Add a server to an area or application

A
FactoryTalk Directory
 holds any number of applications and servers, such as data servers, device servers, alarm and event servers, and HMI servers. Add a server to an application or an area to create a link between the server and the
FactoryTalk Directory
.
Add these servers to either an application or an area:
Prerequisites
Adding a server requires these permissions for the application or area:
  • Common > Create Children
  • Common > List Children
  • Common > Read
To add a server to an area or application
  1. In
    FactoryTalk Administration Console
    Explorer
    , right-click the application or area, point to
    Add New Server
    , and then select either:
    • Rockwell Automation
       Device Server (
      FactoryTalk Linx
      )
    • OPC
       DA Data Server
    • Tag Alarm and Event Server
    • OPC
       UA Server (FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector)
      (skip to step 9)
  2. In
    General Server Properties
    , name the server and identify the computer that hosts the server.
  3. (optional) Add a description of the server.
  4. Edit other properties on the
    General
     tab as needed.
    • FactoryTalk Linx
       Server Properties
      . In
      Server Type
      select either:
      FactoryTalk Linx
       Base Server
      . The main
      FactoryTalk Linx
       Server that supports all the functions of
      FactoryTalk Linx
      .
      FactoryTalk Linx
       Extended Server
      . A supplemental
      FactoryTalk Linx
       Server that extends that number of tags, data client, and/or controllers that an application or area can support.
    • OPC Data Server Properties
      . In
      OPC Server name (ProgID)
       browse to choose the OPC data server.
      If adding a data server to a network application, choose
      RSLinx Remote OPC Server
      , if adding a data server to a local application, choose
      RSLinx OPC Server
      .
    • Tag Alarm and Event Server Properties
      . In
      Startup type
      , choose how the Tag Alarm and Event Server starts up.
      Select
      Load when operating system initializes
      to start the Tag Alarm and Event Server automatically when the computer starts up. This option should be used in all running systems.
      Select
      When first client connects (Redundancy will be disabled)
      to start the Tag Alarm and Event Server when the first client connects to the server. Selecting this option disables redundancy so it should only be used in certain circumstances to prevent service conflicts, such as when:
      • Testing several alarm servers on the same computer.
      • Restoring an existing application which contains Tag Alarm and Event Servers.
  5. Configure the properties on the
    Redundancy
     tab to set up options for a secondary server to use if the primary server fails.
    1. Select
      Provide redundancy using a secondary server
       to enable server redundancy and to activate the redundancy options.
    2. Specify the name of the computer on which the secondary server will run. In
      Computer running the secondary server
       browse or type the name of the secondary server.
      Choose a switch-over option:
      • Select
        Continue using the secondary server even when the primary server becomes available again
         to continue using the secondary server after the switch over occurs. Use this option to bring the primary server back online to diagnose and correct the problems on the computer that failed before returning it to use as the primary server.
      • Select
        Switch over to the primary data server when it becomes available again
         to immediate return to using the primary server when it becomes available. Use this option to switch between servers during scheduled hardware maintenance or approved software updates that do not require server functional verification before returning the server to operation.
  6. If adding a
    Rockwell Automation
     Device Server (
    FactoryTalk Linx
    )
     configure the properties on the
    Alarms and Events
     tab to enable or disable alarm and event support, to edit the settings for server-assigned priorities, and to enable alarm and event history logging.
  7. If adding an
    OPC
     DA Data Server
     on the
    Advanced
     tab select whether to create a cache of the data server's tag names and to include extended tag information in the cache.
  8. If adding a
    Tag Alarm and Event Server,
    configure the properties on the
    Priorities and History
     tab to define alarm severity-to-priority settings for an individual server.
  9. If adding an
    OPC
     UA Server (FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector)
    , the
    FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector
     properties display:
    1. In
      Connector Settings
       enter values for:
      • Name:
         Enter a unique name for this Connector. The Connector name displays in the FactoryTalk application tree and is included in the full tag path for all tags provided by the Connector.
      • Computer hosting the FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector:
         Type the hostname, IP address, or fully qualified domain name, or browse to select the remote host computer. The remote host computer must have FactoryTalk Services Platform installed. Both the remote host computer and the client computer must be configured to use the same FactoryTalk Services Platform Network Directory host.
    2. Select
      OPC UA Servers
       and enter values for:
      • Name:
         Enter a unique name for the OPC UA Server. The server name displays in the FactoryTalk application tree and is included in the full tag path for all tags provided by the server.
      • (optional)
        Description:
         Enter a description for the OPC UA Server.
      • Endpoint URL:
        Enter the full network path or IP address or select browse to select the OPC UA Server. The path must be in the format opc.tcp://hostname_or_ip:port/Path/To/Server where hostname_or_ip, port, and /Path/To/Server are replaced with the OPC UA Server settings.
        The firewall on the OPC UA Server must allow incoming connections to the selected port for the connection to succeed.
    3. (optional) Select
      Add
       and then repeat step (b) for each OPC UA Server used to provide tags to FactoryTalk applications through this FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector.
  10. Once finished, select
    OK
    .
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