OPC server fault conditions

Hi,
I observe that sometimes the OPC-UA server of Ignition gets faulted. I stop and restart the Ignition server from the GCU and it starts back again. (I have an evaluation version of Ignition 7.8.0). Under what circumstances does it get faulted?

1. On expiration of the trial period of 120 mins?
2. On timing out of the OPC client?
3. Does the OPC-UA server also have a trial period of 120 mins or some thing like that?
4. ???

How to restart the OPC-UA server? Is stopping and restarting the Ignition server from GCU the correct and only way to restart the OPC-UA server?

Will appreciate some comments on this.

Regard
Prafull
www.pramanj.com

You can restart the UA server by restarting just the UA module. The faulted connection may be because of a couple of OPC-UA related bugs in 7.8.0 - try upgrading to the recently released 7.8.1.

Thanks a lot Kevin. Restarting UA module will be a lot easier than restarting the ignition server thru GCU. I will try to upgrade to 7.8.1.

Will reinstalling new version on same folder suffice? Will it preserve the projects created in the earlier version?

regards
Prafull
www.pramanj.com

Hi Kevin,

I also observe that on restarting OPC-UA the OPC server generates a a new IP address (e.g. opc.tcp://192.168.1.12:4096/iaopcua/None). Only the last number changes in every restart of UA module. So in my OPC Client I have to configure new IP address when ever the IP address of Server changes. What is the solution? Can I specify a server name which is unique?

regards
PRAMANJ
www.pramaj.com

[quote=“Pramanj”]Hi Kevin,

I also observe that on restarting OPC-UA the OPC server generates a a new IP address (e.g. opc.tcp://192.168.1.12:4096/iaopcua/None). Only the last number changes in every restart of UA module. So in my OPC Client I have to configure new IP address when ever the IP address of Server changes. What is the solution? Can I specify a server name which is unique?

regards
PRAMANJ
pramaj.com[/quote]

Hi Kevin,
Will appreciate your reply to the above problem. Why does the IP address (last digit) change some times when I restart the OPC UA module? And what address to give in the client for the OPC server so that its independent of the IP Address?

regards
PRAMANJ

The server tries to bind to the IP address you have specified as the endpoint under the server configuration area. If that fails, it just chooses an available IP. If you’re on a laptop or in DHCP it’s possible your IP is changing.

In the client connection settings, you can usually just specify “localhost” instead of an IP address and everything should work.

Simple solution! Never thought of that! I was basically copying the URI displayed on the OPC status page in to my client.
Thanks a lot,
regards
PRAMANJ

[quote=“Pramanj”]Simple solution! Never thought of that! I was basically copying the URI displayed on the OPC status page in to my client.
Thanks a lot,
regards
PRAMANJ[/quote]

But if my client is on a separate machine, (as will be the case in real life) then I have to give the URL of the server! I think I can try to give host name and see.

regards
PRAMANJ

[quote=“Pramanj”][quote=“Pramanj”]Simple solution! Never thought of that! I was basically copying the URI displayed on the OPC status page in to my client.
Thanks a lot,
regards
PRAMANJ[/quote]

But if my client is on a separate machine, (as will be the case in real life) then I have to give the URL of the server! I think I can try to give host name and see.

regards
PRAMANJ[/quote]

Yes… the hostname works fine. So I don’t have to change IP address in the client every time.
Thanks a lot.
PRAMANJ

Sometimes OPC Browser in the designer gives error after a long wait from gateway. Whereas the OPC client seems to be working fine. It gets triggers from the server for subscriptions. What could be the reason? Do we need to restart the OPC server module on gateway?

Will restating of OPC Server not affect the running Ignition SCADA application and PLC’s connected and the plant? How safe is it to restart the OPC-UA module in a running plant?
(I am working on a trial version of Ignition).

regards
Prafull
pramanj.com