For Live data, Historical data logging, Datalogging to MQTT broker, and Alarms & Notifications you'll need to set up a data source and add variables. This article shows you how to do this for communication via Siemens S7-300/400/1200/1500 protocol.

Using a Siemens LOGO! PLC? This protocol not work with a Siemens LOGO! Use Modbus instead.

For help and solutions with issues, see Siemens S7-300/400/1200/1500 data source issues and solutions.

• Prepare the machine
• Add a data source
• Add variables
• Live data, Historical data logging, Alarms & Notifications

• Remove a data source

Prepare the machine

Protection and variable addressing may need to be adjusted to enable communication.

Protection
The S7-1200 and S7-1500 series have a built-in firewall that, by default, blocks data requests from other devices like the edge gateway. This is not applicable to S7-300 and S7-400 series.

Variable addressing
The addresses of data block variables are, by default, optimized by TIA Portal and not visible. Optimized block access will need to be turned off to see the addresses of your variables.

Add a data source

The machine will need to be added as a Siemens S7-300/400/1200/1500 data source.

1. Go to Fleet Manager > Devices and click on your device name.
2. In the left menu, go to Data sources.
   • Tip: You can switch between the Card view , with useful data source information at a glance, and the List view . For more information, see Data sources overview FAQ.
3. Click onAdd data source and select Siemens S7-300/400/1200/1500.
4. Enter the requested information (details below) and click on Add.

   Field	Description
   Name	Enter a name for the data source.
   Identifier	The identifier is entered automatically and ensures that every data source remains unique, even if they share the same name.
   IP address	Enter the IP address of your machine. Leave empty for localhost, if you're using an IXagent, or if you're adding this data source for a Docker container on a SecureEdge Pro.
   Port	The port number will be entered automatically (port 102 for Siemens S7).
   Rack and Slot	The rack and slot number of your machine can be viewed in TIA Portal > Device configuration. Below is an overview of the default rack and slot numbers. Series Default rack and slot S7-300 Rack: 0 Slot: 2 S7-400 Rack: 0 Slot: 2 or 3 S7-1200 Rack: 0 Slot: 1 S7-1500 Rack: 0 Slot: 1
   Polling sleep time	The edge gateway will continuously request data from the machine. This then enables you to log aggregated values, like the average value or the maximum value that occurred, and to trigger alarms when certain conditions are met. The polling sleep time is the time that the edge gateway waits before asking data again, after it just received data from the machine. A polling sleep time of 100ms is recommended to minimize CPU load on the edge gateway and machine. In the rare case that you are experiencing a high CPU load on the machine, you can increase this setting to reduce the load. Make sure it's shorter than your shortest logging interval to prevent missing data.
   Error grace period	Supported hardware SecureEdge and SecureEdge Pro, firmware 5.0 and up (upgrade) IXrouter3, firmware 3.25 and up (upgrade) IXrouter2 (unsupported) In rare situations, mainly during the startup period of a PLC, the PLC might already accept communication attempts from the edge gateway, but it may not be fully ready yet. It might then return errors or 0-values instead of the actual values. This may result in no data (missing data) or incorrect data being read. The error grace period can be configured to bridge this moment and only start polling variables after the configured time, granting the PLC sufficient time to fully start up and maintaining the reliability of the machine data. An error grace period of 0 seconds (Off) is recommended. In the rare case that you are experiencing no data (missing data) or incorrect data during startup you can increase this setting to bridge that period.
   Use custom broker	Leave this unchecked unless you are following instructions for Datalogging to MQTT broker.

Add variables

Once you've added a data source, you can start adding variables.

5. The Variables tab of your data source should have automatically opened.
   • If it didn't: Go to Fleet Manager > Devices, click on your device name, go to Data sources, click on your data source, and go to the Variables tab.
6. Click onAdd variable.
7. Enter the requested information (details below) and click on Add.

   Field	Description
   Name	Enter a name for the variable.
   Identifier	The identifier is entered automatically and ensures that every variable remains unique, even if they share the same name.
   Type	Select the variable's data type (bool, int, float, etc). UINT64 is supported up to a value of 9.223.372.036.854.775.807 (263-1). To read an individual bit from a Byte or a Word, select BOOL, enter de byte address at Address and enter the byte's bit number at Bit. Configuration example for individual bits from a Byte or Word Byte To log an individual bit of a Byte, enter the Address and Bit in the IXON Cloud as you would with a regular Boolean. For example, If its offset is 19.3: enter 19 at Address and 3 at Bit. Word Keep a byte swap in mind when reading individual bits from a Word. Siemens PLCs apply byte order "big endian": first the higher byte, then the lower byte. Effectively this means that a byte swap is applied and that when you are requesting a bit value from the 2nd byte, you are actually getting the value from the 1st byte and vice versa. For example, if its offset ranges from 24.0 to 25.7 and you want to read data from bit 25.6: enter 24 at Address and 6 at Bit. If instead you wish to read a bit from the first byte, say 24.2: enter 25 at Address and 2 at Bit. For solutions to prevent this byte swap, please see: Data logging a bit from a Word logs an incorrect address from Siemens PLCs.
   Length	(for String data types only) The String length.
   Region	DB (data block), I (input), M (marker) or Q (output)
   Data block	(available when region DB is selected) Enter the data block number.
   Address	The full address is called offset in TIA Portal. For example, for offset 24.0 you enter 24 as the address value.
   Bit	(available when BOOL data type is selected) The full address is called offset in TIA Portal. For example, for offset 24.0 you enter 0 as the bit value.
   Factor	Multiplies the value. Leave empty if the data type is BOOL. For information on where this factor is and isn't used, see How to use factors in Live Data and Historical data.
   Unit	Displayed behind the value (e.g. kg).

8. Repeat the previous steps for every variable you want to add or click Import from CSV-file near the top right corner to add variables in bulk instead.
   • The structure of the CSV file is explained here: Import variables: CSV file structure.
   • Using Export to CSV-file and Import from CSV-file enables you to easily copy variables from one device to another device. Alternatively, you can also use device templates.

You have now made the changes in the IXON Cloud, but these are not yet active in your device. You will need to push your changes to your device for them to take effect.

9. Click on Push device config in the top right corner.

Live data, Historical data logging, Alarms & Notifications

Now that the data source and variables have been set up, you can continue below.

10. Click below to continue in the feature specific articles.
    • Live data
    • Historical data logging
    • Datalogging to MQTT broker
    • Alarms & Notifications

Remove a data source

Deleting a data source is permanent and cannot be undone. All logged data that is linked to this data source or its variables will also be permanently removed.

1. Go to Fleet Manager > Devices and click on your device name.
2. In the left menu, go to Data sources.
3. Click on the data source you wish to remove.
4. In the top right, open More optionsand select Remove data source.