OIBus to OIBus communication

Context

Sometimes, PLCs or databases are only accessible in a private network. Let's call it the industrial network. This network often exists inside or beside another network ; let's call it the office network. Two options exist to access these data:

• Allow connections to each data source from the OIBus machine (which is in the office network, outside the industrial network) through the firewall
• Install one OIBus in the industrial network and one OIBus in the office network.Manage a single communication between the two networks.

The first option is acceptable if you have only one machine on which to install OIBus, but it involves more network settings to manage and risk the exposing of your machines. The second option is preferable. Indeed, the first OIBus in the industrial network - OIBus1 - can access the machine in the same network, and send data to the office network through a single connection allowed in the firewall (from OIBus1 to OIBus2).

Let's see how to set up this communication.

Data

Set up a North connector OIConnect in OIBus1

OIConnect is very useful when one OIBus has no internet access (because it is isolated in an industrial network) but can communicate to another OIBus which is in another network with internet access.

In this case, let's keep the default endpoints /engine/addValues and /engine/addFile for values and file endpoints respectively. The host could be something like http://1.2.3.4:2223 where 1.2.3.4 is the IP address and 2223 is the port of the second OIBus. Be careful to authorize remote connection in the second OIBus Engine settings in the IP Filter section and to use the appropriate username and password (using Basic Authentication). In this case, the OIBus username and password must be used (by default, admin and pass).

Set up an External source in OIBus2

On the second OIBus, if you have a North connector with no subscription, the data will automatically be sent to the North.

However, if you want a North to subscribe to a specific external source, you must declare an additional external source in the Engine settings. Its name must follow the syntax of the name query param, for example MyOIBus:MyOIConnect.

The North connector can now subscribe to this specific external source.

Logs

Loki through another OIBus

To send logs to OIBus2, go to the Engine page in the Loki logs section, and specify the OIBus2 address in the Host field and its associated endpoint. For example: http://1.2.3.4:2223/logs. OIBus2 uses Basic Auth. Keep empty the token address field and fill the username and password used to connect to OIBus2.

If the loki level set in OIBus1 is info, only info and above levels will be sent to OIBus2. In OIBus2, if the console and file levels are set to error, only error levels will be logged on the console and file. However, if the loki level is set to info too, all the logs received from OIBus1 will be sent to this loki endpoint.

Health Signal

When the health signal is triggered through the logs, it follows the logic when sending logs to loki. Nothing else has to be done.

When the health signal is triggered though an HTTP request, it can be sent to OIBus2 to be forwarded to its own HTTP health signal. If the OIBus2 HTTP health signal is disabled, the OIBus1 signal will only be stored in OIBus2 logs but not forwarded to another HTTP endpoint.

The endpoint to use for HTTP health signal to another OIBus is /engine/aliveSignal.