AVEVA ABCIP driver (OI.ABCIP, formerly DASABCIP): connecting InTouch and System Platform to ControlLogix

AVEVA InTouch HMI and System Platform read Allen-Bradley controllers through the ABCIP Communication Driver, which older systems know as the ABCIP OI Server (OI.ABCIP) and, before that, as the DASABCIP DAServer. It is a Windows program that talks CIP to the controllers without RSLinx and serves InTouch, Application Server and OPC clients. This article follows AVEVA's Communication Drivers Pack 2026 documentation. Where these products sit in AVEVA's range: What is AVEVA.

1. One driver, three names

AVEVA's 2026 documentation explains the naming: the I/O server was first called a DAServer (Data Access Server), later an OI Server, and is now a Communication Driver. The OI Server added multiple instances; AVEVA states there is no significant functional difference between an OI Server and a Communication Driver. Older AVEVA examples call the ABCIP DAServer DASABCIP.

The driver is configured in the OI Server Manager, also called Communication Drivers Core, inside the Operations Control Management Console (OCMC), formerly the System Management Console (SMC). With ABCIP installed, the console shows the default instance as OI.ABCIP.1. The pack is not supported on 32-bit Windows; for compatibility the documentation points to AVEVA's Technology Matrix.

2. Controllers and networks

The networks are Ethernet, ControlNet, DH+, DH485 and DeviceNet; DeviceNet data comes only through the controller's own scanner. A ControlLogix rack can route to a second ENB on another subnet, one hop only, and a Device-Level Ring is joined through a 1783-ETAP.

The highest firmware in AVEVA's table of tested Logix firmware is v28, on the 1756-L73, 1756-L83E and 1769-L36ERM; AVEVA says it retests the driver after major Rockwell firmware releases.

3. The hierarchy: port, ENB module, backplane, processor

The OI Server Manager tree copies the physical path to each controller: it starts with PORT_CIP, and every branch ends in a processor node.

A CompactLogix with a built-in port uses ENB_CPLX, with the controller's own IP address, then BACKPLANE_CPLX and LOGIX_CPLX. Older networks hang off the backplane: CNB_CLX and PORT_CN (channel A or B, ControlNet address 1–99), or DHRIO_CLX and PORT_DHP (channel, node address 0–77 octal, link ID).

On the processor node:

• Max CIP Connections: queued messages are spread over this many connections. Each one uses controller resources; AVEVA's example says that at 31 connections data updates became extremely sluggish.
• Optimization: No optimization reads by tag name, with the fastest startup and slowest reads. Optimize for read, the default, builds message blocks in the controller, so startup is longest and reads fastest. Optimize for startup time works only up to firmware 20; from firmware 21 the driver switches to Optimize for read and logs a warning.
• Optimize User Defined Data Types (off by default): reads a whole structure of 488 bytes or less in one packet, and is not supported on UDTs with a member whose External Access is None.
• Use Persisted Tags (on by default): keeps the tag database in a file and reuses it while the controller's tag database version is unchanged.

4. Device groups: the topics clients use

Device groups are created on the processor node. For DDE and SuiteLink clients a device group is the topic, and each controller needs at least one; for OPC clients it is the optional access path.

• Name: unique, up to 32 characters.
• Update Interval: how often, in milliseconds, the driver polls the group. AVEVA advises against polling everything near zero and suggests several groups by how fast values change. The default group runs at 1,000 ms.
• Support Unsolicited Messages: off by default; it needs message instructions in the controller, connected ones for Logix. With an Update Interval of 0 the topic is read once and then only by unsolicited messages.

Two global parameters, which apply to all instances in the server group, matter here: Slow Poll Interval (10,000 ms) while a device is unreachable, and Poke Mode, whose ABCIP default, Optimization Mode, writes only the last value poked to an item.

5. How InTouch and System Platform address the items

Logix items use the controller's tag names: Tag.Member, Tag[3], Program:MainProgram.Tag, module tags such as Local:6:O.Data.31, a bit as Tag.5, and a block of a one-dimensional array as Tag[0],L10. Tag names can be up to 40 characters; structures nest up to 20 levels.

• InTouch: each I/O tag uses an Access Name with a node name (only when the driver runs on another computer), an application name taken from the driver instance, and a topic, which is the device group. AVEVA does not recommend Advise all items because it affects performance.
• OPC clients: the instance's ProgID, for example OI.ABCIP_0001.1, the device group as access path, and an item ID made of the node names of the OI Server Manager tree, separated by periods, then the item.
• System Platform: AVEVA's Application Server 2026 guide says the OPCClient object should replace legacy DI objects such as ABCIP; since System Platform 2023 its HierarchyPath attribute and a default scan group let a DINetwork object be replaced without reconfiguring existing I/O references. Through PCS, Application Server addresses scope:topic.item, with the default scope OI$<instance>$<computer>.

The documented client protocols are OPC, SuiteLink, DDE/FastDDE and PCS. In the same pack, OPC UA sources go through the Gateway Communication Driver and MQTT through the MQTT Communication Driver. For the firewall, AVEVA lists TCP 5413 for SuiteLink and TCP 135 plus 49152–65535 for OPC; the same page lists further ports for PCS.

6. Diagnostics: system items, the Diagnostics node, the Logger

System items start with $SYS$ and are read like other items:

An active driver has a Diagnostics node under Configuration in the OCMC; its Device Groups view shows each group's update interval, actual update time and items with errors. Errors go to the Logger; the driver adds two codes, -10001 PLC not connected and -10002 PLC times out. To see whether a device answers, AVEVA suggests the DASSend and DASReceive log flags, and warns against leaving extra flags on in production.

7. Connection problems the documentation lists

Also documented:

• Tags in a routine imported into a running controller are rejected until 1 is written to $SYS$UpdateTagInfo; AVEVA does not support online routine changes. After a full download, the driver pauses, reloads the tag database and resumes.
• A remote OPC client that shows no updates or logs COM error 0x80040202 points to DCOM identity or guest-only access settings, or to a firewall blocking DCOM call-backs on port 135.
• Without a licence the driver runs in demo mode for 120 minutes, then stops updating and sets items Bad.
• The 2026 release notes list a known issue: upgrading to System Platform 2026 from 2023 R2 SP1 or its patches resets a driver's configuration set to the default, and the fix is Use Another Configuration Set.

What TDL checks first

These are our own working habits on an existing InTouch or System Platform system, not AVEVA requirements:

• We note the driver version, the instance names and the application and topic of every Access Name that points to ABCIP.
• We redraw the tree against the real network: ENB module addresses, processor slots and every ControlNet or DH+ bridge.
• We compare controller firmware with AVEVA's tested firmware table and look for Optimize for startup time on controllers at firmware 21 or later.
• We read $SYS$Status, $SYS$ErrorText and $SYS$ErrorCount per device group before anyone touches the network.
• We add up the CIP connections the driver opens next to the HMIs, other SCADA and messages using the same controller.
• We archive the configuration set before an upgrade.

How TDL approaches it

TDL Industrial Automation is a System Integrator member of the AVEVA Partner Ecosystem. Our AVEVA service page describes connecting the AVEVA software we build and maintain to Allen-Bradley and other control systems; see also connecting existing PLCs to SCADA. Faults above the driver: InTouch HMI troubleshooting and System Platform troubleshooting. The same connection on Ignition: Ignition Allen-Bradley Logix driver.