Installation

To make use of MQTT in C, we need to install a library to communicate with the server. A populat choice is Paho from Eclipse.

We need to follow the next steps to install it:


git clone https://github.com/eclipse/paho.mqtt.c.git
cd paho.mqtt.c
make

sudo make install

Depending on your system, you might need to install the development package of OpenSSL (openssl-dev)

Writing the test program

We need to create two files, send.c and receive.c. Both files are based upon the official examples of Paho

SEND.C

#include "stdio.h"
#include "stdlib.h"
#include "string.h"
#include "MQTTClient.h"

#define ADDRESS     "tcp://localhost:1883"
#define CLIENTID    "ExampleClientPub"
#define TOPIC       "MQTT Examples"
#define PAYLOAD     "Hello World!"
#define QOS         1
#define TIMEOUT     10000L

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    MQTTClient client;
    MQTTClient_connectOptions conn_opts = MQTTClient_connectOptions_initializer;
    MQTTClient_message pubmsg = MQTTClient_message_initializer;
    MQTTClient_deliveryToken token;
    int rc;

    MQTTClient_create(&client, ADDRESS, CLIENTID,
        MQTTCLIENT_PERSISTENCE_NONE, NULL);
    conn_opts.keepAliveInterval = 20;
    conn_opts.cleansession = 1;

    if ((rc = MQTTClient_connect(client, &conn_opts)) != MQTTCLIENT_SUCCESS)
    {
        printf("Failed to connect, return code %d\n", rc);
        exit(-1);
    }
    pubmsg.payload = PAYLOAD;
    pubmsg.payloadlen = strlen(PAYLOAD);
    pubmsg.qos = QOS;
    pubmsg.retained = 1;
    MQTTClient_publishMessage(client, TOPIC, &pubmsg, &token);
    printf("Waiting for up to %d seconds for publication of %s\n"
            "on topic %s for client with ClientID: %s\n",
            (int)(TIMEOUT/1000), PAYLOAD, TOPIC, CLIENTID);
    rc = MQTTClient_waitForCompletion(client, token, TIMEOUT);
    printf("Message with delivery token %d delivered\n", token);
    MQTTClient_disconnect(client, 10000);
    MQTTClient_destroy(&client);
    return rc;
}

RECEIVE.C

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "MQTTClient.h"
#define ADDRESS     "tcp://localhost:1883"
#define CLIENTID    "ExampleClientSub"
#define TOPIC       "MQTT Examples"
#define PAYLOAD     "Hello World!"
#define QOS         1
#define TIMEOUT     10000L

volatile MQTTClient_deliveryToken deliveredtoken;

void delivered(void *context, MQTTClient_deliveryToken dt)
{
    printf("Message with token value %d delivery confirmed\n", dt);
    deliveredtoken = dt;
}

int msgarrvd(void *context, char *topicName, int topicLen, MQTTClient_message *message)
{
    int i;
    char* payloadptr;
    printf("Message arrived\n");
    printf("     topic: %s\n", topicName);
    printf("   message: ");
    payloadptr = message->payload;
    for(i=0; i<message->payloadlen; i++)
    {
        putchar(*payloadptr++);
    }
    putchar('\n');
    MQTTClient_freeMessage(&message);
    MQTTClient_free(topicName);
    return 1;
}

void connlost(void *context, char *cause)
{
    printf("\nConnection lost\n");
    printf("     cause: %s\n", cause);
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    MQTTClient client;
    MQTTClient_connectOptions conn_opts = MQTTClient_connectOptions_initializer;
    int rc;
    int ch;
    MQTTClient_create(&client, ADDRESS, CLIENTID,
        MQTTCLIENT_PERSISTENCE_NONE, NULL);
    conn_opts.keepAliveInterval = 20;
    conn_opts.cleansession = 1;
    MQTTClient_setCallbacks(client, NULL, connlost, msgarrvd, delivered);
    if ((rc = MQTTClient_connect(client, &conn_opts)) != MQTTCLIENT_SUCCESS)
    {
        printf("Failed to connect, return code %d\n", rc);
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    }
    printf("Subscribing to topic %s\nfor client %s using QoS%d\n\n"
           "Press Q<Enter> to quit\n\n", TOPIC, CLIENTID, QOS);
    MQTTClient_subscribe(client, TOPIC, QOS);
    do
    {
        ch = getchar();
    } while(ch!='Q' && ch != 'q');
    MQTTClient_disconnect(client, 10000);
    MQTTClient_destroy(&client);
    return rc;
}

Now we can compile both files:


cc -o receive receive.c -lpaho-mqtt3c

cc -o send send.c -lpaho-mqtt3c

Testing

Now se can run ./receive and ./send from different terminals and check if it is working.

luis@BARE:~/projects/How to use MQTT$ ./receive
Subscribing to topic MQTT Examples
for client ExampleClientSub using QoS1

Press Q<Enter> to quit

Message arrived
     topic: MQTT Examples
   message: Hello World!
Q
luis@BARE:~/projects/How to use MQTT$ 

luis@BARE:~/projects/How to use MQTT$ ./send 
Waiting for up to 10 seconds for publication of Hello World!
on topic MQTT Examples for client with ClientID: ExampleClientPub
Message with delivery token 1 delivered
luis@BARE:~/projects/How to use MQTT$

If everything went well, we should see Hello world as output.

This is a very simple example, and Paho provides more callbacks functions. For more information refer to the official page.