Ignition

What is Ignition?

Ignition is an industrial software platform from the US company Inductive Automation that combines SCADA, HMI, data acquisition, historisation, alarming and IIoT integration on one central, web-based server: the Ignition Gateway. The platform was launched in January 2010 as the successor to the earlier products FactorySQL and FactoryPMI. Ignition stands out for its per-server licence with no limit on tags, clients or device connections, and for its close fit with standard IT technology such as SQL databases, web browsers and MQTT. As a result, it is often deployed in OT environments as the central integration layer for OT convergence.

🧠 Who makes Ignition and how did it come about?

Inductive Automation was founded in 2003 by Steve and Wendi-Lynn Hechtman and is headquartered in Folsom, California. The company sells in more than 140 countries and works with a network of over 5,500 system integrators, including many in the Netherlands and Belgium. The platform evolved in a few clear steps:

Inductive Automation has had its company-wide development process assessed by exida against IEC 62443-4-1 (secure development lifecycle). Note that this certificate covers the vendor’s development process, not a product certification of Ignition itself.

🔧 How is the Ignition architecture built?

Ignition runs as a Java application, and its architecture is built around one central component, the Gateway. All modules, tags, scripts and projects run on it. Engineers configure the system through a web interface and the Designer, the development environment in which screens, tags and scripts are built. Scripting is done in Jython 2.7, a Python implementation on the Java runtime.

Functionality is modular. Well-known modules include Vision, Perspective, Reporting, Alarm Notification, SQL Bridge (transaction groups between PLC and database) and the Enterprise Administration Module (EAM) for central management of dozens of gateways. Inductive Automation now also bundles modules into Solution Suites, such as Application Building, Industrial Historian and Alarm Management.

🌐 Which protocols and integrations does Ignition support?

Ignition is built internally around OPC UA and can act as both an OPC UA client and an OPC UA server. Native drivers talk directly to PLCs and other equipment without a separate OPC server:

• Allen-Bradley / IP - Logix controllers via port 44818
• Siemens S7 - S7-300/400/1200/1500 via port 102
• Modbus TCP - generic connection to sensors, meters and PLCs
• DNP3 and BACnet - for utilities and building automation
• External OPC servers - for example Kepware for less common protocols

For IIoT, many installations use the MQTT modules from partner Cirrus Link (MQTT Engine, Transmission and Distributor), which implement MQTT Sparkplug B. Ignition 8.3 adds a built-in REST API and the Event Streams module, which routes events such as tag changes or Kafka topics to scripts or database tables. This makes Ignition a common bridge to MES, ERP and a Unified Namespace.

🏷️ How does the tag system work?

Tags are the heart of Ignition. A tag represents a process value, status, alarm or calculated value and can come from a PLC (OPC tag), a database query, an expression, a script or MQTT. Tags are organised in tag providers and can be based on User Defined Types (UDTs): a template for, say, a pump or motor that you reuse hundreds of times. On each tag you can configure alarming, historisation, scaling and access rights.

Because the licence places no limit on tags, the data model is mainly bounded by hardware and architecture. Large installations therefore spread the load across several gateways.

📊 How does historisation work in Ignition?

Up to and including version 8.1, the Tag Historian stored time-series data in a standard relational database such as Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL or MySQL. For years that set Ignition apart from platforms with their own closed Historian: IT teams can read the data with ordinary SQL tools. In Ignition 8.3 the historian was split into the Historian Core Module, with an internal historian based on the QuestDB time-series database, and the SQL Historian Module for the familiar SQL storage. A new Historian API lets developers build their own historian integrations.

Typical uses are trending, OEE analysis, energy analysis, audit trails and input for predictive maintenance and AI models.

🔄 How does Ignition compare with other SCADA platforms?

The difference lies less in functionality than in the business model and IT friendliness. Classic platforms remain strong in deep integration with their own hardware and in validated processes.

⚡ How does Ignition scale and what about redundancy?

Ignition has no active-active clustering. You achieve high availability with redundancy: a master gateway and a backup gateway that synchronises the configuration and takes over on failure. Both gateways need a licence; for the backup there is a separate, usually cheaper backup-only licence that locks the gateway into the backup role. For scalability you use a scale-out architecture over the Gateway Network: I/O gateways collect data from the PLCs, front-end gateways serve the clients. Ignition Edge runs on small hardware close to the machine for edge computing and buffers up to 35 days of data during network outages (store-and-forward). For container platforms such as Docker and Kubernetes, Inductive Automation provides official images.

