How to know whether our IoTedge device is connected to IoTHub from the python sdk or any command other pinging to Host

Athira Gopinath(UST,IN) 101

Hi Team,

As part of our R&D, we are attempting to determine whether our IoT Edge Device is successfully connecting to IoT Hub. Currently, we are trying to ping the IoT Hub. Are there alternative methods to verify if the IoT Edge Device is connected to the IoT Hub? Please suggest potential solutions.

Sampath 0 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2025-02-03T03:17:28.0933333+00:00

@Athira Gopinath Just checking in to see if the provided answer helped. If this answers your query, do click "Accept the answer” for the same, which might be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. And, if you have any further queries do let us know.
Sampath 0 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2025-02-04T02:42:37.4233333+00:00

@Athira Gopinath(UST,IN) We still have not heard back from you. Just wanted to check if the answer provided below was helpful? If it answers your query, please do click Accept Answer and Yes for the answer, as it might be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

1 answer

Sander van de Velde | MVP 34,536 Reputation points MVP

2025-01-16T13:44:59.37+00:00

Hello @Athira Gopinath(UST,IN) ,

welcome to this moderated Azure community forum.

Being able to determine if a device is connected or not is a valid question.

The IoT Hub provides device lifecycle events like connect and disconnect that you can route to some storage or stream.

Be aware this is not a live message, the IoT Hub will provide it per 1 or a few minutes.

You can also check the metrics collector of Azure IoT Edge. This provides information about how old the last batch of data is.

Personally, I always add this custom heartbeat module which sends a message once every x seconds/minutes and provides a counter and a local date time. This way, I know how many times the module is restarted (probably indicting the shutdown of an edge device) and that local time can be compared with the iot hub enqueue time as an indication of connectivity delays.

If the response helped, do "Accept Answer". If it doesn't work, please let us know the progress. All community members with similar issues will benefit by doing so. Your contribution is highly appreciated.
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Athira Gopinath(UST,IN) 101 Reputation points

2025-01-17T06:53:46.42+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions @Sander van de Velde | MVP .From the documentation, I understood that there is a heartbeat payload sending to IoTHub. Could you please explain what is the payload sending to IoTHub(Json or any other format).Does it is necessary to add as separate module. Can we incorporate the same in any of our module communicating to IoTHub. Also Is there any acknowledgment mechanism from IoTHub after receiving the data

Sander van de Velde | MVP 34,536 Reputation points MVP

2025-01-17T08:01:39.61+00:00

Hello @Athira Gopinath(UST,IN) ,

There is no default heartbeat mechanism available for users, other than the connected/disconnected state/events (which have a granularity of one minute).

The heartbeat module is a custom module and the source code is available under MIT license.

So you can either merge it with existing modules or use it in a separate module.

The last option is recommended, with 'separation of concern' in mind. When merged and the regular logic fails, this heartbeat could be affected.

Azure IoT Edge works with a persisted storage for messages being sent to the cloud (the $upstream route to the EdgeHub module) and persisted queues between modules.

Once a message is sent to $upstream, it must be considered as being sent. When an network connection is broken, the messages are stored within the TTL time frame until the connection is restored. Then, the message will arrive at the IoT Hub.

Messages being sent to the queues between modules need an acknowledgement.

I recommend reading the documentation and do some practical test to get knowledgeable about these mechanisms.

If the response helped, do "Accept Answer". If it doesn't work, please let us know the progress. All community members with similar issues will benefit by doing so. Your contribution is highly appreciated.
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How to know whether our IoTedge device is connected to IoTHub from the python sdk or any command other pinging to Host

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