Bolt Data Connect – Global Settings

Docs: App Connectivity

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

First, we’ll need to establish the connection between your Salesforce Org and the IoT Cloud infrastructure. Once that connection is established, we can configure Salesforce Object Customization, Salesforce Process Customization, and Thing-Type Customization. Then, we’ll create a new Thing and demonstrate connectivity. Let’s get Things set-up!

In order for the Bolt Data Connect Salesforce App to communicate with the IoT infrastructure, we need to authorize Salesforce to access the IoT Cloud, and we need authorize the IoT Cloud to access Salesforce.

Authorize Salesforce to access the IoT Cloud

First, your Bolt Data Connect support representative should provide you with an API Token, an Access Key, and a Secret Key. Keep this information safe. It’s essentially your username and password to your IoT Cloud.

Let us know

Should you ever learn or suspect these Keys have been compromised, please rotate your keys — twice — as soon as possible, and notify your Bolt Data Connect representative.

From the Bolt Data Connect App (if you’re not already there, follow the Launching the App section in the App Tour), go to the IoT Setup tab.
Select Global Settings.
In the IoT API Token field enter the API Token you received in Step 1.
Select the IoT Cloud API link next to API Named Credential.
1. Select Edit.
2. In the AWS Access Key ID field, enter the Access Key received in Step 1.
3. Next to AWS Secret Access Key field, enter the Secret Key received in Step 1.
4. You shouldn’t need to modify any other settings here. Click Save and close the tab (if it opened in a new tab).

Authorize the IoT Cloud to access your Salesforce Org

In order for the IoT Cloud to send Alerts to your Salesforce Org, you must Authorize the app to access the Salesforce APIs associated with your Org.

From the Bolt Data Connect App (if you’re not already there, follow the Launching the App section in the App Tour), go to the IoT Setup tab.
Select Global Settings.
Next to the Connected Application label, select Authorize.

Authorize the Connected Application

You’ll be redirected to a Salesforce Authorization screen. Select Allow.

Heads Up

Verify the URL in this window is accurate. You must be logged in as a User of the Org in which you wish to authorize the IoT Cloud integrations (this is the User the IoT Cloud will use to send Alerts and trigger platform events). If you need to switch to another User, you can select the “Not you?” link to be redirected to (login.salesforce.com)[https://login.salesforce.com] to log-in and authorize as a different User within your Org.

Allow the IoT Cloud to access your Org

After selecting Allow, the status of the authorization will be displayed.
When successful, the authorization status message window will close automatically (or you can close it manually if you chose). In the unlikely event you encounter an error during authorization, please let us know as soon as practical!

Authorization success message

Note

Bolt Data Connect does not collect any data from you or your Org; this authorization only provides the IoT Cloud with the ability to send alerts to your Org. The IoT Cloud is never given your login credentials.

That’s it! This should only be required once, but should you ever need to re-establish this authorization, you can repeat these steps at any time.
To revoke authorization at any time, you can follow these steps:
1. Select Settings (Salesforce Settings Gear).
2. Select Users, then Users and find the User you used to Authorize.
3. Scrolling down, you should find the “OAuth Connected Apps” section where you can select Revoke to revoke access to the Connected App.
4. You can re-authorize the IoT Cloud at any time by following the steps above.
You can check which Saleforce User is currently authorized by the IoT Cloud at any time.
1. Navigate to the IoT Admin Page, then select Global Settings.
2. The User should be displayed next to the Connected Application label:
Authorization check

Rotating Bolt Data Connect Access Keys

The Bolt Data Connect Access Keys can be rotated at any time. This helps limit any unintended access to your data. We recommend that you refresh Access Keys at least every 45 days, but the more frequent, the better.

From the Bolt Data Connect App (if you’re not already there, follow the Launching the App section in the App Tour), go to the IoT Setup tab.
Select Global Settings.
You’ll need to have the Named Credential open in a separate window/tab:
1. Select the IoT Cloud API link (should open in a new tab; if not, keep this tab/window open to the Named Credential and open a new tab to the IoT Setup tab, Global Settings).
2. Select Edit.
3. In the next step you’ll be editing the following fields: AWS Access Key ID and AWS Secret Access Key.
Named credential fields
Once the Named Credential tab/window is staged, back on the IoT Admin page, select Rotate Keys.
New Keys should appear under the Rotate Keys button with a copy link next to each.

New keys

Select “Copy” next to AWS Access Key ID, and paste into the respective field on the Named Credential.
Repeat for AWS Secret Access Key.
Select Save on the Named Credential and close that tab/window.
To clear the keys from the Global Settings screen, return to the IoT Setup tab.
To test the new keys, return to the Global Settings screen from the IoT Setup tab (which automatically checks who’s authorized) or visit the IoT Console and search for a Thing.

IoT Connector API

For customers with their own IoT Cloud, we’ve fully exposed the IoT Cloud Connector API to allow you to use the Bolt Data Connect Salesforce App with your own IoT Cloud by following a few simple steps. (See below)

IoT Cloud Connector

Call the /IoTAlert Web Service from your IoT Cloud
Implement the IoT Connector Apex class [SPKI.IoT_Connector_API] to call your IoT Cloud’s exposed APIs

IoT Cloud Connector API

Docs: Licensing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

View Licenses

From the Global Settings page, you can easiliy view the Bolt Data Connect licensing across all of your orgs (Dev, Test, Production, etc.) and all of the Application Layers (Salesforce, IoT Cloud and Edge Gateway).

