Publication on HTTPS Server

Presentation

EcoStruxure Panel Server provides a secure connection to an HTTPS server with a certificate authority.

When HTTPS publication is active, the data publication on cloud, or on SFTP are not available.

Availability

This function is available on Panel Server Entry, Universal, and Advanced.

Setting the Parameters

Publishing function is set on the EcoStruxure Panel Server webpages, at Settings > Data Publication > Publication method > HTTPS.

HTTPS Publication Settings

The following table describes the settings.

Parameter	Settings	Description
Connection information	Server	The host name of the HTTPS server can be defined as the IP address value or as, for example, `myHTTPSserver.mydomain.com`.
	Port	Used to define the HTTPS server TCP port.
	Path	Used to enter the path to use on the HTTPS server for data publishing. For example, if `/home/user/` is the default directory for the HTTPS server, then the path configured with `/myHTTPSPath` will publish on `/home/user/myHTTPSPath`.
	Field name	Used to specify the value of the name parameter part of the form-data section included in the file that is being published. By default the filed name is datafile1. The field name is necessary to communicate with the HTTPS server.
	Connection method	Radio button used to enable ID authentication.
	Username	Used to type the user name for HTTPS server access.
	Password	Used to type the password for HTTPS server access.
	Test connection	Button used to test the connection to the HTTPS server.
Publication settings	Publication format	Used to select the exported file format: JSON (for details) CSV (for details)
	Publication period	Used to select the publication frequency to the HTTPS server (default setting: 1h).
	Start	Button used to activate data publication to the HTTPS server.

Connecting to HTTPS Server

To connect the Panel Server to an HTTPS server:

On the HTTPS server, configure a connection for the publication of data from the Panel Server.
In Settings > Network communication > Proxy , click HTTPS proxy and enter the required information.
In the Settings > Data publication webpage, select HTTPS as Publication method.

By default, HTTPS data publications (CSV or JSON file format) are stored at the top of the hierarchical file tree of the HTTPS server. If you customize the file path for the data storage, make sure that the path is created and validated on the HTTPS server. For more information, refer to the user guide of your HTTPS server.
Before connecting to the HTTPS server, fill in the information in the Connection information section. Save your settings by clicking the icon at bottom right of the screen and selecting Save.
Click Test connection.

NOTE: If it is the first time the Panel Server connects to this HTTPS server, a message appears and requests that you confirm the authenticity of the HTTPS server. Check that your HTTPS server certificate is issued by one of the trusted certificate authorities (Appendix F). Your IT department should be able to provide this information. If the server certificate does not comply, do not publish over HTTPS.
Once the test is performed, the Panel Server webpage displays information:
- In case of success, a file has been successfully uploaded on the HTTPS server.
- In case of dysfunction, check the HTTPS server parameters, user credentials, and write access privileges on the HTTPS server.
To publish data, set Publication settings and click Start.

Result: The sampled data of devices, related to the selected sampling period, is published to HTTPS, in the CSV file format or JSON format. A maximum of one month of data (Entry or Universal) or three months of data (Advanced) is published to the HTTPS server. If data sampling was activated before this period, older data is not published.
If you update the HTTPS server, the HTTPS server fingerprint changes. In this case, click Test connection to allow you to connect to the HTTPS server again.

Disconnecting from Publishing Services

To disconnect Panel Server from the HTTPS server, click Stop.

Disconnecting from the service allows you to connect to another publishing service.

File Format of CSV Publication

One .csv file is produced per downstream device and includes measurements configured with the same sampling period.

The name of the CSV files that are exported follows the naming convention ReducedID_DeviceName_DateTime.csv where:

ReducedID
is the internal identifier of the device, which ensures that files produced are unique for devices that would share the same name (for example, 10_mb, 21_zd).
DeviceName is the name given to the downstream device.
DateTime is the time stamp corresponding to when the file was published, expressed down to the millisecond in the format YYYYMMDDhhmmssSSS.
Only the following characters are allowed in the .csv file name : UTF-8 and basic ASCII (32 to 7F, excluding \ / : * ? " < > |). Any non-supported characters will be replaced by ~.

Example: Considering the following file name:
11_mb_F160 3P 3P+N_20221104084830994.csv where:

ReducedID is 11_mb.
DeviceName is F160 3P 3P+N, name of the device.
NOTE: This name is the default value (product model) if the user has not updated it.
DateTime is 20221104084830994, which means that the file was published on November 4, 2022 at 8:48:30.994.

The .csv file content only supports UTF-8 standard character encoding for device name, event name, measurement name, and file name.

Quotation marks in all data fields of the .csv file help ensure compatibility with special characters.

For details and examples of the .csv file, see Appendix D SFTP and HTTPS Publication File Formats.

File Format of JSON Publication

One .json file is produced, which includes measurements of multiple downstream devices configured with the same sampling period.

The name of the JSON file that is exported follows the naming convention DateTime.json where DateTime is the time stamp corresponding to when the file was published, expressed down to the millisecond in the format YYYYMMDDhhmmssSSS.

For an example of a .json file, see Appendix D SFTP and HTTPS Publication File Formats.