Historian OPC UA Data Access (DA) Collector for Windows

Important: You do not have the latest version of Historian! You are missing out on the newest capabilities and enhanced security. For information on all the latest features, see the Historian product page. For more information on upgrades, contact your GE Digital sales agent or e-mail GE Digital Sales Support. For the most up-to-date documentation, go here.

OPC UA Data Access (DA) Collector for Windows

The OPC UA Data Access (DA) Collector gathers and collects data from any OPC UA 1.0-compliant OPC UA Server. The OPC UA DA Collector automatically determines the capability of the OPC UA Server to which it is connected, and supports the appropriate features based on this information.

This manual refers to the Microsoft Windows edition of the OPC UA Data Access Collector. For the Linux edition, see About OPCUA Data Collector for Linux.

OPC UA DA Collector Feature Summary

The following table outlines the features of the OPC UA DA Collector.

Table 1. DA Collector Features
Feature Capability
Browse Source for Tags Yes (on an OPC UA Server that supports browsing)
Browse Source for Tag Attributes Yes
Polled Collection Yes Minimum Poll Interval 100 ms
Unsolicited Collection * Yes
Timestamp Resolution 1ms
Accept Device Timestamps Yes
Floating Point Data Yes
Integer Data Yes
String Data Yes
Binary Data Yes
Python Expression Tags Yes
Note: If you are using an OPC UA DA Collector with unsolicited data collection and have collector compression disabled, all new values should produce an exception. When the OPC UA DA Collector is doing unsolicited collection, the deadband percentage is determined by the collector deadband percent. You can only configure the collector deadband percent by enabling compression.

You must set Time Assigned by field to Source if you have unsolicited tags getting data from an OPC UA DA Collector.

Installing an OPC UA DA Collector

Note: If you intend to install to Predix Cloud, do not follow this process. Refer to the Historian Getting Started Guide for Cloud information and related configuration settings.

You can install the OPC UA DA Collector using the Historian product DVD under the Historian Collectors section. The OPC UA DA Collector consists of System API, Collector Toolkit, and OPC UA DA Collector components. For more information on data collectors, refer to the Historian Data Collectors - General Manual.

This process requires a Unified Resource Identifier (URI), which is a superset of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL). You must have the OPC UA Server URI (not URL) to which the client is connecting. It is provided by your OPC UA Server vendor.

  1. Insert the Historian DVD and click Historian Collectors.
    The Historian Collectors page appears.
  2. Check the OPC UA DA Collector check box and then click Next.
    The Provide the OPC UA Server URI screen appears.
  3. Enter the OPC UA Server URI (not URL) in this field and then click Next.
    The Is Your Destination a Historian or the Predix Cloud? screen appears.
  4. Select Historian 7.1 and click Next.
  5. Enter the name of the Historian Server and click Next.
    The installer indicates that it is ready to install this collector.
  6. Click Install. The OPC UA DA Collector is installed.

Uninstalling an OPC UA DA Collector

  1. Navigate from the Control Panel to Programs and Features.
  2. Click Uninstall or Change a Program.
  3. Select Historian Collectors and follow the prompts.

Tag Attributes Available when Browsing

While some of these attributes are queried on a browse, they are not shown in the browse interface. These attributes are used when adding a tag, but it is not visible to you whether all attributes come from the server or not.

The following table outlines tag attribute availability when browsing.

Table 2. Tag Attributes
Attribute Capability
Tagname Yes
Source Address Yes
Engineering Unit Description Yes, varies by OPC UA Server vendor.
Data Type Yes. See Recommended Data Types.
Hi Engineering Units Yes, varies by OPC UA Server vendor.
Lo Engineering Units Yes, varies by OPC UA Server vendor.
Is Array Tag Yes
Hi Scale No
Lo Scale No

Recommended Data Types

The following table lists the data types recommended for use with Historian.

