Aspen Cloud Connect
Installation and Configuration Guide
Version Number: V12
October 2020
Copyright (c) 2020 by Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
Aspen Cloud Connect, Aspen Edge Connect, and the Aspen Leaf logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Aspen Technology, Inc., Bedford, MA.
All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
This document is intended as a guide to using AspenTech's software. This documentation contains AspenTech
proprietary and confidential information and may not be disclosed, used, or copied without the prior consent of
AspenTech or as set forth in the applicable license agreement. Users are solely responsible for the proper use of
the software and the application of the results obtained.
Although AspenTech has tested the software and reviewed the documentation, the sole warranty for the software
may be found in the applicable license agreement between AspenTech and the user. ASPENTECH MAKES NO
WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS DOCUMENTATION,
ITS QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Aspen Technology, Inc.
20 Crosby Drive
Bedford, MA 01730
USA
Phone: + (781) 221-6400
Toll Free: (1) (888) 996-7100
http://www.aspentech.com
Contents
Contents ...................................................................................................................i
1 Introduction .........................................................................................................3
Aspen Cloud Connect Product Family .................................................................. 3
Licensing ......................................................................................................... 3
Aspen Cloud Connect Express .................................................................. 4
Aspen Cloud Connect Standard ................................................................ 4
Aspen Cloud Connect Premium ................................................................ 4
Technical Support ............................................................................................ 5
2 Overview ..............................................................................................................7
Aspen Cloud Connect Overview .......................................................................... 7
Supported Data Collection Protocols ................................................................... 8
Supported Data Publishing Protocols ................................................................... 8
System Recommendations ................................................................................ 9
3 Installing for the First Time................................................................................11
Before You Install ........................................................................................... 11
Granular Downloads ....................................................................................... 11
Installing Aspen Cloud Connect ........................................................................ 12
Getting Started .................................................................................... 12
Welcome page ..................................................................................... 13
License Terms and Conditions ................................................................ 15
Product selection .................................................................................. 15
File Location ........................................................................................ 16
Prerequisite Validation .......................................................................... 17
Configure Service Account ..................................................................... 18
Verify Your Installation ......................................................................... 19
Installation Progress ............................................................................. 20
Installation Complete ............................................................................ 21
4 Configuring for the First Time ............................................................................23
Aspen Connect Toolkit .................................................................................... 23
Overview............................................................................................. 23
Activating the License File ..................................................................... 23
Adding Servers .................................................................................... 25
Adding Tags ........................................................................................ 51
Adding Routes ..................................................................................... 52
Backing Up and Restoring Devices .......................................................... 52
Checking the Device Status ................................................................... 52
Contents
i
5 Uninstalling AspenTech Products .......................................................................55
Appendices ............................................................................................................57
Appendix A: The Aspen Connect service does not start ....................................... 57
Appendix B: Basic Authentication to the OSISoft PI Web API Configuration............ 57
Appendix C: Aspen Connect Environment Variables Documentation ..................... 59
Appendix D: Aspen Connect Network Considerations .......................................... 62
Appendix E: Upgrading to Aspen Connect V12 ................................................... 63
Appendix F: Connecting to InfoPlus.21 using gRPC ............................................. 63
The IP21 gRPC Server Installation .......................................................... 64
Appendix G: User Defined Datasets (UDD) and Connect Configuration Service (CCS)68
User Defined Datasets (UDD) Overview................................................... 69
Connect Configuration Service (CCS) Overview ........................................ 69
Configuring Aspen Connect to stream data to EA Cloud User Defined Dataset
(UDD) ................................................................................................. 70
Appendix H: Modbus Details ............................................................................ 72
ii
Contents
1 Introduction
This document outlines the installation procedure and configuration
instructions for data collection and data publishing using Aspen Cloud Connect.
Aspen Cloud Connect Product
Family
The instructions in this guide focus on installing and configuring Aspen Cloud
Connect on a Windows operating system. The Aspen Connect product family
includes:

Aspen Cloud Connect

Aspen Edge Connect
There are other Aspen Manufacturing products that you may use in
conjunction with Aspen Cloud Connect. When installing other products, see
those products’ installation guides.
Licensing
To manage your product entitlement, you will receive the following separately:
A license file to activate Aspen Cloud Connect. This file will have the name
format “license-[orderID].dat”
Aspen Cloud Connect includes the following license models in V12:

Aspen Cloud Connect Express

Aspen Cloud Connect Standard

Aspen Cloud Connect Premium
Note: Aspen Connect V12 enables you to use subnet authenticated licenses
or Mac address authenticated licenses.
1 Introduction
3
Aspen Cloud Connect Express
No license key is required. Aspen Cloud Connect provides the out of the box
(OOTB) feature to work with Aspen Cloud and other Aspentech products.

All source servers are enabled out of the box (OOTB).

Only the following AspenTech destination servers are enabled out of the
box.
o
IP21 using gRPC
o
Aspen Cloud
Aspen Cloud Connect Standard
A license key is required to enable third-party destination servers.

All source servers are enabled out of the box (OOTB).

The following AspenTech destination servers are enabled out of the box.

o
IP21 using gRPC
o
Aspen Cloud
The following third-party destination servers are enabled with the standard
license key.
o
SQL Servers
o
CSV Servers
o
PostgreSQL
Aspen Cloud Connect Premium
A license key is required to enable third-party destination servers.

All source servers are enabled out of the box (OOTB).

The following AspenTech destination servers are enabled out of the box.

4
o
IP21 using gRPC
o
Aspen Cloud
The following third-party destination servers are enabled with the
premium license key.
o
SQL Servers
o
CSV Servers
o
PostgreSQL
o
MQTT
o
RabbitMQ
o
OSISoft
o
OPC UA
o
Azure IoT Hub
o
AWS S3
o
Hadoop HDFS
o
InfluxDB
o
Kafka
1 Introduction
Destinations have route limits of 10k tags per route. The total number of
configurable routes is determined by the installed license.
Technical Support
AspenTech customers with a valid license and software maintenance
agreement can register to access the online AspenTech Support Center at:
https://support.aspentech.com
This Web support site allows you to:

Access current product documentation

Search for tech tips, solutions and frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Search for and download application examples

Search for and download service packs and product updates

Submit and track technical issues

Send suggestions

Report product defects

Review lists of known deficiencies and defects

Registered users can also subscribe to our Technical Support
e-Bulletins. These e-Bulletins are used to alert users to important
technical support information such as:

