HARTING OPC-UA User Manual

HARTING OPC-UA Gateway for MICA
User Manual

HARTING MICA OPC-UA Gateway - User Manual

1. Edition 2018

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HARTING IT Software Development, Espelkamp

All rights reserved, including those of the translation.

No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form (print, photocopy, microfilm or any
other process), processed, duplicated or distributed by means of electronic systems without
the written permission of HARTING IT Software Development GmbH & Co. KG, Espelkamp

Subject to alterations without notice.

Contents

1 The OPC-UA Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.1 About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.2 OPC-UA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.1 Installation of the OPC-UA Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.2 Basic container functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3 The OPC-UA Gateway user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3.1 The section “Devices” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.2 The section ”Executor” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3.3 The section ”Reports” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4 The OPC UA Gateway REST interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.1 Quick test using a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.2 Reading data using the Chrome

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”Postman” add on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.3 Writing data using the Chrome

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”Postman” add on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.4 Reading data using the wget shell command within the same MICA . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.5 Reading data using Node-RED within the same MICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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1 The OPC-UA Gateway

1.1 About

With the OPC-UA Gateway container it is possible to monitor multiple OPC-UA devices, aswell as
publishing that data to a set of subscriber endpoints and display them on a dashboard.
The following user manual refers to the Firmware Base Version 5 539 and the Ha-VIS OPC-UA
Gateway Container Version 2.2.0.

1.2 OPC-UA

The OPC Unified Architecture is a machine to machine communication protocol for industrial
automation, which is a platform independent, service-oriented architechture that integrates all the
functionality of the OPC Classic specififcations into one extensible framework.

This multi-layered approach accomplishes the original design specification goals of:

1. Functional equivalence: all COM OPC Classic specifications are mapped to UA

2. Platform independence: from an embedded micro-controller to cloud-based infrastructure

3. Secure: encryption, authentication, and auditing

4. Extensible: ability to add new features without affecting existing applications

5. Comprehensive information modeling: for defining complex information

For further information about the OPC Unified Architecture refer to:

https://opcfoundation.org/

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2 Installation

You may skip this chapter, if the ”OPC-UA Gateway ” container is already installed.

2.1 Installation of the OPC-UA Gateway

Log in to the MICA as admin and click the “Install” icon.

On the next view you can choose the installation archive of the OPC-UA Gateway .
Next click the Execute button.

A dialog will open up where you can name the container you want to upload. When you are finished
naming, click OK to install the container.

As soon as the icon is visible you can start the container.

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2.2 Basic container functionality

By executing an right click in the OPC-UA Gateway container icon a menu will appear containing
the following functions.

1. Settings lets you update the OPC-UA Gateway
container.

2. Duplicate lets you duplicate the container on
your MICA.

3. Export lets you export the container to your PC.
All configurations you set will be kept.

4. Merge merges the overlay and underlay of the
container.

5. Reset resets the configuration of the OPC-UA
Gateway container to factory default.

6. Delete lets you delete the container.

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3 The OPC-UA Gateway user interface

With a click on the OPC-UA Gateway container icon the user interface of the gateway appears.
Here 3 different sections are available which provide differet functionalities.

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3.1 The section “Devices”

In the section Devices you can create, edit and import OPC-UA devices from which you want to
collect data.

By clicking the add button a window will appear containing the following fields:

1. Name is the displayed name of the device. The name will be also displayed in the section
Reports and Executor.

2. Period is the sampling rate in milliseconds.

3. Properties is a list for defining mandatory and optional properties. Mandatory for the con­nection is the host. There are several optional properties like the port or credentials for
authorization. Properties can be added with a click on the Name — Value button or deleted
with a click on .

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By clicking the “Fields” button a field list will appear. When you click in the box a new dialog
appears where you can create a field for the device with the following properties.

1. Name is the name of the field. It will also be displayed in the section Reports.

2. Properties is a list for defining mandatory and optional properties for the field. The mandatory
properties are identifier, which sets the identifier for a node in the address space of an OPC­UA server and type, which sets the type of the nodeId. The supported types are string and
numeric.
Optionally the period property can be set to define the sampling rate for the field in milliseconds.

If you have created the fields you need and entered all mandatory properties click on the “Accept”
button to add your device to the list.

