Installing the SoxTunnel service

In order to function as a “tunnel” for Sedona Framework clients a Niagara station must be running with the SoxTunnel service installed, licensed, and enabled. You can install the service by dragging the SoxTunnel service from the nsedona palette in Workbench onto the services node in the Workbench nav tree pane. The following steps provide detailed instructions for installing, enabling, and configuring the SoxTunnel service.

Install the SoxTunnel service

Prerequisites for installing the SoxTunnel service, include:

  • The station with target networked Sedona devices (hosts) must be running and accessible from the Workbench platform that you are using.

  • The nsedona module (containing the SoxTunnel service component) must be licensed and installed on the proxy station.

To install and enable the SoxTunnel service, do the following:

  1. In NiagaraAX Workbench, make a standard Fox connection to the station that you want to enable tunneling on.

  2. In the nav tree pane, under the Station node, expand the Config node and double-click on the Services node. The Service Manager view displays.

  3. From the Workbench main menu, select Window->Side Bars->Palette.

  4. In the Palette side bar, open the nsedona palette. It displays the SoxTunnel component.

  5. From the nsedona palette, drag and drop the SoxTunnel component onto the Service Manager view. The Name dialog box displays, so you can edit the name, if desired, and then click the OK button.

    The SoxTunnel service displays in both the Service Manager view and under the Services node.

  6. Double-click the SoxTunnel node in the Service Manager view or in the nav tree for its property sheet.

  7. In the SoxTunnel service property sheet view edit the following properties, as necessary.



    • Status

      Standard Niagara read-only status field indicating the current service state. Possible values include:

      • ok

        Normal communications, no other status flags.

      • disabled

        Enabled property is set to false. While status is disabled, Sox tunneling communications are suspended.

      • fault

        Typically this is caused by a configuration error, such as a duplicate or invalid Port number.

      • down

        Typically caused by a communications error.

    • Fault Cause

      When there is a status fault, this read-only field displays text that indicates the reason for the fault.

    • Enabled

      This property lets you enable (default setting) or disable the SoxTunnel service. When true, the Sox tunnel is “open”. To prevent the Sox tunnel from processing Sox messages, set this false.

    • Port

      This property value is the port that the SoxTunnel service communicates (listens on) for tunneling. The default value is 1876 but you can change it, if desired. If other than 1876 is set, the port must be specified in the path of any tunnelling request using this station. See Sox tunneling syntax for details.

      NoteDo not confuse this SoxTunnel Service port (default 1876) with the SedonaNetwork or Device port (also 1876 by default).

    • Authenticate With User Service

      NoteTypically you change this (from default true) to false to prevent failed tunnel connections. As one example, failure can occur if Sedona device credentials use a “blank” password (something no longer permitted in station user credentials, since recent NiagaraAX releases and security patches).

      If true (the default), when a Sox tunnel session is attempted, authentication requires the entered username/password combination to also exist for a station User in the tunnel station. To disable this behavior, set the property to false.

  8. Click Save to complete the task.