Technical advisories

Product updates and releases
Customer support is also available by phone, fax, and email. The most up-todate contact information is available at the AspenTech Support Center at
https://support.aspentech.com.
1 Introduction
5
2 Overview
This chapter provides an overview of Aspen Cloud Connect. It contains the
following:

Aspen Cloud Connect Overview

Supported Data Collection Protocols

Supported Data Publishing Protocols

System Recommendations
Aspen Cloud Connect Overview
Aspen Cloud Connect is AspenTech’s Industrial Enterprise data collection
product. Aspen Cloud Connect is built to collect data from MES systems,
integrating the data into cloud or on-premise enterprise systems. Aspen
Cloud Connect is built with increased connectivity options that scales for
Enterprise Roll Ups and Data Lake use cases.
Aspen Cloud Connect uses an embedded web-based toolkit to manage servers,
tags, routes, and check device status. The Aspen Cloud Connect toolkit is a
website hosted by Aspen Cloud Connect. The Aspen Connect service and the
web-based toolkit are,
2 Overview

used to configure the data items and connections required to collect and
send the data. Each item that data will be collected from requires a source
and destination server.

responsible for connecting to the data sources and collecting data from
these sources.

responsible for processing the collected data and sending it to the
configured destination or destinations.

responsible for buffering the data if a network connection to a data
destination is lost.

responsible for any analytics and calculations that are added.
7
Supported Data Collection
Protocols
Aspen Cloud Connect can collect data from the following protocols/sources:

InfoPlus.21 (gRPC)

OSISoft PI

OPC UA

SQL Server

InfluxDB

PostgreSQL

Hadoop (Impala)

MQTT

RabbitMQ

Allen-Bradley Ethernet/IP

Modbus

BACnet

Flat Files (CSV, Log)

Simulation
Supported Data Publishing
Protocols
Aspen Cloud Connect can publish data to the following protocols/destinations:
8

Mnubo

InfoPlus.21 (gRPC)

MS Azure IoT Hub (Https)

Amazon Web Service, Simple Storage (S3)

Hadoop (HDFS)

Hadoop (Impala)

Kafka

OSISoft PI

SQL Server

InfluxDB

OPC/UA

PostgreSQL

MQTT

RabbitMQ

Flat Files (CSV)

Simulation

Aspen Cloud - User Defined Dataset (UDD)
2 Overview
System Recommendations
For the most up-to-date hardware and software requirements that must be
met in order to install AspenTech products, refer to the following website:
https://www.aspentech.com/platform-support/
2 Overview
9
10
2 Overview
3 Installing for the First Time
This chapter explains how to install Aspen Cloud Connect V12. This
installation assumes that you do not currently have any version of Aspen
Cloud Connect on your computer.
Before You Install
Before installing Aspen Cloud Connect, your local PC must have the following:

Fully functioning PC with a Windows (64 bit) operating system.
Granular Downloads
aspenONE V12 includes the ability to download some individual
products/product families that can be used independently of a full
suite. These sub-components are referred to as granular downloads. The
granular downloads are used to provide smaller downloads in situations where
customers only need a specific product/product family. If more than one
granular download is needed, it is recommended that the entire suite is
downloaded because it may take less time overall as opposed to downloading
two or more sub-components.
V12 Engineering (ENG): In the case of the ENG media, users can download
the entire suite or one of the items listed under the ENG group:

Aspen Economic Evaluation

Aspen Exchanger Design and Rating with Aspen Properties, Aspen
Simulation Workbook and Aspen Version Comparison Assistant

Aspen Simulation Workbook

Aspen Multi-Case

Aspen Cim-IO & Process Data*
*The Cim-IO & Process Data software is from the Manufacturing & Supply
Chain suite and is useful for customers deploying a 3rd party historian and is
included for convenience. Note: The Aspen Cim-IO & Process Data software is
not a part of the overall Engineering suite download, and only available as a
separate download.
3 Installing for the First Time
11
V12 Manufacturing & Supply Chain (MSC): In the case of the MSC media,
users can download the entire suite or one of the items listed under the MSC
group:

V12 Batch APC

Aspen Supply Chain Management

Aspen Planning, Scheduling and Blending, Supply & Distribution

Aspen Manufacturing Execution Systems & Advanced Process Control

Aspen Unified

V12 Aspen GDOT Online

V12 Aspen GDOT Offline & Unified GDOT Builder

Aspen Informatica PowerCenter 10.4

Aspen Cim-IO & Process Data
V12 Asset Performance Management (APM): In the case of the APM
media, there is no downloadable suite. Users can download the products
listed below the APM group:

Aspen Asset Analytics

Aspen Fidelis

Aspen ProMV

Aspen Mtell

Aspen Mtell for Oil Well Optimization

Aspen Asset Performance Management Insights

Aspen Enterprise Insights On-Premise Stack
V12 Aspen Internet of Things (AIoT): In the case of the AIoT media,
there is no downloadable suite. Users can download the products listed below
the AIoT group:

Aspen Cloud Connect

Aspen Edge Connect
Software License Manager (SLM): In the case of the SLM media, the only
granular download is ALDA:

aspenONE License Deployment Assistant (ALDA)
Installing Aspen Cloud Connect
Aspen Cloud Connect is installed on the Windows PC with a single installer
package. The installation is very quick, and the configuration is completed
with Aspen Connect Web-Based Toolkit after installation.
Getting Started
1. You can begin your software installation by clicking on the media
download or inserting the aspenONE media into the USB drive.
2. Double click Setup.exe.
3. User Account Control confirmation
12
3 Installing for the First Time
Before you see the Welcome page, you may see the following:
You must click Yes to continue.
Welcome page
3 Installing for the First Time
13
The AspenTech Installation Welcome Page provides options to install or
upgrade aspenONE products, configure licensing, and create install scripts for
unattended installations.
The following links are available on the left side of the aspenONE Installer
Welcome Page:

Get Started Guide – Opens the AspenTech Deployment Solutions Web
site.

Installation Guides – Opens a folder that contains all the Installation
Guides for the products.

Release Notes – Opens a folder that contains all the Release Notes for
the products.

aspenONE Product Documentation – Opens the AspenTech Support
Web site.

aspenONE Update Center – Connects to the Aspen Support Update
Center so that you can check to see if there are patches available for the
product(s) that you are installing. You must be a registered user on the
Support Web site to access the Update Center.

Unattended Install Notes – Provides instruction on creating an
unattended installation.

Support Services – Connects to the AspenTech Support Web site, where
you can find knowledge base articles, tips, and solutions to known
problems.

AspenTech Home – Connects to the AspenTech Web site.