3.1.1 Import/Export Devices

If you hover over a device, a menu will appear on the right side. The menu contains the two options
Export and Delete. Deleting the device will remove it from the list. You can export the device to
save the current configuration or to create a template for same devices so you only have to change
the name.

To import a device hover over the button. A menu with an import option
will appear. Click on that button and choose the device you want to import and click open. The
device will be shown in the list.

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3.2 The section ”Executor”

The ”Executor” is a small tool to easily read data from or write data to devices which are connected
to the OPC-UA Gateway.

To execute a OPC-UA query you have to provide 4 properties:

Device URL defines the device you want to connect to. You can either choose an active device
from the section Devices or enter the address of an OPC-UA device. If your connection requires an
other port than the default port 4840 you have to add the port to the connection string as shown
in the example.

Identifier indicates a node in the address space of an OPC-UA device. If you have selected a device
as the ”Device URL” you are also able to choose from the defined fields of that device.

Operation Select either ”READ” or ”WRITE”.
Identifier Type is the format and data type of the identifier. It can be a numeric value or a string.

This property will only be visible if no field was selected as the ”Identifier”.

Run the Executor by clicking the button.

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3.2.1 Error messages

When executing an OPC-UA query you may run into different error messages. The most important
ones will be elucidated in this chapter.
An OPC-UA error message will appear on the bottom of the screen.

An OPC-UA error message consists of the parts. The first part is telling you what operation has
failed, i.e. Failed to execute read operation:. The second part tells you more information on what
caused the problem. The following list shows the main mistakes that can lead to an error:

1. Cannot get value for ’Identifier’
This message will appear if the OPC-UA Gateway was not able to establish a connection to
the given ”Device URL”.

2. Cannot get value for ’Identifier’: INVALID PARAMETER
This message will appear if the OPC-UA Gateway was not able to get a value for the given
”Identifier”.

3. Scheme seems invalid! Supported scheme is ’tcp’
This message will appear if you have used an unsupported scheme in the ”Device URL”.

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3.3 The section ”Reports”

The section ”Reports” is for publishing machine data on a ”Subscriber” endpoint.

If you want to add a new report click on . A dialog will appear where you can
enter the following information:

1. Name is the displayed name of the
report.

2. Duration is the duration of the
reports in ms, i.e. how long the
report should run.

3. Repeat Period is the time interval
for the next report to start. As long
as the repeat period is smaller as the
duration the start of the next report
is immediately after the last.

4. Fields is for choosing your device you
added in the section Devices and the
field you want to observe. You can
add new fields by clicking on the
Device — Field button.

If you have entered all needed information click on to add the report.

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3.3.1 Import/Export Reports

If you hover over a report, a menu will appear on the right side. The menu contains the two options
Export and Delete. Deleting the report will remove it from the list. You can export the report to
save the current configuration or to create a template for same reports so you only have to change
the name.

To import a report hover over the button. A menu with an import option
will appear. Click on that button and choose the report you want to import and click open. The
report will be shown in the list.

3.3.2 Subscriber

When you have added the report you can click on and a drop-down menu will appear where you
can add a new subscriber endpoint. The supported types of endpoints are HTTP, HTTPS, MQTT,
MQTTS, TCP, UDP and AZURE.
For adding an new subscriber click in the field textitNew Subscriber and a dialog will appear where
you can choose the type of the endpoint and enter all needed information. You find an example for
a subscriber endpoint in the picture below.

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3.3.3 Report Example

If you have configured your “Devices”, “Reports” and your subscriber endpoint, you will get a report
after the time which was specified by you.

A Report is a JSON structure containing the following fields:

Report

termination : String;

terminator : String;

devices : Device[];

applicationId : String;

initiator : String;

initiation : String;

reportName : String;

date : String;

totalMilliseconds : String;

The fields of the Reports are specified in the following table:

Field Type Description

termination String The termination condition of the report.
terminator String The terminator of the report.
devices Device[] All monitored devices.
applicationId String The ID of the application.
initiator String The initiator of the report.
initiation String The initiation condition of the report.
reportName String The name of the report.
date String The creation datetime of the report.
totalMilliseconds String The duration in which data was collected.

