Getting Started

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This page takes you from an Ignition Gateway without OpenBridge to a running OpenBridge project:

1. Install the module on the Gateway.
2. Import the demo project.
3. Use the demo project as a template for your own project.

The Gateway pages were reorganised in Ignition 8.3, so where the steps differ they are given for both 8.3 and 8.1.

Before You Start

You need:

• An Ignition Gateway, version 8.3 or 8.1, with the Perspective module installed. The demo project requires 8.3.
• A Gateway user who is allowed to change the Gateway configuration.
• The Ignition Designer, to open the project after importing it.

Install the Module

Download

Download the module from openstudio.no/free-trials. There is one file for each Ignition version:

Ignition version	Button on the download page	File
8.3	Download for 8.3	ObComponents-<version>-8.3.modl
8.1	Download for 8.1	ObComponents-<version>-8.1.modl

Pick the file that matches your Gateway. A module built for one Ignition version does not start on the other: it is listed as Faulted after installing.

Install

Installing a module does not interrupt running Perspective sessions, but every open Designer has to be restarted afterwards. On a production system, install during planned downtime.

Ignition 8.3

1. Open the Gateway web page and go to Platform > System > Modules.
2. Click Install or Upgrade Module +.
3. Click Choose File and select the downloaded .modl file.
4. Click Install.

Ignition 8.1

1. Open the Gateway web page and go to Config > System > Modules.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the module list and click Install or Upgrade a Module.
3. Click Choose File and select the downloaded .modl file.
4. Click Install.

If the Gateway asks you to trust the module’s certificate and to accept the licence terms, review and accept them to continue. The module is a third-party module signed by its publisher, not by Inductive Automation.

When the page reloads, OpenBridge for Ignition is in the module list. No Gateway restart is needed.

For more detail, see Inductive Automation’s Installing or Upgrading a Module (also available for 8.1).

Verify

	Where to look	Expected
8.3	Platform > System > Modules	OpenBridge for Ignition with status Active
8.1	Config > System > Modules	OpenBridge for Ignition with state Running

Then restart the Designer and open a Perspective view. The Component Palette has new sections whose names end in - OpenBridge, for example App - OpenBridge and Automation - OpenBridge.

If the module is not running:

Symptom	Cause	What to do
Faulted	The .modl is for the other Ignition version.	Install the file that matches your Gateway (8.3 or 8.1).
Listed under Quarantined Modules (8.3)	The Gateway wants the certificate or licence reviewed.	From Ignition 8.3.2, open the three dots menu next to the module and resolve the quarantine reason.
Palette sections missing	The Designer was open during the install.	Close and relaunch the Designer.

Trial Mode and Licensing

Without a licence key the module runs in Ignition’s standard trial mode:

• The module runs for two hours at a time. When the time is up, the OpenBridge components stop working in running sessions.
• To continue, log in to the Gateway and click Reset Trial. The trial can be reset any number of times.
• The Gateway web page and the Designer are not affected by the trial timer, so you can keep building.
• Other modules that are already licensed keep running without a time limit.

To remove the time limit, buy a licence from openstudio.no and activate it under Platform > System > Licensing (8.3) or Config > System > Licensing (8.1).

Import the Demo Project

The demo project is a complete Perspective project built with the OpenBridge components. It shows how the pieces fit together: a shared top dock with the Top Bar, a navigation menu, and pages for a process overview, card-based layout, alerts, a tank view and connector diagrams.

Download

Download OpenBridge_demo_2026-09-23_1240.zip (release v1.0 of the demo project).

Do not unzip the file. It is a Gateway project export and is imported as it is.

The demo project was made in Ignition 8.3. A project export can only be imported into the same Ignition version or a later one, so it cannot be imported into an 8.1 Gateway.

Import

Install the module first. Without it, the OpenBridge components in the project cannot be shown.

