Creating and Configuring Niagara AX nHaystack MSIB Nodes for the Navigator Configuration Service

This section provides instructions on creating MSIB nodes and configuring the Navigator Configuration service for use with a Niagara AX station running the nHaystack service. MSIB retrieves nHaystack point data from the Niagara AX station via the Haystack REST API.

Although MSIB supports communicating with the Niagara AX Haystack REST APIs through either an HTTPS or HTTP interface, the use of HTTPS is strongly recommended. Haystack REST APIs over HTTP is considered a security risk due to the inherent security shortcomings of HTTP itself.

Before beginning

Before creating any nodes, complete the following prerequisites. MSIB for FDD Navigator is an integral part of the FDD workflow. Before creating and configuring the MSIB nodes, complete some of the FDD steps because MSIB is dependent on the following:

  • Import file of desired points for a Niagara AX nHaystack station. This file is generated through the MSIB manual discovery process and then potentially reduced to include only the target points for collecting data.
  • A system site set up in Navigator.
    • Navigator meters should be created before MSIB can send data to the meters.
  • If a proxy connection is needed for the Navigator connection, see the section titled Navigating the User Interface for setting up the proxy.
  • For other needs, see System Requirements for MSIB with Navigator Service in the section titled MSIB Application Requirements.

Collecting data

To create MSIB nodes and configure services, the following source and client information is required:

  • An understanding of both the source and Navigator site will be necessary in order to configure MSIB nodes for communication.
  • Online access to source data will be necessary to verify communication with the source.

Creating a new node

The first step to configuring MSIB is to create a virtual node or nodes. For Niagara AX stations, only use the Create single node button.

  1. Select Create single node.
  1. Enter a Node Name.
    The name must match the Niagara AX station name from the nHaystack import file. AX station names are located in the Device Sys Name column of the import file.
  1. From the Service drop-down list, select Navigator Configuration Service.
  1. Enter the Navigator Device Username and Navigator Device Password.

MSIB validates the Navigator device name and Navigator device password before allowing a node to be created.

  1. For Import Type, select Rule Mapping Tool Export File from the drop-down list.
  1. Select Choose file and select the import file.
  1. Select the Source Service to indicate how data is acquired for MSIB. Choose nhaystack Polling.
  1. Enter a desired Polling Interval or leave the default of 900 seconds between polling cycles (15 minutes).
  1. Enter the nhaystack Username and nhaystack Password for the Niagara AX station.
  1. For nhaystack Nase URL, enter the Niagara AX HTTP or HTTPS base URL for calling the Haystack REST API. This is the same URL that was specified in the manual discovery file used to generate the import file..

If the Niagara AX uses the standard port (80) for HTTP or standard port (443) for HTTPS, then the colon and port number may be omitted from the URL.

  1. Select Create and start.