OPC UA Configuration
OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture) is an industrial communication protocol for secure, reliable data exchange. Pulse provides comprehensive OPC UA monitoring.
Creating an OPC UA Endpoint Monitor
An endpoint monitor verifies that an OPC UA server is reachable and responding.
- Navigate to Monitors and click Create Monitor
- Select OPC UA Endpoint
- Configure the connection:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name | A descriptive name for the monitor | Production Server 1 |
| Endpoint URL | The OPC UA server address | opc.tcp://192.168.1.100:4840 |
| Security Mode | Connection security level | Sign & Encrypt |
| Security Policy | Encryption algorithm | Basic256Sha256 |
| Authentication | How to authenticate | Username/Password |
| Escalation Policy | Which escalation policy to use | Default Policy |
| Message Template | Custom message for notifications | Supports Markdown |
| Tags | Categorize the monitor |
Security Modes
- None -- No security. Use only in isolated networks.
- Sign -- Messages are signed to prevent tampering.
- Sign & Encrypt -- Messages are signed and encrypted. Recommended for production.
Security Policies
- None -- No encryption (only with Security Mode: None)
- Basic256 -- Legacy encryption
- Basic256Sha256 -- Current standard. Recommended.
Authentication Methods
- Anonymous -- No credentials required
- Username/Password -- Authenticate with credentials stored in Pulse
- Certificate -- Authenticate using X.509 certificates
NETWORK REQUIREMENTS
Ensure your firewall allows TCP connections on the OPC UA port (default: 4840) between the Pulse server and your OPC UA endpoints.
Creating an OPC UA Node Monitor
A node monitor tracks a specific value on an OPC UA server and alerts when thresholds are exceeded.
- Navigate to Monitors and click Create Monitor
- Select OPC UA Node
- Configure the monitoring parameters:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | A descriptive name |
| Node ID | The OPC UA node identifier to monitor |
| Endpoint Monitor | Select an existing OPC UA endpoint |
| Escalation Policy | Which escalation policy to use |
| Aggregation | Min, Max, Sum, Average, or Count |
| Operation | Comparison: Equal (=), Not Equal (≠), >, ≥, <, ≤ |
| Threshold | The value to compare against |
| Check Frequency | How often to read the value (in seconds) |
| Evaluation Duration | Time window for aggregation (in seconds) |
| Message Template | Custom message for notifications (supports Markdown and variables) |
| Tags | Categorize the monitor |
TIP
Set the check frequency based on how critical the monitored value is. Safety-critical values should be checked more frequently.
OPC UA Alarms & Conditions
OPC UA Alarms & Conditions (A&C) is a standard mechanism for servers to push event and alarm notifications to clients. When an OPC UA endpoint monitor receives an A&C event notification, Pulse automatically creates an incident for it.
Each incident created from an A&C event:
- Uses the alarm message from the OPC UA server as the incident title
- Displays the same alarm message in the incident detail view as the description, so the full alarm text is always visible in notifications and incident details
Incidents from A&C events are deduplicated: if the same condition triggers multiple times, only one open incident is created per condition.