Integrating OPC UA Connectivity

Scenario: You want to configure Desigo CC to integrate OPC UA client southbound connectivity.

Reference: For background information, see the reference section.

Workflow diagram:

Prerequisites:

The OPC UA Client extension is installed and included in the active project. The following extension is also selected automatically:

SORIS Driver

The OPC UA adapter software is running and connected to the third-party OPC UA servers. For instructions, see Installing and Starting the OPC UA Client Adapter.
The OPC UA configuration to be discovered through the OPC UA adapter was set. For instructions, see the online or offline engineering procedure.

System Manager is in Engineering mode.
System Browser is in Management View.

Licensing

This extension is covered by license. Check that the required license is available; otherwise, you may not be able to configure and work with this extension.

Steps:

1 – Create the SORIS Driver

Depending on where the driver will run, select one of the following:

Project > Management System > Servers > Main Server > Drivers

Project > Management System > FEPs > [FEP station] > [drivers folder]
NOTE: If the drivers folder is not available, to create it select the FEP station and click New .

In the Object Configurator tab, click New and select New SORIS Driver.
In the New object dialog box, enter a description and click OK.

The newly created SORIS driver is added to System Browser, but not started.

2 – Create the SORIS Network

Select Project > Field Networks.
In the Object Configurator tab, click New and select New SORIS Network.
In the New Object dialog box, enter a name and description, and click OK.

The newly created SORIS network is added to System Browser.

3 – Associate a Driver to the SORIS Network

Select Project > Field Networks > [SORIS network].
In the SORIS tab, open the Network Settings expander.
From the Monitored by driver drop-down list, select the driver.
Click Save .

4 – Start the SORIS Driver

The status of a newly created driver is Stopped. To be able to connect, the driver must be started.

Depending on where the driver runs, select one of the following:

Project > Management System > Servers > Main Server > Drivers > [SORIS driver]

Project > Management System > FEPs > [FEP station] > [drivers folder] > [SORIS driver]

In the Extended Operation tab, click Start.

5 – Create the Adapter under the Network

You can configure multiple adapters under one SORIS network. Skip this step if you want to use an existing adapter.

Select Project > Field Networks > [SORIS network].
In the Object Configurator tab, click New and select New SORIS Adapter.
In the New Object dialog box, enter a name and description, and click OK.
The newly created adapter is added to System Browser. The adapter starts automatically as a Windows service.
Select the newly created adapter and click the SORIS tab.
In the URL field, enter the IP address of the computer from which the network adapter is run using the following format: https://<IP address>:<port number>.
NOTE: In the executable window, you can check the correctness of the IP address. The default port number is 8080.

In the Operation tab, the Online property indicates Connected and the property URL displays the IP address configured.

6 – Discover the Configuration

Select Project > Field Networks > [SORIS network] > [OPC UA adapter].
In the Extended Operation tab, the Online property indicates Connected while the Discovery Status property indicates Idle.
Next to the URL property, click Discover.

System Browser refreshes and displays the relevant OPC configuration under the OPC UA adapter.