Newbie Questions -- Control / Dashboard and Cerficate

HiveMQ Cloud
1

So, I just started with HiveMQ but am already Subscribing / Publishing topics from both an ESP32 and Android App. Got a couple of questions:

  1. Previously I worked with https://io.adafruit.com They have a really nice control panel and dashboard capability on their web site. I can see all topics in my account (they call them “feeds”), what their latest values are and when they were posted. I can delete topics and create new ones right from the website. The dashboards can be configured with controls (switches, sliders) to drive topics as well as graphs and other displays of topic data. So, my question … Does HiveMQ have this web control / dashboard feature hidden somewhere?

  2. I don’t really know what a “TLS Certificate” does, why I need one, or how to make one. But, I found out that I do in fact need one to connect to HiveMQ from my ESP32. After some digging, I found one hiding here:
    https://community.hivemq.com/t/frequently-asked-questions/514
    It would be nice if it were easier for beginners to find that. Say in the “Getting Started” section.
    But anyway, my real question is … why don’t I need a Certificate to connect to HiveMQ from this Android App:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=snr.lab.iotmqttpanel.prod.pro
    I just give it my Cluster URL, Port 883, and login information. It then connects to HiveMQ via TCP-SSL without me specifying a “Certificate”. Why does that work?

2

I’m really not one for bumping my own posts, but it has been a week. I was really hoping someone could help with my understanding of the whole HiveMQ offering as I don’t have that much MQTT experience.
Thanks.

3

Hi @gfvalvo

  1. HiveMQ Cloud Free / PayG does not have any hidden control dashboard except https://console.hivemq.cloud/. However, if you sign up for HiveMQ Cloud Dedicated (or host a HiveMQ broke on your own) it will have HiveMQ Control Center.

  2. The certificate is needed to establish a secure TLS connection between your MQTT client and HiveMQ Cloud Free / PayG cluster’s listener. HiveMQ Cloud Free / PayG is using Let’s Encrypt certificate. If the MQTT library of your MQTT client already includes the trusted certificate in its trusted certificates store, you have an impression that your client connects without specifying a certificate. When the MQTT library does not include the certificate (yet), you need to download it and supply it when establishing a TLS connection.

I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask

Kind regards,
Dasha from HiveMQ Team