How to Transfer Data from OPC UA to Allen Bradley

Open Automation Software can be used to transfer data from an OPC UA server or device to an Allen Bradley device locally or over a network. This guide walks you through downloading and installing OAS, configuring an OPC UA connector, an Allen Bradley connector and a tag to write to the Siemens device.

This guide uses the Data Route feature of OAS to transfer a Tag's value to another Tag's value using the Tag-to-Tag method.

For this guide on how to transfer data between an OPC UA server and an Allen Bradley device you will need:

• An Allen Bradley device connected to your workstation

ℹ️ For simulation purposes, you will use the OPC UA server available in the OAS platform to access a Tag value. If you already have an OPC UA server or device available, you can also adjust your configuration to suit your own OPC UA server or device.

1 - Download and Install OAS

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 the Open Automation Software platform. For a default installation, Agree to the End User License Agreement and then click the Next button on each of the installation steps until it has completed.

If you'd like to customize your installation or learn more, use the following instructions:

• Windows Installation
• Linux Installation
• Raspberry Pi Installation
• Docker Installation

The OAS Service Control application will appear when the installation finishes on Windows.

Click on each START SERVICE button to start each of the three OAS services.

2 - Configure OAS

Web Configuration Application

Configuration of the OAS server is performed from the built-in Web Configuration Application. This is the main application for accessing any settings within the OAS server and is completely self-contained within the server.

You can reach this by opening your browser to:

http://<your server>:58725/app/config

If you are browsing from the OAS machine itself, you can use localhost, otherwise use the IP address of the machine. You will also need to ensure port 58725 is open on both the client and the server or you may not be able to reach the application.

On a new installation the OAS engine has no accounts yet, so the first screen you see is Create Admin Account. Once the administrator account exists that screen is not shown again, and browsing to the application displays the sign in screen instead.

1. Enter a name for the administrator in the Admin user name field. Typically you would use admin, but you can use whatever name you choose.

2. Enter a password in the Password field, then enter the same password again in the Confirm password field.

3. Click on the Create admin & sign in button. The account is created and you are signed in to the engine.

To sign in from then on, enter the Network node of the OAS engine, then the Username and Password of your account, and click on the Sign in button.

Legacy Configuration Application

1. From your operating system start menu, open the Configure OAS application.

2. Select the Configure > Tags screen.

   Important

   If this is the first time you have installed OAS, the AdminCreate utility will run when you select a screen in the Configure menu. This will ask you to create a username and password for the admin user. This user will have full permissions in the OAS platform.

   For further information see Getting Started - Security.

3. If this is the first time you are logging in, you will see the AdminCreate utility. Follow the prompts to set up your admin account. Otherwise, select the Log In menu button and provide the Network Node, username and password.

   

   

3 - Create Security Group and User

When connecting to the local OAS OPC UA server, you need to configure a security group and a user to provide Tag read/write access. You'll need these credentials when creating the OPC UA connector instance later.

ℹ️ You can skip this step if you are connecting to your own third party OPC UA server.

1. Select Security in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a Name such as OPC UA Access and click Create. Once created, the security group name should appear in the list of security groups.

   

3. In the Tags section, ensure Get Tag Group Names and Get Tag Names are turned on. This setting is required when browsing the OPC UA server tag structure once you get to the step of assigning the OPC UA data source to a Tag.

   

4. In the Read Tags section, ensure Disable All Tags From Reading is turned off.

   

5. In the Write Tags section, ensure Disable All Tags From Writing is turned off.

   

6. Select Users in the sidebar.

7. Click + Add, enter a User name such as opcuauser, set a Password, set the Security group to OPC UA Access and click Create. Once created, the user name should appear in the list of users.

   

4 - Add Simulated OPC UA Tag for Temperature Sensor

In this section you will create a Tag to represent a Temperature sensor that will then be read from the OAS OPC UA server. This represents a temperature output from your source OPC UA server. This Tag is used for simulation because we are using the OAS OPC UA server.

ℹ️ If you have your own third-party OPC UA server where you can simulate a Tag value then you can skip this step.

1. Select Tags in the sidebar.

2. Make sure no Tag Group is selected and click on the + button, then choose Add tag.

   

3. Provide a Tag Name such as OPCUA_TemperatureOutput and click the Create button.

   

4. In the Enter Value field enter a value to represent the simulated temperature and then click on the Apply changes button.

   

5 - Configure OPC UA Data Source

In the following steps you will create and configure a OPC UA Connector to connect to the OAS internal OPC UA server on port 58728 and act as a data source.

ℹ️ If you want to use your own third-party OPC UA server you can provide the relevant Server URL and security credentials instead of the details provided below.

1. Select Drivers in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name to give this driver interface instance a unique name, and click Create. Once created, the driver interface name should appear in the list of drivers.

3. Ensure the following parameters are configured:

   • Driver: OPC UA
   • Server Url: opc.tcp://localhost:58728

4. Click on the Browse… button next to the Security Profile field. In the Security Profile window choose the appropriate security profile. For this guide we will choose None:None:Binary, then click on the Use this profile button.

   

5. Set Authentication to Username and enter the Username and Password credentials created in the earlier section.

   

6. Turn on Enable and click on the Apply changes button. The driver interface is not active until it is enabled and the changes are applied.

   

6 - Add Data Source Tag

In this section you will create a Tag to represent your data point in the field (for example a temperature sensor). This can then be transferred your desired destination.

1. In the sidebar menu, select Tags.

   

2. If you want to add a Tag to the root Tags group make sure another tag at the root is selected. Click the [+] button and select Add Tag.

   

   If you want to add a Tag to a Tag Group, select the Tag Group first and then click on the [+] button. Alternatively, you can right click on a Tag Group and select Add Tag.

   You can also add Tag Groups by clicking the [+] and selecting Add Group.

3. Provide a Tag Name such as TemperatureSensor and click the Create button.

   

7 - Assign OPC UA as Tag Data Source

You will now set the Tag's data source to the OPC UA driver interface that you created previously to act as a data source.

1. Select the Tag that will source data from the local OPC UA data source.

   

2. Set the Data Source to OPC UA.

3. Set the Select Driver Interface drop-down to the OPC UA Connector interface created previously.

4. Click on the Browse… button next to the NodeId field. The Browse for Node ID window lists the nodes available on the OPC UA server that the driver interface is connected to.

   

   Expand the Local node, expand OPCUA_TemperatureOutput, and select Value, so that the NodeId reads OPCUA_TemperatureOutput.Value. Click on the Use this node button to select this node.

5. Click on the Apply changes button to apply the changes.

   

6. Check that the quality status is Good and the Tag value is as expected.

   

7. If you change the value of the OPCUA_TemperatureOutput Tag then you should see the same value update in the TemperatureSensor Tag. This means your OPC UA interface is working.

8 - Configure Allen Bradley Data Destination

In the following steps you will create and configure an Allen Bradley Connector using an AB Logix driver type to act as a data destination. This guide assumes that you have a Micro800 series controller connected to the same network as the OAS instance.

1. Select Drivers in the sidebar.

2. Click + Add, enter a meaningful Driver Interface Name to give this driver interface instance a unique name, and click Create. Once created, the driver interface name should appear in the list of drivers.

3. Ensure the following parameters are configured:

   • Driver: AB Logix
   • IP Address: Your controller IP address
   • Processor Type: Micro800

   

4. Turn on Enable and click on the Apply changes button. The driver interface is not active until it is enabled and the changes are applied.

   

9 - Add Data Destination Tag

In this section you will create a Tag to represent a data point that you want to write to.

1. Select Tags in the sidebar.

2. If you want to add a Tag at the root of the tag list, make sure no Tag Group is selected and click on the + button, then choose Add tag.

   

   If you want to add a Tag to a Tag Group, select the Tag Group first and then click on the + button and choose Add tag here.

   You can also add Tag Groups by choosing Add group.

3. Provide a Tag Name such as TemperatureOutput and click the Create button.

   

10 - Assign AB Logix as Tag Data Destination

You will now set the Tag's data source to the AB Logix driver interface that you created previously to act as a data destination.

1. Select the Tag that will be associated with the AB Logix destination.

   

2. Set the Data Source to AB Logix.

3. Set the Select Driver Interface drop-down to the Micro820-Destination interface created previously.

4. Click on the Browse… button next to the Address field to open the Browse for AB Address window.

   

5. The window lists the programs the driver interface can reach on the controller. Choose the program or controller, select the variable you want, and click Use this address.

   

6. Click on the Apply changes button to apply the changes.

7. Check that the quality status is Good and the Tag value is as expected. If the PLC does not hold any value in the given register then the value will remain zero.

11 - Configure Tag-To-Tag Data Route

In this section you will configure the Target of the source Tag to be the destination Tag value. This means whenever the source Tag value is updated, the destination Tag value will also be updated. This will cause a write operation on any associated driver if it is supported.

1. Select the source data Tag.

   

2. Scroll down to the Target section.

   

3. Enable the Enable Write to Target option.

   

4. Click on the Browse… button, select the destination Tag and click on the Use this tag button.

   

5. Optionally, configure the Deadband property or enable Write Continuously to configure a continuous writing frequency.

   

6. Click on the Apply changes button to apply the configuration.

7. To verify that your data transfer is working correctly, select the destination Tag and check that the Tag value matches the Tag value of the source Tag.

   

   You should also verify that the Tag value has been written to your destination device. Depending on your configuration in step 5 above, this destination value should be updated whenever the source value changes or at the given frequency.

12 - Save Changes

Once you have successfully configured your OAS instances, make sure you save your configuration.

On each configuration page that has a Save button, click on it.

If this is the first time you are saving the configuration, or if you are changing the name of the configuration file, OAS will ask you if you want to change the default configuration file.

If you select Yes then OAS will make this configuration file the default and if the OAS service is restarted then this file will be loaded on start-up.

If you select No then OAS will still save your configuration file, but it will not be the default file that is loaded on start-up.