# Viewing the Ignition OPC-UA Server in an external program **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/viewing-the-ignition-opc-ua-server-in-an-external-program/15627 "2017-10-10T18:59:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrogers](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/mrogers/32/4110_2.png) [@mrogers](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/mrogers)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/viewing-the-ignition-opc-ua-server-in-an-external-program/15627/1 "2017-10-10T18:59:57Z")
Hi all, I’m really not a fan of the limitations of the OPC browser in Ignition, unfortunately. I’d love a larger workspace, search, etc… Things that may be in an external OPC-UA client. I’ve tried a couple of external programs but none have had luck actually finding the Ignition OPC-UA Server, I guess I’m not sure how to actually find it. Does anyone have any resources or experience on setting up an external OPC client to see the Ignition OPC-UA Server? I see in the “Your topic is similar to…” section a post from 2010 saying the server didn’t have the ability to connect to non-client/designers, but I’m wondering if that has changed since. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![paul-griffith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/paul-griffith/32/37249_2.png) [@paul-griffith](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/paul-griffith)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/viewing-the-ignition-opc-ua-server-in-an-external-program/15627/2 "2017-10-10T19:08:36Z")
The Ignition OPC-UA Server will be discoverable at whatever endpoint is defined in the server settings ([http://localhost:8088/main/web/config/opcua.settings](http://localhost:8088/main/web/config/opcua.settings)): ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/2X/9/98c1c5afd88c2be9b78e45cd0d8a0a265200fbef.png) The endpoint URL would be `opc.tcp://10.20.8.197:4096`, or fully qualified: `opc.tcp://10.20.8.197:4096/iaopcua/Basic128Rsa15` ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/2X/3/3649fbc2f6752a4bc1b86968b54dc4c514cc6a9a.png) Once you’ve found the endpoint and chosen a security policy, you’ll need to enter `opcuauser` and `password` as authentication credentials (assuming default settings; you’re welcome to change the authentication settings). Once connected, you may want to enable the ‘Expose Tag Providers’ setting on the OPC-UA server configuration page, which will expose Ignition’s internal realtime tag providers to third party OPC clients, rather than just our device connections. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2019, 12:51pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/viewing-the-ignition-opc-ua-server-in-an-external-program/15627/3 "2019-06-27T12:51:51Z")
3 posts were split to a new topic: [Connecting to Ignition’s OPC UA server](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/connecting-to-ignitions-opc-ua-server/26137)