Connecting from the editor

Once you have a project and a vPLC, you connect them through the OpenPLC Editor. The editor's left sidebar has a Devices → Orchestrators panel; that's the only place the cloud platform and the runtime meet.

Steps

  1. Open the project in the editor. From the project page click Open in editor. The editor loads with your project.
  2. Open the Devices panel. In the editor's left sidebar expand Devices, then click Orchestrators. A panel slides out listing every orchestrator your account has access to.
  3. Expand the orchestrator that owns your vPLC. Each orchestrator entry shows its connection status (Active / Inactive). Expand it to reveal its vPLCs.
  4. Select the target vPLC. Click on the device row. It should report status Running (or you'll need to start it via the device's 3-dot menu from the platform).
  5. Click Connect at the top of the panel.

First-time runtime user

The first time anyone connects to a freshly-created vPLC, the runtime prompts for a new user account. This account lives on the vPLC, not on the cloud, it's how you authenticate to the runtime itself.

Pick:

  • Username: admin is conventional.
  • Password: at least 8 characters.
  • Confirm password: matches the above.

Click Create User. The runtime stores the credentials and signs you in.

On subsequent connections from any browser, the runtime shows a regular sign-in dialog. Enter the runtime username and password. There's no "forgot password" flow on the runtime side; if you lose it you'll need to delete and recreate the vPLC.

Don't reuse your Autonomy Edge password here. The runtime user is local to the vPLC. Pick a password manager entry just for runtime users.

After connecting

When connected, the editor's bottom-right status bar shows:

  • Connected: green.
  • PLC Status: EMPTY (no program loaded), STOPPED, or RUNNING.

You can now use the editor's Download button (folder with a down arrow, top-left) to compile and upload your project. If compilation succeeds, the program is sent to the runtime and PLC Status moves to RUNNING. The Scan Cycle Statistics panel becomes useful at this point, it shows live scan counts, average scan time, and overruns.

Reconnecting after a refresh

Browser refresh disconnects the editor from the runtime. Just click Connect again, the editor remembers which vPLC you were on.

What happens if the orchestrator goes offline

If the orchestrator-agent loses its cloud connection while you're connected to a vPLC:

  • The vPLC keeps running locally with whatever program is loaded.
  • The editor can't issue new commands (Download, Stop, Start) until the orchestrator reconnects.
  • I/O traffic to physical devices is unaffected.

When the orchestrator returns to Active, your editor connection resumes automatically.

Where to next