Connect Overview
Connect is the data streaming layer of the HiveMQ Platform. In Connect, you bring your HiveMQ brokers and HiveMQ Edge instances into the platform, start your data flow, and manage your network from one place.
Connect lays the foundation for all other platform layers. Until your brokers and devices stream data through the platform, you cannot contextualize, analyze, or act on that data.
What You Can Do In Connect
In the HiveMQ Platform, you use Connect to complete the following tasks:
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Deploy new infrastructure: Deploy a HiveMQ Cloud cluster, deploy a HiveMQ Enterprise MQTT Broker from HiveMQ software, or create a HiveMQ Edge instance.
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Connect existing infrastructure: Register a broker or edge instance that you already run, so that the platform can manage it.
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Connect your devices: Configure your brokers so that devices can connect and stream data into them.
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License a broker: Purchase a license to enable all features of a broker that you deploy from HiveMQ software.
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Manage and grow your network: Review network health, license capacity, throughput limits, and license status. Follow the guided flows to add more infrastructure.
How Instances Reach the Platform
| Read this section before you deploy. It explains why a deployed broker does not always appear in Connect. |
The platform lists an instance only after it can associate the instance with your account. Deployment alone does not create that association. A running broker that never reports to the platform remains invisible to Connect.
To bring an instance into the platform, you must complete two basic steps:
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Deploy a broker or edge instance, or choose one that you already run.
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Connect the broker or edge instance to the platform with a connection string so that it reports to the platform.
As soon as the platform detects a broker or edge instance, a Network list appears on the Connect page. When the Network list is in an empty state, the Connect page shows a Start by deploying your first broker prompt and a message that no brokers or edge instances are detected yet, instead of a list.