Central administration of SIMATIC PCS 7 software

The central administration of the software versions of all stations of a SIMATIC PCS 7 system significantly reduces the administrative effort. SIMATIC PCS 7 installations, updates and service packs are subject to administration. In addition to the current SIMATIC PCS 7 software version, upgrades to the current software version are supported. The software can be installed on an individual target station or on multiple target stations in parallel using setup packages. The installation on the target station does not require active participation of the user. Thanks to the upstream security mechanisms, unintended adverse effects on runtime operation can be prevented.

Setup management

• Provision of SIMATIC PCS 7 installation files on a dedicated file servers or combined on the SIMATIC PCS 7 Management Console
• Addition/removal of SIMATIC PCS 7 setups in the central setup management of the SIMATIC PCS 7 Management Console
• Creation of pre-configured setup packages based on plant/user-specific aspects (e.g. OS client package)
• Display and editing of SIMATIC PCS 7 setups and setup packages for preparing for installation
• Rollout of pre-configured setup packages to target stations
  • Addition of software packages during installation
  • Editing of setups or setup packages

Status monitoring of the target stations

• Check of target stations for installation readiness by determining and displaying the operating state or role (e.g. OS runtime active/inactive, redundancy mode)
• Implicit, remote disabling of a station in preparation for the start of a SIMATIC PCS 7 update installation
• Status monitoring of the entire SIMATIC PCS 7 installation (e.g. resumption of the installation after restart or network interruption)
• Implicit, remote enabling of a station after completion of a SIMATIC PCS 7 update installation

SIMATIC PCS 7 system inventory

General inventory taking of installed hardware and software components from a central location offers the following advantages, for example:

• Quick analysis of the installed components as preparation for replacement actions or upgrades
• Simple creation of a detailed inventory report

The SIMATIC PCS 7 system inventory spans all levels of a SIMATIC PCS 7 system (management level, control level, field level). It covers SIMATIC PCS 7 system components in the named levels, e.g. SIMATIC PCS 7 workstations, Industrial Ethernet switches, automation systems (controllers), remote I/Os, links, field devices, drives, etc. For the AS 410 automation systems configured in the SIMATIC PCS 7 system, the number of available and used process objects is also determined in the inventory

SIMATIC PCS 7 system inventory includes:

• Central acquisition of inventory data by reading it from the database of the SIMATIC PCS 7 engineering system or directly from the components
• Generation of an inventory report in Microsoft Excel format
  • Combination of filter results with user-defined categories
  • Colored marking of filtered data
• Creation of a license certificate in the form of a list of installed software licenses and their use