UniOPC

3/06

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Table Of Contents
UniOPC Server........................................................................................................................................................... 1 Registering UniOPC Server ................................................................................................................................... 1 UniOPC Server - DCOM............................................................................................................................................ 2 Installation Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Operating System.............................................................................................................................................. 2 Privileges .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 UniOPCServer installation................................................................................................................................ 2 User groups ....................................................................................................................................................... 2 PC Server Settings.................................................................................................................................................. 2 Setting Default Permission ............................................................................................................................... 2 OPCEnum Settings................................................................................................................................................. 6 UniOPC Server Settings ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Configuring the Windows Firewall ...................................................................................................................... 14 Using UniOPC Server .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Creating a Channel list ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Creating a PLC list ............................................................................................................................................... 18 OPC Client: Item Syntax .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Item Syntax Table ................................................................................................................................................ 20 UniOPC Server Options ........................................................................................................................................... 21 Start Up ................................................................................................................................................................ 21 TimeOut ............................................................................................................................................................... 21 Log File ................................................................................................................................................................ 21 Event Log and Statistics ........................................................................................................................................... 23

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UniOPC Server
UniOPC Server (Unitronics OPC Server) enables you to read and write data between Unitronics PLCs and applications that support OPC, such as SCADA programs. UniOPC Server is compliant with the OPC Foundation's Data Access Custom Interface Standards through to Version 3.00. UniOPC Server runs independently of other Unitronics software.

Registering UniOPC Server

In order for UniOPC Server to be registered in your PC's list of OPC servers, you must register UniOPC Server the first time you run the program, either by clicking the Register button or selecting Register from the Registration menu. Once it is registered, UniOPC will appear in your OPC client software's server list. To remove UniOPC Server from the client's list, select UnRegister from the Registration menu.

UniOPC Server - DCOM

Installation Prerequisites
Operating System
Although it is possible to run OPC using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, this requires specific dlls. Therefore, we strongly recommend using Windows XP.

Privileges
In order to be able to set all the required DCOM properties, the user must log on with administrator privileges.

UniOPCServer installation
Although OPC servers can be installed by any user having administrator privileges, we recommend that installation be done under local administrator log-on. In compliance with the OPC DA v2.x specifications, it is recommended to use the OPCEnum application, which enables OPC clients to browse the available OPC servers. This application is installed together with UniOPC Server.

User groups
If several users have access rights to a given OPC server, we recommend you create a user group. This group should be duplicated on all the PCs where the OPC Server will be installed.

PC Server Settings
Since OPC security is based on DCOM security, default security settings selected for the OPC server and OPC client machines will affect all executables irrespective of their link to OPC. The settings recommended in this document allow broad access to the executables installed on the PC, while restricting access to the critical OPC servers, meaning those that allow access to actual devices.

Setting Default Permission

1. Open Start>Settings>Control Panel> Administrative Tools> Component Services.

UniOPC Server - DCOM 2. Click on Component Services, and then right-click My Computer.

3. 4.

Click on Properties, and then select the Default properties Tab. Select the settings shown below, and then click Apply.

5.

Select the COM Security tab.

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6. 7.

In order to add users, open the Default Access Permission window by clicking on the corresponding Edit Default button. Set the appropriate user access rights, and then click OK.

8.

Set Default Launch Permissions by clicking on the corresponding Edit Default button and adding users.

UniOPC Server - DCOM

9.

Set the appropriate user access rights, and then click OK.

10. Click on Apply in the COM Security window.

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11. Click the Default Protocols tab. The default protocols should appear as shown in the figure below; if they do not, update them.

12. Click OK.

OPCEnum Settings
Once the settings have been applied, configure the settings of the OPCEnum application. OPCEnum is the application used by any OPC DA2.0 client to browse the available OPC servers on the local machine. The required settings are the default ones. They are accessible from the Component Services window: 1. 2. Select Component Services>My Computer>DCOM Config. Click on OpcEnum.

UniOPC Server - DCOM

3. 4.

Right-Click on OPCEnum and select Properties. The default settings in the General tab are displayed in the next figure.

5.

In the Location tab, enter the choices displayed in the next figure.

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6. 7.

Click on the Security tab, and then enter the choices displayed in the next figure. In the Configuration Permission window, reduce the privileges of the Power Users as shown in the next figure.

8.

In the Identity tab window, enter the choices shown in the next figure

UniOPC Server - DCOM

9.

In the Endpoints window, keep the default settings.

UniOPC Server Settings

Next, you need to configure UniOPC Servers settings 1. Right-click on UniOPC Server in the main dcomcnfg window, and then click on Properties. A tabbed window opens, enabling you to edit UniOPC Server settings.

2.

Under General, Authentication Level should be set to Default.

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3.

Under Location, select Run application on the computer. This is because the program is installed on the local machine.

4. 5.

Under Security, change the default settings as shown below. These settings restrict remote access to the defined users group. Under Access Permissions, press Edit.

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UniOPC Server - DCOM

6.

Set the same access rights for all groups as shown below.

7.

Under Launch Permissions, press Edit. Set the same access rights for all groups as shown below.

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8.

Under Configuration Permissions, press Edit. Set the same access rights for all groups as shown below. Set special privileges to Power Users if different than default.