Import the zip from the Gateway web page, which creates a new project:

1. Go to Platform > System > Projects.
2. Click Import Project in the upper right.
3. Click Choose File and select the downloaded .zip file.
4. Enter a Project Name, for example OpenBridge_demo.
5. If a project with that name already exists, Import is disabled until you choose Rename (give the imported project another name) or Overwrite (replace the existing project).
6. Click Import.

The project is now in the project list and can be opened in the Designer.

Caution

Do not use File > Import in the Designer for this. That route merges the resources into whichever project is open, instead of creating the demo as a project of its own.

See Inductive Automation’s Project Export and Import for the full description.

After Importing

A project export contains the project only. Tags and Gateway-level configuration are not included, so check the following:

• Tags. The demo views are bound to tags in the default tag provider (folders process and Project) and in a provider named Sample_Tags. These tags are not part of the zip. Until they exist on your Gateway, the bound values show a quality overlay. The pages, menus and components still render, which is enough to study how the project is built.
• Project settings. In the project list, open the three dots menu and choose Edit to set the Default Tag Provider, Default Database and User Source to ones that exist on your Gateway. The project must be closed in the Designer while you change these.
• Enabled. The project is imported enabled. A disabled project can be edited in the Designer but does not run on the Gateway.

To see the result, open the project in the Designer, or launch it in a browser from the Gateway’s Perspective session launcher.

Use the Demo Project as a Template

The demo project is meant to be built on. Starting from it gives you the docks, the Top Bar with its menus, the palette switching, the page routing and the style classes already set up, so you only replace the pages with your own.

There are three ways to do this. If you are unsure, use the first.

Method	Use it when
Import under a new name	You want your own independent project.
Duplicate	The demo is already imported and you want a second, independent copy.
Inherit	Several projects should share the same docks, menus and styles, and receive updates to them.

Note

This is not the same as the Project Template list in the Designer’s Create Project window. That list contains only Inductive Automation’s own templates, and the demo project does not appear there.

Import Under a New Name

Import the zip again as described in Import, and enter the name of your own project as the Project Name. The result is an independent project with the demo’s content. Keep the original demo project next to it as a reference.

Choose the name with care: Inductive Automation advises against renaming a project later, because links and shortcuts to it stop working. Change the project’s Title instead if only the displayed name needs to change.

Duplicate the Project

If the demo project is already on the Gateway, copy it there:

• Ignition 8.3: go to Platform > System > Projects, open the three dots menu to the right of the project and click Duplicate.
• Ignition 8.1: go to Config > System > Projects, click More to the right of the project and click Copy.

The copy is independent of the original. Changes in one do not affect the other.

Inherit From the Project

With project inheritance, a parent project holds the shared resources and each child project adds its own. A change to the parent reaches every child.

1. On the Projects page, Edit the project that will be the parent, enable Inheritable, and save.
2. Create or Edit the child project, choose the parent in Parent Project, and save.

In the child project the inherited views, styles and page configuration are available at once. To change an inherited resource, right-click it in the Designer and choose Override Resource.

Be aware of the following:

• An inheritable project cannot be launched by itself. Once the demo is marked Inheritable it only serves as a parent. Import it a second time under another name if you also want a runnable demo.
• An overridden resource no longer receives updates from the parent. Choose Discard Overrides to go back to the parent’s version.
• A Gateway export of a child project contains only the child’s own resources, not the inherited ones.

See Inductive Automation’s Project Inheritance for details.

Make It Your Own

After creating your project from the demo:

1. Set the project Title in the project settings.
2. In the top dock view (Docks/Header), set the Top Bar’s appName, and adapt the navigation menu to your pages.
3. Replace the demo pages under Page/ with your own views, and update the page URLs in the Perspective Page Configuration.
4. Point the bindings to your own tags.
5. Keep the style classes and the shared docks. They are what keeps the project consistent with the OpenBridge design system across all palettes.

Related

• Top Bar — the application header used in the demo project’s top dock.
• OpenBridge Design System — the design guideline the components implement.
• Support: contact@openstudio.no