var paramsForGetStreamEntriesWithDataService = {   oldestFirst: false /* BOOLEAN */,   maxItems: 10000 /* NUMBER */ }; // result: INFOTABLE dataShape: "GetStreamEntriesDS" InfotableForCopy = Things["Stream1"].GetStreamEntriesWithData(paramsForGetStreamEntriesWithDataService); // Read the data from Infotable row by row and add it to new Stream var tableLength = InfotableForCopy.rows.length; for (var x = 0; x < tableLength; x++) {   var row = InfotableForCopy.rows ; // values:INFOTABLE(Datashape: StreamDS) var values = Things["Stream2"].CreateValues(); values.Id = row.Id; //NUMBER values.Name = row.Name; //STRING var paramsForAddStreamEntryService = {   sourceType: row.sourceType /* STRING */,   values: values /* INFOTABLE*/,   location: row.location /* LOCATION */,   source: row.source /* STRING */,   timestamp: row.timestamp /* DATETIME */,   tags: row.tags /* TAGS */ }; // AddStreamEntry(tags:TAGS, timestamp:DATETIME, source:STRING, values:INFOTABLE(StreamDS), location:LOCATION):NOTHING Things["Stream2"].AddStreamEntry(paramsForAddStreamEntryService); } var result = InfotableForCopy;

ThingWorx 7.4 covers the following areas of the product portfolio:  ThingWorx Analytics, ThingWorx Utilities and ThingWorx Foundation which includes Core, Connection Server and Edge capabilities. Key Functional Highlights Highlights of the release include: Source Integration: Improved integration framework making it easy to connect with external systems, including a standard Windchill connector, to retrieve data on demand. Industrial Connectivity: New Industrial Gateway and Discover navigation tool simplifying the mapping of tags to properties, including performance enhancements for data updates. Edge/CSDK: Build process improvements, Subscribed Property Manager (SPM) enhancements, asynchronous service requests and TLS updates to increase developer productivity, improve application performance and strengthen security. AWS IoT Connector: The latest version 1.2 of the Connector allows customers to more fully leverage their investment in AWS IoT. It features improved deployment automation via CloudFormation and automatic extension installation, ThingWorx Edge JavaScript SDK for use with the Connector with support for properties, services and events, and just-in-time certificate registrations. Contextualize Next Generation Composer: Re-imagined Composer using modern browser concepts to improve developer efficiency including enhanced functionality, updated user interface and optimized workflows. Engage These features will be available at the end of March 2017. Advanced Grid: New grid widget with improved design, context menu, multi-column sorting, global search and many more common grid-related features. Tree Grid: New tree-grid widget with same features as advanced grid plus ability to pre-load tree levels, dynamically load child data and auto expand all nodes to build more powerful mashups. Administer & Manage MS SQL Server: New persistence provider for model and run-time data providing customers an alternative to PostgreSQL. Security: ThingWorx worked with industry standard security scanning and auditing tools to identify and correct all non-trivial, and many trivial, vulnerabilities to ensure secure software best practices. Licensing: Link ThingWorx to PTC systems of record to manage user entitlement and provide usage information and auditing capability critical to TWX, PTC and its partners.  Documentation ThingWorx 7.4 Reference Documents ThingWorx Core 7.4 Release Notes ThingWorx Core Help Center ThingWorx Edge SDKs and WebSocket-based Edge MicroServer Help Center ThingWorx Connection Services Help Center ThingWorx Utilities Help Center Additional information ThingWorx eSupport Portal ThingWorx Developer Portal ThingWorx Marketplace Download ThingWorx Platform – Select Release 7.4 ThingWorx Edge C SDK 1.4 – Select Most Recent Datecode, C-SDK-1-4-0 ThingWorx AWS IoT Connector 1.2 – Select Release 7.4 ThingWorx Utilities – Select Release 7.4

To maintain a cleaner look of your ThingWorx server access URL, whether for production or convenience reasons, you may look into setting up redirection. This is a quick example on how to redirect <your.main.url.com> to <your.main.url.com/Thingworx> Go to the /<apache-tomcat-directory>/webapps/ROOT/ and find the "index.jsp" file. Copy that file for backup purposes and replace with a new one, containing the following: <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Redirecting....</title>     <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <script type="text/javascript">          function Redirect() {                window.location="/Thingworx/";         }         setTimeout('Redirect()', 0);  </script> </head> Please note that once the URL is hit, it will still append the rest of the /Thingworx query in the address bar (i.e keep the "redirected to" address). You may also utilize this to have your <main.url.com> redirect to one of the mashups. This was the user, with proper permissions in place, may access the mashup directly, bypassing the Composer.

