Communication S7-300 to WinCCflexibleRT2008 through VMWare

Hi everyone!

I installed WinCC flexible Runtime 2008 SP3 on a VMWare virtual machine (Win7 Pro 64bits).
I also have installed Simatic NET and import the .xdb from the S7 project.
(Attached you can see the Siemens softwares installed)

I set the network settings in VMWare to bridged connection with Replica physical network connection state.
The IP address of the host is set to DHCP, the PLC 200.200.200.141/24 and the virtual machine 200.200.200.142/24.
I have connected the PLC (317 2PN/DP) to the Ethernet adapter.
I can ping the PLC from the virtual machine (only if there's no other connections around...)
...But there's no communication between the PLC and the WinCC Runtime project.

I also tried with NAT settings (host: 200.200.200.141 and guest to DHCP), but not succeded.

May be the configuration is totally wrong.

Do you have an idea to solve this?

Bridged is the way to go.
Check that the IE General is linked to the correct Ethernet adapter. A VMware based PC can have several virtual ethernet adapters.

You have setup a Simatic Net configuration with WinCC Flexible RT.
Is that what you intend ?
If so, in your STEP7 Project there must be a socalled PC Station (not HMI Station).
And in WinCC Flexible, the online connection must be via "softbus" (not S7ONLINE).
Also, is this a fully integrated project with both the target PLC and PC Station ? Or is the connection defined manually ?
If fully integrated, you must from netPro also download the configured connection to the PLC.
If manually, you must specify the target PLCs IP, slot (always 2 for an S7300) and rack (always 0 for an S7300).
Post screenshots from the online connection setup in NetPro and WinCC Flexible.

The alternative is to not setup WinCC Flexible RT as part of a PC Station with Simatic Net, but merely with the more simple S7ONLINE connection type.

Thanks a lot JesperMP!

I have just tried to do the same work on the host, with the same settings as in the virtual machine (station configurator, IP adresses, PLC rack and slot) and the communication is good with WinCC RT.

Since the communication is ok on the host with the same setttings, so the configuration in NetPro and WinCCFlexible is correct.

For the IP addresses, should I set the host as DHCP and guest as 200.200.200.142?

Your screenshots arent helping.
The S7ONLINE PG/PC settings are irrelevant since you are using Simatic Net.

But at least I can see from the screenshots from the S7ONLINE PG/PC settings, that there are multiple networks available, so you may have to experiment with them all when you use the StationConfigurator tool.

Is there a reason why you have chosen Softbus/Simatic Net instead of S7ONLINE which is simpler ?

In fact we have changed one of ours customer's PC(Win XP) where the WinCC project was installed.
The SIMATIC NET has been installed by one of my colleague (i'm a newbie in industrial automation).

What I wanted was to use a virtual machine to find if it's possible to communicate with PLC through a VM.

So when should we use SIMATIC NET?

A WinCC RT via Simatic Net is necessary
1. If you need routing.
2. If you need to use the symbols from the connected PLCs STEP7 project.
3. If you need Alarm S
4. If the connected PLC is a WinAC on the same PC as the WinCC RT.
and maybe for some more reasons.
If you dont need the above you simply setup the connection via S7ONLINE and PG/PC interface. That said, it should be possible to use Simatic Net.
My best guess is that the IE General is linked to the wrong VMware ethernet adapter. It doesnt help that they are all called the same name "Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection".

I tried with a WinCC advanced runtime V13 SP1 (TIA Portal) project, with a direct communication with the PLC (S7 Online), through the VM and it works well.

So it's definitely a problem in the SIMATIC NET, which doesn't enable the link between the PLC and the WinCC flexible 2008 SP3 project.

Willheisen said:

I tried with a WinCC advanced runtime V13 SP1 (TIA Portal) project, with a direct communication with the PLC (S7 Online), through the VM and it works well.

Click to expand...

yes, that is what I suggested you do with WinCC Flexible RT.

Willheisen said:

So it's definitely a problem in the SIMATIC NET, which doesn't enable the link between the PLC and the WinCC flexible 2008 SP3 project.

Click to expand...

It can work with Simatic Net if setup properly.

Do you ever listen to the answers people give you to questions you ask ?

JesperMP said:

Do you ever listen to the answers people give you to questions you ask ?

Click to expand...

Of course not......
Sorry to disturb you.

Hello,

Now everything works fine!

Thanks for your help.