Quick Start

This guide gets you up and running with ioBufferPro in minutes. By the end, you will have created your first channel pair and be monitoring live message flow.

Starting ioBufferPro

Double-click ioBufferPro.exe or run it from the command line:

.\ioBufferPro.exe

On successful startup, you will see output similar to:

[INFO] ioBufferPro v1.x.x starting...
[INFO] Operations Portal running on http://0.0.0.0:8080
[INFO] Management Dashboard running on http://0.0.0.0:8081
[INFO] System ready.

First Login

Open your browser and navigate to the Management Dashboard at http://localhost:8081.

Change the Default Password Immediately

ioBufferPro ships with default credentials:

• Username: admin
• Password: admin123

You must change this password on your first login. Default credentials are a serious security risk — do not use them in production.

To change your password: click your username in the top-right corner and select Change Password.

Access Points

ioBufferPro provides two web-based portals:

Portal	URL	Purpose
Operations Portal	http://localhost:8080	Channel monitoring, live message flow, and connection status
Management Dashboard	http://localhost:8081	System configuration, channel pair management, and administration

TIP

Both portals are accessible from any device on the same network. Replace localhost with the server's IP address when accessing remotely.

Creating Your First Channel Pair

A channel pair defines a message route — data flows from a Source to a Destination. Follow these steps to create your first one.

Step 1: Open the Channel Creation Form

Navigate to Channels in the Management Dashboard sidebar, then click the "Create Channel Pair" button.

Step 2: Configure the Source

Select the source type and fill in the connection details. Common source types include:

Source Type	Key Settings	Example Values
TCP Server	Host, Port, Mode	Host: 0.0.0.0, Port: 6000, Mode: server
TCP Client	Remote Host, Port, Mode	Host: 192.168.1.100, Port: 5000, Mode: client
Serial Port	COM Port, Baudrate, Parity, Stop Bits	Port: COM3, Baudrate: 9600, Parity: None, Stop Bits: 1

TIP

TCP Server listens for incoming connections on the specified port. Use this when external devices connect to ioBufferPro.

TCP Client connects outward to a remote host. Use this when ioBufferPro needs to reach an external system.

Step 3: Configure the Destination

Select the destination type and fill in the connection details, using the same types and settings as the source.

For example, to route TCP data to a serial device:

• Source: TCP Server on port 6000
• Destination: Serial Port on COM4 at 115200 baud

Step 4: Name and Create

1. Give the channel pair a descriptive name (e.g., PLC-to-Historian or SCADA-Serial-Bridge)
2. Click Create

The channel pair starts automatically after creation. You will see it appear in the channel list with an active status.

Monitoring Channel Activity

Switch to the Operations Portal at http://localhost:8080 to monitor your channels in real time.

Live View

The Live View shows messages as they flow through each channel pair. You can toggle between:

• Source View — Messages arriving at the source endpoint
• Destination View — Messages being delivered to the destination endpoint

Status Indicators

Connection Status

Indicator	Status	Meaning
🟢	Connected	Endpoint is connected and active
🟡	Connecting	Connection attempt in progress
🔴	Disconnected	Endpoint is not connected
⚪	Waiting	Waiting for an incoming connection

Buffer Status

Status	Meaning
Active	Messages are flowing through the buffer normally
Stale	Buffer contains messages but no new activity recently
Waiting	Buffer is empty, waiting for new messages
Queued	Messages are queued and waiting for the destination to become available

Message Status

Indicator	Meaning
Received / Sent	Message was successfully received at the source or delivered to the destination
Failed (will retry)	Delivery failed — ioBufferPro will automatically retry until the message is delivered

TIP

Messages that fail delivery are never lost. ioBufferPro persists them to disk and retries automatically when the destination becomes available.

Common Tasks

Start or Stop a Channel

Click the Play/Pause button next to any channel pair in the channel list to start or stop it. Stopping a channel pauses message flow but does not discard buffered messages.

Edit a Channel

1. Click the channel pair name to open its details
2. Click Edit
3. Modify the desired settings
4. Click Save

The channel automatically restarts with the updated configuration.

Delete a Channel

1. Click the channel pair name to open its details
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm the deletion in the dialog

WARNING

Deleting a channel pair removes its configuration and buffered messages. This action cannot be undone.

View Logs

1. Open the Logs section in the sidebar
2. Select the System Logs tab
3. Choose a date to view the log entries for that day

Change Your Password

1. Click your username in the top-right corner of any portal
2. Select Change Password
3. Enter your current password and your new password
4. Click Save

Log File Locations

ioBufferPro writes logs to the following locations relative to the executable directory:

Log Type	Path	Format
System Logs	logs/system/YYYYMMDD.log	Plain text, one entry per line
Channel Activity	logs/channels/<channel>/activity-YYYY-MM-DD.jsonl.gz	Compressed JSON Lines

System logs contain application events, errors, and status changes. Channel activity logs contain detailed per-message records for each channel pair — these are compressed automatically to save disk space.

Next Steps

Now that you have ioBufferPro running with your first channel pair, explore these topics to get the most out of your deployment:

• Configuration — Customize ports, SSL/TLS, storage, security settings, and more
• Features — Learn about advanced channel pair options, buffering strategies, and protocol support
• Troubleshooting — Resolve common issues and review diagnostic steps