This Blog presents a simple Java utility to validate the deployment of ThingWatcher. It is important to note that the utility used is not a real life situation, the intent was to keep it as simple as possible in order to achieve its aim: validation of the deployment. An understanding of Java IDE (such as Eclipse) is necessary in order to run the utility with relevant dependency and classpath setup. Those are beyond the scope of this posting. We will cover the following points: Pre-Requisites Using the sample utility Code walk through Validate training job creation Validate model job creation Update for ThingWorx Analytics 8.0 Pre-requisites A strict adherence to the ThingWatcher deployment guide is recommended in order to first deploy training and model microservices as well as to familiarize yourself with ThingWatcher APIs. Prior to testing ThingWatcher, both the training and model microservices should be up and running The media for ThingWatcher (including model and training micro-service) should be downloaded from PTC Software Download page . The commands to deploy the micro-services will vary depending on the platform used and are presented in the ThingWatcher deployment guide. As a reference example, on Windows the command will be similar to the following: Start Docker: Start > Program > Docker > Docker Quick Start Terminal Load model micro service tar $ docker load < "D:\PTC\MED-61147-CD-522_F000_ThingWorx-Analytics-ThingWatcher-52-2\components\ModelService\ModelService\model-service.tar"     3. Install model service: $ docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -v '/d/TWatcherStorage/model:/data/models' -v '/d/TWatcherStorage/db:/tmp/' twxml/model-service:1.0 -Dfile.storage.path=/data/models -jar maven/model-1.0.jar server maven/standalone-evaluator.yml     4. Load training micro service tar file                         $ docker load < "D:\PTC\MED-61147-CD-522_F000_ThingWorx-Analytics-ThingWatcher-52-2\components\TrainingService\TrainingService\training-service.tar"     5. Install training service                         $ docker run -d -p 8090:8080  twxml/training-service:1.0.0  -Dmodel.destination.uri=model://192.168.99.100:8080/models -jar maven/training-standalone-1.0.0-bin.jar server /maven/training-standalone-single.yml Note: the -Dmodel.destination.uri points here to the model micro-service host. To find the ip address, enter docker-machine ip on the model micro-service docker machine.     6. Validate micro-services deployment: Execute docker ps  and confirmed that both services are up, as in the following example: CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                          COMMAND                      CREATED            STATUS              PORTS NAMES 5b6a29b95611        twxml/training-service:1.0.0  "java -Dmodel.destina"  13 days ago        Up 44 minutes      8081/tcp, 0.0.0.0:8090->8080/tcp  modest_albattani 8c13c0bc910e        twxml/model-service:1.0        "java -Dfile.storage."      2 weeks ago        Up 44 minutes      0.0.0.0:8080->8080/tcp, 8081/tcp  thirsty_ptolemy   Using the sample utility Download the attachment Main.java Import Main.java into Eclipse (or IDE of choice) with the ThingWatcher dependencies added in classpath. Update the trainingBaseURI (see below) to points to the training micro-services. The utility should be ready to execute. Code walk through The code declares a thingwatcher in the following snippet: ThingWatcher thingwatcher = new ThingWatcherBuilder() .certainty(90.0) .trainingDataDuration(60) .trainingDataDurationUnit(DurationUnit.SECOND) .trainingBaseURI("http://192.168.99.100:8090/training") .getThingWatcher(); In the above code it is important to update the trainingBaseURI argument with the correct ip address and port for the training micro-service host. The code then loops 10000 times and sends a new value, which simulates the sensor data, at a simulated 100 ms interval. The value is computed as Math.sin(i) for the whole calibrating phase and most of the monitoring phase too. We artificially introduce an anomaly by sending a value of Math.incremetExact(i) between the 9000 th and 9900 th iterations. During the Monitoring phase, the code logs the value, the anomalous status and the thingwatcher state. It is advised to save the output to a file in order to review the logging once the utility has run. In Eclipse this can be done by selecting the Main.java with right mouse button > Run As… > Run Configuration > Common and tick Output File under the Standard Input and Output, and specify a location for the output file. A review of the output log file will shows that somewhere between timestamp 900000 and 990000, the isAnomalousValue is true. Note that this does not starts and ends exactly at 900000 and 990000, as ThingWatcher needs a few occurrences before reporting it as anomaly. Sample output indicating an anomalous state: [main] INFO com.thingworx.analytics.demo.Main - Value = 901700,9017.0,-9016.403802019577 [main] INFO com.thingworx.analytics.demo.Main - isAnomalousValue = true [main] INFO com.thingworx.analytics.demo.Main - ThingWatcherStat = MONITORING As part of validating the successful deployment of ThingWatcher, it is recommended to validate the correct creation of a training and model job. Validate training job creation In order to validate the successful creation of a training job, execute a GET request to the training micro service : http://192.168.99.100:8090/training (update the ip address to the one on your system) This should return a COMPLETED job whose body starts with something similar to: Validate model job creation In order to validate the successful creation of a model job, execute a GET request to http://192.168.99.100:8080/models (update the ip address to the one on your system) to see all the models that have been created. For example: Alternatively, click (or use) the URI reported in the training job output, here http://192.168.99.100:8080/models/6/pmml.xml, to see the complete model definition. The output will be similar to: When this sample test runs correctly, the ThingWatcher deployment has been validated. Update for ThingWorx Analytics 8.0 Deploying the microservices, see Video Link : 1937 Updated Java code: see Does anyone know how to use java api to achieve anomaly detection with Thingwatcher8.0? To Note: The utility provided is for testing purpose only. The code does not represent any kind of best practice and is not meant to be a perfect java coding example. It is provided as is with no guarantee.

Please open your ApplicationLog located in ThingworxStorage/logs and inspect for errors. Something like the following might be observed: **********LICENSING ERROR ANALYSIS 2017-03-31 16:29:19.591+0300 [L: ERROR] [O: ] [I: ] [U: SuperUser] [S: ] [T: localhost-startStop-1] C:\WINDOWS\Sun\Java\bin is listed as a java.library.path but it does not exist 2017-04-12 13:51:53.515+0200 [L: ERROR] [O: c.t.s.s.l.LicensingSubsystem] [I: ] [U: SuperUser] [S: ] [T: localhost-startStop-1] Failed to load FlxCore library. Ensure it's in PATH (Windows) or LD_LIBRARY_PATH(other platforms) or set with the VM arg, -Djava.library.path. Error message : com.flexnet.licensing.DllEntryPoint.entry([B) Typically, if the license file has been downloaded and placed correcrtly, according to the 7.4 installation guide, the error in the log will specify where the file was found. If the license path was specified per the installation guide in the tomcat java path, you may try to clear it from the Tomcat java settings and keep these parameters: -Dserver -Dd64 -XX:+UseNUMA -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 And then set up the license path in the environment variable path: Go to explorer, right click on "my computer" -> Properties -> Advanced settings -> Environment variables -> edit "PATH", add ; and then path to your tomcat extensions folder, “ ;<path to extensions folder of tomcat> “ or, for example ";C:\ptc\Thingworx\webapps\Thingworx\WEB-INF\extensions"