View Licenses

Salesforce Licenses

Standard Licenses: The number of Standard Bolt Data Connect Salesforce User licenses used / total available.
Community Licenses: The number of Community (Experience Cloud) Bolt Data Connect Salesforce User licenses used / total available.
Last License Check: The most recent date of synchronizing the Licenses with Salesforce.
License Status: The status of the License from Salesforce App Exchange.
License Expiration: The date of the License Expiration from Salesforce App Exchange.

Cloud Licenses

Organization: The parent / local IoT Cloud accounts connected to this org
License Usage: A calculation of the total percentage of device licenses used across all orgs
Thing Message Rates: A list of licensed message rates along with the purchased and used count of each
Hardware Device Types: A list of licensed devices types along with the purchased and used count of each

License Flexibility

As Thing Type “Message Rate” definitions are changed, licensing is evaluated and updated. We’ve implemented a flexible license usage policy, allowing you to use any Message Rate below or equal to the purchased rate.

License Alarms

License Alarms can now be configured and automatically created into Salesforce so that administrators can monitor and automate actions on both Salesforce App and Device Licenses.

To view the License Logs and Alarms, create a Report:

Report Type: IoT Admin Logs
Filters:
- Show Me: All IoT Admin Logs
- Log Type: “Licensing”

You will find 2 records for each Licensing event, with the following Job / Record Id values:

APP_LICENSES : Lists the results of the Salesforce App Licensing check
DEVICE_LICENSES : Lists the results of the IoT Cloud Device Licensing check

License Alarms

Each of the above records will have one of the following Job Status values:

Success : Indicates that the license check was successful and no alarms were created.
Warning : Indicates that one of the following alarms was included:
- Less than 30 days remaining on Salesforce Licenses
- Salesforce License Usage is above 80% threshold
- Device License Usage is above 90% threshold
- No Device Licenses found
Error : Indicates that one of the following alarm errors was encountered:
- Salesforce License Usage Exceeded
- Could not load Managed Package licensing data

Docs: Thing Object

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

From the Bolt Data Connect App (if you’re not already there, follow the Launching the App section in the App Tour), go to the IoT Setup tab.
Select Global Settings.
In the Thing Object Settings section of the Global Settings page, select the Salesforce Object in the Thing Object field.

Global Settings - Thing Object Settings

Field Definitions

Once you select an Object you can decide which Salesforce fields to bind to the following:

Thing Label: This field is used as the label in the IoT Console Views.
Thing External ID Field: This field is used as the primary key for data operations on a Thing (it’s how the data is indexed and must be unique within your Org).

Heads up

This field is the most important, as it allows your Thing’s data to be organized and accessed properly. Without this field, your Things’ data will just exist in the IoT Cloud and will be inaccessible from Salesforce.

Thing Status Field: This field is used in the IoT Console Navigation Pane and IoT Console Views.
Thing Type: This field is used as the identifier for which Thing-Type to assume for the given Thing. If a Thing has an undefined Thing Type, every message will be sent to the Cloud, unaggregated, and no Alerts will be provided (other than the built-in Offline Alert). For cost management purposes, it is highly recommended, that every Thing be assigned a Thing Type.
Thing Gateway: This field is used to determine which gateway will receive and manage your Things data. Without this field, your Thing’s data will not be aggregated or stored (i.e. your Thing won’t have anyone to talk to and its data will be lost). Must be a Lookup(IoT Gateway) field.
Context Data Field: This behind the scenes field will track the status of the context data syncing. Must be a Long Text Area field.
Last Alert Response Field: This behind the scenes field will track the most recent Alert Response and it’s results. Must be a Text field.
Thing Latitude/Longitude Fields: These fields are used to plot each Thing on the Map View in the IoT Console. Must be either two separate numeric fields, or a single Geo-Location field.
Category Labels/Fields: These fields determine the top-level navigation nodes in the IoT Console Navigation Pane Category Mode.
Sub-Category Fields: These fields determine the second-level navigation node in the IoT Console Navigation Pane Category Mode.

Docs: System Settings

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Error Handling

From the Global Settings page, scroll to the section labeled “System Settings”, to control how the background jobs will handle any unexpected errors. There are currently two settings available:

Log Thing Errors to Chatter
Log Servitization Errors to Chatter

Error Handling

These settings, when enabled, will log any errors from background jobs to the Chatter Feed of the appropriate record. For Thing Errors they will be attached to the Asset, or your custom Thing Object if configured. For Servitization Errors they will be attached to the Servitization Plan.

Alternatively, if either these fields are NOT enabled the default behavior is to create “IoT Admin Log” records. This Custom Object can easily be accessed with Reports or as an Object Tab with List Views.

Chatter

If either of the above values are enabled, remember to also Enable the Feed Tracking of the corresponding Object (e.g. Servitization Plan, Asset, etc.) as seen in the following Setup screen.

Feed Tracking

Platform Event Handling

From the Global Settings page, scroll to the section labeled “System Settings”, to control how the Platform Events received from the IoT Cloud will be handled.

System Settings

By enabling the field “Disable Platform Event Triggers”, the managed Apex Triggers will no longer process the Platform Events. Instead, we’ve provided the following Platform Event Triggered Flows we recommend you activate:

Platform Event Triggered Flows

IMPORTANT

The reason for choosing to activate the Flows instead of the Apex Triggers is to change the User that will run the automation including:

IoT Alert History record creation
IoT Alert Responses
IoT Downtime record creation

The Apex Triggers are run as the “Automated Process” user whereas the Flows will run as the user configured in the Global Settings App-Connectivity section.