IEC 62541-7:2020

Overview

IEC 62541-7:2020 - "OPC Unified Architecture – Part 7: Profiles" defines the Profiles used to group OPC UA features for conformance and testing. The standard separates feature sets into testable units (ConformanceUnits) and specifies which functionality can be validated by automated tool-based testing (for example the OPC Foundation’s OPC UA CTT) versus lab-based testing performed by independent test labs. This third edition (2020) replaces the 2015 edition and is a technical revision that updates profiles, transports and security recommendations.

Key Topics and Requirements

• Profiles and ConformanceUnits: Defines how OPC UA features are grouped to support consistent conformance testing and reporting.
• Test scope: Distinguishes automated tool tests from lab-only tests; includes general categories of TestCases (but not the detailed TestCases themselves).
• New functional profiles (2020): global discovery, global certificate management, KeyCredential and access token management, durable subscriptions facet, standard UA Client profile, and user role/permission administration profiles.
• New transport profiles: HTTPS with JSON encoding, secure WebSockets (WSS) with binary or JSON encoding, and reverse connectivity.
• Updated security profiles: support for TLS 1.2 with PFS, improved securityPolicy algorithms (e.g., Aes128-Sha256-RsaOaep; Aes256-Sha256-RsaPss), and JWT user tokens.
• Deprecations: Older, broken algorithms and transports (Basic128Rsa15, Basic256, TLS 1.0/1.1, SOAP/HTTP with WS-SecureConversation) are deprecated due to known vulnerabilities or lack of platform support.
• Profile versioning and conventions: rules for defining and evolving profiles to maintain interoperability across releases.

Practical Applications - Who Uses IEC 62541-7

• Product vendors and developers: determine which OPC UA features to implement to meet specific profiles and to plan automated vs lab testing.
• QA and certification labs: design test plans and scope certification activities based on profile groupings and ConformanceUnits.
• System integrators and asset owners: select OPC UA servers/clients that conform to required profiles for interoperability and security.
• Cybersecurity engineers: use the security profile recommendations to enforce modern cryptography and deprecate weak algorithms.
• Tool providers: build or update automated conformance tools (like OPC UA CTT alternatives) aligned with the profile definitions.

Related Standards

• IEC 62541 series (OPC UA core specifications, services, information models) - Part 7 complements other parts by prescribing how features are grouped and tested for conformance and interoperability.

Keywords: IEC 62541-7, OPC UA Profiles, OPC Unified Architecture, conformance testing, OPC UA CTT, lab-based testing, automated testing, security profiles, transport profiles, durable subscriptions.