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The Ignition SCADA file structure

The Ignition SCADA file structure is organized hierarchically within the Gateway installation directory, primarily using JSON files for project configuration. This model provides a flexible and scalable SCADA architecture easy to manage and enables version-control with systems like Git.

Core directory structure

The main location for project resources is the data/projects/ directory within your Ignition installation.

  • .../Inductive Automation/Ignition/: The default installation root directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\Inductive Automation\Ignition\ on Windows).
  • .../data/ stores dynamic data, including projects and internal databases.
  • .../data/projects/: Each Ignition project exists in its own folder within this directory. The folder name matches the project name exactly.

Project-level structure

Inside a specific project's folder (e.g., .../data/projects/MyProject/), resources are organized by module and resource type IDs:

  • project.json: A manifest file present in every valid project folder.
  • resources/: A top-level folder in the projects/ directory, typically ignored by the system in favor of individual project folders.
  • moduleID/typeID/: Within a project folder, resources are arranged in a hierarchy that mirrors the Designer’s resource path. This includes a moduleID folder and a typeID folder beneath it.

Resource-level structure

Each resource is stored as a folder, containing at least one file:

  • resource.json: Defines the configuration for the specific resource (e.g., a screen, a script, or other component).
  • Subfolders/Files: Additional files may exist depending on the resource type (e.g., image files for an image library or related scripts).

Other important files/folders

  • ignition.conf: The main gateway configuration file, located in %IgnitionInstallationDirectory%/data/ on Windows.
  • Tags are primarily stored in an internal SQLite database by default, but their configurations can be exported to and imported from JSON files for version tracking and deployment.