Contact Us – Connects to the AspenTech Support Web site, where you
can obtain the latest e-mail and telephone contact information and find
the AspenTech Support location closest to you. You can see hours of
operation for global support and submit your support issues.
The following options are available on the aspenONE Installer Welcome Page:

Install aspenONE products – Launches the installation process during
which you will select new products to be installed on this computer.

Repair – Repair existing installation errors.

Prepare Deployments (For IT Personnel/Deployment Groups) –
Create install scripts and copy media to automate software deployment.
Notes:

Be sure that the SLM license server or standalone license is available prior
to installation. SLM tools are automatically installed when installing
aspenONE products.
Click Install aspenONE Products.
14
3 Installing for the First Time
License Terms and Conditions
Select I accept the terms of the agreement and click Next to continue.
Product selection
Aspen Connect Web-based Toolkit is installed with Aspen Cloud Connect.
Aspen Connect Web-based Toolkit is the configuration tool for Aspen Cloud
Connect. Having Aspen Connect Web-based Toolkit installed alongside Aspen
Cloud Connect ensures ease of configuration later.
3 Installing for the First Time
15
File Location
16
3 Installing for the First Time
Notes:



Once the installation of any AspenTech product to the default folder has
been completed, this folder cannot be changed, and the Change Current
Destination Folder dialog box will no longer display. Any further
AspenTech installations on the computer are made to that folder by
default.
Common features are always installed in the Program files\Common
Files\AspenTech Shared folder regardless of the destination location
selected.
Do not install in the root folder on any drive other than C:\. If you must
install on a drive other than C:\, be sure to specify a directory.
Prerequisite Validation
This screen will only appear if prerequisites are missing.
In V12 the capability to install and/or configure some of the product prerequisites during the Aspen software installation process – mostly Microsoft
Internet Information Services (IIS) was added. Here is a description of the
icons related to installing pre-requisites. (These must be installed before the
AspenTech installation can proceed). You may also encounter other icons that
are informational only.

This item can be installed automatically by selecting “Install
Prerequisites”

or
This item cannot be installed automatically by selecting
“Install Prerequisites”. Select the link in the item’s description to open an
AspenTech support site link that describes how to install this item.

This item is informational
3 Installing for the First Time
17
Configure Service Account

Name. Enter your Service Account username

Password. Enter your Service Account password
Note: The login credentials must be the local administrator or part of the
local administrator group.
18
3 Installing for the First Time
Verify Your Installation
3 Installing for the First Time
19
Installation Progress
20
3 Installing for the First Time
Installation Complete
Be sure to follow the instructions in the “Configuring for the First Time”
chapter.
3 Installing for the First Time
21
4 Configuring for the First
Time
Aspen Connect Toolkit
Overview
The Aspen Connect Toolkit is a website hosted by Aspen Connect and is used
to configure data collection and publishing. These tasks are carried out on a
per-item basis or as bulk groups, i.e., each item from which data is collected
from can be configured individually or within a bulk group with other items.
Moreover, this toolkit is designed to store the different configuration settings
so they can be re-used among data items, which allows for faster
configuration.
The following steps represent the basic workflow when configuring the Aspen
Cloud Connect for the first time:

Activating the License File

Adding Servers

Adding Tags

Adding Routes

Backing up and Restoring Devices

Checking Device Status
Activating the License File
Before starting the following procedures, you must ensure that your license
file is correctly activated if a standard or premium license was purchased.
To activate the license file:
1. After the installation, open the Google Chrome browser, and type the URL:
https: //<IP address of Aspen Connect machine>:6584
2. From the following page, click Advanced to expand the Advanced section.
4 Configuring for the First Time
23
3. From the Advanced section, click proceed to <Aspen Connect machine
address> (unsafe) to open the Aspen Connect Login page.
24
4 Configuring for the First Time
4. From the Aspen Connect Login page, use the default username "admin",
and the default password "admin" to log in. The Aspen Connect main
page opens.
5. From the Aspen Connect main page, click
License Activation dialog box opens.
. The Aspen Connect
6. From the Aspen Connect License Activation dialog box, click
select the license.dat file, and then click Activate.
to
7. After the license is activated successfully, the supported data collecting
and publishing protocols will be displayed.
8. Click Close to complete.
Adding Servers
1. From the Aspen Cloud Connect main page, click the "+" button to access
the Add Server page.
2. Select the Protocol from the drop-down list.
3. Fill the required parameters (with
4 Configuring for the First Time
) based on the selected protocol.
25
4. Click Add Server to save your settings.
Tip: After adding servers, you can click
in the Aspen Cloud Connect
main page to view more information about Aspen Cloud Connect supported
capabilities for each protocol.
Allen-Bradley Ethernet/IP
This window allows you to configure a server to access data from AllenBradley devices.

Name - The name of the Allen-Bradley Ethernet/IP connection.

Address - The IP address or the fully qualified domain name of the AllenBradley device.
Amazon Web Service S3
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service
that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and
performance.
26
4 Configuring for the First Time

Name - The name of the Amazon Web Service, Simple Storage (S3)
connection.

Format - The output file type. Currently, Aspen Connect only supports the
CSV file format.

Region - Specify the AWS Region where you want Amazon S3 to create
the bucket.

API Key - The access key ID of the Amazon Web Service account. You
can find the Access Key ID information:
o
in the AWS S3 Security Credentials page, or
o
in your key file (if you downloaded the key file when creating the
new access key).

API Secret - The Secret Access Key of the Amazon Web Service account.
You can find it in your key file, if you downloaded the key file when
creating a new access key. It can also be found in the AWS S3 Security
Credentials as the API Key.

Bucket Name - The name of the Amazon Web Service S3 bucket that you
want to publish data to.
Important: Bucket names must not contain uppercase characters or
underscores and must comply with DNS naming conventions. For more
4 Configuring for the First Time
27
information on Bucket naming convention, go to the online documentation for
AWS.

File Prefix - The folder path of the output data.
Also, can be referred to as a "delimiter".
Please refer to the online documentation for AWS for additional details.

File Duration - The duration to upload output files in seconds. For
example, if you enter 86400, that is 24 hours, it means the output files
are uploaded to Amazon Web Service S3 at an interval of 24 hours. Value
is expressed in seconds. The default value is 0 and must be set to a
number.
Note: Value must be a factor of 86400, for example, 1, 2, 4, 5, 25, 60, 3600
are valid entries while 7, 14, 62, 316 or 3800 are not.

Overwrite Frequency - The frequency with which the files are
overwritten. Value is expressed in seconds. The default value is 0 and
must be set to a number.
Note: Value must be a factor of 3600.
BACnet
BACnet is a communication protocol designed for building automation and
control networks.
28

Name - The name of the BACnet server connection based on your
preferences.

