Skip to content
ByteHound Corp.
← Back to selected work

Open source

opcda-bridge

A Rust gateway that makes legacy OPC DA servers reachable from any operating system.

RustgRPC / tonicProtocol BuffersWindows COM
Architecture opcda-bridge
opcda-bridge architecture A Windows gateway speaks COM to an OPC DA server and exposes a gRPC connection to cross-platform clients. OPC DA server Windows · COM/DCOM legacy plant data opcda-bridge gateway Windows-side COM adapter gRPC over the network Client applications Linux · macOS · Windows CLI · library · integrations

The problem

OPC DA is a COM/DCOM-based protocol from the 1990s still running on a large share of the world’s PLCs, DCSs, and SCADA systems. It only works on Windows, and DCOM configuration across a network is notoriously fragile. Any modern tool that needs plant data has to solve this first.

What we built

We split the problem into two static Rust binaries. A gateway runs on the Windows host beside the OPC DA server and speaks native COM — targeting 32-bit Windows, which most legacy OPC DA servers still require. A client runs anywhere and talks to the gateway over gRPC.

The protocol definitions are published separately, so any language with gRPC tooling can integrate directly instead of shelling out to a binary. The workspace publishes a reusable client library, protocol definitions, a cross-platform CLI, and the Windows gateway as separate crates.

Where it stands

The gateway and client are functional end to end, verified against a live Kepware server for read, write, and browse. Releases publish prebuilt binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows, alongside crates.io packages and an Arch User Repository package.

Next step

Need this kind of engineering?

Tell us what your system has to do and what it has to work with. We will help you find the sensible path through it.

Email [email protected]