Connecting to ControlLogix

Connect to a Device

  1. Go to the Configure section of the Gateway webpage.

  2. Scroll down and select OPC-UA > Devices.

  3. On the Devices page, find the orange arrow and click on Create new Device.

  4. On the Add Device Step 1: Choose Type page, select Allen-Bradley ControlLogix, and click Next.

  5. On the New Device page, leave all the default values and type in the following fields:
    Name: ControlLogix
    Hostname: type the IP address for the PLC, for example 10.20.4.50

  6. Click Create New Device.
    The Devices page is displayed showing the ControlLogix device is added to Ignition. The Status will show as Disconnected and then Connected.

  7. To see all the tags, go to OPC Connections > Quick Client in the Configure section, on the OPC Quick Client page expand the ControlLogix folder and in the Global folder you can see all the tags.

Device Connection Settings

The General settings are common to all Allen Bradley devices, and the Connectivity settings are device dependent.

General

Name

The user-defined name for this Device. The name chosen will show up in OPC Item Paths and under OPC-UA Server > Devices of the Status page of the Gateway. The Device Name must be alphanumeric.

Description

The user-defined description for the device. This is only used as a note to differentiate between devices.

Enable Device

Only devices that are enabled appear in OPC-UA Server > Devices of the Status page of the Gateway and thus have their tags available for use.

Connectivity

Hostname

This is the IP Address of the ControlLogix Ethernet module (1756-ENET) to route through to connect a ControlLogix processor. EthernetIP protocol on TCP port 44818 (0xAF12) is used to communicate to ControlLogix processors.

Timeout

After sending a request to the ControlLogix processor, the Communication Timeout setting is the amount of time in msec to wait for a response before treating it as a failure.

Slot Number

The Slot Number value is the zero based ControlLogix chassis slot number of the ControlLogix processor to connect to.

Connection Path

The Connection Path value is used to define the route of the PLC-5 processor to connect to. Currently routing through the ControlLogix Ethernet Communication Interface Module (1756-ENET) to the ControlLogix Data Highway Plus-Remote I/O Communication Interface Module (1756-DHRIO) and on to a PLC-5 processor of the DH+ network is supported.

Concurrent Requests

The number of requests that Ignition will try to send to the device at the same time. Increasing this number can sometimes help with your request throughput, however increasing this too much can overwhelm the device and hurt your communications with the device.

Supported Connection Methods

ControlLogix 5500 connected through 1756-ENET/A or 1756-ENET/B.