Address - The IP address of the BACnet server.

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The default port
number is 55544.
4 Configuring for the First Time
Flat Files (CSV, Log)

Name - The name of the flat file connection based on your preferences.

File Path - The flat file name. Enter the file location as a relative path to
the connect install path (/<myfolder>/demo.csv) or if the file is in the
same folder, just enter the file name (demo.csv).

Tag Name Column - The name of the column that contains Tags

Value Column - The name of the column that contains Values
4 Configuring for the First Time
29

Timestamp Column - The name of the column that contains
Timestamps.

Quality Column - The name of the column that contains the Data Quality
(optional).

Creation Interval - The frequency with which the output files are
generated.

History Chunk Duration - Enter the duration (expressed in seconds) of
the history data chunk to be pulled at once. The default value is 86400.

Live Chunk Duration - Enter the frequency (expressed in seconds) at
which the system will scan for live data. The default value is 3600.

Date Format - The format of the timestamp in the CSV file. Format must
follow RFC3339.

Format - The format of the CSV file. Vertical if your data is organized by
columns, Horizontal if your data is organized by rows.
InfluxDB
InfluxDB is an open source time series database. InfluxDB provides real-time
visibility into stack, sensors, and systems.
30
4 Configuring for the First Time
4 Configuring for the First Time
31

Name - The name of the InfluxDB connection based on your preferences.

Address - The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the InfluxDB
server.

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The default port
number is 8086.

Database Name - The InfluxDB database name that you want to connect.

Measurement Name - The measurement name of the data record. An
InfluxDB measurement is similar to a relational database table.
Measurements are strings.

Tag Name Column - InfluxDB tags are like columns in a relational
database.

Value Column - The data value column.

Type Column - The type column in the measurement.

Status Column - The status column in the measurement.

Quality Column - The quality column in the measurement.

History Chunk Duration - Enter the duration (expressed in seconds) of
the history data chunk to be pulled at once. The default value is 0 but it
should be set to 300 - 3600.

Live Chunk Duration - Enter the frequency (expressed in seconds) at
which the system will scan for live data. The default value is 0 but it
should be set to 30 to 60 sec.

Format: Format of the data in the table. Vertical or Horizontal.
Modbus
Modbus is a serial communication protocol designed primarily for
communications with PLCs and other devices on a production plant.
32
4 Configuring for the First Time

Name - The name of the Modbus connection based on your preferences.

Mode - Select either TCP or RTU (Remote Terminal Unit) as the
connection type.

IP Address - The IP address of the Modbus device.

TCP Port - The port number of the Modbus TCP device. The default port
number is 502.

RTU Port - The communication (COM) port number of the Modbus RTU
device.

Parity o
None (N) - no parity method is used.
o
Odd (O) - the parity bit is set so that the number of "logical
ones (1s)" has to be odd.
o
Even (E) - the parity bit is set so that the number of "logical
ones (1s)" has to be even.

Baud Rate - The serial data transmission rate (in bits per second) of the
Modbus RTU device

Data Bits - The number of data bits of the Modbus RTU device. Values
are 7 or 8.

Stop Bits - The number of stop bits of the Modbus RTU device.

Timeout - A predetermined timeout interval (response time-out in
seconds) before aborting the transaction.

Unit ID - The Modbus Slave ID. A slave is any peripheral device (I/O
transducer, valve, network drive, or other measuring devices), which
processes information and sends its output to the master. Range 1 to 255.
(MODBUS protocol specifications say 247). The value 0 is also accepted to
communicate directly to a MODBUS/TCP.
Note:


For a TCP mode configuration, please leave “0” as the default value for
RTU fields.
Refer to Appendix H: Modbus Details for more Modbus details.
4 Configuring for the First Time
33
MS Azure IoT Hub
34

Name - The name of the MS Azure IoT Hub connection based on your
preferences.

Host Name - The URL address to connect to Azure IoT Hub. For example,
connect-demo-version.azure-devices.net.

Device ID - The name of your IoT Device. Type is string.

Shared Access Key - The key used to create the authentication token.

Shared Access Key Name - The Access Policy Name in Azure IoT Hub
that provides the permissions to read and write. For example,
iothubowner. Type is string.

Publisher ID - Publisher ID is needed when publishing data using Aspen
format. Type is string.

Format - Select Basic or Aspen as the output format of the json
message.
o
Basic is a generic format
o
Aspen is a format that is carried over from V11 that was used for
specific cloud-based applications.
4 Configuring for the First Time
MQTT
MQTT is a machine-to-machine IOT connectivity protocol. It is useful for
connections with remote locations where a small code footprint is required
and/or network bandwidth is at a premium.
4 Configuring for the First Time
35
36
4 Configuring for the First Time

Name - The name of the MQTT connection based on your preference.

URL - The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the MQTT server.

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The default port
number is 1883.

User Authentication - Select true to execute the user authentication or
false to skip the user authentication.

User Name - The user name to access the MQTT server.

Password - The password to access the MQTT server.

TLS - Stands for Transport Layer Security. Select true to enable TLS or
false to disable TLS.

Root Topic - The name of the root topic.
Note: Topic must contain at least one character; string permits empty spaces
and are case-sensitive.
For example, _myhome/temperature and _MyHome/Temperature are two
different topics.

Format - The data format flowing through the MQTT server. The
supported formats include Custom JSON, JSON Horizontal, JSON Vertical,
and Sparkplug.

Date Format - The format of the timestamps. For example, dd/MM/yyyy
hh:mm:ss.

Tag Name Key - The key to find the tag name. This can be a path if
using Custom JSON format.

Value Key - The key to find the value. This can be a path if using Custom
JSON format.

Time Key - The key to find the time. This can be a path if using Custom
JSON format.
OPC UA
OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is a machine to machine communication
protocol for industrial automation developed by the OPC Foundation.
Distinguishing characteristics are: Focus on communicating with industrial
equipment and systems for data collection and control.
4 Configuring for the First Time
37
38

Name - The name of the OPC/UA connection based on your preferences.

OPCUA Mode - Select Default for the OPC/UA server connection.

Domain - The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the OPC/UA
server.

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The port number
depends on the OPC/UA server. It is also a part of Endpoint URL.

Endpoint URL - The complete OPC/UA endpoint URL.

Discovery Prefix - Limits the discovery of tags. A prefix is similar to a
directory name that enables you to store similar data under the same
directory.

User Name - The user name of the OPC/UA server.
4 Configuring for the First Time

Password - The password of the OPC/UA server user.