This post will cover the challenges I've had while going through the setup of .NET SDK based ADO Service for SQL Server DB Connection. I'll be starting from the scratch on setting up the service for this to present full picture on the setup. Pre-requisite 1. Download and install Microsoft SQL Server Express or Enterprise edition, for testing I worked with Express edition : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-editions-express 2. Once installed, it's imperative that the TCP/IP Protocol is enabled in the SQL Server Configuration Manager for the SQL Server 3. Download ThingWorx Edge ADO Service from PTC Software download page What is ThingWorx ADO Service? An ActiveX Data Object service allowing connection to a Microsoft database source e.g. MS SQL Server, MS Excel or MS .NET application to the ThingWorx platform. It is based on the ThingWorx .NET SDK. Installing ADO Service Let me begin by saying this is just a summary, in a crude way of course, of ThingWorx Edge ADO Service Configuration Guide. So when in doubt it's strongly recommended to go through the guide,also provided together with the downloaded package. I'll be using the ThingWorx ADO Service v5.6.1, most recent release, for the purpose of this blog. Depending if you are on x86 or x64 Windows navigate to the C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET for accessing the InstallUtil.exe You'll find the above specified file under following two locations, use the one that applies to your use case. i) For x64 : C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319 ii) For x86 : C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319 1. Copy over the desired InstallUtil.exe to the location where you have unzipped the ADO Service package, the one downloaded above. e.g. I've put mine at C:\Software\ThingWorxSoftware\ADOService\ 2. Start a command prompt (Windows Start Menu > Command Prompt) and execute the InstallUtil.exe ThingWorxADOService.exe 3. This should create a service and some additional info in the \\ADOService folder in the form of InstallUtil.InstallLog 4. Check the log for confirmation, you should see something similar Running a transacted installation. ...     .... The Commit phase completed successfully. The transacted install has completed. ​​5. In Windows Explorer navigate to the folder containing all the unzipped files, and edit the AdoThing.config 6. For this blog I've security disabled, though obviously in production you'd definitely want to enable it 7. Configure the ConnectionSettings as per your requirement (refer to the guide for more detail on settings), below I'm noting the settings that will require configuration in its most minimum form (I've also attached my complete AdoThing.config file for reference) "rows": [       {         "Address": "localhost",         "Port": 8080,         "Resource": "/Thingworx/WS",         "IsSecure": false,         "ThingName": "AdoThing",         "AppKey": "f7e230ac-3ce9-4d91-8560-ad035b09fc70",         "AllowSelfSignedCertificates": false,         "DisableCertValidation": true,           "DisableEncryption": true       }     ] 8. Configure the connection string for the SQL Server in following section, in the same file opened above     "rows": [       {         "ConnectionType": "OleDb",         "ConnectionString": "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=localhosts\\SQLEXPRESS;Database=TWXDB;Uid=sa;Pwd=login123;",         "AlwaysConnected": true,         "QueryEnabled": true,         "CommandEnabled": true,         "CommandTimeout": 60       }     ] 9. Just to highlight what's what in ConnectionString above: "ConnectionString": "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=<Machine/ClientName>\\SQLServerInstanceName;Database=<databaseName>;Uid=<userName>;Pwd=<password>;" 10. To get correct connection string syntax for different source refer to the ConnectionStrings.com 11. Save the file 12. Navigate to the windows services by opening Windows Start > Run > services.msc 13. Check for the service ThingWorx .NET ADO Client as you'll have to start it if it's set to Manual, like so in my case Following message will be logged on successful connection  in the DotNETSDK -X-X-X.log : [Critical] twWs_Connect: Websocket connected! At the end of the blog I'll share some of the errors that I came across while working on this and how to go about addressing them. Creating and connecting to Remote Database Thing Now, let's navigate to the ThingWorx Composer and create a Thing with RemoteDatabase Template to consume the resource created above in the form of ADO Service. I've named my thing as AdoThing while creating it in ThingWorx Composer, which matches with the ThingName used in the AdoThing.json file. If everything went through as needed you should see the isConnected = true in the AdoThing's Properties section. Since, this is a Database thing I can now go about creating all the required services concerning the Create, Update, Delete (CRUD) operations, just like for any database for created using the RDBMS Connector. Handling errors while setting up the ADO Service Here are some of the errors that I encountered while setting up the ADO service for this blog: Error 1: com.thingworx.ado.AdoThing Cannot connect to database. : System.Data.OleDb.OleDbException: Login timeout expired Note: Logged in DotNetSDK-X-X-X.log Cause & Resolution: - Service is not able to successfully reach or authenticate against the SQL Server Express DB instance - Ensure that the TCP/IP is enabled for the Protocols for the SQL Express, as I have shared in the screenshot above - Make sure that the username / password used for authenticating with the database is correctly provided while configuring the settings for the OLEDB section in    AdoThing.config Error 2: com.thingworx.ado.AdoThing GetTables OleDbException error : System.Data.OleDb.OleDbException Note: Logged in Application.log from ThingWorx platform Cause & Resolution - This exception is thrown when user attempts to check for the available tables, while creating the service in the ThingWorx Composer - Resolution to this is similar to that mentioned above for Error 1 Error 3: [U: SYSTEM] [O: com.thingworx.ado.AdoThing] OleDbException [code = -2147217865, message = Invalid object name 'TWXDB.DemoTable'.] executing SQL query Note: Logged in Application.log from ThingWorx platform while testing/executing the SQL service created in the ThingWorx Composer Cause & Resolution - The error is due to the usage of DB name in front of the table name, it's not required since the DB name is already selected in the connection String Error 4: [O: com.thingworx.Configuration] Could not read configuration file. : Newtonsoft.Json.JsonReaderException: Bad JSON escape sequence: \S. Path 'Settings.rows[0].ConnectionString', line 656, position 71. Note: Logged in DotNetSDK-X-X-X.log Cause & Resolution - This is caused due to the "ConnectionString": "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=<machineNameOrIP>\SQLEXPRESS;Database=TWXDB;Uid=sa;Pwd=login123;", - Json requires this to be escaped thus switching to "ConnectionString": "Provider=SQLNCLI11;Server=<machineNameOrIP>\\SQLEXPRESS;Database=TWXDB;Uid=sa;Pwd=login123;", resolved the issue - Among many other, https://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com/​ is quite helpful in weeding out the issues from the JSON syntax Error 4: [O: com.thingworx.ado.AdoClient] Error while initializing new AdoThing, or opening connection to Platform. : System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.     at com.thingworx.communications.client.TwApiWrapper.twApi_Connect(UInt32 timeout, Int32 retries)     at com.thingworx.communications.client.TwApiWrapper.Connect(UInt32 timeout, Int16 retries)     at com.thingworx.communications.client.BaseClient.start()     at com.thingworx.ado.AdoClient.run() Note: Logged in DotNetSDK-X-X-X.log Cause & Resolution - This error is observed when using FIPS version of the  ADO Service, esp. when downloaded from the ThingWorx Marketplace - Make sure to recheck the SSL configuration - When not using SSL check that the x64 and x86 directories only contain twApi.dll as by default FIPS version contain two additional dlls i.e. libeay32.dll & ssleay32.dll in both x64 & x86 directories

In this blog we will have a look at the installation of the Thingworx Analytics Builder extension. This is used as guideline but make sure to check the Help Center for your release as steps do vary with versions. The installation has been divided in 3 parts: Introduction and import of the extension into Thingworx Platform Video Link : 1568 Configuration of the extension Note: For release 8.1, the Settings menu differs from previous versions, seeWhat's New in ThingWorx Analytics Builder 8.1 between times 00:12 sec to 00:40 sec for up to date menu selection. Video Link : 1572 Installation of the UploadThing module Note: this step no longer applies as of ThingWorx Analytics 8.1 Video Link : 1573 Useful links: PTC Download page for Thingworx Analytics PTC Reference Document page for Thingworx Analytics How to copy files from Windows to Linux ?

