The devices (stations) under a station’s NiagaraNetwork can include upstream stations, peer stations
and downstream remote controller stations. Using the NiagaraNetwork, the central station (usually a Supervisor station) connects to each station for the purpose of collecting
configuration and update data. Any station (regardless of platform
type) can be a client or server based on the NiagaraNetwork configurations on either side. Typically, Supervisor stations are the main client of downstream stations, but
you could also set up a two-way connection, or even have a controller
station be the client to the Supervisor.
You are working in the client station (usually your Supervisor station) using Workbench. One or more remote stations share the same network.- Expand and double-click NiagaraNetwork.
The Station Manager opens.
- To discover the server stations, click Discover, select the discovered station(s) and click Add.
- To manually add a server station, click New.
The New window opens.
- Select the station type, the number of stations you want
to add, and click OK.
The
New window opens.
- As a minimum, enter these properties and click OK:
Name is the name of the server station.
Each NiagaraStation under your NiagaraNetwork requires a unique name. If you are not sure of this name, connect
to the station. The Station Name is listed under Summary Properties.
Address is the IP address or host name
of the server station.
Credential Store (Username and Password) are the user credentials required
to access the server station.
The
Station Manager lists the newly-added
station in the
Database pane.
- To debug the connection, do one or both of the following:
- If the Server Conn column reports Not Connected, right-click the station row in the Station Manager and click . This pings the client to establish
the connection with the server.
- If the Status column reports down, right-click the station row and click
The server station’s Property Sheet opens.
- If Health reports Fail, expand Health and review
the Last Fail Cause.
A
Last Ok Time of
null indicates that the station has not connected even once. Several
errors may be preventing the client station from connecting to the
server station:
Permission denied: connect
is a general error. Edit the configuration and/or ensure that the
server station is available to fix the problem.Station name is same as this station means that you attempted to make an illegal loop-back connection
(the same station attempting to connect back to itself).
certificate_unknown means that
the station (client) cannot authenticate the self-signed certificate
sent to it from the remote station (server).
If you trust the
certificate, expand , double-click CertManagerService, click the Allowed Hosts tab, select the certificate whose host name is the same as the IP
address (or host name) of the server station (its icon should be a
white X on a red shield), click Approve and
click Yes. The red shield changes to a white
check mark on a green shield.
Approving this self-signed certificate
should be a temporary measure. Each remote server station/platform
should have its own server certificate that has been signed by a certificate
authority. This enables server authentication, which is the best security
practice for secure device-to-device communication.
If the Last Ok Time is older than the Last Fail Time, something could be wrong or the station
connection could be temporarily down.
- After correcting a problem, return to the NiagaraNetwork’s Station Manager under your client
station and ping the station again.
The Station Manager should report
that the station is Connected.
- To confirm the connection, right-click the station in the
Nav tree, click and expand Health and/or Client Connection.
The station’s
Property Sheet opens.
Enabled defaults to true. If set to false, Status reports disabled.
Health reports Ok. Notice that the Last Fail Cause reports the
error that caused the last failure. You can ignore this error message
as long as Health reports Ok.
The State property under Client Connection reports Connected.