History Chunk Duration - Specify how much data you want to pull in
one time from history. For example, if you enter 3600, it means 3600
seconds or one hour.

Live Chuck Duration - Specify the frequency that the server is checked
for live data. For example, if you enter 15, the system scans for live data
every 15 seconds.
InfoPlus.21 (using gRPC)
InfoPlus.21, AspenTech’s information management system for real-time
manufacturing processes, is a process historian that collects data
(temperatures, pressures, etc.), stores it on disk and makes it available for
trending, reporting and other analysis.
Note:


Refer to Appendix F: Connecting to InfoPlus.21 using gRPC for more
information about how to configure the gRPC server.
When Aspen Connect builds a route to deliver tags to an IP21 server, the
IP21 server connection does not automatically create the destination tags.
To alleviate the task of manually creating the IP21 destination tags, you
can use a tool for bulk tag extraction and creation like the IP21 Excel Addin. The IP21 Excel Add-in is used in Microsoft Excel, extracts tags from a
source IP21, and can create them in a destination IP21 server.
4 Configuring for the First Time
39

Name - The name of the InfoPlus.21 connection based on your
preferences.

Address - The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the server.

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The default port
number is 50051.

History Chunk Duration - Enter the duration (expressed in seconds) of
the history data chunk to be pulled at once. The default is 3600.

Live Chunk Duration - Enter the frequency (expressed in seconds) at
which the system will scan for live data. The default value is 15.

Domain - The fully qualified domain name of the user.

User Name - The user name to access the server.

Password - The user password to access the server.
OSISoft PI
The OSISoft PI Server is the real-time data management system. With an
OSISoft PI server, you can make timely and effective decisions based on
comprehensive real-time and historical data.
40
4 Configuring for the First Time
Important: Install and configure the OSISoft PI Web API before using the
OSISoft PI server and establish a connection.
Aspen Cloud Connect supports Reading and Writing to OSISoft PI Web API
versions 2015 R2 and newer. Refer to Basic Authentication to the OSISoft PI
Web API Configuration in the Appendices chapter for more details.

Name - The name of the OSISoft PI Server connection based on your
preferences.

URL - The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the server.

Domain - The user domain.

User Name - The user name to access the server.

Password - The user password to access the server.

Data Server - The data server name.
4 Configuring for the First Time
41

History Chunk Duration - Enter the duration (expressed in seconds) of
the history data chunk to be pulled at once. The maximum value is 86400.

Max History Value Count – The maximum amount of values that can be
retrieved from the server in one call.

Live Chuck Duration - Enter the frequency (expressed in seconds) at
which the system scans for live data. The maximum value is 3600.
RabbitMQ
RabbitMQ is an open-source message-broker software.
42
4 Configuring for the First Time
4 Configuring for the First Time
43
44

Name - The name of the RabbitMQ server connection based on your
preferences.

Address - The IP address of the RabbitMQ server.

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The default port
number is 5672.

User Name - The user name of the RabbitMQ server.

Password - The password of the RabbitMQ server.

Use TLS - Stands for Transport Layer Security. Select true to enable TLS
or false to disable TLS.

Skip Certificate Validation – Select true to skip the certificate
verification or false to execute the certificate verification.

Format - Select Vertical or Horizontal as the data format.

Exchange Name - Enter the exchange name and type you want to use to
route the messages to the different queues.

Routing Key - The routing key defines your message attribute. The
exchange uses the routing key to decide how to route the message to
queues (depending on exchange type).

Time Key - The key to find the time in the json payload.

Value Key - The key to find the value in the json payload.

Type Key - The key to find the type in the json payload.

Status Key - The key to find the status in the json payload.

Quality Key - The key to find the quality in the json payload.
4 Configuring for the First Time
SQL Server / PostgreSQL / Hadoop Impala
4 Configuring for the First Time
45
46
4 Configuring for the First Time

Name - The name of the server connection based on your preferences.

SQL Driver - Select the driver to use when connecting to the server.
MSSQL driver, Postgres driver, and Impala driver are supported.

Address - The IP address or fully qualified domain name.

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The default port
number is 1433.

Database Name - The database name that you want to connect.

History Chunk Duration - Enter the duration (expressed in seconds) of
the history data chunk to be pulled at once. The maximum value is 86400.

Live Chunk Duration - Enter the frequency (expressed in seconds) at
which the system scans for live data. The maximum value is 3600.

Username - The username to log on the server.

Password - The password of the server user.

Time Format - Select Native, Milliseconds from Epoch or String (RFC3339)
as the timestamp format.

Table Name - The name of the database table you want to connect on
the server.

Tag Name Column - The name of the column in the database table that
contains tag name.

Time Column - The name of the column in the database table that
contains timestamp.

Value Column - The name of the column in the database table that
contains values.

Type Column - The name of the column in the database table that
contains the data type.

Status Column - The name of the column in the database table that
contains the data status.

Quality Column - The name of the column in the database table that
contains data quality.
Simulation
Simulation servers are implemented by Aspen Connect team for live
demonstrations and debugging purposes.
4 Configuring for the First Time
47

Name - The name of Simulation server connection based on your
preferences.

Data Frequency - The frequency (expressed in seconds) at which data is
generated.

Max Read Count - The maximum limit number of data points per read
per minute.

Write to File - Select true to write data to the specified log directory or
false to skip file writing.

Log Directory - The location of output tags.

History Chunk Duration - Enter the duration (expressed in seconds) of
the history data chunk to be pulled at once.

Seed - Optional. Specify the seed for RNG.
Hadoop HDFS
HDFS is the primary distributed storage used by Hadoop applications. An
HDFS cluster primarily consists of a NameNode that manages the file system
metadata and DataNodes that store the actual data.
This is a native client for hdfs. It connects directly to the namenode using the
protocol buffers API.
48
4 Configuring for the First Time

Name - The name of the Hadoop HDFS connection based on your
preference.

Address - The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the Hadoop
NameNode. The NameNode is the centerpiece of an HDFS file system. It
keeps the directory tree of all files in the file system, and tracks where
across the cluster the file data is kept. It does not store the data of these
files itself.

Port - HDFS NameNode port, typically 8020

Username - Hadoop user name

Output Directory- The name of the Hadoop HDFS Directory that you
want to publish data to. Do not include special characters

File Duration - The duration to upload output files in seconds. For
example, if you enter 86400, that is 24 hours, it means the output files
are uploaded to Amazon Web Service S3 at an interval of 24 hours.

Overwrite Frequency - The frequency with which the files are
overwritten.

