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Kepware KEPServerEX

We integrate seamlessly with Kepware (part of PTC) its main product KEPServerEX. KEPServerEX can be used to connect (mainly over OPC) and control diverse automation devices and software applications.

Kepware IoT Gateway

The Kepware IoT Gateway can be configured to setup agents. These agents can be used to send data from tags configured within Kepware to Blockbax.

Prerequisites

To work with this built-in integration you will need:

  1. A Blockbax project
  2. KEPServerEX installed
Steps

Before you can connect your device you will first need to setup an ‘Inbound Connector’ in Blockbax.

  1. Open the Blockbax web app and go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Inbound Connectors’.
  2. Press the ‘+’ icon or ‘Create Inbound connector’ button.
  3. Select the ServerEX template under ‘PTC’ -> ‘KEPServerEX’ and press ‘Save changes’.
  4. The ‘Endpoint’ will be needed later for the configuration in the Kepware agent.

To setup the agent, do the following:

  1. Click on ‘Add Agent’ under ‘IoT Gateway’ or click on the ‘Add new agent button’ in the toolbar.

  2. Type in a Name for the ‘Agent’ and set the ‘Agent type’ to MQTT Client and click on ‘Next’.

  3. Configure the MQTT Client Broker according to the table below.

    fieldvalue
    URLssl://mqtt.blockbax.com:8883
    TopicThe topic to the topic given by the inbound connector.
    RateSet according to your requirements.

  4. Click on ‘Next’.

  5. Configure the MQTT Client Security.

    fieldvalue
    Client idYour client id prefixed with the Public ID of your access key, for example: <YOUR_PUBLIC_ID>-KepwareAgent
    Usernamepublic ID of your access key
    Passwordsecret of your access key

  6. Click on ‘Finish’.

If done correctly you will successfully have setup an Agent. Within the Agent you can configure items that you want to be read out and send to Blockbax.

  1. Go to your Agent.
  2. Click on ‘Add IoT items…’, or right click in the right window and select “New IoT items’.
  3. Double click on a Item you want to read out.
  4. Configure the ‘Scan rate’ and configure the ‘Publish’ setting to either only send on change in data or every scan.
  5. Click on ‘Ok’.

Repeat these steps for every item you want to read out and send to Blockbax. The item tags will be used as ingestion IDs inside the inbound connector. Make sure to setup the subjects that contain these item tags as ingestion IDs to correctly map the incoming data.