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General

Connect OPC UA

Complete reference for the OPC UA Client driver: connection parameters, security configuration, and node addressing.

The OPC UA driver provides a secure, standards-compliant client for modern PLCs and SCADA gateways with automatic session recovery.

Connection Parameters

Basic Settings

ParameterTypeRequiredDefaultDescription
EndpointUrlstringYes-OPC UA server URL (e.g., opc.tcp://10.0.0.5:4840)
PollingIntervalintNo1000Read cycle interval in milliseconds
ConnectTimeoutTimeSpanNo00:00:15Connection timeout
ReceiveTimeoutTimeSpanNo00:00:15Response timeout
SessionTimeoutTimeSpanNo01:00:00Session expiration (minimum 1 hour)
KeepAliveIntervalTimeSpanNo00:00:10Keep-alive ping interval

Authentication

ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
UsernamestringNoUsername for authenticated connections
PasswordstringNoPassword for authenticated connections
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Anonymous Access

If Username and Password are not provided, the client connects using anonymous authentication.


Security Configuration

Security Mode

ValueDescription
NoneNo security (default)
SignMessages are signed but not encrypted
SignAndEncryptMessages are signed and encrypted

Security Policy

ValueAlgorithm
NoneNo security
Basic256Sha256SHA256 with RSA (recommended)
Aes128_Sha256_RsaOaepAES-128 with SHA256
Aes256_Sha256_RsaPssAES-256 with SHA256 PSS
Basic256Legacy SHA1 (deprecated)
Basic128Rsa15Legacy RSA 1.5 (deprecated)

Certificate Settings

ParameterTypeDescription
CertificatePathstringPath to client certificate (.pfx)
CertificatePasswordstringPassword for client certificate
ServerCertificatePathstringPath to server certificate (.der/.cer) to trust

Node Addressing

Proxus supports all standard OPC UA Node ID formats.

Node ID Formats

FormatPrefixExampleDescription
Strings=ns=2;s=Device1.TagAString identifier
Numerici=ns=3;i=10024Numeric identifier
GUIDg=ns=4;g=72962B91-...GUID identifier
Opaqueb=ns=5;b=QVVJ...Base64-encoded opaque

Namespace Index

The ns= prefix specifies the namespace index:

NamespaceDescription
ns=0OPC UA standard namespace
ns=1Server-specific namespace
ns=2+Application namespaces

Examples

ns=2;s=Channel1.Device1.Tag1 → String node in namespace 2
ns=2;s=PLC/Temperature → Hierarchical path
ns=3;i=1001 → Numeric node ID
ns=0;i=2259 → OPC UA Server Status node

Advanced Settings

Transport Quotas

ParameterTypeDefaultDescription
MaxStringLengthint65535Maximum string length
MaxArrayLengthint65535Maximum array length
MaxByteStringLengthint65535Maximum byte string length
MaxMessageSizeint4194304Maximum message size (4 MB)

Application Identity

ParameterTypeDescription
ApplicationNamestringClient application name
ApplicationUristringApplication URI (auto-generated if not set)
ProductUristringProduct URI

Data Types

Proxus TypeOPC UA TypeDescription
BoolBooleanTrue/False
ShortInt16Signed 16-bit
UShortUInt16Unsigned 16-bit
IntInt32Signed 32-bit
UIntUInt32Unsigned 32-bit
LongInt64Signed 64-bit
ULongUInt64Unsigned 64-bit
FloatFloat32-bit IEEE 754
DoubleDouble64-bit IEEE 754
StringStringUTF-8 string

Performance Features

Automatic Session Recovery

If the network drops or the server restarts, the driver handles reconnection automatically:

  • Recreates sessions transparently
  • Re-establishes subscriptions
  • No manual intervention required
  • Up to 5 internal retries before reporting errors

Batch Reading

Multiple tag reads are grouped into a single ReadRequest, reducing network round-trips significantly.

Node ID Caching

Parsed Node IDs are cached to avoid repeated parsing overhead.


Troubleshooting

| BadCertificateUntrusted | Certificate not trusted | Move client certificate to Trusted folder on Server | | BadUserAccessDenied | Invalid credentials | Verify Username/Password for the endpoint | | BadNodeIdUnknown | Typo in Node ID | Copy Node ID directly from UaExpert or server GUI |

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Need More Help?

For Node ID format help, see OPC UA Address Syntax. For common OPC UA errors, see OPC UA Errors.

Official Resources