FenixServer - dgsoftlabs/FenixModbusS7 GitHub Wiki

FenixServer — User Guide

FenixServer is the server edition of Fenix. It runs in the background, communicates with your industrial devices, and exposes all data through a built-in REST API. Use it as a gateway between your PLCs and any HTTP-based system — web dashboards, mobile apps, cloud services, or SCADA software.

1. Starting the Server

FenixServer can run in three modes:

Manual Mode (default)

Double-click FenixServer.exe. The window opens and waits — you load a project and control everything manually.

Auto-Run Mode

FenixServer.exe -r

Loads the last project automatically and starts all drivers without any user interaction. Perfect for unattended servers that need to resume after a reboot.

Simulation Mode

FenixServer.exe -s

Runs without hardware. All drivers pretend to work — great for testing your REST API client or web dashboard before deploying to production.

Only one instance can run at a time. Trying to start a second one shows a warning.

2. The Server Window

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  [Open Project]  [▶ Start]  [■ Stop]  [🌐 Browser]  Status  │
├──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┤
│  Connections                 │  Selected Connection         │
│  Type | Name | Status | ...  │  Properties                  │
├──────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┤
│  Events Log — time-stamped messages                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Status bar: alarm count | last message                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

FenixServer main window

3. Loading a Project

  1. Click Open Project.
  2. Choose a .pse file (created in Fenix).
  3. All connections from the project appear in the Connections grid.

Projects are configured in Fenix — see the Fenix User Guide.

4. Controlling Communication

Button What It Does
▶ Start Activates all drivers. Devices are polled, tags update, and the REST API starts serving live data.
■ Stop Gracefully stops all drivers. Communication pauses but the web API stays online.

The Status indicator shows whether communication is Running or Stopped.

5. Monitoring Connections

The left side of the window shows all active connections:

Column Meaning
Kind Protocol — "Modbus TCP", "S7-300/400", etc.
Name Connection name from your project.
Protocol Technical protocol identifier.
Status Running, Stopped, or Error.
Sent Total requests sent to the device.
Received Total responses received from the device.

Connections grid

Click any row to see its full details — IP address, port, timeout, retries — in the Properties panel on the right.

6. Events and Alarms

The Events panel at the bottom logs everything that happens:

  • Driver started / stopped
  • Connection errors and timeouts
  • Device communication failures

The status bar shows the total alarm count and the most recent message.

7. Accessing the REST API

Click the 🌐 Browser button to open the API in your web browser. Call any endpoint directly:

http://localhost:80/api/tags
http://localhost:80/health

For a complete walkthrough with code examples, see FenixServer.Api — User Guide.

8. Web Dashboard

If your project includes web files (in the Http/ folder), they are served automatically:

http://localhost:80/

This means you can view a browser-based monitoring dashboard without installing anything extra.

Browser view — light mode

Browser view — dark mode

9. Shutting Down

Close the window. The server will:

  1. Stop all drivers gracefully.
  2. Shut down the web API.
  3. Release all resources.

For auto-run mode (-r), use Windows Task Scheduler to restart the app automatically after system reboots.

How It Works (Briefly)

Under the hood, FenixServer does three things simultaneously:

  1. Drivers — the same Modbus and S7 communication engines from Fenix run in the background, polling your devices.
  2. Web Host — an ASP.NET Core server is embedded directly in the application, no IIS required. It listens on port 80 (configurable) and serves both the REST API and static dashboard files.
  3. UI — the WPF window gives you visibility into what's happening: connection status, sent/received counters, and an event log.

All three components start and stop together. When you close the window, everything shuts down cleanly.