Search for BACnet devices

Use the BACnet client to scan the network for objects

Written By Aleksander Bless

Last updated 14 days ago

⚠️ NOTE! This feature is only supported on the Evolo Gateway running on the Linux operating system. If you are using a custom setup with Docker, the gateway must be run in host mode.

What is BACnet scanning?

BACnet scanning allows you to discover and import BACnet devices, objects, and data points directly into Evolo toppsystem.

You can find the tool under:

Configuration → Gateway → Evolo Gateway → BACnet Client

BACnet scanning

How to use BACnet scanning

Devices

  • Click on the desired device to load available objects.

  • If the device is not already in the Evolo, you can add it via the list.

Objects

  • Click on the objects to retrieve names and details.

  • Check the objects you want to import as data points.

  • Click Add Selected to import them.

  • You can add a prefix to the data points before importing (useful for organization).

Values

Once the objects have been added as data points, they will have the following fields:

  • Name = OBJECT_NAME

  • Description = DESCRIPTION

  • Unit = UNIT

Troubleshooting

I can’t find any devices or objects?

This means that no BACnet devices are responding to the Who-IS broadcast from the Gateway. By default, the broadcast is sent to 255.255.255.255.

You can set a custom broadcast address under Advanced Settings for the gateway.

Set custom broadcast address

To apply the new BACnet broadcast address, you must restart the Gateway:

For example, if the local subnet is 192.168.1.0/24, you can try the broadcast address 192.168.1.255. Some devices only respond to this address.

No response to Who-Is → search manually

If no BACnet devices respond to the Gateway’s WHO-Is broadcast (Evolo), you can manually enter the device’s IP address to search for objects directly.

Enter IP address:BACnetID and click Search to perform a manual search for objects for the selected BACnet device.

If the device takes a long time to generate object lists or process requests, you can increase the timeout to instruct Evolo to wait longer before the request is aborted.

I only get devices with "ERR_TIMEOUT" during a manual search

When using manual scanning, Evolo attempts to find objects based on the IP address and BACnet ID you have entered.

If the device does not respond, it will still appear in the list, but with an indication that the request timed out due to a lack of response.