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You find an example of a report in the field below:

{

"applicationId":"OpcUaGateway",
"reportName":"DeviceReport",
"date":"2018-18-05T08:35:04.843",
"totalMilliseconds":1000,
"initiation":"REQUESTED",
"initiator":null,
"termination":"DURATION",
"terminator":null,
"devices":[

{

"name":"Device 1",
"fields":[

{

"name":"Temperature",
"value":43.5906,
"date":"2018-05-16T21:13:03.959"

},
{

"name":"Maximum injection pressure",
"value":534.5047,
"date":"2018-05-16T21:13:03.974"

},
{

"name":"Injection time",
"value":0.41,
"date":"2018-05-16T21:13:03.990"

},
{

"name":"Heating zone 1",
"value":265.0,
"date":"2018-05-16T21:13:04.005"

},

}

...

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4 The OPC UA Gateway REST interface

The ” OPC UA Gateway App” provides a REST interface” which allows gathering information from
the gateway and its connected devices without the need of using the OPC UA protocol.
For an automatic access to the gateway it is essential to provide authorization data normally
included in the request headers of the commands. The needed encrypted content can be copied e.g.
from the Chrome

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add on ”Postman” as shown in the following code snippets. In case of a newly
started browser, you will be requested to enter your credentials prior to the first execution of the
REST command.

Make sure using the IP address of the MICA base when calling the REST interface from a
client outside the MICA.

If you call the interface from a container within the same device you can use the non secured
http-protocol to save access time.

4.1 Quick test using a browser

By means of a simple GET command you can retrieve information from the device using a simple
GET command. Enter the following command in a browsers command-line:

https://mica-xyz.local/[CONTAINER_NAME]/rest/opcuagateway/executor/tcp/127.0.0.
1%3A4840/rfr310.DeviceName/string

You will see:

In the command-line you will find all the details you also have to specify in the Executor”.
The device address of the MICA base https://mica- xyz.local/ is followed by: - The path to
the executor section of the gateway /[CONTAINER NAME]/rest/opcuagateway/executor/,
followed by:

- The connection type tcp/, followed by:

- The [IP adress]:[PORT] 127.0.0.1%3A4840/, followed by:

- The field identifier rfr310.DeviceName/, followed by:

- The the identifier type string, followed by:
The Operation mode (READ) is automatically selected by means of the GET command.

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4.2 Reading data using the Chrome

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”Postman” add on

Software like the Chrome

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add on ”Postman” can also be used to send GET commands. It gives a

better overview on how the commands behave and provides more details.

On clicking to ”Code”, Postman generates code snippets for using the REST commands in
many other programming languages, here C#:

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4.3 Writing data using the Chrome

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”Postman” add on

By means of a PUT command you may write data to the field identifier. To test it, use again the
Chrome

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add on ”Postman” and enter e.g.

https://mica-xyz.local/[CONTAINER_NAME]/rest/opcuagateway/executor/tcp/127.0.0.
1%3A4840/rfr310.DeviceName/string

Here too, a generated code snippet for C#:

4.4 Reading data using the wget shell command within the same MICA

As mentioned at the beginning of that chapter, you may also use the REST interface between two
different containers of the same device. Using the shell command ”wget” is a very useful approach
for a quick test of the REST interface.
The sample script below accepts on parameter for the IP address, stores the result in a variable and
prints it on the console.

#!/bin/sh
IP=$1
RESTPATH="rest/opcuagateway/executor/tcp/10.65.54.130/rfr310.DeviceName/string"
printf "Call: %s\n" $IP
RESULT="‘wget -qO- http://admin:admin@$IP/$RESTPATH‘"
printf "Result: %s\n" $RESULT

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Using an ssh software like ”Putty” log yourself in to another container as the Apps container
and create a new file called ”get.sh”. Make it executable and call it using the syntax: sh get.sh

10.65.54.218.
The output should look like:

4.5 Reading data using Node-RED within the same MICA

Also the Node-RED container available at https://www.harting-mica.com/ can be easily used
to establish connections to the Gateway Containers REST interface. Start Node-RED and use the
inject, the http request and the debug node to compose a scenario sending permanent Http-GET
commands to the Gateway.

Here you may download the sample flow: httpget.json

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