Getting Started with KNX IoT Virtual

Introduction

This guide will walk you through how to get the source code for a KNX IoT Virtual device, and how to build it. No special hardware is required to run KNX IoT Virtual devices.

What is KNX IoT Virtual

KNX IoT Virtual is a GUI-enabled simulation of a KNX device. This consists of two sample applications with GUI, which can be configured as a small installation:

  • LSAB: a simulated switch actuator (light)
  • LSSB: a simulated push button (light toggle)

Each device has 4 channels. The Push Button application has 4 push buttons and 4 feedback widgets. Note: In the context of KNX the word “channel” is synonymous with functional block instance. More about functional blocks here.

push button application

The Switch Actuator application has read-only buttons which indicate if the light is turned on or off, and a mechanism to introduce a fault.

switch actuator application

More info on the applications can be found in the KNX IoT Virtual repository.

Requirements for KNX IoT Virtual

Windows PC: see information about building on Windows.

Steps

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/KNX-IOT/KNX-IOT-Virtual.git
cd KNX-IOT-Virtual

  2. Build on Windows

    mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..

  3. Open Visual Studio with the created knx-virtual.sln located in the build directory.

  4. Build the solution

    When everything is built, the executables will be available in the folder: build\Debug.

    Note that the folder might be different due to the Visual Studio configuration.

  5. Go to the folder where the executables were built in the previous step. Start an executable (files with extension .exe) by double clicking it. A Popup might appear to grant the device network access. windows defender Accept the network work access.

    The KNX device is now running.

More info

For more information about KNX IoT Virtual, see the main README file of the KNX IoT Virtual repository.