Quickstart Guide
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Industrial Systems Connection ...
OPC UA

OPC UA Client Advanced

5min

Review the following information for setting up and configuring the OPC UA Client Advanced.

Manufacturing Connect Edge Compatible Series

Compatibility parameter

Compatible items

Driver type

Ethernet

Functionality

  • Recommended driver to use to connect to an OPC UA Server.
  • Has subscribe and polling modes.

Replaces Gen 1 driver(s)

OPC UA Client OPC UA Client Poll

Learn more about Gen1 and Gen2 Driver Differences

Step 1: Set up and Configure the PLC Device

To find the network parameters of the driver, you have the option of using the Device Discovery Tool. Otherwise, set up the device for Ethernet access and collect the network parameters.

To use the device discovery tool:

  1. Navigate to DeviceHub > Devices.
  2. Click Add New Device.

    Add New Device icon
    Add New Device icon
    
  3. Click the Device Type drop-down list and select OPCUA.
  4. Click the Driver Name drop-down list, and select OPC UA Client Advanced.
  5. Click Device Discovery. The Device Discovery dialog box appears.

    Device Discovery opti
    Device Discovery opti
    
  6. Select only one of the following fields to use for discovering the device.
    • Discovery Server URL (Servers and Endpoints Discovery): No prior setup/configuration is needed to use this field. Replace localhost with the appropriate IP address or domain name that will be used to search for the device. Ensure the correct port number is entered.
    • Server URL (Endpoints Discovery): You'll need to enable/configure the server to use this field. Replace localhost with the appropriate IP address or domain name that will be used to search for the device. Ensure the correct port number is entered.
  7. Delete all text from the field not being used.
  8. Click Start discovery. When the search is complete, available servers with corresponding security policies will be listed.
  9. Click the appropriate server/security policy, and then click Update form with discovery results. The Connect Device dialog box appears with Server URL, Security Policy, and Security Mode pre-filled based on the discovery results.
  10. In the Driver Mode field, select either Polling or Subscription.
  11. Move onto Step 2 and continue configuring the device with the remaining parameters.

Step 2: Set up the PLC Device in Manufacturing Connect Edge DeviceHub



Parameter

Value

Type

OPC UA

Driver

OPC UA Client Advanced

Driver Mode

Polling or Subscription

Server URL

The server endpoint URL defined in Step 1

Security Policy

The policy you defined in Step 1

Security Mode

The mode you defined in Step 1

Certificate

Auto-generated

Private Key

Auto-generated

Auth Mode

Anonymous, Certificate, or UserName

Disable Error Certificate Host Name Invalid

false or true

Default Root

Start node to browse the server

Configure the List of Registers

Browse for tags to add to this FreeTag device. See Browse Tags to learn more.

Alternatively, when you Add Tags, for Register Name map the OPC server tags to the client using this format: ns=1;s=tagname.

Example: ns=2;s=Demo.Static.Scalar.Boolean

The following data types are supported:

  • bool
  • sbyte
  • byte
  • int16
  • uint16
  • int32
  • uint32
  • int64
  • uint64
  • float32
  • float64
  • string
  • BLOB
  • bool[]
  • sbyte[]
  • byte[]
  • int16[]
  • uint16[]
  • int32[]
  • uint32[]
  • int64[]
  • uint64[]
  • float32[]
  • float64[]
  • string[]
  • BLOB[]

Refer to the following tag parameters.