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Connecting a PLC using Ethernet IP Connector

Use Ethernet IP Connector to connect a PLC to your Industrial Edge environment.

To connect Industrial Edge to your environment, you need three main components:

  • The Ethernet IP Connector to read data from your PLC and translate it to MQTT.
  • The Databus App to run on your IE Device, act as a central data broker, and store data configurations for your individual applications.
  • The IIH Essentials App to implement a digital representation of your machine and make the data accessible via a REST API for further processing.

Two additional apps are used during the process for convenience:

  • The Databus Configurator app in IEM.
  • The Common Configurator app, which provides a user interface for IIH Essentials and for adding data sources to Ethernet IP Connector.

The figure below highlights the roles of the different applications and components.

The figure below highlights the roles of the different applications and components.

Prerequisites for connecting a PLC using Ethernet IP Connector

Software requirements

NOTICE

For Allen-Bradley PLCs by Rockwell, the communication path can be read from the configuration screen of Rockwell Engineering Tool Studio 5000. For information about setting the communication path for other PLCs, refer to the Ethernet IP Connector documentation.

Hardware requirements

  • A PLC device, which supports data transfer via the Ethernet IP protocol, such as:
    • Allen-Bradley ControlLogix
    • Allen-Bradley CompactLogix
    • Allen-Bradley MicroLogics
    • Allen-Bradley SLC
    • Omron CJ1 Series PLCs
    • Omron CJ2 Series PLCs
    • Omron CS1 Series PLCs
  • RJ45 Ethernet cable (When using VMware and a virtual IE Device)

Configuring the network interfaces for IE Devices to connect to Ethernet IP Connector

The network interfaces for physical IE Devices were configured as part of the onboarding process. Additional steps are required to allow connections between the PLC and a virtual IE Device.

If you are using a physical IE Device, proceed to Adding your PLC as an Ethernet IP data source.

To configure a virtual IE Device, follow the conditional steps based on the hypervisor.

Conditional steps

Create a virtual adapter in Hyper-V. Bridge the virtual adapter to the physical adapter on your machine to establish communication between the PLC and the virtual IE Device.

Next, apply the virtual adapter to your virtual IE Device.

Creating and mapping a virtual network adapter

  1. Open Hyper-V. The library contains a virtual machine for your virtual IE Device.

    Open Hyper-V.

  2. In the right sidebar, click "Virtual Switch Manager”. The Virtual Switch Manager window opens.

    Virtual switch manager

  3. In the left sidebar, select "New Virtual Network Switch”.

  4. Choose Type: "External".
  5. Click "Create Virtual Switch".

  6. Click "OK".

    Create External Virtual Switch

  7. Choose a name for your virtual switch.

  8. Select "External Network". A dropdown menu appears.
  9. Select the network adapter you want to use.
  10. Check the box for "Allow management operating system to share this network adapter".
  11. Click "Apply".

  12. Click "OK".

    Configure virtual switch

  13. Read the warning message as shown in the figure below. Click "Yes".

    Warning message

Applying the virtual network adapter to the virtual machine

  1. Select the VM named "IndustrialEdgeVirtualDevice".

  2. In the right sidebar, click "Settings". A dropdown menu appears.

    configure_network_interface_hyper-v_select_vm.png

  3. Select the newly created switch.

  4. Click "Apply."

  5. Click "OK".

    Apply newly created switch

Hyper-V displays the virtual network adapters when successfully connected.

Hyper-V displays the virtual network adapters when successfully connected.

What's next?

Proceed to Setting up the network connection for the virtual IE Device and Ethernet IP Connector.

Using an Ethernet cable, bridge the physical network adaptor directly to the virtual machine with VMware.

  1. Connect the PLC to your laptop using an RJ45 Ethernet cable.
  2. Open VMware Workstation.
  3. In the Virtual Machine window, click the Player button in the top left corner.

  4. Navigate to "Manage > Virtual Machine Settings". The Virtual Machine Settings menu opens.

    Navigate to "Manage" > "Virtual Machine Settings". The Virtual Machine Settings menu opens.

  5. Select "Network Adapter 2".

  6. Change the network connection setting from "NAT" to "Bridged".

  7. Check the box for "Replicate physical network connection state".

    Change the network connection setting from "NAT" to "Bridged". Check the box for "Replicate physical network connection state".

  8. Click "Configure Adapters". A popup for "Automatic Bridging Settings" appears.

  9. Check the box for "Intel® Ethernet Connection (10) 12L9-LM". Uncheck all other options.

  10. Click "OK" to confirm changes.

    NOTICE

    The virtual machine's default network adapter is Network Address Translation (NAT), which does not allow external devices to communicate with Industrial Edge Management. Change the adapter type to "Bridged" to allow external devices to communicate with Industrial Edge Management.

What's next?

Proceed to Setting up the network connection for the virtual IE Device and Ethernet IP Connector.

Create and configure the virtual network adapter based on your specific infrastructure and communication requirements with ESXi.

  1. In the left navigation pane, select the newly created IEVD VM, and then click "Edit". The "Edit Settings" popup appears.

configure_network_interface_esxi_00_navigate.png

  1. Click "Add network adapter".

    configure_network_interface_esxi_01_edit_settings.png

  2. For the "New Network Adaptor" field, select the adapter to the network that contains the PLC you want to connect to the IEVD.

    configure_network_interface_esxi_02_added_adapter.png

  3. Check the "Connect" checkbox so the adapter is ready after VM startup.

    configure_network_interface_esxi_03_adapter_settings.png

  4. Review the adapter settings, then click "SAVE". ESXi saves the configuration.

Setting up the network connection for the virtual IE Device and Ethernet IP Connector

  1. Open the web browser on your local computer.
  2. Enter the IP address of the IE Device with the HTTPS protocol, i.e. https://<ip address>. The screen displays the IE Device UI login screen.
  3. Log in to the Device UI.
  4. Click "Settings" from the left navigation pane. The "Settings" page opens.
  5. Click "Connectivity".

