# Import from Kepware

> Bring channels, devices and tags from a running Kepware server into Proxus, converted to the matching Proxus protocol, after a review of every change.

Source: https://proxus.io/docs/connect/devices/kepware-import

At the end of this guide, the Kepware devices you chose exist in Proxus as devices with their tags, and they run
on the edge gateway you picked. Proxus reads the project directly from the Kepware server. Nothing changes on
the Kepware side.

## Before you start

You need:

- A **Kepware server** with its **Configuration API** turned on, and a user name and password for that API. The
  hub must reach the server on the API's port (57512 by default, with HTTPS).
- The **edge gateway** that will read the imported devices. It must reach the same machines that Kepware reads.
- A user role that may create devices and device profiles.

> **Note:**
The importer reads the project from the running server. It does not open a saved project file (`.opf` or
`.json`).

### What can be imported

Each Kepware channel uses a driver. The importer converts these drivers:

| Kepware driver | Proxus protocol |
| --- | --- |
| A Siemens driver | Siemens S7-200, S7-300, S7-400, S7-1200 or S7-1500, from the device model. S7-200 SMART is recognised by its model name. A device without a model becomes S7-1500. |
| A Modbus Ethernet driver | Modbus TCP |
| The OPC UA client driver | OPC UA |

Other drivers, Siemens NetLink models and Modbus serial channels are listed but cannot be selected.

## Step 1: Connect

Go to **Connect > Kepware Project Importer**. The importer opens in a window.

*Screenshot: The Kepware connect step with host, port, protocol, user name and password fields and the Test connection button*

1. Enter the **Host** of the Kepware server and its **Port**. Choose **HTTPS** or **HTTP** under **Protocol**, then
   fill in **Username** and **Password** for the Configuration API.
2. Select **Test connection**. When it works, the box shows the project name and how many channels, devices and
   tags it holds.
3. **Advanced**: if the server uses Kepware's own self-signed certificate, tick **Allow an invalid certificate**. Do
   this only on a network you trust.

Select **Continue**.

If the test fails, the message says why. "The server's certificate is not trusted" means a self-signed
certificate (see point 3). "The TLS handshake failed" means the port does not serve HTTPS: switch to **HTTP** or
check the port.

## Step 2: Select

The project is shown as a tree of channels and their devices. Each line shows the Proxus driver it becomes and its
number of tags.

1. Tick the channels or single devices to import. Use the search box to find them by name, and **Select all** or
   **Clear** for the whole list.
2. Lines marked **Not supported** use a driver the importer cannot convert.
3. The counter shows how many tags in how many devices you selected.

Select **Review**. The button shows the number of tags.

## Step 3: Review

The importer reads every selected tag and checks its address and data type. Nothing is written yet.

1. The tiles show the **New devices**, the **Updated devices** (a device with the same name already exists in Proxus)
   and the number of **Tags**.
2. **Errors** stop the import, for example a tag address that cannot be converted. Go back and leave the device
   out, or fix it in Kepware.
3. **Warnings** do not stop the import. They list tags that are imported with a different data type (see below).
4. **Run on gateway**: the edge gateway that reads the new and updated devices. **SYSTEM** is chosen by default.
   You can move devices to another gateway later.

Select **Import**. The button shows the number of tags.

## Step 4: Import

A progress bar and a log show each device as it is created or updated. You can select **Run in background** and
close the window; a notification tells you when the import ends.

When it is done, select **Open devices**. The devices start sending values as soon as their gateway picks up the
new configuration.

## How Kepware items become Proxus items

- Each Kepware device becomes one **device profile** and one **device**, both named
  `Kepware_<channel>_<device>`. Characters other than letters, digits, `_` and `-` become `_`.
- Each Kepware tag becomes a **tag** of that profile. Tag groups are flattened; the tag keeps its Kepware name.
- Addresses are converted to the form Proxus reads, for example a Modbus `400001` becomes `x=3;0`.
- The connection settings come with the device: address, port, unit ID and byte order for Modbus; rack, slot and
  timeouts for Siemens; endpoint and security for OPC UA.
- The profile's polling interval is the scan rate most tags of the device use (1000 ms if none is set). A tag with
  another scan rate keeps its own.
- Importing again updates the same devices in place: profiles and devices are matched by name, tags by address.

### Data types

| Kepware | Proxus |
| --- | --- |
| Boolean | Bool |
| Byte | Bytes (1 byte) |
| Char | String (1 character), with a warning |
| Short | Short |
| Word | UShort |
| Long | Int |
| DWord | UInt |
| LLong | Long |
| QWord | ULong |
| Float | Float |
| Double | Double |
| String | String |
| Date | DateTime |
| BCD, LBCD | UShort, UInt: the raw register value, not decoded. Proxus has no BCD type, so a warning is shown. |

Arrays are imported as bytes or as text, with a warning. An unknown type becomes String, with a warning.

> **Warning:**
Kepware does not export passwords. An OPC UA device that signs in with a user name is imported without its
password. Enter it in the device profile's **Connection Parameters** after the import, or the device cannot
connect.

## What's next

- [The device page](https://proxus.io/docs/connect/devices/device-page): check that each imported device sends values.
- [Device profiles](https://proxus.io/docs/connect/device-profiles): adjust the imported connection settings and tags.
- [Import devices from a spreadsheet](https://proxus.io/docs/connect/devices/import-devices): add more machines of the same kinds.