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Application Note
Connecting to a 1609 UPS using SNMP, Hirchmann
HIOPC and an OPC Client.
Introduction
Allen Bradley has integrated APC technology into its UPS’s. When you purchase
your UPS you can opt for one with an Ethernet interface such as 1609-U500E.
This can be managed by a number of different methods; either APC’s own software,
web client, telnet, or SNMP.
The purpose of this document is to give a brief introduction to SNMP and how this
can be used with OPC clients.
What is SNMP?
This is an acronym for Simple network management protocol. It has its roots in old
UNIX text based systems. The SNMP protocol is a published internet standard and is
covered by several RFC documents and is a network management standard widely
used in TCP/IP networks.
SNMP provides a method of managing network hosts such as workstation or server
computers, routers, bridges, and hubs from a centrally-located computer running
network management software. SNMP performs management services by using a
distributed architecture of management systems and agents.
Because network management is critical for both auditing and resource management,
SNMP can be used to:
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Configure remote devices. Configuration information can be sent to each
networked host from the management system.
Monitor network performance. You can track the speed of processing and
network throughput, and collect information about the success of data
transmissions.
Detect network faults or inappropriate access. You can configure trigger
alarms on network devices when certain events occur. When an alarm is
triggered, the device forwards an event message to the management system.
Common types of alarms include a device being shut down and restarted, a
link failure being detected on a router, and inappropriate access.
Audit network usage. You can monitor both overall network usage to
identify user or group access, and types of usage for network devices and
services.
Each device has a hardware profile that conforms to the SNMP standard. This device
will have an implementation of an SNMP agent in it to be able to respond to SNMP
requests.
In general, agents do not originate messages, but only respond to them. A trap
message is the only agent-initiated SNMP communication, and it enhances security. A
trap is an alarm-triggering event, such as a system reboot or illegal access, on an
agent.
The manufacturer of that device just modifies a standard template and adds it own
functionality. Readers here that have used RSNetworx should be familiar with this
concept. In the same way that Rockwell software will provide you with an EDS file
which provides a descriptor of what data and data types you can read from a given
device that same technique is used for SNMP enabled devices. The file type usually
used for this purpose is a .MIB file - Management Information Base file. A MIB file
will usually contain a number of descriptors or parameters each one of these is called
an OID – object ID. These OID data types are important to understand when mapping
your SNMP device.
OID Defined Types
a (ipaddress)
i (integer)
n (nullobj)
o (objid)
s (string)
t (timeticks)
u (unsigned)
The OID’s are grouped together in logical hierarchies and can be visualised as a tree
like structure.
The addresses of these OID’s are simple a list of numbers delimited by a decimal
point. This seems to be somewhat related to the order that are listed. Here is an
example
The address
.1.3.6.1.4.1.318.1.1.1.1.1.1
would point to a the UPS model name. I would recommend that you download the
tool
Getif from http://www.wtcs.org/snmp4tpc/getif.htm
it provides an easy way to explore SNMP enabled devices – more importantly if you
download the MIB definitions then it includes the necessary MIB files so that you
can look though the APC UPS OID’s to see what is available.
Use the browser to look at the .iso.org.dod.internet.private.enterprises.apc hierarchy.
What is HI OPC?
This is a software tool that allows OPC clients to connect and get data out of any
SNMP enabled device.
The software is written by one of our encompass partners Hirchmann Electronics and
was designed originally to get data out of their own switches.
Rockwell automations encompass program can be found here
http://www.rockwellautomation.com/encompass
Hirchmann’s website can be found here
http://hus.hirschmann.com
The HI OPC software at the time of writing this tech note can be downloaded free as a
demo. This allows for one device to be set up and monitored
Setting up HI OPC server
In order to be successful you must have already configured the UPS to have an IP
address using the supplied APC software and serial interface or RSLinx’s
BOOTP/DHCP utility.
Install the latest version of the HI OPC server from Hirschman’s web site. At the time
of writing this tech note I used 2.0 build 5 on windows xp SP2. Once installed reboot
and run up the SNMP Editor.
