Softing´s dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens is a containerized SIMATIC S7 connectivity module adding OPC UA Server functionality.
It is possible to connect up to 20 SIMATIC S7-300/400 or S7-1200/1500 PLCs including optimized data blocks. The namespace configuration is done by browsing SIMATIC STEP 7 and TIA Portal variables.
dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens can be used on any Docker host that can execute Linux Docker containers based on an x86_64 architecture.
The default settings are described at the Default Settings page.
In order to run dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens a working Docker environment is required. For Docker installation instructions please refer to the official Docker installation documentation
The Docker images are provided through a public registry. To get the latest Docker image you need to pull the image from https://hub.docker.com/r/softingindustrial/edgeconnector-siemens:
docker image pull softingindustrial/edgeconnector-siemens:latestAfter the Docker image has been pulled, a Docker container can be started. The webserver and OPC UA Server of the module have to be exposed on the host machine if dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens shall be accessed from outside the dockerized environment.
To start dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens with the default ports mapped 1:1 to the host machine:
docker container run -p 443:443 -p 8099:8099 -p 4897:4897 softingindustrial/edgeconnector-siemensThe above example can be adapted to match the needs of your environment. For example, if your host already runs a webserver and the https port is blocked, the command can be adjusted to expose the https port of dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens on a different port:
docker container run -p 1443:443 -p 8099:8099 -p 4897:4897 softingindustrial/edgeconnector-siemensThe -p switch allows to map a complete port range start-end:start-end,
the -d switch allows to daemonize the container and the --name switch
allows to name the container:
docker container run -d -p 1443:443 -p 8099:8099 -p 4800-4900:4800-4900 --name edgeConnector softingindustrial/edgeconnector-siemensThe -e or --env switch allows to set environment variables in the container.
For setting a timezone the variable TZ must be passed with a valid TZ database name.
docker container run -d -p 1443:443 -p 8099:8099 -p 4800-4900:4800-4900 --name edgeConnector -e TZ=Europe/Berlin softingindustrial/edgeconnector-siemensFor further information about supported command line options please refer to the Run section of the official Docker command line documentation.
The module container can be stopped by the following command:
docker container stop edgeConnectorPlease refer to the Stop section of the official Docker command line documentation for more details.
If the module container was stopped and not removed, it can be started again from its last state:
docker container start edgeConnectorPlease refer to the Start section of the official Docker command line documentation for more details.
The module container can be removed at any time:
docker container rm -f edgeConnectorAfter removing the container its last state is lost. Please refer to the Remove section of the official Docker command line documentation for more details.
Optionally a Docker volume can be created to store the configuration permanently:
docker volume create edge-connector-config
docker volume create edge-connector-mqttIn this case the container should be started like this, using the volume:
docker container run -d -v edge-connector-config:/config -v edge-connector-mqtt:/mqtt -p 1443:443 -p 8099:8099 -p 4800-4900:4800-4900 --name edgeConnector softingindustrial/edgeconnector-siemensThe configuration part, which is common for all kinds of dataFEED edgeConnector modules is described at the Configuration page.
dataFEED edgeConnnector Siemens provides an interface to connect and fetch data from SIMATIC S7 1200 or 1500 series PLCs.
To configure a connection to a SIMATICs S7 1200 or S7 1500 PLC, navigate to Connectivity -> PLC -> Siemens S7 1200/1500 in the navigation tree as depicted below:
The page provides an overview of the currently configured connections including its Name, its IP Address, its connection Status and its Enabled status.
| Column Name | Information Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Connection name as defined at creation time |
| IP Address | IP address or host name of PLC |
| Status | Status of PLC connection |
The connection status can be Connected if the connection to the PLC is established or Disconnected if there is no connection to the PLC |
|
| The connection status is dynamically updated every 2 seconds. | |
| Note: This field changes to "Simulation" when a simulated connection is added (See below for description of the Simulation mode). | |
| Enabled | Configuration status of the PLC connection |
Possible values are Enabled or Disabled. |
|
| Note: | |
| Clicking the current configuration status icon triggers a state toggle: Enabled -> Disabled respectively Disabled -> Enabled |
From the title bar of the connection overview table a new connection can be added and existing connections can either be edited or deleted.
- To add a new connection click the Add Connection
button. - To edit an existing connection, first select it from the overview table
and click the Edit Connection
button. - To delete an existing connection, first select it from the overview
table and click the Delete Connection
button.
Adding a new connection and editing an existing connection, both open an identical page. The only difference is, that for an existing connection the Connection Name property cannot be changed.
The configuration parameters are described below:
| Parameter Name | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Connection Name | <empty> | Connection name as it will show up in the connection overview page |
| The connection name has to be unique and can only be assigned when adding a new connection. | ||
| Note: | ||
| The following characters are not supported in the Connection Name field: # ^ < > / $ | ||
| Enabled | Enabled | Instructs dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens to either Enable (checked) or Disable (unchecked) the currently configured PLC connection. |
| PLC Address | <empty> | Address of the target device (SIMATIC S7 1200/1500 PLC). This is either an IP address or a hostname. |
| Select Address Spaces | AllConnection | Destination aggregation address space used to store the address space corresponding to this PLC connection |
| AddressSpace | It is possible to create additional aggregation address spaces by filling in the desired address space name in the input field and clicking the Add button. All available address spaces are visible in a list and can be selected as destination address space for the OPC UA Client connection by checking the corresponding checkbox. | |
| For more details about the OPC UA Server functionality and configuration please refer to the OPC UA Configuration page. |
The edgeConnector Siemens supports simulation mode for the S7 1200/1500 controller, which means that it provides a few ways of automatically generating tag values in a similarly structured standard address space as a real PLC. All UA services are supported as for a real PLC, Browse, Subscribe, Read and Write.