Table 3. Recommended Data Types
OPC UA DA Collector Data Type Recommended Data Type in Historian
OpcUaType_Null ihTKVariableString
OpcUaType_Boolean ihTKBool
OpcUaType_SByte ihTKByte
OpcUaType_Byte ihTKByte
OpcUaType_Int16 ihTKInteger
OpcUaType_UInt16 ihTKUInt16
OpcUaType_Int32 ihTKDoubleInteger
OpcUaType_UInt32 ihTKUInt32
OpcUaType_Int64 ihTKInt64
OpcUaType_UInt64 ihTKUInt64
OpcUaType_Float ihTKFloat
OpcUaType_Double ihTKDoubleFloat
OpcUaType_DateTime ihTKVariableString
OpcUaType_Guid ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_StatusCode ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_String ihTKVariableString
OpcUaType_ByteString ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_XmlElement ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_NodeId ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_ExpandedNodeID ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_DiagnosticInfo ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_QualifiedName ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_LocalizedText ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_ExtensionObject ihTKDataTypeUndefined
OpcUaType_DataValue ihTKDataTypeUndefined

Configuring an OPC UA DA Collector

Configure values using the OPC UA Collector Maintenance - Configuration tab.
  1. Select an OPC UA DA Collector from the list on the left of the Administrator Tool Collectors section.
  2. Click the Configuration Tab.
    The following screen appears.

  3. Enter values for the collector-specific field parameters.
    Field Description
    OPCUA Server URI

    Format: opc:tcp://localhost:12345

    This field represents the OPC UA Server URI to which the collector connects. By default, it points to the local host. If this field is updated, the collector must be restarted for the update to take effect.
    Note: This field requires a Unified Resource Identifier (URI), which is a superset of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The OPC UA-Server has a URI (not URL), which you must enter in this field.
    Secured Connectivity When enabled, this field ensures secured connectivity between the OPC UA Server and the OPC UA DA Collector. Make sure the client certificate is added to the OPC UA Server's Trusted list. By default, this field is disabled (false).

Adding a Client Certificate to the Trusted List

When Secured Connectivity is enabled between the OPC UA Server and the OPC UA DA Collector, a Client Certificate must be added to the OPC UA Server's Trusted certificates list.
  1. Start the OPC UA Server in secured mode. (The OPC UA DA Collector does not start.)
  2. Locate the local/remote server's install location on the machine where the OPC UA server is running. Usually, it is \ProgramFile\OPC UA Server Name.
  3. Locate the Rejected folder.
  4. Locate the client certificate within the Rejected folder.
  5. Copy and paste the certificate into the Trusted list for the OPC UA Server. To locate the folder with the Trusted certificate, refer to your OPC UA Server documentation.
  6. Restart the OPC UA DA Collector.

Browsing for Tags in a Hierarchical structure

If your OPC UA Server supports hierarchical organization of tags in a tree structure, then Historian will use the server's hierarchy when browsing tags in a Collector in the Non-Web Administrator.

  1. From the Collector drop-down list, select the OPC UA DA Collector you wish to browse.
    1. To limit the displayed tags to only those that are not collected, select Source Tags Not Collected from the Show Only list.
    2. To limit the displayed tags to match a tag name or tag description, enter the value to match in the Source Tag Name or Description text boxes.
    A hierarchical tree appears in the Browse Results window.
  2. Navigate to the node in the tree you want to browse and then click Browse.
    1. To browse automatically, select the AutoBrowse check box. The available tags display in the Browse Results window whenever a node is selected in the tree.
    2. To show all child elements within a hierarchy, enable the Show All Children check box. All tags at or below the hierarchical level of the selected node in the tree will appear in the Browse Results window.
    The tags within the selected portion of the tag hierarchy will be displayed.
  3. Select the tag(s) you want to add to Historian, and click Add Selected Tags.
    Collected tags appear in black text in the tag list.

About OPC UA DA Collector Groups

It is a best practice to limit the number of OPC UA DA groups created by the Historian system to increase performance. To limit the number of OPC UA DA groups created on the OPC UA Server, group Historian tags collected by the OPC UA DA Collector using the fewest number of collection intervals possible.

Troubleshooting

The OPC UA DA Collector generates log files during initialization, configuration, and general operation. These can be found in the general logging folder C:\Proficy Historian Data\LogFiles

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Be sure to run the OPC UA Server before the OPC UA DA Collector starts up.
  • If the OPC UA DA Collector does not start automatically, refer to the Historian log file to view log entries to determine the problem.