Itron Smart Meter Integration : Probe fail to get meter event from Itron OpenWay Collection Engine ( OWCE )

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OpenWay Collection Engine monitors smart meters for electricity, water or gas application. First time user deploying Itron OWCE probe frequently ran into problem in getting the meter event into Omnibus ( strictly speaking in OWCE world, a fault event is called exception ). Most of the time this is about making sure there is a two way open connections between probe machine and OWCE machine. Two way because probe will connect to OWCE web service to subscribe for notification and OWCE will invoke probe web service to submit notification. The latter makes it possible to receive event in Omnibus. So what can you do if you are not getting any event? Try these

1. Is OWCE web service running at the correct endpoint?

Do wsdl test. Open a web browser on OWCE machine and type this in the address bar. <> refers to your probe property setting.

http://<HttpHost>:<HttpPort>/<SubscriptionEndpoint>?wsdl

For example

http:/192.168.8.1:8080/ami/2009/08/subscriptions?wsdl

You can substitute 192.168.8.1 with localhost but I suggest you put the HttpHost configured value so it matched with your probe setting. This test passed if you see a list of services offered by OWCE. If this does not work, access Itron AMI Service Test tool, check that the SubscriptionEndpoint URL configuration matched with the URL in the AMI test tool.

2. Can probe machine access OWCE web service?

Do the same wsdl test in Step 1 but now run it on probe machine. If this test passed, you know first connection channel is good. If not, do talk to your network guy. There could be firewall blocking.

3. Can probe subscribe to OWCE web service?

Run probe in debug mode and check its log file. Find SOAP message subscription (http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v8r1/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.netcool_OMNIbus.doc%2Fprobes%2Fitron_owce%2Fitron_owce%2Fwip%2Freference%2Fitronowce_subscribe.html) and make sure it is followed by a good HTTP response code. If this step fails, use the AMI test tool and check if the subscription is registered. If you have multiple probes connecting to the same OWCE, make sure each probe subscribe with unique SystemName.

 

4. Can OWCE access probe web service?

wsdl test is also handy here but this time you need to use LocalHttpHost and LocalHttpPort properties. Start the probe and then run this test on a browser running on OWCE machine.

 

http://<LocalHttpHost>:<LocalHttpPort>/ExceptionSubscriberService?wsdl

 

5. I am still not getting event, what next?

Sometime the connection is opened but there could be firewall rules that discard packets from the two machines. Ask your Itron contact person and find OWCE communication log. OWCE generates detail exception if packet is rejected.

Also make sure that you are monitoring the right meter group. Use OWCE web interface and check if MeterGroups property value is correct. You can follow these steps to verify. Go to Meter Management tab, select Configuration Management, followed by Configuration. This will list down all meter groups. Select your target group and click to show its configuration popup. You should see its detail and the meters configured for this group are listed under Endpoints section. Make sure your target meter is indeed part of your target group. Do consult your vendor documentation for any GUI updates.

6. And I am still not getting event, should I contact Itron?

Go ahead. While waiting for feedback, you can also use SoapUI and/or the AMI test tool to isolate the issue further.

Abbrev

OWCE – Itron OpenWay Collection Engine

AMI – Advanced Metering Infrastructure

URL – Uniform Resource Locator

WSDL – Web Service Definition Language

SOAP – Simple Object Access Protocol