Hi,

I installed and configured the newest Simatic NET v15, and tried using OPCScout v10 to access the symbols of a (locally connected) PLC. But while I can read and write the symbols via the COM server, the UA server selection shows no server, neither remote nor local (discovery finds nothing). I see the communication settings program has changed somewhat between v12 (which we use) and v15 (which we are evaluating):

For protocol I use the (non optimized) S7 settings in the screenshot. But what does the 'Port settings' modify ('55101')? Is this the port to use for discovery, or for actual S7 communication, or something else? Because those numbers used to be '4840' for discovery and '4845' for S7 communication in Simatic NET v13.

I currently do not use secure connections, nor certificates.

In the OPC settings -> Security menu I selected 'remote basic and remote OPC communication (UA and COM).

With OPCScout I can access the S7 OPCServer on remote systems (running Simatic NET v12) just fine.

Any suggestions?

Hello,

Please use the Add UA server in Scout.
and use the URL opc.tcp://127.0.0.1:55101

Where 
- 127.0.0.1 means your own computer if scout runs on the same PC as the server.
If OPC Scout runs an another computer, replace it with the IP of the server.
- :55101 refers to the port you have shown in the settings
   The default port can be used, or reconfigured if another application

Hi jklm,

thank you for the suggestion, but it doesn't seem to do much.

When I add an UA Server with opc.tcp://PCNAME:55101 and click Discovery, I get the error "Could not open UA TCP request channel.". When I use opc.tcp://127.0.0.1:55101 I get no real error, but still no connection.

From the PDF help documents that came with the software I see that 55101 seems to be the 'new' 4845, while 4840 will still work for discovery.

When I repeated this test with the OPCScout version that came with Simatic NET v12 (on another PC), I could use opc.tcp://PCNAME:55101, and browse the symbols of Simatic NET v15. The problem only seems to occur when I use the latest OPCScout version to access the latest Simatic NET build.

(Could this be related to the Meltdown/Spectre Windows update issues at the start of 2018?)

Kind regards,
henkzwae

Hello henkzwae

sounds strange...

So you have checked the function of the OPC UA Server with a non Siemens test Client like UAExpert?

Bye Murof

Hi Murof,

actually, I haven't done that. Apart from OPCScout, the only application we use for accessing the OPCServer data was developed in-house and needs some modifications to make it run in this new environment. But I expect that it will have the same issue, as it needs to run on the OPCServer PC.

I started with OPCScout as a test, hoping that v15 wouldn't be different from v12.

But I guess I could try one of the short examples that came with the server to verify.

Thank you for replying.

Hello,

did you try to turn off firewall?

Hi Martin75,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. But I had switched off the firewall (unsafe!) during my attempts.

I have since also installed the UAExpert software on the server and on another PC in the network, and I noticed that on the OPC server itself UAExpert works (and sees the OPCServer), but OPCScout still doesn't see it, while on another PC in the network both work.

I'm now starting to suspect a service that gets installed along the Simatic software, but is not developed by Siemens: Opc.Ua.DiscoveryServer.exe. I use UA functionality and have seen some strange messages in its logs. If this service is responsible for announcing the presence of an UA OPC Server (locally) that would explain some things.

Kind regards,
henkzwae

Hello

can you five us a Screenshot of your running PC Station with the OPC UA Server in the Station Configuration?

Bye Murof