Ignition Dedicated IP Address?

General Discussion
1

Greetings Everyone,
I’m new to ignition.

Project Description:
Our automation system runs by pulling “recipes” from a MySQL database hosted through HostGator. The recipes are created through our website. Each recipe will only be used once by the system. After the recipe is run by the PLC we need ignition to execute a script to determine and pull new data from the database updating the tags so the next recipe can be run. We only need the back-end functionality of Ignition.

Questions:
1.) I need to add the proper permissions in HostGator so that the Ignition server may always access the database. Where do I find the dedicated IP address of my Ignition server so that the connection is always valid and does not fault each time my PC’s dynamic IP address changes?

2.) It seems that the transaction groups in the SQL bridge are the best solution. But I’m not sure. Would Gateway Scripts be better, or is there another better option?

Thanks,
Dallas Chase

2

Hi Dallas, welcome to the forums! :slight_smile:

  1. You lost me for a moment. Are we talking about the Ignition PC’s IP address changing or the external (or public, if you prefer) IP address given by your ISP? Or both, or neither? Are static IP’s or using a hostname an option?

Sorry, got too many things running through my head to be much use to you yet without a bit more information. :blush:

  1. I usually lean towards transaction groups, myself, putting in a bit of extra handshaking to verify the recipe got to the PLC okay.
3

Hi Jordan,
Thanks for the response. Sorry my terminology is fuzzy.

We need to make a permanent connection between our MySQL database that is on a server (HostGator) to our Ignition server. We need the connection between the two servers to stay valid even when no PCs are connected.
Maybe my understanding of how Ignition works is incorrect. My understanding is that PCs are used to program the back-end of the Ignition server using Ignition Designer. All of the processing takes place on an Ignition server.
1.) Does Ignition need to have a PC connected at all times in order to operate?

If not then I need to give the Ignition server permission rights to our HostGator server.
2.) Does each account with Ignition have a dedicated, static IP address?

I’m trying use static IP addresses.
3.) Where can I find the static IP address of my Ignition server.

Hopefully that answers your questions. If you have any more please let me know, I appreciate the help!

4

When you say “We need the connection to stay valid even when no computers are connected” you mean you want the gateway to remain connected to the MySQL database even when there are no active clients, right?

  1. User accounts would have no impact on the IP address of the computer it is running on

  2. Sorry, I just want to make sure I really understand what you’re saying here. Are you talking about the local network IP address of the computer running Ignition Gateway (often something like 192.168.1.x) or the IP address given to your router by your internet service provider?

If I’m understanding you correctly, you’re really asking how to make the computer you installed Ignition gateway on have a static, local IP address, in which case

A) It is my understanding that the gateway scripts will continue to run even when no clients

and

B) There are two ways to make a server have a local IP address.  You can either open up the Network settings on the PC you installed Ignition on and change it to have a static IP address.  (The means to do this vary by OS, but the important thing is to note your current Subnetmask, Gateway, and DNS servers before you set your IP address to static, and then manually enter those three settings)

Alternatively, if you have access to the router (DHCP Server) on your network, it’s possible that you have the ability to create IP reservations on the router. It takes the MAC address of the computer you installed Ignition on and creates a permanent IP address to assign to that MAC address whenever it requests an IP address. This address can be within your existing IP address pool, or outside of it. Either way, it means you don’t have to make any changes to the PC itself.

5

So far, it seems that you need to set up the database connection in the Ignition gateway. Use whatever credentials you use right now to get data from MySQL. It’s also possible (If the HostGator servers IP is changing) to use hostnames instead. If your public IP is changing, then you’re looking at using a dynamic DNS service to keep track of the changes, or paying for a static IP from your ISP.

How do you currently pull data from the database?

6

Thank you all for the help, I believe I understand now.
The Ignition Gateway runs on the computer that I installed Ignition on. The computer I installed Ignition on is my server and needs to remain running.

My miss understanding was that the computer I installed was only used to configure the Ignition server and Inductive Automation hosted this server for me.

Again thank you Jordan and Abishur for the help. If there is still something you believe I’m miss understanding please let me know, otherwise if I have another questions I will create a new post.