Associate a Third-Party OPC Client - System with an OPC License

Third-party OPC client connections require a license in order to connect to Geo SCADA Expert. There are two types of licensing available, Server and Client. The Schneider Electric Licensing team issues Geo SCADA Expert Server licenses, which specify the number of OPC client licenses that are available on the Geo SCADA Expert server for which the license has been issued.

• Client licensing—The third-party client is associated with an OPC license file provided by Schneider Electric. The content of the license file defines:
  • The amount of time for which the client can connect to systems via the third-party OPC client - system connection. When this time period passes, the license expires and a new license will be required
  • The versions of Geo SCADA Expert to which the OPC client can connect via the third-party OPC client - system connection
  • The number of Geo SCADA Expert systems to which the OPC client can connect.

    If a client license is to be used, the client licensing feature needs to be enabled for the connection (see Enable or Disable Client Licensing) and you will need to associate the client with a license file. If the license file is invalid or missing, the client will attempt to use server licensing instead.

    The settings for your client license are determined when you purchase Geo SCADA Expert. If you contact the sales representative that sold the product to you, they will be able to provide additional detail about the specific limits of your license.

• Server licensing—The third-party OPC client uses one of the Geo SCADA Expert server’s licenses. Each server is allocated a pre-determined number of OPC licenses that can be used by OPC clients. For example, if a server has 20 licenses, it can allow up to 20 OPC clients to connect to Geo SCADA Expert using one of the Geo SCADA Expert server licenses. Each client that is not using an OPC client license uses one of the available server OPC licenses. If there are no available server OPC licenses, OPC clients without client licenses will not be able to connect (until some of the server’s licenses become available again).

  If an OPC client has a client license, this is used in preference to a server license. If the client license file is missing or corrupt, a server license will be used instead (even if the client licensing feature is enabled).

  If the client licensing feature is disabled, server licenses are the only licenses that can be used.
  

If you have enabled client licensing, you will need to associate the third-party OPC client - system connection with a client license file:

1. Access the Geo SCADA Expert Client Configuration window (see Display the Geo SCADA Expert Client Applet).
2. Select the third-party OPC Client - System connection in the list of connections.
3. Select the Licenses button to display the Client Licensing window.
4. Use the browse button next to the License File field to browse to the .lic license file supplied by your Geo SCADA Expert vendor. Select the .lic file, then select the OK button to close the browse window and confirm your selection.

   You will see that the details of the license are shown in the fields on the Client Licensing window. Your third-party OPC client will be counted against the OPC Systems limit. So, if your license has an OPC Systems limit of 10 and this is the first third-party OPC client - system connection you have associated with the license, you will be able to use the license for a further nine OPC client - system connections.

5. Select the Apply button to instigate the license settings.
6. Select the OK button to confirm your choices and close the Client Licensing window.
7. Select the Close button to exit the Geo SCADA Expert Client applet.
8. Use your third-party OPC application to connect to the Local Server. You will need to connect the third-party OPC application to the following Geo SCADA Expert server ProgIDs:
   • Serck.SCXV6OPCDA.<System Name>.<Server Name>
   • Serck.SCXV6OPCAE.<System Name>.<Server Name>
   • Serck.SCXV6OPCHDA.<System Name>.<Server Name>

     Where <System Name> is the name of the system as defined in the client connection configuration and <Server Name> is the name of the server used in the client connection.

     Serck.SCXV6OPCDA.<System Name>.<Server Name> provides a connection to the current data, Serck.SCXV6OPCAE.<System Name>.<Server Name> provides a connection to alarm and event data, and Serck.SCXV6OPCHDA.<System Name>.<Server Name> provides a connection to historic data.

Depending on your third-party OPC Client, you may need to select these connections manually. For further information, please refer to the documentation supplied with your OPC client application.

If your third-party OPC client supports OPC Private Credentials Security (IOPCSecurityPrivate) then you will need to configure a username and password for the third-party OPC client in Geo SCADA Expert. The username and password should provide an appropriate level of security, for example, if you need to issue controls via the third-party OPC application, your user account will need the Control permission for the relevant database items. For more information on the security settings and user accounts, see the Geo SCADA Expert Guide to Security.

If the connection has been correctly configured (see Configure the Third-Party OPC Client - System Connection), and the network is healthy, you should now be able to browse to your Geo SCADA Expert system from the third-party OPC client application.