  6. Click "LAN Network".

    Click "LAN Network".

  7. Click the pencil icon next to the network adapter "ens32" to modify its network settings.

    Click on the pencil icon next to the network adapter "ens32" to modify its network settings.

  8. Uncheck the "DHCP" checkbox.

  9. Enter a static IP address and netmask for the interface. The static IP address should be in the same subnet as the PLC.

    Enter a static IP address and netmask for the interface. The static IP address should be in the same subnet as the PLC.

    For a PLC with the IP address 192.168.236.127, enter the following values to ensure connectivity between the virtual IE Device and the PLC:

    • IPv4 (Static IP for the Industrial Edge Virtual Device): 192.168.236.129
    • Netmask: 255.255.255.0
    • Gateway: 192.168.236.1 (if applicable)

  10. Click "Update" to save changes.

Adding your PLC as an Ethernet IP data source

Use the Common Configurator App to configure an Ethernet IP Connector data source and set up the Ethernet IP communication channel to the PLCs for data acquisition.

To add a data source to the Ethernet IP Connector:

  1. In the device UI, click "Apps" from the left navigation pane. The "Apps" page opens.

  2. Click the "Common Configurator" tile. The "Common Configurator" UI opens.

    Click the "Common Configurator" tile. The "Common Configurator" UI opens.

  3. Click "Get Data" from the left navigation pane. A list of configuration apps appears.

  4. Click "Connector Configuration". The "Get Data" page opens.

  5. Under "Installed Connectors", select "Ethernet IP Connector".

    Under "Installed Connectors", select "Ethernet IP Connector".

  6. Click "Add". The "Add Data Source" page opens.

    Click "Add". The "Add Data Source" page opens.

    Notice

    The Ethernet IP Connector is the interface between the PLC and the IE Device. It must be configured with information about the IP address and other data of your PLC. Once configured, the Ethernet IP Connector can browse the data points of the PLC.

  7. Define the following information:

    • Communication Protocol: Ethernet IP
    • Communication Protocol: Select "Add manually"
    • Name: Can be freely chosen
    • CPU type: Select the type of PLC you are connecting with
    • IPv4 address: Enter the IP address of the PLC
    • Communication path: Enter the communication path of your PLC.

    Define the following information about the data source.

    Notice

    More information about the settings is available in the Ethernet IP Connector documentation.

  8. Click "Save". Ethernet IP Connector activates the configuration.

  9. Click the "Log Messages" tab. The Ethernet IP Connector logs open.

  10. Check the logs for the following messages to ensure the connection is properly established:

    • The [Name of Configuration] connection is up. Device is in running state.
    • Connector is running, connections to underlying device(s) are established. Everything is fine.

    Check the logs for the following messages to ensure the connection is properly established.

Configuring the Ethernet IP Connector data source tags

Tags are data points that you wish to fetch from the IE Device. Once the Ethernet IP Connector data source is created, add and configure the IE Device tags to complete the Ethernet IP Connector configuration process.

Adding a tag for Ethernet IP Connector

  1. In the Ethernet IP Connector page of the Device UI, click the "Tags" tab. The "Tags" page opens.

  2. Click "Browse tags".

    Click "Browse tags".

  3. Click "Start browse". The Ethernet IP Connector lists all available tags.

    Click "Start browse". The Ethernet IP Connector lists all available tags.

  4. Click the checkboxes for the tags you wish to import from the IE Device via the Ethernet IP Connector.

  5. Click "Add to Data Source". Ethernet IP Connector adds the tags.

    Click the checkboxes for the tags you wish to import from the IE Device via the Ethernet IP Connector. Click "Add to Data Source".

  6. To return to the "Tags" tab, click "Back".

Configuring a tag for Ethernet IP Connector

  1. In the Ethernet IP Connector page of the Device UI, click the "Tags" tab. The "Tags" page opens.

  2. Click on the pencil icon in the column "Actions" of a tag. The tag becomes editable.

    Click on the pencil icon in the column "Actions" of a tag.

  3. Under "Acquisition cycle", select your preferred acquisition cycle. Siemens recommends using an acquisition cycle of 1 second.

    Under "Acquisition cycle", select your preferred acquisition cycle. Siemens recommends using an acquisition cycle of 1 second.

  4. Check the "Publish on the Databus" checkbox.

  5. Click the green tick icon to confirm.

    Click the green tick icon to confirm.

  6. Repeat steps 2–5 to configure more tags.

    Bulk edit

    Use the "Bulk edit" button to apply the same settings to multiple tags at once.

    Bulk edit

  7. Click "Deploy". Ethernet IP Connector activates the configuration with the selected tags.

    Click "Deploy". Ethernet IP Connector activates the configuration with the selected tags.

Ethernet IP Connector displays the pop-up box "Deployment was successful" to indicate the tags were successfully configured.

Ethernet IP Connector displays the pop-up box "Deployment was successful" to indicate the tags were successfully configured.

Validating the outcome of connecting a PLC using Ethernet IP Connector

Review the log messages for any errors.

You have now connected Industrial Edge to your environment.

What's next?

Proceed to Creating an asset model.