Continuing our series of Troubleshooting ThingWorx Analytics installations, in this IoT Tech Tip we will cover two items have been appearing for many users.   Error 1069 Encountered with Native Windows Installation of ThingWorx Analytics 8.2   In some instances, when a user successfully installs ThingWorx Analytics (TWAS) to a Windows Server operating system, they will encounter an error where TWAS will report an Error 1069: The Service did not start due to logon failure.   This can occur with any individual Service that is created by the installation, the following fix should work in addressing the issue.   Primary Reason This Happens:   This error can be encountered when the user provides incorrect credentials for associating the Services to an account during installation. In TWAS 8.2, there is a utility that will enable to the user to change the associated user on the Services. It is important the user provides the password for the User Account on Windows, and not the user/password combination for ThingWorx Foundation Platform Server.   Steps to Fix Issue   Solution 1:   Open a Command Prompt as Administrator, via Start Menu à Run à type CMD. Then right click on cmd.exe and Run As Administrator.   In the elevated command prompt, change your directory to the ThingWorxAnalyticsServer/bin directory, for example in the default installation path would be: cd C:\Program Files (x86)/ThingWorxAnalyticsServer/bin Then execute the changeServiceUserAccount.bat <username>, for example: changeServiceUserAccount.bat user1   You will be prompted to change the password for the user.   Solution 2:   If Solution 1 does not resolve the issue, alternately you can manually change the Log On properties for each of the services. The changeServiceUserAccount.bat would do this via script, but on occasion this may work. Open the Control Panel and navigate to Services, for example: Control Panel à All Control Panel Items à Administrative Tools   You will have to right click each individual service and go to Properties à Log On tab and enter the account name and password for the local account. Note: Local System account will not resolve this issue.   This issue was resolved in the ThingWorx Analytics Server 8.3 release, where all Services are associated with the Network Service account.     More information can be found in this Knowledge Article   Uploading of a Dataset hangs or does not complete in ThingWorx Analytics 8.3   On occasion, after a fresh installation of ThingWorx Analytics Server 8.3 on a Windows Server operating system, a dataset will not complete its upload. Typically no error message is displayed, and the upload wizard UI will just hang on the upload progress after:   Creating copy of Configuration File... Submitting Create Dataset request... Creating copy of Data File...   Primary Reason This Happens:   This is caused by twas-zookeeper service being stuck in a PAUSED state. This means that in the post installation, twas-zookeeper did not start.   Steps to Fix Issue   You will have to double check that the JAVA_HOME variable was defined as a System Variable. In the ThingWorx Analytics Installation guide, pages 12-14 outline the steps required as pre-requisites. You can change this in Control Panel > System > Advanced Settings > Environment Variables, and ass a new variable named JAVA_HOME under System Variables. The value location should be the location of your deployment of JAVA software.   Typically this is located in C:\Program Files\Java\<jre or jdk>_<version number>     More information can be found in this Knowledge Article

ThingWorx 8.3 covers the following areas of the product portfolio:  ThingWorx Analytics, ThingWorx Utilities, and ThingWorx Foundation which includes Connection Server and Edge capabilities.   Highlights of the release include:   ThingWorx Foundation Next Generation Composer: Now default admin and developer interface Full Feature parity with legacy Composer New capability for User and Group administration, Authorization and permissions, Export, Monitoring and Logging. More in Helpcenter Localization support for German and French Mashup Builder: JQuery 3 upgrade Grid Advanced Extension now supports Cell Editing and Footers Platform: Active Directory (AD) Integration enhancements for larger AD forests and user extension field mapping Upgrade in-place enhancements for Java SDK developers Developer Enablement Capture the usage statics such as time taken to execute a ThingWorx service, # of times a service runs in ThingWorx using Service Utilization Statistics functionality powered by all new and efficient Utilization Subsystem. Collect ThingWorx system data such as ESAPI configuration, ThingworxStorage logs, licensing, and JVM information to better diagnose system issues Service Utilization Statistics: ThingWorx Support Package tool Administrator Password and Password Length New installations of ThingWorx will be required to supply the initial Administrator password of the installer’s choice. That password must be supplied via a new entry in the platform-settings.json file. After the initial installation, the Administrator password should then be changed to a strong password to be used going forward. Additional information. As a step toward industry best practices, the Administrator password and all new passwords will need to be at least 10 characters.  When upgrading to 8.3, passwords from older versions of the platform will not need to be modified, but any new passwords being created will need to be at least 10 characters long. See the installation instructions for complete details.   ThingWorx Analytics New Descriptive Services  Core statistics (min, max, deviation, etc.), data distribution (binning), confidence intervals, and other useful calculations. Frequency analysis and transformation (via fast Fourier transform) for troubleshooting use cases and predictive analytics applications Improves users’ ability to apply logic and derive the following insights from streaming data without constructing complex models or accessing machine learning: Enables platform developers to easily process platform data in their applications and prepare the data for predictions. Statistical Process Control (SPC) Services Provides industry-standard calculations that allow IoT developers to implement SPC “control chart rules” in their applications.  Useful in manufacturing and in monitoring equipment and processes. Supports a wide assortment of rules, including number of points continuously above / below a range, in and out of range, increasing or decreasing trends, or alternating directions. Analytics Workbench Bundles the two Analytics interfaces (Analytics Builder and Manager) into a new Analytics section in Composer. Predictive Analytics Improvements Reduces overall install and administration complexity. Improves handling of time dseries data when used in predictive scoring. Includes a new learner, Support Vector Machines, enhancing the platform’s utility in building Boolean predictions. Includes a new ensemble method, Majority Vote, that improves generated model accuracy. Provides redundancy filtering which can optionally remove redundant information to improve explanatory analytics (Signals) and predictive model training. Now supports time series lookahead configuration, simplifying this type of prediction. Replaces ThingPredictor predictive scoring in Analytics Manager with native Analytics Server scoring: Improves scalability of concurrent jobs. Axeda Compatibility Package IDM Connector Support o   ACP v1.1.0 introduces the IDM Connector which enables Axeda customers to connect their Axeda IDM agents to the ThingWorx platform.  The IDM Connector provides support for registration requests, property updates, faults, events, file uploads and downloads.  Axeda ThingWorx Entity Exporter Update o   ACP v1.1.0 also includes an updated version of Axeda-ThingWorx Entity Exporter (ATEE) which now supports exporting Axeda IDM assets from the Axeda application into a format that can be imported in the ThingWorx Platform.  eMessage Connector Improvements o   Additionally, ACP v1.1.0 includes support for instruction based Software Content Management packages for the eMessage Connector which allows you to download file(s), execute instruction(s) and optionally restart the agent.  The Axeda Compatibility Extension (ACE) has new entities to support the IDM Connector and SCM for the eMesssage Connector.  o   Finally, updated versions of the Axeda Compatibility Extensions (ACE) and the Connection Services Extension (CSE) are included in ACP v1.1.0 and provide an improved workflow for granting permissions to the eMessage and IDM Connectors. ThingWorx Extension Updates Websocket Tunnel Extension Update The Websocket Tunnel Extension was updated for 8.3 to support the upgrade to jQuery3 Grid Advanced 4.0.0 comes with 2 key features: Editing - we now have cell editing support for all basetypes. The previous version had boolean editing; 4.0.0 now includes support for all basetypes. Footers - A footer section can now be added to the Grid to display rolled-up Grid totals. You can perform client-side calculations like count, min, max and average, and it includes support for custom functions. Note - Grid Advanced 4.0.0 only supports ThingWorx 8.3 and above. Custom Charts 3.0.1 12 Bug Fixes Google Maps 3.0.1 General Bug Fixes ThingWorx Utilities With the 8.3 Release, ThingWorx Utilities functionality are being repackaged into ThingWorx Foundation and ThingWorx Asset Advisor.  ThingWorx Workflow will now be available with Foundation.  The functionality from the Asset and Alert Management Utilities will be delivered in ThingWorx Asset Advisor.  ThingWorx Software Content Management capabilities will continue to be available for customer to manage the delivery of Software to their Connected Products.  The naming of “Utilities” is being phased out of the ThingWorx Platform packaging but the key functionality formerly described as ThingWorx Utilities continues to be delivered with version 8.3.   ThingWorx 8.3 Reference Documents ThingWorx Analytics 8.3 Reference Documents ThingWorx Platform 8.3 Release Notes ThingWorx Platform Help Center ThingWorx Edge SDKs and WebSocket-based Edge MicroServer Help Center ThingWorx Connection Services Help Center ThingWorx Analytics Help Center ThingWorx Industrial Connectivity Help Center ThingWorx Utilities Help Center ThingWorx Utilities Installation Guide     ThingWorx eSupport Portal ThingWorx Developer Portal PTC Marketplace   The following items will be available for download from the PTC Software Download site on June 8, 2018. ThingWorx Platform – Select Release 8.3 ThingWorx Utilities – Select Release 8.3 ThingWorx Analytics – Select Release 8.3 ThingWorx Extensions – Select Individual Extensions for download.  Will be available with the next Marketplace refresh