Right click on the Root of the tree on the Top left of the screen and select New Device
> Managed (SNMP)
Fill in the description of the device (this can be any name) and the IP address and the
device type to be a standard UPS 1 Ph.
Click No to the prompt to import the default template as this will not match the OID’s
of the 1609 UPS.
Import the csv file attached to this tech note this has a working sub set of the available
list of OID’s.
Then select file > save to commit your changes to the OPC server.
Testing the OPC server with Hirchmann’s own OPC client.
Run up the HiOPC Data viewer from your windows start menu.
If you have successfully set up and saved your OPC server then you will see your
UPS already listed in the DataViewer.
Expand the tree to see all the items.
Expand the tree one further to see the commStatus and double click on it.
This should populate the right hand pane and should have a value of 1
This is actually a PING of your UPS. The HI OPC tool can be used to PING any
device not just UPS’s!
If you do not see a value of 1 here then check your cables IP addresses and software
settings. You will need to fix this before proceeding further.
Double click on the other items in the tree and you will see that they get added and the
data should start to update.
Connecting the RSLinx OPC test client to the HI OPC server
Run up the Rockwell Software OPC test client. This is usually located under
Start > Program files > Rockwell Software > RSLinx > Tools > OPC Test Client.
Select File > New
Select the Hirchmann OPC server and click OK
Right click on the right hand pane and select Add Group
Fill out a group name – this is an arbitrary string.
Right click on the right hand pane and select add item
Expand the OPC browse window and click on the uptime item and click OK.
This will show you a value incrementing once a second. This is the number of
seconds since the device was powered up.
Congratulations. You are now using OPC and SNMP.
OID’s provided in the imported .csv file
sysContact
The textual identification of the contact person for this managed node
sysDescr
A textual description of the entity. This value should include the full name and
version identification of the system's hardware type
sysLocation
The physical location of this node (e.g
sysName
An administratively-assigned name for this managed node. By convention this is the
node's fully-qualified domain name.
sysObjectID
The vendor's authoritative identification of the network management subsystem
contained in the entity. This value is allocated within the SMI enterprises subtree
(1.3.6.1.4.1) and provides an easy and unambiguous means for determining `what
kind of box'
sysUpTime
The time (in hundredths of a second) since the network management portion of the
system was last re-initialized.
upsAdvBatteryCapacity
The remaining battery capacity expressed in percent of Full Capacity
upsAdvBatteryReplaceIndicator
Indicates whether the UPS batteries need replacing.
upsAdvBatteryRunTimeRemaining
The UPS battery run time remaining before battery exhaustion.
upsAdvBatteryTemperature
The current internal UPS temperature expressed in Celsius.
upsAdvInputFrequency
The current input frequency to the UPS system in Hz.
upsAdvInputLineVoltage
The current utility line voltage in VAC.
upsAdvOutputCurrent
The current in amps drawn by the load on the UPS.
upsAdvOutputFrequency
The current output frequency of the UPS system in Hz.
upsAdvOutputLoad
The current UPS load expressed in percent of rated capacity.
upsAdvOutputVoltage
The output voltage of the UPS system in VAC.
upsBasicBatteryLastReplaceDate
The date when the UPS system's batteries were last replaced in mm/dd/yy format. For
Smart-UPS models, this value is originally set in the factory. When the UPS batteries
are replaced, this value should be reset by the administrator.
upsBasicBatteryStatus
The status of the UPS batteries. A batteryLow(3) value indicates the UPS will be
unable to sustain the current load, and its services will be lost if power is not
restored. The amount of run time in reserve at the time of low battery can be
configured by the upsAdvConfigLowBatteryRunTime.
upsBasicBatteryTimeOnBattery
The elapsed time since the UPS has switched to battery
upsBasicIdentModel
The UPS model name (e.g. 'APC Smart-UPS 600').
upsBasicIdentName
A string identifying the UPS. This object should be set by the administrator.
upsConfigLowBattTime
The value of upsEstimatedMinutesRemaining at which a lowBattery condition is
declared. For agents which support only discrete (discontinuous) value