Ignition SCADA Advanced – Cheat Sheet

An advanced guide for Ignition SCADA professionals. Discover expert strategies for managing large-scale systems, optimizing performance, securing projects, and automating workflows.

1. Ignition Architecture for Complex Systems

• Gateway Network:
  • Link multiple Gateways for distributed systems: Gateway → Config → Gateway Network → Create Gateway Connection.
  • Use Cases: Central Gateway for enterprise-wide monitoring, Edge Gateways for localized data collection.
• Redundancy:
  • Enable redundancy for failover: Gateway → Config → Redundancy Settings.
  • Test synchronization periodically to ensure reliability.

2. Optimizing Tags and Data Handling

• Tag Management Best Practices:
  • Use User-Defined Types (UDTs) for reusable, parameterized tag groups.
  • Leverage Leased Tag Groups to optimize polling frequency for high-demand tags.
• Tag Historian Optimization:
  • Enable historian compression: Gateway → Config → Tag History → Compression Settings.
  • Partition historical data by time intervals for scalability.
• Best Practice: Audit tags regularly to remove unused entries.

3. Database Strategies for SCADA Projects

• Relational Database Setup:
  • Configure database connections: Gateway → Config → Databases → Create New Connection.
  • Use Query Tags for dynamic data retrieval.
• Partitioning:
  • Implement partitioning strategies for historical data tables (e.g., daily or monthly partitions).
• Data Purging:
  • Automate purging: Gateway → Config → Historical Data → Data Cleanup.

4. Advanced Visualization (Vision & Perspective)

• Vision:
  • Use Template Repeater for modular, scalable displays.
  • Employ embedded windows to improve performance on complex screens.
• Perspective:
  • Design responsive UIs with Flex Containers for mobile and desktop compatibility.
  • Leverage Style Classes for consistent design across projects.
• Dynamic Bindings:
  • Use Indirect Tag Bindings for parameterized views.
  • Combine bindings with expressions for advanced calculations.

5. Alarm Configuration and Management

• Advanced Alarming:
  • Configure alarms hierarchically (e.g., area → equipment → tag).
  • Use Derived Tags to preprocess data before alarming.
• Notification Pipelines:
  • Build escalation pipelines: Gateway → Config → Alarming → Pipelines.
  • Include delays, conditions, and retries for robust workflows.
• Best Practice: Regularly test alarms to prevent desensitization.

6. Scripting for Automation

• Python Scripting:
  • Use Gateway Event Scripts for scheduled tasks (e.g., data synchronization).
  • Example: Automatically export historical data:pythonCopyEditsystem.dataset.exportCSV("C:/exports/historical_data.csv", dataset)
• Tag Event Scripts:
  • Trigger logic based on tag changes (e.g., alarms, state changes).
• Reusable Functions:
  • Create reusable scripts in Project Library.

7. Security and User Access Control

• User Roles:
  • Configure roles (e.g., Admin, Operator): Gateway → Config → Security → Users, Roles.
• SSL Setup:
  • Enable HTTPS: Gateway → Config → Networking → Web Server Settings.
• Auditing:
  • Enable auditing to track changes: Gateway → Config → Auditing.

8. Gateway Performance and Troubleshooting

• Performance Monitoring:
  • Check system performance: Gateway → Status → Performance.
  • Monitor slow queries and optimize them in the database.
• Troubleshooting Tools:
  • Review Gateway logs for errors: Gateway → Status → Logs.
  • Test OPC device connections regularly.

9. Reducing Load and Improving Efficiency

• Data Compression:
  • Use Ignition’s Tag History Compression for efficient storage.
• Gateway Scaling:
  • Distribute workload across Gateways by separating visualization, data processing, and historian tasks.
• Best Practice: Offload heavy analytics to external systems like Power BI or Python-based solutions.

10. Deployment and Maintenance

• Project Staging:
  • Always test in a staging environment before deploying to production.
  • Use Staging Mode in Perspective to safely test changes.
• Automated Backups:
  • Enable automated Gateway backups: Gateway → Config → Backup & Restore.
• Version Control:
  • Use Git for project versioning and collaboration.

11. Key Tools and Resources

• Ignition Documentation: Ignition User Manual.
• Inductive University: To Master Ignition SCADA at your own pace here is free training.
• Support Forum: Induction Automation Forum, click here.
• SDK for Custom Modules: Overview of the Ignition SDK, click here.

Quick Expert Practices

1. Create a Modular UDT Structure: Use parameterized templates for efficient tag scaling.
2. Dynamic Alarm Pipelines: Build conditional alarm pipelines with custom scripts.
3. Optimize Gateway Load: Use remote tag providers to distribute processing.
4. Custom Dashboards: Combine Python scripting with Ignition’s Perspective charts for advanced data visualization.