InfluxDB v1 Logger

The InfluxDB v1 Logger sends the values of the tags in selected tag collections to an InfluxDB v1 server. A logger only writes data out. The InfluxDB v2 and v3 components are historians, which also let the data be read back, and they are documented in the Historians section.

flowchart LR
    subgraph Profinity["Profinity"]
        Collections["Tag collections"] --> V1["InfluxDB v1 Logger"]
    end
    V1 --> Influx["InfluxDB v1 server"]

The InfluxDB v1 Logger pushes the selected tag collections to an InfluxDB v1 server

InfluxDB dashboard showing pack voltage and pack current logged by Profinity

InfluxDB both stores and visualises data. InfluxDB v1, v2 and v3 are separate products with different APIs, authentication methods and configuration requirements, and using the wrong component type results in connection failures. Profinity provides a separate component for each InfluxDB version, so the version of InfluxDB in use must be known before a component is added to a profile. The v2 and v3 components are registered as the InfluxDB v2 Historian and the InfluxDB v3 Historian, which write data in the same way and additionally allow it to be read back through the APIs, and they are documented in InfluxDB historians. The Loggers page compares this logger with the others.

Add the logger

InfluxDB v1 uses username and password authentication and the concept of databases and retention policies. To log data to InfluxDB v1, install InfluxDB v1 and confirm that it is running, then add an InfluxDB v1 Logger to the profile. Enter the InfluxDB Database, add at least one tag collection under Collections, and set the other settings as needed.

Setting	Default	Purpose
InfluxDB Database	None	The InfluxDB database that the data is stored in. Required.
InfluxDB Username	Blank	The username for InfluxDB authentication. Leave blank for unsecured connections.
InfluxDB Password	Blank	The password for InfluxDB authentication. Leave blank for unsecured connections.
InfluxDB Retention Policy	autogen	The InfluxDB retention policy used when writing data.
Influx Server URL	http://localhost:8086/	The endpoint URL that InfluxDB is running on.
Dashboard URL	Blank	The URL of the InfluxDB dashboard. Optional, and leaving it blank shows no dashboard link.
InfluxDB Health Check	On	Performs a health check on the connection at regular intervals. Turn it off for InfluxDB Cloud.
Collections	None	The tag collections whose tags are logged. At least one collection must be configured before the component starts.
Update Interval (Seconds)	10	The interval, in seconds, at which log data is sent, from 1 to 86400.
Logging mode	Snapshot	Sets what is sent on each interval: Snapshot, On Change or Everything. Refer to Logging modes.
Auto Connect	On	Starts the logger when the profile is loaded.

The Logging mode setting applies to this logger, the InfluxDB v2 Historian, the InfluxDB v3 Historian and the other collection-based loggers, and nothing is logged until at least one tag collection is selected in Collections. Logging modes defines the three modes, Snapshot (the default), On Change and Everything.

Every sample is written with its quality in a quality field. A Good sample also has a value field, and a Stale sample keeps its last value with quality Stale. A tag that is Unavailable or Bad is written as a gap, with a quality field and no value, so a chart can show the gap instead of an invented reading. Only tags that hold a number are written, and a query for readings should ask for the value field.

What is stored

Each sample is stored as one point in a measurement named after the profile. For example, a motor speed signal on a component called Inverter is stored like this:

Part	Example	Meaning
Tag component	Inverter	The component that owns the tag.
Tag message	Status	The CAN message the signal belongs to.
Tag signal	Speed	The signal name.
Tag full_tag_id	Inverter/DBC/Status/Speed	The tag's path when the sample was written.
Field value	23.4	The reading.
Field quality	Good	The quality of the reading.

In InfluxDB line protocol, that point is:

MyProfile,profile=MyProfile,component=Inverter,message=Status,signal=Speed,full_tag_id=Inverter/DBC/Status/Speed value=23.4,quality="Good" 1792315200000000000

The component, message and signal tags identify the tag in the history. A CAN signal is stored under its component, message and signal names from its DBC file, and a component property is stored with the message _Property_ and its dotted name as the signal, for example Settings_Name. Any other tag is stored with the message _TagPath_, and its place inside its component, joined with underscores, as the signal. Characters other than letters and digits in these names are replaced with underscores.

InfluxDB Cloud does not support the InfluxDB Health Check API, and InfluxDB Health Check is on by default, so set it to off when InfluxDB Cloud is used to store the data.

If data does not arrive

When these settings are correct, data flows into InfluxDB v1. If it does not, check the Profinity system logs for more details, as described in Logs. If the logger cannot reach InfluxDB, it shows Error, writes the reason to the system logs once, and retries every 5 seconds until the problem clears.

For the steps to set up logging and to send data to InfluxDB Cloud, refer to How to configure data logging and How to log data to the cloud (InfluxDB).