Solutions

Litmus Edge Guide for Azure Manufacturing Data Solutions (MDS)

15min

Manufacturing data solutions in Microsoft Fabric and Copilot template for factory operations on Azure AI

Once Litmus Edge brings OT data from the edge into Microsoft Fabric, the data are transformed into a refined or Silver layer for use in the Manufacturing data solutions knowledge graph. The MKG leverages the ISA-95 data protocol, an international standard that enables the knowledge graph to represent factory data in an accurate, nuanced, and timely manner. These data in turn provide the foundation for the Copilot template to deliver valuable insight into factory operations.

The Copilot template provides domain-specific prompt templates, data grounding skills, and connectors; validation of outputs, via post-processing, to avoid incorrect information; and RAI guardrails to ensure only relevant, safe, responsible responses are given. Partners can extend these capabilities by creating their own prompt templates, skills, and connectors. In addition, they can use these capabilities to extend and enhance existing data and collaboration apps from both Microsoft and ISVs.

To learn more about MDS and Copilot template, visit the Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing page on Microsoft Learn.

Deploy Litmus Edge Manager via Azure Marketplace (Cloud)

  1. Navigate & log into your Azure Portal > Marketplace
      1. Define the following
        1. Resource group – define a resource group to deploy in
        2. Region – define a region to deploy in
        3. Size – Please refer to LEM System Requirement documentation for minimum & recommended sizing
        4. Application Name – define a name for the LEM app
        5. Managed Resource Group – select managed resource group
      2. Click Review + Create
      3. Agree to terms & conditions and fill in contact information on the next page
      4. Click Create
      5. Once the application is deployed successfully
        1. Check the inbound firewall rules in the virtual network
          1. 443/tcp - LEM UI access
          2. 8446/tcp - LEM admin console UI access
          3. 8883/tcp - LE to LEM MQTT connection
          4. 51820/udp - LE to LEM remote access connection
        2. Depending on desired network and architecture, we can define specific ranges of IP for source and destinations
          1. Review for all required and optional inbound/outbound LEM firewall ports
      6. Navigate back to the overview page. In the Essentials section you will find the IP address associated to LEM app by Azure
        • [Optional] Configure DNS
        • Document image
          
      7. Enter the IP or DNS in a browser to access the LEM UI
        1. Access to Litmus Edge Manager
        2. Note: User access to UI will be determined by network & firewall configuration

Deploy Litmus Edge (On-Premise)

  1. There are multiple deployment methods for LE, depending on your on-premise architecture and infrastructure
    1. System Requirement for LE when selecting a size for Litmus Edge Instance
  2. Once the LE is deployed, we will need to configure firewall rules
  3. Each deployment of Litmus Edge comes with 15-day trial license. To full license LE we will need to activate it with LEM or apply a license key
    1. For licensing of Litmus Edge & Litmus Edge Manager, please contact your Litmus Account Representative.

Setup Litmus Edge to send data to Azure MDS & Azure Fabric

Prerequisites

Knowledge prerequisites

  • Basic knowledge of Docker containers, Images, and Docker Run Commands.

Download the Image

  • Download the Image - Download the Image from Litmus Central Portal.
  • Upload the Image - Upload the Image to the target machine using the docker load command:
Bash


Deploy the Image

  • Make sure the NATS Proxy is enabled.
  • Enable the API Account Token and add the following topics:
    • Read Topics: >
    • Write Topics: mds_data_payload.>, mds_metadata_payload.>, and mds_config.>.
  • Deploy the Image using the following command:
Shell

  • EDGE_IP_ADDRESS: Litmus Edge IP Address or Hostname.
  • EDGE_API_TOKEN: Litmus Edge Access Token.
  • EDGE_NATS_TOKEN: Litmus Edge API Account Token.
  • MDS_PUBLISHER_ID_SUFFIX: Publisher ID Suffix for MDS (Optional - Set to Litmus Edge Hostname by default).
  • BATCH_SIZE: Number of messages to be sent in a single batch (Optional - Value is between 1 and 2000, set to 100 by default).



Azure Event Hub / Event Grid Integration

To send data from Litmus Edge to MDS, you can use either Azure Event Hub or Event Grid Connectors. See Azure Event Hubs or Azure Event Grid for more details.

Refer to the following Azure resources for learning more about Azure Event Hub and Azure Event Grid:

Once the Integration Connector is set up, you can choose what device(s) data to send to MDS by adding the following topics in the Integration Connector Local Topic:

  • mds_data_payload.<devicename> - Device data to be sent to MDS.
  • mds_metadata_payload.<devicename> - Device metadata to be sent to MDS.
  • Ensure you have added the corresponding Remote Topic for each of the above topics in the Integration Connector.
  • For each device you want to send data to MDS, you need to repeat the above by replacing <devicename> with the actual device name.

Optional

You can use the following topics to request the metadata of a device or all devices from Litmus Edge:

  • mds_config.republish_metadata - Republish the metadata of a device to MDS. The payload should contain the device name.
  • mds_config.republish_metadata_all - Republish the metadata of all devices to MDS.

Note: Subscribe to mds_config.callback to check the status of the metadata republish request.

You can now verify that the data is being sent to MDS by checking the Azure Event Hub or Event Grid on Azure Portal.

🎉 That’s it! You have successfully deployed the integration between Litmus Edge and MDS in Microsoft Fabric.

Conclusion

Upon successful deployment, data from Litmus Edge will be transformed into the MDS schema and sent to MDS via Azure Event Hub or Event Grid. Customers can use Azure Fabric and Copilot LLMs to gather analytics and insights on their industrial data.

For technical support and any questions please contact your Litmus Account Representative