Kepware IoT Gateway is a common way of sending data to Factbird. Many of our customers already have Kepware installed and only need to add the IoT gateway module. Kepware is to be installed and maintained on your end. This page shows how to get Kepware to work with Factbird.
For detailed information, see the technical guide: Kepware Technical Guide
Installing
The following software is needed:
- KEPServerEX setup program
- Java runtime (32-bit)
Kepware IoT Gateway
Start the KEPServerEX setup program. Use the version already installed on the server, alternatively, upgrade to a newer version.
Modify the installation:
Add IoT gateway:
Press Next and complete the installation.
Java runtime
The Kepware IoT component requires Java. As Kepware is a 32-bit program, the Java version must also be 32-bit. Download the Windows Offline version from:
https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
Install or update Java
Adding a connection to Factbird Cloud
Needed information:
- Information from this guide
- unique id provided by Factbird
- certificate provided by Factbird
Start the KEPServer 6 Configuration
Add a new Iot Gateway agent:
Name the agent with a unique name and set type to “MQTT Client”.
Set the URL to: ssl://a3f8k0ccx04zas-ats.iot.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com:8883
💡If your company is using a private cloud solution, the URL will differ. Please submit a support request for the correct URL.
Set the topic to: plc/input/<uuid>, where <uuid> is the unique ID for the agent provided by Factbird.
Set the Client ID to: <uuid>, where <uuid> is the unique ID for the agent provided by Factbird.
Select Properties for the MQTT agent, and select the security tab.
Change the TLS version to 1.2.
Change Client Certificate to: Enabled.
Adding tags to be published to Factbird
Add the items the agent should publish.
Here, a simulation tag is selected for testing.
Note: For tags where you want to detect stops, select to publish on every scan and set the scan rate to 5000mS or below.
Adding a security certificate to the connection
On the Kepware tray menu, select Settings…
Under MQTT agent, select Manage certificates.
HImport New Certificate.
Select the certificate <certid>-certificate.pem.crt file provided by Factbird:
Select the private key <certid>-private.pem.key file provided by Factbird:
A password is not needed.
Confirmation.
Adding Amazon root certificate
Note: this is only for older Windows servers that do not have the Amazon certificate included: Amazon root certificate It can normally be skipped.
Testing
Reinitialize the Kepware runtime to activate the configuration.
Confirm the IoT Gateway starts without any errors: