This documentation will guide you on setting up the OPC UA server to integrate SmartTrace with your DCS.
Installation:
Install the SmartTrace OPC Server Windows service which can be obtained by contacting your customer success representative. The installation process will guide you through the steps. This must be installed on a machine that your OPC Client or DCS will be able to communicate with. Additionally, this machine will need to be able to access the SmartTrace API, which can be achieved using the SmartTrace Marshall proxy service, or a proxy server of your choice. For more details on the setup and security of connecting to the SmartTrace Cloud server from your network, please review: Connecting SmartTrace Cloud to Facility Heat Trace Infrastructure: LAN Connection.
Connecting to the Server:
Connect to the server using any OPC UA client:
- Endpoint: opc.tcp://[IP Address Of Server Machine]:4840/UA/DeviceServer
- Security: None (for testing)
- Authentication: Anonymous (for testing)
OPC UA Address Space:
The server exposes the following structure:
Objects/
> Alarms/
> [UNIT_NAME]/
> NumberOfCriticalAlarms
TLS/Certificate Setup :
If you wish to communicate to the SmartTrace OPC UA server leveraging TLS encryption, you can prepare certificates. These steps document how to create and organize a server certificate and key so they are ready for use once TLS support is implemented. Alternatively you can generate the certs however your organization normally generates certs.
- Create a directory for certificates:
mkdir -p certs - Generate a self-signed certificate and private key for development:
openssl req -x509 -nodes -newkey rsa:2048 \
-keyout certs/server_key.pem \
-out certs/server_cert.pem \
-days 365 \
-subj "/C=US/ST=NA/L=Local/O=SmartTrace/OU=OPC UA/CN=localhost" - (Optional) Export a DER-encoded certificate for OPC UA clients that require it:
- (Optional) Define environment variables so paths are consistent when TLS is enabled later:
export OPCUA_CERT_PATH="$PWD/certs/server_cert.pem"
export OPCUA_KEY_PATH="$PWD/certs/server_key.pem" - Client trust: Most OPC UA clients maintain a trust list. Import certs/server_cert.der (or .pem) into the client’s trust store when you connect with security enabled.
You’re now set up to install, configure, and connect the SmartTrace OPC Server to your facility network. For additional guidance or troubleshooting, contact our support team at support@ehtgroup.com.