The available value simulation types are Random, Incremental (increasing to the data type's maximum, then starting from its minimum again), Sawtooth (increasing to the maximum and after reaching it decreasing to its minimum, then increasing again, and so on) and Waveform with anomalies (a Sine wave form of generating data, periodically adding a random anomaly). These simulation types are supported only for the basic data types and arrays of these data types, currently.
The mapping of these simulation types to the different basic data types is as follows:
- Boolean: Random
- SByte: Sawtooth
- Byte: Sawtooth
- Int16: Incremental
- UInt16: Random
- Int32: Incremental
- UInt32: Incremental
- Int64: Random
- UInt64: Random
- Float: Waveform (250 ms update rate; min = -50, max = 50; contains anomalies)
- Double: Waveform (500 ms update rate, min = -500, max = 500; does not contain anomalies)
- String: Random (length of 10; containing alphanumeric, '_' and '-' characters)
- DateTime: Random (between 1970 and 2100)
Notes:
- Where it is not specified, the update rate is 1000 milliseconds
- The minimum and maximum values for all numerical data types (except where specified otherwise) are their corresponding values (e.g. SByte: between -128 and 127)
- Floating point data types are restricted as specified above for more practical visualization purposes
Limitations:
- Currently, there is no customization options regarding neither the type of simulation used for a data type or tag, nor the parameters of the simulation types
- The value generation process cannot be stopped when a simulated connection is enabled; this means that when writing to a tag the written value will be lost at the next data change, because the simulation will generate a new data value. In case of Incremental and Sawtooth simulation types the next value will depend on the written value
For adding a connection which starts in Simulation mode the following steps are necessary:
- To add a new simulated connection click the
button.
- Enter a unique name in the Connection Name field
- Go to the Advanced Settings tab on the same page
- At the bottom check the Simulation check box
- Switch back to the Connection Settings page
- Press the Save button
After a short time the simulator will start generating values for that connection, which can be browsed and monitored with a client application by subscribing to some tags with the above mentioned data types.
Also, the Address Spaces section will show a new node with the name of the new simulated connection, which can be browsed and filtered from that moment on.
Other notes and restrictions:
- A simulated connection cannot be edited in any way after it has been added, none of its settings can be changed. All the fields are disabled after pressing the Save button
- Such a connection can only be deleted using the
button
- Any number of simulated connections can be added, but their address space will look the same, they are derived from the same standard PLC address space
- All simulated connections are subject to the general licensing mechanisms, so they will use a license when added, and yield it back when deleted
- A simulated connection cannot get out of Simulation mode, nor can a real PLC connection be changed to Simulation mode
When visualizing one of each of the simulation types, it may look like this:
dataFEED edgeConnnector Siemens provides an interface to connect and fetch data from SIMATIC S7 300 or 400 series PLCs.
To configure a connection to a SIMATICs S7 300 or S7 300 PLC, navigate to Connectivity -> PLC -> Siemens S7 300/400 in the navigation tree as depicted below:
The page provides an overview of the currently configured connections including its Name, its IP Address, its connection Status and its Enabled status.
From the title bar of the connection overview table a new connection can be added and existing connections can either be edited or deleted.
- To add a new connection click the Add Connection
button.
- To edit an existing connection, first select it from the overview table and
click the Edit Connection button.
- To delete an existing connection, first select it from the overview table and
click the Delete Connection button.
Adding a new connection and editing an existing connection, both open an identical page. The only difference is, that for an existing connection the Connection Name property cannot be changed.
The configuration parameters are described below:
| Parameter Name | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Connection Name | <empty> | Connection name as it will show up in the connection overview page |
| The connection name has to be unique and can only be assigned when adding a new connection. | ||
| Note: | ||
| The following characters are not supported in the Connection Name field: # ^ < > / $ | ||
| Enabled | Enabled | Instructs dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens to either Enable (checked) or Disable (unchecked) the currently configured PLC connection. |
| SDFI-File | <empty> | The SDFI file with the address-space definition to upload, see sdfi |
| PLC Address | <empty> | Address of the target device |
| This is either an IP address or a hostname. | ||
| Select Address Spaces | AllConnection | |
| AddressSpace | ||
| It is possible to create additional aggregation address spaces by filling in the desired address space name in the input field and clicking the Add button. All available address spaces are visible in a list and can be selected as destination address space for the OPC UA Client connection by checking the corresponding checkbox. | ||
| For more details about the OPC UA Server functionality and configuration please refer to the OPC UA Configuration page. |
The OPC UA Server functionality and configuration is described at the OPC UA Configuration page.
dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens's scope of delivery includes a time-limited
and functionaly unlimited demo mode.
The demo mode is started immediately once the module has been started without a
valid license.
It will expire after 72 hours and dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens stops
working.
To remove the time limitation of the demo mode dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens
must be licensed.
dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens uses a floating license mechanism.
A working floating license server is required to have dataFEED edgeConnector
Siemens successfully licensed.
Please see the License README page for further details.
The license activation for dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens is described at the README page of the Softing License Server.
Please see the section License Server Connection Configuration of the License README file for further details.
For the license information of the open source components used by dataFEED edgeConnector Siemens, please see the Open Source page.