🔐 How do you secure an Ignition environment?

An Ignition Gateway is a web server with direct access to PLCs, which makes it an attractive target. In 2020 CISA published advisory ICSA-20-147-01 covering, among others, CVE-2020-10644 and CVE-2020-12000: deserialisation flaws with a CVSS score of 9.8 that allowed remote code execution with SYSTEM privileges. They were fixed in versions 7.9.14 and 8.0.10. This shows why patch management for SCADA software is essential.

Inductive Automation publishes a Security Hardening Guide covering, among other things, enforcing HTTPS, OS lockdown, verifying genuine installation files and keeping the software up to date. Version 8.3 adds Secrets Management for passwords and keys. Because Ignition often sends data to MES, ERP and the cloud, the gateway that talks to the IT side belongs in a DMZ or IDMZ, in line with IEC 62443, the Purdue Model, Zero Trust and Defense in Depth. For integrators’ remote access, the rule is simple: never expose the gateway directly to the internet.

🧭 How do you set up Ignition step by step?

1. Define the role - local HMI panel (Edge Panel), data collector (Edge IIoT) or central SCADA server.
2. Design the architecture - choose standalone, redundant or scale-out, and define zones following ISA-95 and IEC 62443.
3. Install and harden - start in the two-hour trial mode, then activate the licence and follow the hardening guide.
4. Connect the sources - configure drivers and build UDTs for each machine type.
5. Design the screens - follow ISA-101 for high-performance HMI and ISA-18.2 for alarm management.
6. Organise operations - version control (Git in 8.3), a test gateway, change management and lifecycle management of modules and the Java runtime.

For Dutch organisations in sectors such as drinking water, energy or food that fall under the Dutch Cybersecurity Act (Cyberbeveiligingswet, in force from 15 August 2026 as the Dutch implementation of NIS2), Ignition is part of the critical OT chain. The duty of care and the incident reporting obligation therefore also apply to this SCADA layer. Frameworks such as NIST SP 800-82, ISO 27001 and NIST CSF help with governance and cybersecurity policy around the platform.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Is Ignition free?

Ignition is commercial software with a one-time licence per server, but you can download the full product and test it indefinitely in a two-hour trial mode that can be restarted at any time. For personal, non-commercial use there is the free Ignition Maker Edition. There is also a Cloud Edition with a usage-based fee.

What is the difference between Vision and Perspective?

Vision is Ignition’s older visualisation module and runs as a Java desktop application on the operator station. Perspective, introduced in Ignition 8.0, runs entirely in the browser using HTML5 and adapts to phones, tablets and large screens. New projects usually choose Perspective, while existing Vision projects remain supported.

Which programming language does Ignition use?

Ignition uses Jython 2.7 for scripting, an implementation of Python that runs on the Java runtime. This lets you combine Python syntax with Java libraries, but modern Python 3 packages do not work directly. Ignition also has its own expression language for calculated tags and properties.

What is Ignition Edge?

Ignition Edge is a lightweight edition of Ignition for installation close to the machine or in the field. Edge IIoT collects data and publishes it via MQTT, while Edge Panel also provides a local HMI. Edge buffers up to 35 days of data during network outages and has no direct database connection.

Is Ignition secure enough for critical infrastructure?

Ignition can be used securely in critical infrastructure, provided the platform is hardened and segmented. Key points are HTTPS with TLS, a central identity provider with MFA, placement in a separate network zone and timely patching, as the vulnerabilities in CISA advisory ICSA-20-147-01 showed. Inductive Automation has had its development process assessed against IEC 62443-4-1.

What is new in Ignition 8.3?

Ignition 8.3 was released on 16 September 2025 as a Long-Term Support release. Major additions are the Historian Core Module with an internal QuestDB historian, the Event Streams module, a built-in REST API, Git version control, Secrets Management and a redesigned gateway interface.

📌 In summary

Ignition is a modular SCADA, HMI and IIoT platform from Inductive Automation that, with a per-server licence, browser-based visualisation and open interfaces such as OPC UA, SQL and MQTT, forms a central link between OT and IT. That openness makes the platform powerful for IT/OT convergence and a Unified Namespace, but it demands strict hardening, network segmentation following IEC 62443, redundancy and disciplined patch and lifecycle management.