Format - The data format.
4 Configuring for the First Time
49
Kafka Stream Publisher
Apache Kafka is an open-source stream-processing software platform
developed by LinkedIn and donated to the Apache Software Foundation,
written in Scala and Java. The project aims to provide a unified, highthroughput, low-latency platform for handling real-time data feeds.

Name - The name of the Kafka connection based on your preference

URL - The IP address or fully qualified domain name of the Kafka
namespace

Port - The port to connect the client and the server. The default port
number is 9094

Topic - The topic that the data writes to

Username - The user name to access the Kafka server

Password - The password to access the Kafka server

Use TLS - Stands for Transport Layer Security
o

50
True to enable TLS; False to disable TSL
Format - The data format
4 Configuring for the First Time
Mnubo
Mnubo is AspenTech's Cloud AIoT Platform. It is an analytics solution built for
IoT. Whether you are a product manager, a business owner, a data engineer,
or a data scientist, Mnubo’s AIoT platform provides all the tools to help you
uncover the hidden value of your IoT data.
A valid subscription to Aspen Cloud is required.

Name - The name of the Mnubo connection based on your preference

URL - The URL of the Mnubo namespace

Token - The static token to access the Mnubo server

Event ID - The Event ID from the Mnubo system

Asset ID - Your Asset ID

Asset Type - The Asset Type from the Mnubo system
Adding Tags
From the Aspen Cloud Connect main page, you can click
tags to the servers that have the Create Tag capability.
4 Configuring for the First Time
Add Tag to add
51
Adding Routes
After adding servers, you can add routes between different servers. Aspen
Connect supports the creation of the following routes:

Adding Standard Routes

Adding Advanced Routes

Adding Scripted Routes

Adding Trigger Routes
The maximum tag count for routes is 10000. This means that you cannot
create a route with greater than 10000 tags.
Note: For a detailed description on how to add routes, please refer to the
Adding Routes online help topics.
Backing Up and Restoring Devices
Once you complete the initial configuration, you can click
Backup
Devices to back up your current configuration settings to a json-formatted
file.
After backing up the device configurations, you can click
Restore
Devices, and then select the json-formatted file you back up to restore to the
backup configuration settings.
Warning: Restore Devices entirely clears the previous configuration
settings. It is recommended to back up the configuration settings before the
restoration.
Checking the Device Status
Connection Summary displays the current connected device status and all the
other detected devices (if any).
1. After logging in Aspen Cloud Connect, click
Tiles.
2. The Connection Summary view opens. And the different tile colors stand
for different device connection status:
52

Green: The device is currently connected.

Orange: The device was once connected, but it is disconnected now.
4 Configuring for the First Time

Red: After the device turns Orange for a certain period of time, it finally
turns Red.
4 Configuring for the First Time
53
5 Uninstalling AspenTech
Products
To uninstall an AspenTech product, proceed as follows:
1. Click Start | Programs | Aspen Configuration | Uninstall
AspenTech Software. The AspenTech Uninstaller – Select
Products dialog box appears.
2. Select the products that you wish to remove. Click Uninstall when
you are finished.
3. You will see the progress of the uninstallation process.
5 Uninstalling AspenTech Products
55
4. Close the dialog box when finished and reboot if prompted.
56
5 Uninstalling AspenTech Products
Appendices
Appendix A: The Aspen Connect
service does not start
Ensure that you backup your Aspen Cloud Connect regularly, especially after
adding new Servers or Routes.
If you get an “aspen connect service does not start” error, follow the steps to
start the service and restore the Backup file:
1. Delete C:\ProgramData\AspenTech\CloudConnect\*.db files for the service
to start.
2. After the deletion, wait a few moments for the
C:\ProgramData\AspenTech\CloudConnect\*.db files to be created and
the service to start.
3. Check if the service has started. If the service starts, you can log in to
Aspen Cloud Connect and restore the Backup file.
Appendix B: Basic
Authentication to the OSISoft
PI Web API Configuration
For PI Web API Version 2015-2017, the user must add Basic Authentication
to PI Web API Configuration before collecting data from, or publishing data to
the OSI PI server using the PI Web API.
To set AuthenticationMethods for the PI Web API to Basic:
1. Run PI System as administrator.
Appendices
57
2. Open the Configuration database that includes the OSISoft PI Web API
configuration.
3. Expand the Elements on the left panel and navigate as Elements->
OSISoft-> PI Web API -> Main Server Name -> System
Configuration. The System Configuration opens.
4. From System Configuration, select the Attributes tab. The Attributes
list opens.
58
Appendices
5. From the Attributes list, double click AuthenticationMethods, or select
the … button. The Array window opens.
6. From the Array window, click Add, and then rename the top value next
to Item 0 from Kerberos to Basic.
Appendix C: Aspen Connect
Environment Variables
Documentation
This appendix gives you an overview of all the environment variables that are
used by Aspen Connect.
Appendices
59
Buffering
Buffering Mode - ASPEN_CONNECT_BUF_MODE
Determines how Connect buffers data. After sending the values, they are
removed from the buffer.
Values:

memory: Values are only stored in memory, not to the disk. When
Connect shuts down, stored values will be lost.

store-on-fail: Values are stored to disk only in the event of a failure to
send values to their destination.

always-store: Values are always stored to disk.
Default: always-store.
Buffering Max Age - ASPEN_CONNECT_BUF_MAXAGE
Determines how long Connect buffers data. Values are deleted after this
period.
Default: 48 (expressed in hours)
Buffering Max Fail - ASPEN_CONNECT_BUF_MAXFAIL
Determines how many times Connect allows a value to fail sending before
deleting it.
This prevents having a single value halt all data transfer to a destination.
Default: 21600
Buffering Path - ASPEN_CONNECT_BUF_PATH
Path that is used to store the buffer files of Aspen Connect.
Example: C:/AspenTech/Connect/Data.
Default: The storage folder of Aspen Connect (also configurable with an
environment variable).
Certificates
TLS Certificate Common Name - ASPEN_CONNECT_CERTCN
Common name used in generated TLS certificates.
Default: localhost.
Logging
Log Level - ASPEN_CONNECT_LOG_LEVEL
Minimum level of logs to display and record.
Values:
60

Error.