Key Functional Highlights Patching & Upgrades Supports upgrading from 8.0.1 using the Manufacturing Apps Installer    Streamlined patch support for customer issues Updated the installer technology to align with ThingWorx platform   App Improvements Fixed bugs with acknowledging alerts Added support for collecting feature data from National Instruments InsightCM product   Controls Advisor Added ability to retrieve KEPServerEX connection information in case the connection is lost or deleted Minor UI improvements   Asset Advisor Updated the UI for anomaly status   Production Advisor Improved the status history widget to align with Asset Advisor Added synchronized zooming to the chart widgets     Compatibility ThingWorx 8.1.0 KEPServerEX 6.2, 6.3 KEPServerEX V6.1 and older as well as different OPC Servers (with Kepware OPC aggregator) Support upgrade from 8.0.1     Documentation ThingWorx Manufacturing Apps Get Started     Download ThingWorx Manufacturing Apps Freemium portal PTC Smart Connected Applications

ThingWorx 7.4 introduces a new licensing system. A license file (license.bin) needs to be placed in the ThingworxPlatform folder. A new license file is also required if you upgrade from 7.4  to a major or minor release (not service pack-level releases). For example: • If you are using version 7.3, a license is not required. • If you upgrade from version 7.4.1 to version 7.4.2, a license upgrade is not required. • If you upgrade from version 7.4.3 to version 7.5.2, a license upgrade is required. Refer to the Installing ThingWorx 7.4 guide or Upgrading ThingWorx 7.4 guide for detailed process steps. Paid customers would have unlimited use of entities for 7.4.0. As currently a license file is locked to  version rather than SCN/host and is part of download package on  PTC Support, customers can use the same downloadable for multiple instances. Developer Trial Edition provides a constrained license file (5 users, 100 things, 120 days), and the license file is part of on premise download package on Dev Portal. Developer Trial Edition for Manufacturing (Kinex) provides a constrained license file (5 users, 100 things, no Composer access), and license file is part of download package on Kepware Portal. A new Licensing Subsystem is now available. Licensing subsystem services include: -AcquireLicense– service allows for retrieval of feature entitlements in license.bin, used when new license dropped in folder (no need to instance restart) –GetCurrentLicenseInfo – returns info on current license file –GetRemainingDaysInLicense –used for trial editions –GetLicenseUsageData – returns nformation about user’s license usage –PurgeLicenseUsageData –deletes the license usage data that is two years and older

KEPServerEX requires the 32-bit version of Java if you are using the IoT Gateway Plug-in. If you do not have the 32-bit version installed and attempt to connect the IoT Gateway, the KEPServerEX Event Log will report the following error: “IoT Gateway failed to start, 32-bit JRE required." Some of the Manufacturing Applications training content relies on this Plug-in, as well. As a best practice, it is recommended that both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Java be installed. This install is available for download from the Oracle website, here: Java SE Runtime Environment 8 - Downloads

PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system that provides unlimited database size. Thingworx 6.5 introduces PostgreSQL as persistence provider and supports High Availability. Main advantages with Thingworx Postgres are 1. Highly customizable PostgreSQL also includes a framework that allows developers to define and create their own custom data types along with supporting functions and operators that define their behavior. Triggers and stored procedures can be written in C and loaded into the database as a library, allowing great flexibility in extending its capabilities. 2. Synchronous replication PostgreSQL streaming replication is asynchronous by default. Synchronous replication offers the ability to confirm that all changes made by a transaction have been transferred to one synchronous standby server. This extends the standard level of durability offered by a transaction commit. The only possibility that data can be lost is if both the primary and the standby suffer crashes at the same time. 3. Write ahead logging for fault tolerance The Write Ahead Log (WAL), is the feature of PostgreSQL that allows it to recover data, usually up to the point where the server stopped. As you make changes to your data, PostgreSQL aggressively writes those changes to the WAL. PostgreSQL issues a checkpoint when a buffer limit is reached. When PostgreSQL restarts, it replays the changes from the WAL since the last Checkpoint, to bring the database back to the state of the last completed commit. Master node sends a live stream of data changes to the slave nodes through the WAL and slaves applies this data and stay up to date. 4. Point-in time recovery Point-in-time Recovery (PITR) also called as incremental database backup , online backup or may be archive backup. This mechanism use the history records stored in WAL file to do roll-forward changes made since last database full backup. With Point-in-time Recovery, database backup down time can totally eliminated because this mechanism can make database backup and system access happened at the same time. with PITR, we backup the latest archive log file since last backup instead of full database backup everyday. Thingworx streams data from the connected devices and postgres handles it with a greater scalability. In Thingworx, postgresql acts as a persistence provider that stores both run-time data and metadata about things. Run-time data is the data that is persisted once the things are composed and are used by connected devices to store their data. Streams and value streams fetch huge amounts of data, once the streaming data reaches a limit fo 50gb neo4j can't handle the performance. For example, for a singleStream that has 50 properties that gathers data from 10000 devices, it will quickly hit the memory limit with neo persistence provider. So, it is strongly recommended to choose postgresql for a better performance issues. Overview of Installing Thingworx PostgreSQL: Install latest version of Java and make sure environment variables are configured. Follow the instructions in Installing Thingworx 6.5​ to install tomcat. Instructions/commands may vary for different Linux flavors. Install PostgreSQL. For Linux/Unix environments, YUM-Installation Guidelines. Create 'ThingworxPostgresqlStorage' and 'ThingworxPlatform' folders in the root directory( / ), assign access permissions to the user. Copy modelproviderconfig.json file (from Thingworx download package) to 'ThingworxPlatform' folder. Execute ThingworxPostgresSchemaSetup and ThingworxPostgresDBSetup scripts (.bat for windows and .sh for Unix/Linux environments), for further instructions follow Getting Started with PostgreSQL ThingWorx Administrators Guide​. Restart the tomcat.

Error: Exception: JavaException: java.lang.Exception: Import Failed: License is not available for Product: null Feature: twx_things Possible root cause: editing web.xml without further restart of the platform. In result, the product name does not pick up and the license path drops while the composer is still running, Fix: Go to LicensingSubsystem -> Services and run the AcquireLicense service. IF the issue does not get resolved, please contact the Support team, attaching your license.bin to the ticket.

Key Functional Highlights ThingWorx 8.1 covers the following areas of the product portfolio: ThingWorx Analytics, ThingWorx Utilities and ThingWorx Foundation which includes Core, Connection Server and Edge capabilities. Highlights of the release include: ThingWorx Foundation Next Generation Composer: Embedded Mashup Builder enables codeless development of web visualization. New ability to manage and push configurations for KEPServerEX Notifications: Create SMS and Email notifications natively in Next Generation Composer Support for localized and dynamic content with tokens Protocol Adapter Toolkit: Encrypted communication between edge devices and the Connector over HTTPS or WSS. Encrypted communication between the Connector and ThingWorx Core (WSS). Ability to define a mapping of outbound messages from ThingWorx Core using a Codec to an edge-bound message. Authentication of edge devices 3 rd Party Platform Connectivity: Azure IoT Connector v2.0 § Model data from Azure IoT using the Thing Model § Utilize data from Azure IoT as properties in the Thing Model § Utilize services and events through Azure IoT § Utilize Azure file storage ThingWorx for Predix v1.0 § Synchronize data from Predix to ThingWorx § Enable SSO between Predix & ThingWorx C SDK: Framework for custom functionality to be added to C SDK-based applications at runtime License Management: Simple, automated, licensing system for collection, storage, reporting, management and auditing of licensing entitlements. Deprecated the SQUEAL functionality ThingWorx Analytics Categorical and Ordinal Goals: Adds use of unordered text (categorical) and ordered text (ordinal) goals to predictive analytics.  Create and score models with the new goal types. Virtual Sensor: Adds support for time-series predictions when historical data is not available.  Allows machine learning predictions to take the place of physical sensors and simplifies predictions like time to failure and probability of failure. Tighter platform integration: Analytics Server is more tightly integrated with ThingWorx Core, providing native control and access to analytics programming interfaces. New, simplified API: The new Analytics Server 2.0 API pattern is simpler, more modern, and easier to use. Microservices-based Architecture: Conversion to microservices sets the stage for High Availability and improved distributed installations. Native Linux installer: Docker is no longer required to run on Linux-based systems. Analytics Manager: Several enhancements, including: Simulation-driven data framework allows external providers to send data as if they were a physical Thing. Time Series Data Inputs improves the ability to share time series data with external providers. Thing Connect / Disconnect makes it easier to connect specific Things with external providers. Analytics Builder: Ease of use enhancements including: New UI support for time series models. Easier access to / use of Signals and Profiles. Simplified models for Boolean goals. Easier installation, no longer requires UploadThing. ThingWorx Utilities Software Content Management (SCM): Define package dependencies where the deployment of a package requires the presence of one or more other packages. ThingWorx Trial Edition ThingWorx Trial Edition will be available to internal PTC resources at launch and will be made available externally on the Developer Portal shortly after launch. Developer Enablement: Enhancements have been made to the Trial Edition installation tool, providing a native installation process of the ThingWorx platform including: ThingWorx Foundation ThingWorx Utilities ThingWorx Analytics ThingWorx Industrial Connectivity Documentation ThingWorx 8.1 Reference Documents ThingWorx Analytics 8.1 Reference Documents ThingWorx Core 8.1 Release Notes ThingWorx Core Help Center ThingWorx Edge SDKs and WebSocket-based Edge MicroServer Help Center ThingWorx Connection Services Help Center ThingWorx Industrial Connectivity Help Center ThingWorx Utilities Help Center ThingWorx Utilities Installation Guide ThingWorx Analytics Help Center ThingWorx Trial Edition User Guide Additional information ThingWorx eSupport Portal ThingWorx Developer Portal ThingWorx Marketplace Download The following items are available for download from the PTC Software Download site. ThingWorx Platform – Select Release 8.1 ThingWorx Utilities – Select Release 8.1 ThingWorx Analytics – Select Release 8.1

