fox-FoxService
This component is the Baja component wrapper for the FoxServer daemon. It is used within the NiagaraStation to provide basic Fox accessibility. This component is a container slot for Fox protocol settings that affect client connections made to the local station, such as from Workbench or from another station. This specialization of the FoxService maps server connections to the NiagaraStation serverConnection slot. NiagaraFoxService typically includes ServerConnections.
Included are properties for the TCP port number assigned to the Fox server, authentication method used, and various timeout/trace settings. See Fox Service properties for more details.
Authentication is required when establishing any Fox connection to/from the station:
If opening a station in Workbench, you must enter a valid station username and password in the station login window (otherwise it does not open).
If accessing a station in a browser as a user, where you also must enter valid user credentials (log in).
If adding a NiagaraStation to a station’s NiagaraNetwork, you must configure username and password properties under its Client Connection slot (otherwise it remains down). Often, you enter the username and password of a specific service-type user account in that station. You also specify the software port used by that station’s Fox server.
Note: Often in a multi-station job, in each station you create a user specifically for station-to-station communications, typically with admin write privileges. This is the service-type account that you reference when you edit a NiagaraStation’s Client Connection properties, entering its username and password.
| Property | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fox Port | additional properties | Specifies the TCP port used by the Fox server. ”Server Port (baja-ServerPort” documents the additional properties. |
| Fox Enabled | true or false | Activates (true)
and deactivates (false) use of the object (network,
device, point, component, table, schedule, descriptor, etc.). When enabled, Http Enabled in the WebService must also be set to true (for wbapplet use). When set to false the system to ignores attempts to connect using Fox port 1911. If Foxs Only is enabled, this setting (false for Fox Enabled) is irrelevant. |
| Foxs Port | additional properties | Specifies the TCP port used by the Fox server. ”Server Port (baja-ServerPort” documents the additional properties. |
| Foxs Enabled | true or false | Activates (true)
and deactivates (false) use of the object (network,
device, point, component, table, schedule, descriptor, etc.). |
| Foxs Only | true (default) or false | Enables (true) and disables (false) secure communication. If true, and Fox Enabled and Foxs Enabled are both true, the driver redirects the fox connection attempts as Foxs connections. If Fox Enabled is false and Foxs Enabled is true, only Foxs connection attempts work; The driver ignores Fox connection attempts. |
| Foxs Min Protocol | drop-down list (defaults to Default Policy) | Selects the earliest version
of the TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol supported by your network.
This is the minimum level of the TLS. Options include versions TLSv1.0+, TLSv1.1+, TLSv1.2+, and TLSv1.3. Choosing a higher level provides
more security. Note:
TLSv1.0 and TLSv1.1 are still supported for backwards compatibility, but it is recommended to use TLSv1.2 and higher. During the handshake, the server and client agree on which protocol to use. You should change this property from the default if your network requires a specific version or if a future vulnerability is found in one of the versions. |
| Fox Over WebSocket Enabled | true (default) or false | Enables or disables Fox over WebSocket. Note: To use Fox Over WebSocket, ensure that you also set the Https Enabled property in the WebService to true. |
| Cipher Suite Group | Recommended (default) or Supported | Controls which cipher
suites can be used during TLS negotiation. The default is more secure
than the other option (Supported) and should be used
unless it causes compatibility issues with the client. |
| Foxs Cert | text (read-only) | Displays the host platform’s server certificate that is currently used. |
| Alias | drop-down list (defaults to default) | Specifies the alias of the host
platform’s server certificate, which the client uses to validate server
authenticity. The default identifies a self-signed certificate that
is automatically created when you initially log on to the server.
It cannot be deleted and should be used for recovery purposes. The
default certificate is protected by the global certificate password.
If other certificates are in the host platform’s key store, you can
select them from the drop-down list. |
| Password | text and check box | As of Niagara 4.13, the server certificate is password-protected by either a unique password or the global certificate password. Prompts the user to provide the user-defined password or the global certificate password associated with the server certificate. |
| Server Certificate Health | text (read-only) | Displays the alias of the used server certificate and its status (OK, Bad Password) |
| Requested Cert | text (read-only) | Displays the certificate’s alias that was requested. |
| Returned Cert | text (read-only) | Displays the actual certificate that is currently used. |
| Cert Status | text (read-only) | Specifies the status of the requested certificate (OK, Bad Password) |
| Request Timeout | hours minutes seconds (defaults to one minute | Defines how long to wait for a response before assuming a connection is dead. |
| Socket Option Timeout | hours minutes seconds (defaults to one minute) | Defines how long on a socket read before assuming the connection is dead. |
| Socket Tcp No Delay | true (default) or False | Disables (true) and enables (false) Nagle’s algorithm, which causes issues with delayed acknowledgements
that occurred in TCP socket communications between Fox clients and
servers. The default is recommended, which disables Nagle’s algorithm.
On the Workbench side, a line added to the system.properties file can adjust this setting: niagara.fox.tcpNoDelay=true. |
| Keep Alive Interval | hours minutes seconds (defaults to five (5) seconds) | Defines the interval between keep alive messages. The keep alive should be well below the request time-out and socket option time-out. |
| Max Server Sessions | number (defaults to 100) | Defines the maximum number of Fox/Foxs server connections before additional client connections error with busy. |
| Multicast Enabled | true (default) or False | Enables (true) and disables (false) UDP multicasting initiated by the station. This is necessary for
a discovery from this station. This differs from Workbench UDP mulitcast support, which can be disabled via an entry in the Workbench host’s system.properties file. |
| Enable Announcement | true (default) or False. | Enables (true) and disables (false) support of UDP multicast announcement messages received by the station in support of learn/discovery. |
| Multicast Time To Live | number (defaults to 4) | Defines the number of hops to make before a multicast message expires. |
| Server Connections | additional properties | Provides status information about current Workbench client connections to the local station (does not reflect station-to-station Fox connections). |
| Trace Session States | true or False (default) | Enables (true) and disables (false) debug usage for tracing session state changes. |
| Trace Read Frame | true or False (default). | Enables (true) and disables (false) debug usage for dumping frames being read from the wire. |
| Trace Write Frame | true or False (default). | Enables (true) and disables (false) debug usage for dumping frames being written to the wire. |
| Trace Multicast | true or False (default). | Enables (true) and disables (false) debug usage for tracing multicast messaging. |
| Audit Station Login Events | true or False (default). | Enables (true) and disables (false) the auditing of Fox login and logout events for station clients. When set to true, increase the capacity for the audit history accordingly. |
| Support Legacy Clients | drop-down list | Selects legacy client versions to support. |