Warning.
Appendices

info.

trace.

debug.
Default: info.
Log Retain - ASPEN_CONNECT_LOG_MAXAGE
How long to keep log files saved for.
Default: 24 (expressed in hours)
Storage
Storage Location - ASPEN_CONNECT_STORAGE_PATH
Path that is used as Connect's storage folder.
Example: C:/AspenTech/Connect.
Default: “aspenconnect.exe” 's location.
To access Environmental Variables:
1. From Control Panel >- System and Security >- System, click
Advanced System Settings. The System Properties dialog box opens.
2. From the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab, and
then click Environment Variables….
-OrYou can click
Search Windows on the taskbar and enter Edit
Environment Variables to directly open the Environment Variables dialog
box.
Below is an example of the Aspen Connect Buffering Environment Variable:
Appendices
61
Appendix D: Aspen Connect
Network Considerations
Aspen Connect uses various protocols for endpoints that have requirements
for TCP and UDP port exceptions in firewalls. Some firewalls are on the local
machines operating systems and some are network hardware and software
based. If there is trouble establishing an endpoint connect to a source or
destination server, please consider the following for firewall port rules:
62
Protocol
TCP Port
Aspen Connect embedded toolkit
6584
Aspen Cloud UDD and CCS
443
BACnet
55544
Modbus
502
MQTT
1883
RabbitMQ
5672
OPC UA
# (specific to the OPC UA Server)
IP21 (using gRPC)
50051
SQL Server
1433
Appendices
OSISoft PI Web API
443
Aspen EA Influx DB
37300
InfluxDB
8086
Azure IoT Hub
443 for HTTPs
AWS S3
443 for HTTPs
PostGres
5432
HDFS
8020
Impala
21050
Kafka
9094
Appendix E: Upgrading to
Aspen Connect V12
When upgrading a server that already runs a previous version of Aspen
Connect, follow these generic steps:
1. Back up the config of Aspen Connect currently installed
2. Uninstall Aspen Connect
3. Delete the C:\ProgramData\AspenTech\CloudConnect folder
4. Install new Aspen Connect media
5. Reload the license key
6. Reload (or reconfigure) the config from backup
Appendix F: Connecting to
InfoPlus.21 using gRPC
gRPC (general-purpose Remote Procedure Calls) is an open source remote
procedure call (RPC) system initially developed at Google in 2015.
Using gRPC, Aspen Cloud Connect can directly call a method on an IP21
server on a different machine as if it were a local object, making it easier to
leverage the more performant IP21 Local APIs as a secure distributed
application. gRPC is based around the idea of defining a service, specifying
the methods that can be called remotely with their parameters and return
types.
On the server side (IP21 SetCIM), the server implements this interface and
runs a gRPC server to handle client calls. On the client side (Aspen Connect),
the client has a stub (referred to as just a client in some languages) that
provides the same methods as the server. gRPC clients and servers can run
and talk to each other in a variety of environments and can be written in any
of gRPC’s supported languages.
Appendices
63
The IP21 gRPC Server Installation
Product and Version
The Aspen IP21GRPC_Server can be installed on Aspen InfoPlus.21 servers
V7.3, V8.0, V8.4, V8.5, V8.7, V8.8, V9.0, V9.1, V10.0, V10.1, V11.0 with or
without any patches on Windows 2008 or later.
Prerequisites
For the IP.21 gRPC installation in your IP.21 environment to function correctly,
some Microsoft Redistributables need to be installed. Please check (via Add
Remove Programs and reference with the files listed) or copy and install if the
Microsoft Redistributables do not exist on your system. To install the correct
Microsoft C++ Redistributable on your IP.21 server, you can locate the files in
the Aspen Cloud Connect ISO Media:

Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributables
o

\\aspenONE_VersionNumber_AspenCloudConnect\aspenonesuite\c
ore\VC2017
Microsoft Visual C++ 2013 Redistributables
o
\\aspenONE_VersionNumber_AspenCloudConnect\aspenonesuite\c
ore\vcredist_x86_VS2013SP1
o
\\aspenONE_VersionNumber_AspenCloudConnect\aspenonesuite\c
ore\vcredist_x64_VS2013SP1
Examples:
64

V7.3 IP.21 on a 32 bit OS install: Microsoft Visual C++ 2013
Redistributables 32bit and Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributables
32bit.

V9.0 IP.21 on a 64 bit OS install: Microsoft Visual C++ 2013
Redistributables 64bit and Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributables
64bit.
Appendices

V11.0 IP.21 on a 64 bit OS install: Microsoft Visual C++ 2013
Redistributables 64bit and Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributables
64bit.
Distribution
This patch contains one self-extracting zip file:
Aspen_IP21GRPC_Server_V1.0.0.exe.
Installation
You must be logged into an account that has read/write access to the
InfoPlus.21 installed directories.
Note: Depending on your Windows operating system version and service
pack revision, files downloaded from another computer may have their block
property set as a preventive measure. The zip file as well as files contained by
it may all be blocked. All the files must be unblocked for the patch’s proper
operation. Unblocking of all the files may be achieved when the zip file itself is
unblocked before its contents are extracted. To unblock the zip file, rightclick the zip file and select the Properties option from the context menu and
then click Unblock, if shown.
Unzip Aspen_IP21GRPC_Server_V1.0.0.exe to extract the following files to a
directory.

Aspen_IP21GRPC_Server_Install.exe

MES_ECR.xml

x86\IP21_grpc_server.exe

x64\IP21_grpc_server.exe

x86\IP21GRPC_RootCACert.pem

x64\IP21GRPC_RootCACert.pem

x86\libcrypto-1_1.dll

x64\libcrypto-1_1-x64.dll

x86\libssl-1_1.dll

x64\libssl-1_1-x64.dll

x86\openssl.cnf

x64\openssl.cnf

x86\openssl.exe

x64\openssl.exe
To connect to InfoPlus.21 using gRPC, you must:

Install the IP21 gRPC server

Create and run the TSK_GRPC_SERVER task in Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager
To install the IP21 gRPC server:
1. Under the Aspen Connect installation directory, double-click
Aspen_IP21GRPC_Server_V1.0.0.exe to extract the files.
Appendices
65
2. From the extracted Aspen_IP21GRPC_Server_V1.0.0 folder, doubleclick Aspen_IP21GRPC_Server_Install.exe to install the Aspen IP21
gRPC server.
3. From the License Agreement window, click I ACCEPT to proceed. Or click
I Decline to quit.
4. The installation of the Aspen IP21 gRPC server is completed. Click View
Output to view the log file. Or click Finish to exit.
66
Appendices
To create and run the TSK_GRPC_SERVER task:
1. From the Aspen InfoPlus.21 Manager window, create the
TSK_GRPC_SEVER task with the executable IP21_grpc_server.exe.
Appendices
o
Add TSK_GRPC_SERVER as the Task name (TSK_XXXX).
o
Select IP21_grpc_server.exe in the Executable field. You
can browser the folder, and locate the executable
67
IP21_grpc_server.exe under: <driver>:\Program
Files\AspenTech\InfoPlus.21\db21\code.
o
Check on Auto restart to keep the TSK_GRPC_SERVER task
running, when you restart the InfoPlus.21 server.
2. Click ADD to complete the TSK_GRPC_SERVER task creation.
3. From the Defined Tasks list, check on the TSK_GRPC_SERVER task,
and then click RUN TASK.
4. From the Running Tasks list, ensure that the TSK_GRPC_SERVER
task is included.
Appendix G: User Defined
Datasets (UDD) and Connect
Configuration Service (CCS)
Appendix H includes the following information:
68

