Integrate EMQX with Tiger Cloud

Connect EMQX to Tiger Cloud and stream MQTT messages into a hypertable

EMQX is a distributed MQTT broker used to move data between IoT devices, applications, and backend systems in real time.

This page shows you how to connect EMQX to your Tiger Cloud service using the EMQX data integration for PostgreSQL to stream MQTT messages into TimescaleDB.

In this integration guide, you:

prepare a target hypertable for MQTT messages in your Tiger Cloud service service
configure EMQX to send messages to your PostgreSQL database
verify that MQTT tag values arrive in your TimescaleDB hypertable

To follow these steps, you'll need:

A Tiger Cloud service.

These steps use Tiger Cloud, but the same approach applies to a self-hosted TimescaleDB instance.

Your connection details.

An EMQX broker (Open Source or Enterprise) with access to the EMQX Dashboard

Create a target hypertable in Tiger Cloud

Connect to your service
Use the Tiger Cloud Console, psql, or any other SQL editor to connect to your Tiger Cloud service.
Create a target hypertable for MQTT messages
Create a hypertable with the columns you want EMQX to populate from each MQTT message. For example:
CREATE TABLE mqtt_messages ( ts TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL, tag_id TEXT NOT NULL, client_id TEXT, qos SMALLINT, value DOUBLE PRECISION ) WITH ( tsdb.hypertable = true, tsdb.partition_column = 'ts', tsdb.chunk_interval = '7 days' );
Choose a chunk interval that matches your message volume and query patterns. Aim for chunk sizes that fit the most recent working set in memory — a good starting point is an interval that produces chunks roughly 25% of your service RAM. For lower-volume streams, that may mean hours instead of days; for very busy MQTT workloads, a longer interval such as 2–7 days may be more appropriate.
You can change the chunk interval later with set_chunk_time_interval(); it only affects new chunks, so the current data remains unchanged.

Note

You may need to change the table columns based on the format of the MQTT payload and what you want to store. The instructions here assume a plaintext numeric payload. If you need JSON or Sparkplug B mappings, see the additional examples at the end of this guide.

Configure an EMQX data integration for PostgreSQL

Sign in to the EMQX Dashboard
Navigate your browser to the EMQX Dashboard (default http://YOUR_EMQX_HOST:18083) and sign in with an admin account.
Create a PostgreSQL connector
Open Integration / Connector and select Create. Choose PostgreSQL as the connector type.
Give the connector a name and add the host, port, database, username, and password from your Tiger Cloud service connection details. Enable TLS, then select Test Connectivity to verify the connection.

Warning

Tiger Cloud requires TLS. Make sure Enable TLS is on, otherwise the connector will not be able to reach your service.

Create a PostgreSQL sink

Open Integration / Rules and select Create to start a new rule. In the SQL Editor, write a rule that selects the messages you want to persist.

Use the payload mapping example above that matches your MQTT message format. For a simple numeric payload, the rule looks like:

SELECT
  timestamp                        as ts,
  topic                            as tag_id,
  clientid                         as client_id,
  qos                              as qos,
  CAST(payload AS DOUBLE PRECISION) as value
FROM "#"

Under Action Outputs, select Add Action, choose PostgreSQL, and select the connector you created in the previous step. Set the SQL template to insert into your table:

INSERT INTO mqtt_messages (ts, tag_id, client_id, qos, value)
VALUES (
  to_timestamp(${ts}::double precision / 1000),
  ${topic},
  ${client_id},
  ${qos},
  ${value}
)

Save the action, then save the rule.

Verify messages are flowing
Publish a test message to a topic that matches your rule, then query the table to confirm rows are arriving:
SELECT * FROM mqtt_messages ORDER BY ts DESC LIMIT 10;
If no rows appear, check the rule's Statistics tab in the EMQX Dashboard for matched and failed counts, and review the EMQX log for connector errors.

Verify the integration

To confirm EMQX is sending MQTT data into your Tiger Cloud service:

Publish a test MQTT message
Send a test message to the topic you configured in your EMQX rule. Then check the rule's statistics in the EMQX Dashboard to verify the message was matched and the PostgreSQL action succeeded.
Query the target table in Tiger Cloud service
Use the Tiger Cloud Console, psql, or another SQL client to run:
SELECT * FROM mqtt_messages ORDER BY ts DESC LIMIT 10;
You should see the tag value and metadata appear in the table rows.

You have successfully integrated EMQX with Tiger Cloud.

Additional payload examples

The following table schemas, EMQX Rules, and Action Outputs can be adapted for different MQTT Payloads depending on the structure of the payload and what values are to be recorded.

JSON payload with named fields

Use this when the MQTT message body is JSON and you want to extract individual fields.

Sample payload:

{
  "tag_value": 112.34,
  "status": "ok",
  "device": "sensor-1"
}

Table Schema:

CREATE TABLE mqtt_messages_json (
  ts          TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL,
  tag_id      TEXT        NOT NULL,
  client_id   TEXT,
  qos         SMALLINT,
  value       DOUBLE PRECISION,
  status      TEXT
) WITH (
  tsdb.hypertable = true,
  tsdb.partition_column = 'ts',
  tsdb.chunk_interval = '7 days'
);

Rule:

SELECT
  timestamp                            as ts,
  topic                                as tag_id,
  clientid                             as client_id,
  qos                                  as qos,
  CAST(payload->>'tag_value' AS DOUBLE PRECISION) as value,
  payload->>'status'                   as status
FROM "#"

Action output:

INSERT INTO mqtt_messages_json (ts, tag_id, client_id, qos, value, status)
VALUES (
  to_timestamp(${ts}::double precision / 1000),
  ${topic},
  ${client_id},
  ${qos},
  ${value},
  ${status}
)

Sparkplug B payload

Use this when EMQX receives Sparkplug B messages with nested metric data.