---
title: "Connecting to PLC5"
---

# Connecting to PLC5

> <IUCard title="Connecting to PLC5" link="https://www.inductiveuniversity.com/video/connecting-to-plc5/8.1" />
> <br/>

## Connect to a Device
1. Go to the **Config** section of the Gateway Webpage.
2. Scroll down and select **OPC UA** > **Device Connections**.

    ![Connecting to PLC5 Step 2](connecting-to-plc5-step-2.png)

3. On the **Devices** page, click on **Create new Device**.
4. Select **Allen-Bradley PLC5**, and click **Next**.

    ![Connecting to PLC5 Step 4](connecting-to-plc5-step-4.png)

5. Fill in the following fields:
    * **Name**: PLC5 
    * **Hostname**: type the **IP address** for the PLC, for example 10.20.4.56.

    Leave the default values for the remaining fields.

    ![Connecting to PLC5 Step 5](connecting-to-plc5-step-5.png)

6. Click **Create New Device**.
7. The **Devices** page is displayed showing the **PLC5** device is added to Ignition. The **Status** will show as Disconnected and then Connected.

    ![Connecting to PLC5 Step 7](connecting-to-plc5-step-7.png)

8. To see all the tags, go to **OPC Client** > **Quick Client** in the **Config** section. On the **OPC Quick Client** page, expand the **PLC5** folder and in the **Global** folder you can see all the tags.

## Device Connection Settings
The **General** settings are common to all Allen Bradley devices, and the **Connectivity** settings are device dependent.

### General Settings
| Name | Description |
|:---|:---|
| Name | The user-defined name for this Device. The name chosen will show up in **OPC Item Paths** and under **OPC-UA Server** > **Devices** of the **Configure** page of the Gateway. The Device Name must be alphanumeric. |
| Description | The user-defined description for the device. This is only used as a note to differentiate between devices. |
| Enable Device | Only devices that are enabled appear in **Connections** > **Devices** of the **Status** page of the Gateway and thus have their tags available for use. |

### Connectivity Settings
| Name | Description |
|:---|:---|
| Hostname | The Hostname value is the IP Address of the PLC-5 processor. The protocol that the PLC-5 processor supports is automatically detected. It will use either CSP protocol on port 2222 (0x8AE) or EthernetIP protocol on port 44818 (0xAF12). |
| Local Address |  The local address to connect from when establishing a TCP connection. If left blank, then the driver will simply pick an available address. |
| Communication Timeout | After sending a request to the PLC-5 processor, the Communication Timeout setting is the amount of time in milliseconds to wait for a response before treating it as a failure. |
| Browse Cache Timeout | When the data table layout is read from the PLC-5 processor, the Browse Cache Timeout value is the amount of time in milliseconds to cache the results. |
| Connection Path | The Connection Path value is used to define the route of the PLC-5 processor to connect to. Currently routing through the ControlLogix Ethernet Communication Interface Module (1756-ENET) to the ControlLogix Data Highway Plus-Remote I/O Communication Interface Module (1756-DHRIO) and on to a PLC-5 processor of the DH+ network is supported. |

### Advanced
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Disable Processor Browse | Disables the processor browse setting. (Default is false.) |
| Zero TNS Connection | Disables the Zero TNS connection setting. (Default is false.) |

## More Information On Connection Path
The Connection Path format contains 4 numbers separated by commas. The first number is always 1 and tells the 1756-ENET module to route through the backplane. The second number is the slot number of the 1756-DHRIO module of the DH+ network the PLC-5 processor is connected to. The third number is the channel of the 1756-DHRIO module that the PLC-5 processor is connected to. Use 2 for channel A and 3 for channel B. The final and fourth number is the DH+ node number. This number is in octal and is the same as configured in the PLC-5 processor. See the **ControlLogix Ethernet Communication interface Module** User Manual for more information.

* Connection Path Format: `1,<1756-DHRIO slot number>,<1756-DHRIO channel>,<DH+ node number>`

The valid range for the 1756-DHRIO slot number is between 0 and 16 but depends on the chassis size. The 1756-DHRIO channel is either 2 for channel A or 3 for channel B. The DH+ node number range is from 00 to 77 octal.

### Supported PLC-5 Connection Methods
* PLC-5 L/20E, L/40E, L/80E direct
* All PLC-5 processors connected through DH+ via the 1756-DHRIO module.

:::note
ASCII data types from a PLC5 are not supported by the Allen-Bradley PLC5 driver.
:::