Connectivity Issues

Diagnose MQTT, REST, certificate and network problems.

Connectivity Issues

The TilliT Ignition Module communicates with TilliT over two channels:

• MQTT (port 8883) - the module subscribes to topics such as orders, events and control parameters. This is what populates the Read folder of each asset.

• HTTPS (port 443) - the module makes REST calls for system.tillit.getApi, system.tillit.postApi, asset hierarchy fetches and similar operations.

When something is wrong, the System Status folder under the TilliT tag provider is the first place to look. See Verifying the installation for healthy values.

Module fails to start

Symptom: the TilliT Module appears as Faulted in Config → Modules, or never reaches the Running state.

Likely cause	Fix
Configuration is missing or incomplete	Open TilliT → Settings in the Gateway and confirm tenant, environment, username, password, Thing ID, and the three certificate files are all set
Java version mismatch	The 8.3 module requires the Java runtime bundled with Ignition 8.3. Do not install the 8.3 .modl on an Ignition 8.1 gateway, or vice versa
The .modl was downloaded but not signed correctly	Re-download from the link in Installation. Browsers occasionally truncate large downloads - confirm the file size matches the source

Look at the gateway log for entries from logger TilliT at startup - the cause of the fault is logged at ERROR level.

MQTT does not connect

Symptom: in the System Status folder, Connected is false and Connection status shows an error rather than Connected to iot.tillit.cloud.

Likely cause	How to confirm	Fix
Wrong Thing ID	Compare the Thing ID field in the TilliT settings page against the Thing ID shown on the Edge in TilliT (Settings → Edge)	Update the Thing ID in the gateway settings - they must match exactly
Certificate files were placed in the wrong fields	The .zip downloaded from TilliT contains privKey.key, thingCert.crt and rootCA.pem. The settings page has three corresponding upload fields	Re-upload, ensuring Private Key = privKey.key, Certificate = thingCert.crt, Root CA = rootCA.pem
Certificates are from a different Edge	Each Edge has its own unique certificate set. Re-using certificates from a different Edge will fail	Download a fresh certificate bundle from the correct Edge in TilliT
Outbound MQTT (port 8883) is blocked by a firewall	Run nc -vz iot.tillit.cloud 8883 (or the regional equivalent) from the Ignition host	Open egress to the endpoints listed in Network Security
DNS resolution differs between firewall and Ignition host	TilliT auto-rotates IP addresses; firewalls that pin IPs will drift out of sync	Configure the firewall to allow by hostname, or share DNS servers between the firewall and the Ignition host - see Network Security
Wrong environment	The endpoints differ for production, stage and development	Confirm the Environment field in settings matches the TilliT environment you are connecting to

The Error code tag in System Status holds the last MQTT error reported by the broker. Pair this with log entries from TilliT.PubSubHandlerImpl to identify the exact failure.

REST API calls fail with 401 or 403

Symptom: system.tillit.getApi(...) returns an error, or asset hierarchy is never built. Logs from TilliT.ApiCall show 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden.

Likely cause	Fix
Username or password are wrong	Re-check the credentials in TilliT → Settings. The username is the email address of the TilliT user
The TilliT user was created but never logged in	New TilliT users are created with a temporary password that must be changed on first login. Log in to the TilliT web UI as that user once, set a permanent password, then enter the new password in the Ignition module settings
The TilliT user does not have permission for the tenant	Confirm in TilliT that the user is assigned to the correct tenant and has at least read access to assets, work orders and events
Wrong tenant or region	The tenant is sent in the request credentials and the region selects the API path (/api, /us/api, /eu/api) - neither appears in the hostname. A typo in either field produces a 401/403

We recommend creating a dedicated TilliT user named after the Ignition gateway (e.g. ignition-site-1) rather than re-using a person's account. This makes audit logs in TilliT clearer and avoids the module locking out when a user changes their own password.

See the Users guide for creating users.

Connection drops repeatedly

Symptom: Connected flips between true and false over time. Messages received resets or stops growing.

Likely cause	Fix
Keep alive value is too low	Increase the keep alive on the TilliT settings page. The module default is 30 seconds; raising it (up to the broker maximum of 1200 seconds) lets the connection tolerate longer quiet periods before the broker drops it
Network path between Ignition and TilliT has high latency or packet loss	Investigate with your network team. The module will reconnect automatically, but frequent drops indicate an underlying network problem
The same Edge / Thing ID is configured on more than one gateway	Each Edge in TilliT may only be connected from one client at a time. Two gateways using the same certificate set will fight for the connection. Create a separate Edge in TilliT for each gateway

Connection works but no messages arrive

Symptom: Connected is true but Messages received stays at 0.

Likely cause	Fix
No work orders, events or control parameters have been published since the module connected	Trigger an event or start a work order in TilliT to confirm the module receives it
The TilliT user does not have access to the events or orders being published	Confirm the user has access to the relevant assets in TilliT
MQTT topic subscription failed silently	Check TilliT.PubSubHandlerImpl log entries at startup for any error after the Connected line

Connection works but designer shows no Tag Provider

This is a tag-provider issue rather than a connection issue - see The TilliT Tag Provider does not appear.