Query OPC UA Industrial Systems with cnspec

Rely on cnspec to query Linux-based industrial control systems through the OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture) protocol. This provider is designed for industrial automation systems such as Phoenix Contact PLCnext controllers that run Linux-based operating systems.

Prerequisites

To analyze and explore your industrial systems with cnspec, you must have:

cnspec installed on your workstation
Network access to the OPC UA endpoint on the industrial device

Connect to an industrial system

To query a Linux-based industrial system via OPC UA, provide the endpoint URL:

cnspec shell opcua --endpoint opc.tcp://HOST:PORT

For...	Substitute...
HOST	The industrial system hostname or IP address
PORT	The OPC UA server port (typically 4840)

For example, to connect to a PLCnext controller:

cnspec shell opcua --endpoint opc.tcp://192.168.1.50:4840

Example queries

Retrieve OPC UA server information

cnspec> opcua.server
opcua.server: {
  ...
}

Retrieve all namespaces

cnspec> opcua.namespaces
opcua.namespaces: [
  0: opcua.namespace name="http://opcfoundation.org/UA/"
  ...
]

Retrieve the root node

cnspec> opcua.root
opcua.root: opcua.node id="i=84" name="Root"

List all nodes

cnspec> opcua.nodes
opcua.nodes: [
  0: opcua.node id="i=84" name="Root"
  1: opcua.node id="i=85" name="Objects"
  ...
]

Learn more

To learn more about how the MQL query language works, read Write Effective MQL.
For a list of all the OPC UA resources and fields you can query, read the OPC UA Resource Pack Reference.

Query OPC UA Industrial Systems with cnspec

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