# Connecting to PLC through Kepware without an explicit Kepware tag

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/connecting-to-plc-through-kepware-without-an-explicit-kepware-tag/51705>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [October 7, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/connecting-to-plc-through-kepware-without-an-explicit-kepware-tag/51705 "2021-10-07T15:53:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![emckee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@emckee](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/emckee)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/connecting-to-plc-through-kepware-without-an-explicit-kepware-tag/51705/1 "2021-10-07T15:53:24Z")

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For this client, we’re using an Ignition gateway to read OPC tags from an instance of KEPserverEX connected to field devices. They’re upgrading from WW, so they have only devices and channels set up in KEPware, with no tags. Their old software hit PLC addresses directly using addresses like “Device.channel.V6644”. Is this possible with Ignition? In other words, can Ignition read a device through an OPC Server without a corresponding OPC tag?

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**Author:** ![Kevin.Herron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kevin.herron/32/7259_2.png) [@Kevin.Herron](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Kevin.Herron)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/connecting-to-plc-through-kepware-without-an-explicit-kepware-tag/51705/2 "2021-10-11T17:39:32Z")

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You can read it from scripting (`system.opc.readValues`) without creating a tag first.

Otherwise, you can manually create OPC tags, and just type in the corresponding OPC Item Path, which will be the same value you’d use in the scripting call.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![emckee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@emckee](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/emckee)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/connecting-to-plc-through-kepware-without-an-explicit-kepware-tag/51705/3 "2021-10-11T20:22:18Z")

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Thanks, Kevin!

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**Author:** ![Luke\_Reznecheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b487fb/32.png) [@Luke\_Reznecheck](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Luke_Reznecheck)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/connecting-to-plc-through-kepware-without-an-explicit-kepware-tag/51705/4 "2025-02-14T19:10:02Z")

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I know this is an old post, but I believe you were asking if you need to have static tags configured in Kepware in order to read the tags into Ignition through the Ignition OPC client. The answer is No, you do not need static tags configured in the Kepware OPC UA server in order to read the PLC data. This is at least true for the Rockwell ControLogix driver by Kepware. I don't have experience with others.

Similar post.  
[Directly access Contrologix PLC tags through Kepware - General Discussion - Inductive Automation Forum](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/directly-access-contrologix-plc-tags-through-kepware/3073)