User Defined Datasets (UDD) Overview

Connect Configuration Service Overview

Configuring Aspen Connect to stream data to EA Cloud User Defined
Dataset (UDD)
Appendices
User Defined Datasets (UDD) Overview
The current Aspen Cloud platform mainly stores data in a dataset, events,
which come with a whole set of default fields (for example,
x_timestamp, x_event_type, and x_device_id, and so forth), enrichers (for
example, objects, owners, geo, weather, sessions, and so forth), and
limitations. These data formats may not be suitable for Aspen Connect and
other Aspen products to use.
Store data in the UDD can get rid of those constraints and allow application
developers to:

Define datasets with schemas

Ingest data in those user-defined datasets both in streaming and batch
modes

Have access to high-performance ingestion pipeline by removing all the
constraints of the events pipeline (enrichers, sessions, ordering)
By supporting UDD on the Aspen Cloud platform, you can use the following
Aspen Cloud features.

Mnubo Query Language (MQL)

Fast query time available through dataset caching

Scheduled Analytics

Notebooks

Scheduled Notebooks

Parametrized Datasets
The first Aspen product that works with Aspen Cloud Connect and uses UDD is
Aspen Event Analytics (EA). In brief, the EA can:

Store data into UDD that consists of a timestamp, tag name, and tag
value from one of the following sources:
o
From a CSV file import of an historian (IP21 or other)
o
In streaming by going through Aspen Connect

List the ingested tag names (within 3-5 seconds)

Select the timeseries value for specific tag names (within 3-5 seconds)
Connect Configuration Service (CCS)
Overview
To integrate with Aspen Event Analytics (EA), Aspen Connect must stream
data out of historians into Aspen Cloud streaming User Defined Dataset
(UDD).
Connect Configuration Service (CCS) is used to configure Aspen Connect to
stream data from a historian into streaming UDDs.
Appendices
69
Architecture Overview from the customer perspective
To prevent from configuring Aspen Connect on site, a new service, Connect
Configuration Service (CCS), is introduced in Aspen Cloud. The CCS is used to
configure “streams” to connect data from a historian (IP21, OSISoft PI, and
so forth) to Aspen Cloud UDD.
Aspen Connect uses the CCS to configure routes between historians and
ingestion UDD stream APIs. Precisely, Aspen Connect works with the CCS
to:

Publish the list of historians to the CCS

Fetch the list of configured streams

Publish the status of each tag in each stream
Cloud applications (Event Analytics initially), are responsible for configuring
streams that they require.
Each Aspen Connect can connect with multiple historians and stream data to
multiple UDDs. It’s up to the application to configure the proper streams and
UDDs.
Configuring Aspen Connect to stream data
to EA Cloud User Defined Dataset (UDD)
To work with Aspen Event Analytics on the Aspen Cloud platform, you must:
1. Configure Source Server Connections in Aspen Connect, for example
InfoPlus.21 or OSISoft PI
2. Obtain Base URLs and tokens from Aspen Cloud Connect Configuration
Service (CCS) (from the Aspen Person who has an account with proper
CCS configuration roles in Aspen Cloud IAM)
3. Configure Aspen Cloud in Aspen Connect
Configure Source Server Connections
Refer to Add InfoPlus.21 (using gRPC) Servers and Add OSISoft PI Servers.
Obtain Base URLs and tokens from Aspen Cloud CCS
The user account that logs in to CCS must have the right permission to
generate authentication credentials for Aspen Connect.
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Appendices
1. From Account Selection, select the proper account to add a token.
2. Click Add Token and enter Token Description in the New Token
window.
3. From the New Token window, click Add. Copy and keep the token
information for later use.
4. Copy and keep the Base URL information for later use.
Configure Aspen Cloud in Aspen Connect
1. From the Aspen Connect main page, select the Navigation menu.
2. From the Navigation list, click Configure Aspen Cloud and enter the
following information:
o
Enable Aspen Cloud – Click to enable or disable Aspen Cloud.
o
Aspen Connect Identifier - The identifier of the Aspen Connect
server.
o
Aspen Cloud URL - Base URL copied from Aspen Cloud CCS (Step 4
above)
o
Aspen Cloud API Token - The token information copied from Aspen
Cloud CCS (Step 3 above)
3. Click Save to add the server.
Appendices
71
Appendix H: Modbus Details
Modbus tag read formats:
Tag is a 16 bit Integer
This reads a single 16 Bit Modbus register.

16 Bit – Byte Order: 0
Tag is 32 bit Integer and 32 bit floating
If it combines 2 x 16 Bit Modbus registers. It can be displayed in 2 different
word/byte orders.

32 Bit Big-endian – Byte Order: 0,1

32 Bit Little-endian – Byte Order: 1,0
If it combines 4 x 8 Bit Modbus registers. It can be displayed in 4 different
word/byte orders.

64 Bit Big-endian – Byte Order: 0,1, 2,3

64 Bit Little-endian – Byte Order: 1,0, 3,2

64 Bit Big-endian byte swap – Byte Order: 2,3, 0,1

64 Bit Little-endian byte swap – Byte Order: 3,2, 1,0
Tag is 64 bit integer and 64 bit double
If it combines 4 x 16 Bit Modbus registers. It can be displayed in 4 different
word/byte orders.

64 Bit Big-endian – Byte Order: 0,1, 2,3

64 Bit Little-endian – Byte Order: 1,0, 3,2

64 Bit Big-endian byte swap – Byte Order: 2,3, 0,1

64 Bit Little-endian byte swap – Byte Order: 3,2, 1,0
Note: Sometimes ModBUS devices choose between 1-indexed registers or 0indexed registers. It’s a Small difference but important. In Aspen Connect,
we used 0-indexed registers because they’re the most common. It means
that if the Modbus device expressed the register in 1-indexed mode. You need
to subtract 1 to the register when you set it in Aspen Connect.
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Appendices