How to Set Up a Tunneller Server and Connect it to a Tunneller Client

This is a brief guide on how to connect the Matrikon OPC Tunneller software to transfer data from an OPC DA server to another location. Due to the limitations of COM connections, the Tunneller provides an easy way to establish this communication without the need for complex configurations.

For this, we go to the computer where the OPC server is located. In this case, we will use Matrikon OPC Simulation. We access the Tunneller panel and select the "Classic Client to Classic Server" option. In this tab, you will find two options. Since this is the computer we will be sharing, we choose the "Tunneller Server-Side Gateway Configuration" option. Within this option, you will see a button called "Advanced." Clicking on it will open a configuration panel where you can view the preconfigured settings. Here, it indicates that communication will occur through port 21379 and that the connection will use the computer's IP address.

Now, on the client side, which is the computer where we want to transfer the information from the OPC DA server, we need to install the Tunneller and go to the Tunneller Client-Side Gateway Configuration option.

In this panel, click the "plus" icon to add new connections. This will open a new panel where you need to enter the information for the Tunneller Server-Side computer. In the first field labeled Host/IP, enter the server computer’s IP address. In this exercise, I will use 127.0.0.1, and leave the port set to the default 21379.

If you want to use compression to reduce bandwidth usage, you can enable it. Otherwise, just leave everything as default and click OK. This will take a few seconds while it reads the ports.

Important Note:
If nothing returns, check the services on both computers.

For the Tunneller Server-Side, go to the Windows Services panel and ensure the service with the same name is running.

    Do the same on the client side, verifying that the service with the same name is active.

If everything is in order, on the left panel of the Tunneller, you will see the names of the OPC servers hosted on the server computer.

At this point, you can explore the connection using an OPC DA client.

Created by JF