Preface This guide applies to a clean installation of the CentOS 7 Minimal distribution. This is labeled as "Minimal ISO" on the CentOS.org website and the filename of the iso image used to install the operating system will resemble "CentOS-7-x86_64-Minimal-1611.iso." The machine used in this guide was a virtual machine created using Oracle VirtualBox but the same steps should apply to any machine with a clean CentOS 7 Minimal install. It is however possible that some installations may encounter slight variations due to hardware configurations. Before starting Unzip the downloaded "MED-..._ThingWorx-Analytics-Server-Linux-Standalone-8-0-0.zip".  Inside the unzipped directory you will find a file called "ThingWorxAnalyticsServer-8.0.0-linux-x64-installer.run". Before running step number 10, upload that file to your CentOS machine using a SFTP SCP tool of your choice. Configuration and installation steps Step 1: Install Docker with the following commands (these steps are presented at https://docs.docker.com/engine/installation/linux/docker-ce/centos/#install-using-the-repository😞 yum install -y yum-utils device-mapper-persistent-data lvm2 yum-config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo yum makecache fast yum -y install docker-ce Step 2: Create a group called docker (If this command reports the group already exists, that is ok. You can move to the next step): groupadd docker Step 3: Add your non-root user to the docker group, in this example my non-root user is called "thingworx", please replace with the correct username: usermod -aG docker thingworx Step 4: Start the Docker service and enable it to auto start after reboot: systemctl start docker systemctl enable docker Step 5: Verify that docker is working: docker ps Step 6: After running the above command you should see a single line output that resembles the following: "CONTAINER ID        IMAGE              COMMAND            CREATED            STATUS              PORTS              NAMES" Step 7: Disable selinux with the two following commands. Note by doing this you will want to make sure if this is a public facing server that you take appropriate security measures to lock down the system. setenforce 0 sed -i -e 's/SELINUX=enforcing/SELINUX=disabled/' /etc/sysconfig/selinux Step 8: Set the hostname of your machine to something otherthan the default which is "localhost.localdomain".  In this case I am using the name "centos", this can be replaced with a name of your choosing: hostname centos echo "centos" > /etc/hostname Step 9: Allow traffic through the default CentOS firewall.  Note that in a production environment, the firewall should be configured more granular to allow incoming traffic to only the required ports (5432, 2181 and 8080). Please refer to CentOS documentation and consult security best practices within your organization for more information. The following commands will completely disable the CentOS firewall. systemctl disable firewalld systemctl stop firewalld Step 10: Ensure the ThingWorx Analytics Server installer is executable then run the installer. You may have to change to the directory where the installer was uploaded to the machine, in this case I have it in the home directory of the user named thingworx.  Please replace that path with the correct path for your machine.  Note below are 3 separate commands. cd /home/thingworx chmod +x ThingWorxAnalyticsServer-8.0.0-linux-x64-installer.run ./ThingWorxAnalyticsServer-8.0.0-linux-x64-installer.run Step 11: Verify that the ThingWorx Analytics Server installation is successful. Note that it may take a few minutes for the system to become available. Retry the command after a few minutes if an error is initially encountered. curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/analytics/1.0/about/versioninfo NOTE: The response from the above command should resemble the following: {"implementationVersion":"8.0.0"}

In the following scenario (for redhat in this case), running the dbsetup script results in the error: ./thingworxPostgresDBSetup.sh psql:./thingworx-database-setup.sql:1: ERROR:  syntax error at or near ":" LINE 1: CREATE TABLESPACE :"tablespace" OWNER :"username" location :... ^ psql:./thingworx-database-setup.sql:3: ERROR:  syntax error at or near ":" LINE 1: GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON TABLESPACE :"tablespace" to :"userna... ^ psql:./thingworx-database-setup.sql:5: ERROR:  syntax error at or near ":" LINE 1: GRANT CREATE ON TABLESPACE :"tablespace" to public; ^ psql:./thingworx-database-setup.sql:14: ERROR:  syntax error at or near ":" LINE 1: CREATE DATABASE :"database" WITH ^ psql:./thingworx-database-setup.sql:16: ERROR:  syntax error at or near ":" LINE 1: GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE :"database" to :"username"; Given that the installed components match the requirements guide (tomcat 8, Postgresql 9.4.5+ for Thingworx 7.x), run the following command: Run this directly from bin directory of postgres deployment – psql -q -h localhost -U twadmin -p 5432 -v database=thingworx -v tablespace=thingworx -v tablespace_location=/app/navigate/ThingworxPostgresqlStorage -v username=twadmin That must get into command line interface. From there  run the following with full qualified path to the sql file on disk (replace FULLPATH with the path to sql file ) \i ./FULLPATH/thingworx-database-setup.sql If you are experiencing the above-mentioned syntax error, then likely the output will be: psql: FATAL:  database "twadmin" does not exist. Then from postgres bin directory, run the following: ./psql postgres \set Then the second command; \q psql -q -h localhost -U twadmin -p 5432 -v database=thingworx -v tablespace=thingworx -v tablespace_location=/app/navigate/ThingworxPostgresqlStorage -v username=twadmin \set   We see the following outputs: ./psql postgres Password: psql.bin (9.4.11) Type "help" for help. postgres=# \set AUTOCOMMIT = 'on' PROMPT1 = '%/%R%# ' PROMPT2 = '%/%R%# ' PROMPT3 = '>> ' VERBOSITY = 'default' VERSION = 'PostgreSQL 9.4.11 on x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu, compiled by gcc (GCC) 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-55), 64-bit' DBNAME = 'postgres' USER = 'postgres' PORT = '5432' ENCODING = 'UTF8' postgres=# \q -bash-4.1$ psql -q -h localhost -U twadmin -p 5432 -v database=thingworx -v tablespace=thingworx -v tablespace_location=/ThingworxPostgresqlStorage -v username=twadmin Password for user twadmin: twadmin=# \set AUTOCOMMIT = 'on' QUIET = 'on' PROMPT1 = '%/%R%# ' PROMPT2 = '%/%R%# ' PROMPT3 = '>> ' VERBOSITY = 'default' VERSION = 'PostgreSQL 8.4.20 on x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu, compiled by GCC gcc (GCC) 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-17), 64-bit' database = 'thingworx' tablespace = 'thingworx' tablespace_location = '/ThingworxPostgresqlStorage' username = 'twadmin' DBNAME = 'twadmin' USER = 'twadmin' HOST = 'localhost' PORT = '5432' ENCODING = 'UTF8' Note, even though Postgresql 9.4.5 has been installed by the system administrator, there are still traces of Postgresql 8.4.20 present in the system that cause the syntax error issue (possibly as part of  the default OS packaging). Removing the 8.4.20 rpms will resolve the problem.