9.

For the Identity property, you must select a given user. If Launching is selected, several OPC server instances may be created when different users will try to connect. This is usually not possible if the OPC server instances require access to a given resource (e.g. PC Card). If interactive is selected, the OPC server will not be able to start without any active user session. The selected user must be member of the locally created group.

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UniOPC Server - DCOM

10. To include this account in the local administrator group, right-click Administrators, and then select Properties.

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11. The Endpoint property must be set to default.

Configuring the Windows Firewall

The Windows Firewall allows traffic across the network interface when initiated locally, but by default stops any incoming unsolicited traffic. However, this firewall is exception based, meaning that the administrator can specify applications and ports that are exceptions to the rule and can respond to unsolicited requests. The firewall exceptions can be specified at two main levels, the application level and the port and protocol level. The application level is where you specify which applications are able to respond to unsolicited requests and the port and protocol level is where you can specify thefirewall to allow or disallow traffic on a specific port for either TCP or UDP traffic. By default, Windows Firewall is set to On. This setting is recommended by Microsoft and by OPC. However, you may need to temporarily turn off the firewall in order to check if the firewall configuration is causing communication failures. 1. 2. Open Windows Firewall by clicking on the Firewall icon in the Windows Control Panel. Click on the Exceptions tab, and then add all OPC Clients and Servers to the exception list. In addition, add the Microsoft Management Console (mmc.exe found in the Windows\System32 directory) and the OPC utility OPCEnum (opcenum.exe found in the Windows\System32 directory). Note that these two files may not appear in the Add a Program list and will have to be found by using the Browse button. Lastly, you need to ensure that File and Printer Sharing is checked. This is not typically enabled on new installations of the Operating System.

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UniOPC Server - DCOM

3.

Add TCP port 135. This port is needed to initiate DCOM communications, and allow for incoming echo requests. In the Exceptions tab of the Windows Firewall, click on Add Port.

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UniOPC 4. In the Add a Port dialog, fill out the fields as shown below:

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Using UniOPC Server

To use UniOPC Server, you first define a communication channel list. Next, you define the PLCs you want to access with UniOPC Server, and then click Run to enable UniOPC Server. Note that the data is gathered by a client application, such as a SCADA program, according to client requests, without regard to how often UniOPC Server harvests data from the PLCs. UniOPC does not initiate data calls to the client.

Creating a Channel list

A Channel includes the port and other PC communication parameters. The PC uses the channel to access a PLC and gather data. 1. Click the Channel icon, Channels Collection opens.

2. 3.

Click Add; Channel opens. Under Connection type, click the drop-down arrow to select Serial or TCP/IP. The options change according to your selection, enabling you to fill in the PC Communication Parameters. The Update Rate is the frequency at which UniOPC Servers harvest data from the PLCs linked to the channel. Note, however, that the rate at which the client takes data from UniOPC Server is set within the client application.

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4.

Click OK to add the Channel to the Channel Collection

Creating a PLC list

1. 2. 3. Click Add PLC. Enter a unique PLC name, then select the PLC type and Unit ID. Note that the Enable option is selected by default; this enables a client application to access the PLC. Select a Channel.

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Using UniOPC Server

Parameters PLC

Name: Enter a unique PLC description. Type: Select Vision, M90/91 Stand-alone, or M90/91 via Vision. Unit ID: Select either Direct, or the PLC's CANbus/RS485 Unit ID number. Channel: Select this from the Channel list. Enabled: This option must be checked in order for the OPC client application to access the PLC.

4.

Click Run; a client application can now exchange data with all enabled PLCs in the list.

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OPC Client: Item Syntax

To enable the OPC client to access the data types in the PLC, the syntax used to define the 'item' must be structured as follows:<PLCName> <ItemPrefix> <Address> Therefore, to access Memory Bit 3 in PLC Conveyor 1, the correct item syntax is: PLCConveyor1.MB3 Note that: The name of the PLC is exact, including spaces and capital letters. The name is followed by a period. The Item Prefix is entered in capital letters.

To enable the client application to receive a string giving the status of a PLC, create an item, 'string' data type, with the following syntax: PLCConveyor1.STATUS

Item Syntax Table

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UniOPC Server Options

Options are located on the File menu.

Start Up
Sets the start mode for UniOPC Server.

TimeOut
Use these to determine time-based client-server access parameters.

Max. Update Rate: determines the maximum time during which the client application can access a server data item. The client will attempt to update all of its group data items during this time period. If the client is unsuccessful, the items that were not updated enter the Requests Queue Count shown at the very bottom of the UniOPC Server Window. If there are requests in the queue, you can adjust the Max. Update Rate.

PLCs TimeOut Retry: This is the time during which the client can attempt to retry accessing a PLC. Statistics Sample Period: the period of time in which Statistics are collected.

Log File
Select this to create a detailed log file that may be stored to a disk location as a .txt file and limited to a maximum size. This file may be used for debugging purposes.

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Event Log and Statistics

The Event Log shows events as they occur.

Statistics show the current UniOPC events during the Statistics Sample Time period. The Events are reported in a cyclic fashion; each reading replaces all previous Events. You can change the Sample Time period via File>Options.

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