Thingsboard: RPC Shell interface

[fotis400]

I am trying to use the RPC Shell widget.

As I see, when I open the dashboard the widget sends an RPC command requesting data from the client. For each command I send it seems it has a specific structure, and the widget waits for a response.

I couldn't find any documentation on how this widget works.

What are the commands that this widget sends, and what are the expected responses?

[fatihyasar]

+1

[vparomskiy]

rps shell sends RPC command to the connected device. If the device connected via MQTT, then from the device you need to subscribe to the RPC topic "v1/devices/me/rpc/request/+"
when shell command executed, RPC requested transferred via MQTT to the device:

• topic - v1/devices/me/rpc/request/$request_id
• payload - {'{"method":"sendCommand","params":{"command":"hi"}}'}

the device should respond to this command - publish the message to the topic "v1/devices/me/rpc/response/$request_id"
response payload will be displayed in the shell.

https://thingsboard.io/docs/reference/mqtt-api/#rpc-api
https://thingsboard.io/docs/user-guide/rpc/

[fotis400]

@vparomskiy
I think that what you describe is applicable for the RPC Debug widget only.

As far as I can understand the RPC Shell widget has a different API. Take a look at the following image.

The Shell widget seems to expect some information from the device. But what should the response be?
Also commands seem to have different structure than the RPC Debug widget.

[fotis400]

@vparomskiy any news on this?

Will the remote shell functionality be documented? Or at least any hints?

[Rileyjs]

I'd also like to know how my responses should be formatted. Primarily to remove the "Device is offline" message, and to print messages from the device onto the shell.

[ddomit]

+1

[alfredayibonte]

Response should look like

{
            ok: true,
            platform: os.platform(),
            type: os.type(),
            release: os.release()
        }

@ddomit @fotis400 @Rileyjs

[OH-F]

Hi, excelent work!

Im making a IoT dashboard and need to use the RPC command shell.

Although this response works great for releiving data from the sensor
{
ok: true,
platform: os.platform(),
type: os.type(),
release: os.release()
}

Im having problem replyng to any other RPC command.

If i put a RPC Debug Console, i can see my reponse on the shell.

But on the non-Debug Console, the console just hangs or it shows "Device Offline" depending on the kind of answer i send.

Whats the format of the response I should send?

Note: If i reply this
{
ok: true,
platform: os.platform(),
type: os.type(),
release: os.release()
}

to my RPC command, then the shell responds me "{"method":"getCommandStatus"}" but i dont know how to respond to this.

[alfredayibonte]

@OH-F what I did was, in sending my response I add another field called output. I then customized my rpc terminal so that I will be able to echo the response. ie terminal.echo(responseBody.output).

[OH-F]

Thank you!

Im doing a custom RPC terminal widget now ( https://thingsboard.io/docs/user-guide/contribution/widgets-development/ )

If that doesnt work, ill try your suggestion!

Thank you once again.

[vcmorini]

rps shell sends RPC command to the connected device. If the device connected via MQTT, then from the device you need to subscribe to the RPC topic "v1/devices/me/rpc/request/+"
when shell command executed, RPC requested transferred via MQTT to the device:

• topic - v1/devices/me/rpc/request/$request_id
• payload - {'{"method":"sendCommand","params":{"command":"hi"}}'}

the device should respond to this command - publish the message to the topic "v1/devices/me/rpc/response/$request_id"
response payload will be displayed in the shell.

https://thingsboard.io/docs/reference/mqtt-api/#rpc-api
https://thingsboard.io/docs/user-guide/rpc/

can it work with demo.thingsboard ?
I couldn't manage it

[govorox]

if anyone is still interested, i've figured out the format of the response expected after the getCommandStatus call:

_{"done": "true", "data": [{"stdout": "Hello"}]}_

Now the RPC shell works as expected! If you remove done, the getCommandStatus will get called again after a while. Useful if the command execution is still in progress.
Also, terminateCommand is called on Ctrl+C

[OH-F]

if anyone is still interested, i've figured out the format of the response expected after the getCommandStatus call:

_{"done": "true", "data": [{"stdout": "Hello"}]}_

Now the RPC shell works as expected! If you remove done, the getCommandStatus will get called again after a while. Useful if the command execution is still in progress.
Also, terminateCommand is called on Ctrl+C

Great work! Ill try it as soon as i can
May I ask how did you got it? I've read the widget code, but couldnt get any valuable info

[govorox]

I've read through the JavaScript code that the RPC Shell widget emits, then put together a python script to test.
Forgot to mention that the data field is an array of objects containing stdout and/or stderror. I've only tested a single line return per call so far, but will eventually have it returning multiples. Not sure how it handles terminal escape sequences either, will have a go tomorrow