What is Node Red? –Node red is a Open Source flow based tool and IOT platform and Dashboard developed by IBM and written in Node.js.
Node-red lets you easily build applications by joining together black box functions (nodes) using a web interface, and it requires very little, if any, programming knowledge.
Because of its flexibility and ease of use node-red is ideally suited for building IOT and Home control dashboards and automations as well as many other applications.
Node-red can be installed locally on Windows and Linux and also because of its small size also on the raspberry Pi.
It is also available as a cloud service from IBM and others like flowforge.
Node-Red Introduction and Overview
Here is a the official introductory video from the node-red team which gives you a good overview of what node-red is.
Node-Red Tutorials – Quick Links
- Getting started
- Node-Red Admin
- Node-Red programming
- Node-Red Dashboards
- Node-Red Data storage
- Node-Red IOT and Home Automation
- Videos
Getting Started
Before you can use node-red locally you will need to install it and start it running.
This tutorial Installing and Starting Node-Red explains how to do that.
The next step is to become familiar with the editor interface.
- Introduction to the Editor
- How to create and manage flows
- Deploying Flows
- How to Export and Import Nodes and Flows
Node-Red Administration
Like all applications there is a certain amount of administration and configuration that needs to be done. These tutorials cover the main administration aspects.
Tutorials
- Node-Red Settings.js File – Node-Red Admin
- Local Installs and Managing Node-Red Projects
- Securing Node-Red with SSL and User name Authentication
Node-Red Nodes and Programming
Node-red works by passing messages between nodes and this is critical to understand before you start wiring nodes together and is explained in Understanding The Node-Red Message Object
Tutorials
- Using the Node-Red Function Node- Beginners Guide
- Storing Data in Node-Red Variables
- Initialising Node-Red Flows
- Using The Node-Red Library
- Working with JSON Data And JavaScript Objects in Node-Red
- Using the Node Red Status Node
- Understanding and Using Buffers In Node-Red
- Using the Node-Red Template Node
- Message Object Cloning
- Using Environmental Variables
- Node-Red Configuration Nodes Overview
Node-Red Dashboards
You can create node-red dashboards for IOT and Home automation and for a myriad of other applications.
However the nodes that allow you to do this aren’t part of the core nodes and need to be installed.
Tutorials
- Create a node-red Dashboard
- Using The Node-Red Dashboard Template Dashboard Node
- Using the Node-Red Chart Node
- Using the Control UI Node
- Modbus Node-Red Dashboards and MQTT Modbus Bridge
- An Introduction to Dashboard 2
Node-Red IOT and Home Automation
Industrial IOT and home automation applications will generally use one or more of the following protocols.
- MQTT
- HTTP
Nodes for these protocols are part of the core nodes.You can find out how to use these nodes in the following tutorials:
Tutorials
- Node-Red HTTP Request Node for Beginners
- Node-Red Web Server -HTTP-IN and HTTP Response Nodes
- Configuring the MQTT Publish and Subscribe Nodes in Node-Red
- MQTT Dynamic Connections
- How to Install and Run The Mosca MQTT Broker on Node-Red
- Using the Exec node to run external commands
- Using the chart Node for graphs
- Working with Time
However Industrial IOT projects also use modbus and there are modbus nodes available that you will need to be installed.
Tutorials
- How to Use Node-Red with Modbus
- Writing Modbus Data with node-red
- Modbus Node-Red Dashboards and MQTT Modbus Bridge
- My Modbus Working Notes
Notifications
Many flows will utilize notification via email, SMS etc for errors and status messages.
Tutorials
Node-Red Data Storage
Tutorials
- Storing IOT data in a SQLite Database
- Storing and Retrieving JSON Data In SQLite
- Using Node-Red with Influxdb
Videos
Useful Tools
Useful Links
Summary Of Terms
Note: These are the terms and meanings used in tutorials and videos.
Workspace – Contains all of your flows
Flow – A collection of nodes and wires
Flow Canvas – The Flow Edit screen
Node – A packaged JavaScript function with data.
Wire – A connection between nodes.
Latest Tutorials
Latest tutorials are on the blog page