This expert session focuses on overviewing the patch and upgrade process of the Thingworx platform. It provides information on how to perform a patch upgrade for the platform as well as extensions upgrade, and when an in-place upgrade is applicable. It can be viewed as a quick reference note for upgrading your system.     For full-sized viewing, click on the YouTube link in the player controls.   Visit the Online Success Guide to access our Expert Session videos at any time as well as additional information about ThingWorx training and services.

Connect and Monitor Industrial Plant Equipment Learning Path   Learn how to connect and monitor equipment that is used at a processing plant or on a factory floor.   NOTE: Complete the following guides in sequential order. The estimated time to complete this learning path is 180 minutes.   Create An Application Key  Install ThingWorx Kepware Server Connect Kepware Server to ThingWorx Foundation Part 1 Part 2 Create Industrial Equipment Model Build an Equipment Dashboard Part 1 Part 2

ThingWorx Foundation Flow Enable customers using Azure to take advantage of Azure services Access hundreds of Azure system connectors by invoking Azure Logic Apps from within ThingWorx Flow Execute Azure functions to leverage Azure dynamic, serverless scaling and pay just for processing power needed Access Azure Cognitive AI services for image recognition, text to voice/voice to text, OCR and more Easily integrate with homegrown and commercial solutions based on SQL databases where explicit APIs or REST services are not exposed Automatically trigger business process flows by subscribing to Windchill object class and instance events Provide visibility to mature PLM content (such as when a part is released) to downstream manufacturing and supply chain roles and systems Easily add new actions by extending functionality from existing connectors to create new actions to facilitate common tasks Inherit or copy functionality from existing actions and change only what is necessary to support new custom action Azure Connector SQL Database Connector Windchill Event Trigger Custom Action Improvements Platform Composer: Horizontal tab navigation is back!  Also new Scheduler editor. Security: TLS 1.2 support by default, new services for handling expired device connections New support for InFlux 1.7 and MSSQL 2017 * New* Solution Central Package, publish and upload your app with version info and metadata to your tenancy of Solution Central in the PTC cloud Identify missing dependencies via automatic dependency management to ensure your application is packaged with everything required for it to run on the target environments Garner enterprise-wide visibility of your ThingWorx apps deployed across the enterprise via a cloud portal showcasing your company’s available apps, their versions and target environments to foster a holistic view of your entire IIoT footprint across all of your servers, sites and use cases Solution Central is a brand-new cloud-based service to help enterprises package, store, deploy and manage their ThingWorx apps Accelerate your application deployment Initially targeted at developers and admins in its first release, Solution Central enables you to: Mashup Builder 9 new widgets, 5 new functions. Theme Editor with swappable Mashup Preview Responsive Layout enhancements including new settings for fixed and range sizes New Builder for custom screen sizes, new Widget and Style editors, Canvas Zoom Migration utility available for legacy applications to help move to latest features Security 3 new built-in services for WebSocket Communications Subsystem: QueryEndpointSessions, GetBoundThingsForEndpoint, and CloseEndpointSessions Provide greater awareness of Things bound to the platform Allow for mass termination of connections, if necessary Can be configured to automatically disconnect devices with expired authentication methods Encrypting data-in-motion (using TLS 1.2) is a best practice for securely using ThingWorx For previous versions, the installer defaulted to not configuring TLS; ThingWorx 8.5 and later installers will default to configuring TLS ThingWorx will still allow customers to decline to do so, if desired Device connection monitoring & security TLS by default when using installer   ThingWorx Analytics Confidence Model Training and Scoring (ThingWorx Analytics APIs) Deepens functionality by enabling training and scoring of confidence models to provide information about the uncertainty in a prediction to facilitate human and automated decision making Range Property Transform and Descriptive Service Improves ease of implementation of data transformations required for common statistical process control visualizations Architecture Simplification Improves cost of ownership by reducing the number of microservices required by Analytics Server to reduce deployment complexity Simplified installation process enables system administrators to integrate ThingWorx Analytics Server with either (or both) ThingWorx Foundation 8.5 and FactoryTalk Analytics DataFlowML 3.0.   ThingWorx Manufacturing and Service Apps & Operator Advisor Manufacturing common layer extension - now bundling all apps as one extension (Operator Advisor, Asset Advisor, Production KPIs, Controls Advisor) Operator Advisor user interface for work instruction delivery Shift and Crew data model & user interface Enhancements to Operator Advisor MPMLink connector Flexible KPI calculations Multiple context support for assets   ThingWorx Navigate New Change Management App, first in the Contribute series, allows a user to participate in change request reviews delivered through a task list called “My Tasks” BETA Release of intelligent, reusable components that will dramatically increase the speed of custom App development Improvements to existing View Apps Updated, re-usable 3D viewing component (ThingView widget) Support for Windchill Distributed Vaults Display of Security Labels & Values   ThingWorx Azure IOT Hub Connector Seamless compatibility of Azure devices with ThingWorx accelerators like Asset Advisor and custom applications developed using Mashup Builder. Ability to update software and firmware remotely using ready-built Software Content Management via “ThingWorx Azure Software Content Management” Module on Azure IoT Edge. Quick installation and configuration of ThingWorx Azure IoT Hub Connector, Azure IoT Hub and Azure IoT Edge SCM module.   Documentation ThingWorx Platform ThingWorx Platform 8.5 Release Notes ThingWorx Platform Help Center ThingWorx 8.5 Platform Reference Documents ThingWorx Connection Services Help Center   ThingWorx Azure IoT Hub Connector ThingWorx Azure IoT Hub Connector Help Center   ThingWorx Analytics ThingWorx Platform Analytics 8.5.0 Release Notes Analytics Server 8.5.1 Release Notes ThingWorx Analytics Help Center   ThingWorx Manufacturing & Service Apps and ThingWorx Operator Advisor ThingWorx Apps Help Center ThingWorx Operator Advisor Help Center   ThingWorx Navigate ThingWorx Navigate 8.5 Release Notes Installing ThingWorx Navigate 8.5 Upgrading to ThingWorx Navigate 8.5 ThingWorx Navigate 8.5 Tasks and Tailoring Customizing ThingWorx Navigate 8.5 PTC Windchill Extension Guide 1.12.x ThingWorx Navigate 8.5 Product Compatibility Matrix ThingWorx Navigate 8.5 Upgrade Support Matrix ThingWorx Navigate Help Center     Additional Information Helpcenter ThingWorx eSupport Portal ThingWorx Developer Portal PTC Marketplace The National Instruments Connector can be found on PTC Marketplace