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How to Access OPC Server Data Via MQTT

How to Access OPC Server Data Via MQTT


Open Automation Software Tags can be defined to connect to Classic OPC Data Access 2.xx and 3.0 Servers with the built in OPC Interface. OAS can act as both an MQTT Client and an MQTT Broker allowing you to access your OPC Server data via MQTT. This tutorial walks you though downloading and installing OAS, configuring an OPC Server driver, configuring tags and reading and writing to them via MQTT.

Step 1. Download and Install the Open Automation Software and Start the OAS Service

If you have not already done so, you will need to download and install the OAS platform.  Fully functional trial versions of the software are available for Windows, Windows IoT Core, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Docker on our downloads page.

On Windows run the downloaded Setup.exe file to install one or more of the Open Automation Software features. Select the default Typical installation if you are not sure what features to use or the Custom installation if you want to save disk space on the target system.  When prompted agree to the End User License Agreement to continue the installation.

For more detailed instructions and video tutorials, visit the installation guide for your system:
Windows Installation | Linux Installation | Raspberry Pi Installation | Dockers Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.  Use this application to start the 3 Services. Run the Configure OAS application on Windows and select Configure-Tags; if the first time running, the AdminCreate utility will run to create an Administrator login as shown in Step 1 of Getting Started – Security.

Step 2. Configure OPC Server Tags

OAS provides multiple ways to add and define tags:

To add a Tag manually:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.


  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.


  3. Click on the Add Tag button located at the top of the Tag browser on the left portion of the screen.


  4. A dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your new tag and click ok.

  5. A configuration screen will appear for your new tag. Select OPC in the Data Source dropdown box.


  6. Use the Browse button to the right of the OPC Item to browse OPC Servers for the desired OPC Item.


  7. Select Local, the desired OPC Server, branch within the OPC Server, and OPC Item and click OK.


  8. Specify the desired OPC Update Rate for the Tag.

  9. Click Apply Changes at the bottom right of the window.

To add Tags with One Click OPC:

  1. In the OAS Configure Application, select Configure >> Tags from the top menu.


  2. Select localhost or the remote service you wish to modify with the Select button to the right of the Network Node list.


  3. To begin the One Click OPC process select the Group you would like to import to in the Tag configuration. If you want to import to the Root Level, select the Tags Group at the top of the tree. Then select the One Click Import button on the top menu bar.


  4. Click on the Import OPC DA 2.XX or 3.0 Items Button in the pop up window.


  5. Use the One Click OPC Wizard to browse for a branch as a starting position within an OPC Server or just select the OPC Server name itself to add all items from the selected OPC Server. For the best networking design select OPC Servers from Local even if you are configuring a remote OAS Service.


  6. Select to enable the options to Get Data Type from OPC Server and optionally the Descriptions. Additionally if you want to specify to Trend all of the points select Trend Points.

  7. Click Add Tags and it will automatically add all of the OPC Items from the OPC Server Branch you have selected and all of the sub Branches beneath it.

  8. Select the Save button on the toolbar at the top.

For more detailed instructions on Configuring OPC Server Tags, visit our Getting Started OPC tutorial or the One Click OPC tutorial or watch the video tutorial below:

Step 3. Access Your Data with the OAS MQTT Broker

The OAS MQTT broker will work without configuration but if you want to use SSL or have security set on your OAS Service you will need to configure it. Please see our Getting Started – MQTT Broker page in the knowledge base if this applies to you.

Accessing Your Tag Data (Subscribing)

This example uses MQTT Explorer, it is a free MQTT client and you can download it here.



Enter the address of your MQTT Broker in the host name. This will be the IP address or domain name of where you have the OAS Server installed. If it is on your local machine, you can just enter localhost. The name field is just a friendly-name so enter something meaningful to you, perhaps your Broker ID. Enter the Port and Username and Password if you have set one up. Click on the Advanced button.




Here is where you can subscribe to your topics (OAS tags). In the Topic box, enter TagName.Value, for example, Ramp.Value and click Add. You can also subscribe to any other property of the tag, for example, Ramp.DataSource. Once you are done adding topics, click Back.




Now click on save and then connect. You should now see your data coming in. The payload is in standard JSON format and includes the Value, Timestamp, and Quality.

Writing to Your Data Source (Publishing)

Follow the same setup for the MQTT Explorer client that you did for subscribing to connect to the OAS MQTT Broker but you can skip the Advanced button part. Click Connect.




In the lower right portion of the client window, enter in your Topic, this will be the tag you are trying to write to, for example, MyValueTag.Value. Switch the selector to raw and enter a value in the text box below the Publish button. Click Publish. If you would like to write your value in json format, you can. Using the JSON Calculations in OAS you can parse the JSON message for extended functionality.

The video below, goes into detail about how to do that as well as an overview of the OAS Broker.