System Administrator Introduction

This documentation explains how to install and configure the system for your particular buildings and sensors. These activities should be the task of one or two system administrators who have more experience with BMON than the general Users who are simply interested in viewing and analyzing the data.

The separate system administrator topics are summarized below, and the associated documents are available through the sidebar on the left or by clicking on the section headings below.

BMON Installation

This document gives instructions for installing BMON on a web server. Linux skills and preferably some experience with Python and Django are necessary to perform this task.

Local BMON Installation

This document gives instructions for installing BMON on a local web server. Linux skills and preferably some experience with Python and Django are necessary to perform this task.

Adding Buildings and Sensors

After installing BMON, you will need to configure your Buildings and Sensors in the system. This document shows how to do that using the web-based Admin interface of the BMON system.

Sharing BMON Across Multiple Organizations

A single BMON server can be shared across multiple organizations. This document describes how that is accomplished.

Setting Up Sensors to Post to BMON

A few different sensor types have been set up to work with BMON (e.g. Monnit Wireless Sensors). Other sensors that have access to the Internet can be configured to work with BMON. This document gives details on how to set up sensors in the system.

Multi-Building Charts

BMON can produce some reports and graphs that compare data across buildings. These multi-building charts need to be configured through the web-based Admin interface. Single building reports and charts work out-of-the-box without additional configuration.

Sensor Alerts

You can have BMON send you a text message or email if important sensor conditions occur, such as Domestic Hot Water temperatures that are too low. This document details how to configure this feature.

Creating A Dashboard

A summary “Dashboard” can be created for any of the buildings in the BMON system. Here is an example:

_images/sample_dashboard.png

This document describes how Dashboards are created.

Custom Reports

This document explains how to create Custom Reports. A Custom Report allows you to combine any number of graphs, dashboards, or current value reports onto one page. The various elements can even come from different buildings.

Transform Expressions

Some sensors do not send data in a displayable format, some sensors have small errors that need correction. “Transform” expressions allow you to convert units or transform values before storage and display in BMON. This document explains how to set up transform values for your sensors.

Calculated Fields

This document explains how to work with calculated fields. Occasionally, you may want to calculate a value from multiple different sensors or have one sensor display its value in two different ways. “Calculated Fields” serve this need. Also, Calculated Fields can be used to acquire data from Internet weather services instead of installing your own meteorological sensors.

Periodic Scripts

Sometimes a process needs to occur repeatedly on a periodic basis. Often this is used to acquire data from a piece of equipment or a server connected to the Internet. It also could be used to create and send a report or perform a maintenance operation. The Periodic Script feature of BMON can be used for this purpose. There are some periodic scripts that are already available in BMON (such as to acquire data from Ecobee thermostats), and it is possible for a developer to create new scripts that will be periodically run by BMON, this document explains the basics of Periodic Scripts while a later document details writing custom scripts.

Backing Up and Analyzing Data from the System

This document explains how key BMON databases are backed up on the server and gives suggestions on off-server backup strategies. The document also explains how sensor data is stored in BMON and how it can be archived or exported from the system for analysis elsewhere (basic knowledge of database systems is required). The document is also useful if you need to clean-up or remove data from the system.

System Capacity

A stress test was done on the BMON system using high rates of sensor reading posts and chart/report requests. Also, large amounts of historical data were present in the test. This document describes the results of that testing.

Importing Data from CSV Files

This document explains how to use the csv-transfer utility to import csv data into BMON.