PLC programming software under linux

mk42 · Jun 17, 2015

I'm curious, is there any PLC programming software that runs under Linux? Most software, like RSLogix or Step 7 only runs on Windows, which means you'd have to use something like Wine to get it to run (which is usually tricky). Is something like Codesys less windows-centric?

I don't actually need this for any projects, I just get a little annoyed at being stuck in Windows for everything I do. No one uses linux at work because there is no software that supports it, and there is no software that supports it because no one uses it.

Handcraftedsince87 · Jun 17, 2015

I worked at a sawmill that ran Linux Debian.. all of the RSlogix software was in a windows image in an Oracle VM I believe. Not exactly what you were looking for, but I thought it was pretty cool. The lead electrician hated "winblows"

danatomega · Jun 17, 2015

Handcraftedsince87 said:
I worked at a sawmill that ran Linux Debian.. all of the RSlogix software was in a windows image in an Oracle VM I believe. Not exactly what you were looking for, but I thought it was pretty cool. The lead electrician hated "winblows"

I fail to see why that isn't still windows ...

Handcraftedsince87 · Jun 17, 2015

Right.. That's what i meant by "not exactly what you're looking for", more so, not what you're looking for at all.. I just thought it was cool that the sawmill in the middle of nowhere was running Linux on their computers, albeit with a VM. I don't know how common it is, but I haven't heard of or seen that again.. That's all

dmargineau · Jun 17, 2015

mk42 said:
I'm curious, is there any PLC programming software that runs under Linux? Most software, like RSLogix or Step 7 only runs on Windows, which means you'd have to use something like Wine to get it to run (which is usually tricky). Is something like Codesys less windows-centric?

I don't actually need this for any projects, I just get a little annoyed at being stuck in Windows for everything I do. No one uses linux at work because there is no software that supports it, and there is no software that supports it because no one uses it.

Your annoyance is caused by the most important element of any advanced economy system: Supply vs. Demand.
Why would any reputable and solvent automation software company invest into developing software designated to run on an Operating System residing on a minuscule percentage of the existing, functional Servers/PCs? (Win 58.39%, Linux 1.52% as of April 2015- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems)
I am pretty sure if there will be a demand for non-Windows OSs automation software, they will start working on it ASAP.
The only "mainstream" automation application which will run on both Windows and Linux I have encountered is Inductive Automation's Ignition (SCADA only) and this is not because it was specifically intended to do so but because it is based on Java software which is functional within both Windows and Linux OS environments.

My two cents...

jvdcande · Jun 17, 2015

dmargineau said:
Your annoyance is caused by the most important element of any advanced economy system: Supply vs. Demand.
Why would any reputable and solvent automation software company invest into developing software designated to run on an Operating System residing on a minuscule percentage of the existing, functional Servers/PCs? (Win 58.39%, Linux 1.52% as of April 2015- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems)

These numbers are for general use of computers. Computers used in automation are, as I guess it, only about 1% (or even less) of market share of computers over all. For your information: a couple of years ago a student of mine installed Siemens Step5 on a Linux system by running it under WINE. I know this can also be regarded as running it in a VM, but the exciting thing was that:

at that time Step5 didn't run on Windows that well
it ran much more stable than on Windows in a DOS window

I don' know if anybody did try to run PLC software in WINE since that time, but I'm sure someone here will know if someone did.

RussB · Jun 17, 2015

I would bet that the majority of PLC's are running a form of Linux as their run-time OS.

CapinWinky · Jun 17, 2015

RussB said:
I would bet that the majority of PLC's are running a form of Linux as their run-time OS.

The vast majority of PLCs run VxWorks, which is a flavor of Linux.

The issue with developing automation software for multiple platforms (you would need to also have a Windows version to be successful) is the user base is so small and the software is so complex. You couldn't possibly debug both versions in a profitable way.

adfox · Jun 17, 2015

Check this -> http://freedcs.sourceforge.net/documentation.html

It looks promising.

mk42 · Jun 17, 2015

dmargineau said:
Your annoyance is caused by the most important element of any advanced economy system: Supply vs. Demand.

Agreed, it's unfortunately to be on the losing end of the laws of economics....

That's good to know that Ignition is Java and therefore cross platform. It's a shame that I've heard Java is going the way of flash, where the company that owns it is trying to phase it out even though the people using it are quite happy. Well, happy except for the constant updates due to security flaws...

mk42 · Jun 17, 2015

jvdcande said:
These numbers are for general use of computers. Computers used in automation are, as I guess it, only about 1% (or even less) of market share of computers over all. For your information: a couple of years ago a student of mine installed Siemens Step5 on a Linux system by running it under WINE. I know this can also be regarded as running it in a VM, but the exciting thing was that:

at that time Step5 didn't run on Windows that well

it ran much more stable than on Windows in a DOS window

I don' know if anybody did try to run PLC software in WINE since that time, but I'm sure someone here will know if someone did.

Yeah, WINE is my main hope for getting it running. Unfortunately, most of my experience with WINE is that programs work fine, except for one key thing that ends up making the whole thing useless, like the install button missing, or the text being in some unique font that I can't install in linux.

Thanks for the heads up, that's interesting news.

RussB · Jun 17, 2015

CapinWinky said:
The vast majority of PLCs run VxWorks, which is a flavor of Linux.

The issue with developing automation software for multiple platforms (you would need to also have a Windows version to be successful) is the user base is so small and the software is so complex. You couldn't possibly debug both versions in a profitable way.

Maybe but CoDeSys should try it to get the ball rolling.

swimmy67 · Jun 17, 2015

From an earlier post about the Raspberry Pi.

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showpost.php?p=634055&postcount=10

arbj · Jun 18, 2015

Developing software for multiple OS is a huge effort, unlike windows there are so many distributions of linux.

There is also no 'official' support for linux, so this means there has to be a separate team for maintaining and offering technical support for OS related issues.

One way this can be achieved is for the industrial automation companies (read Siemens, Rockwell etc.) to develop and maintain a special distribution of linux specifically targeted at Industrial automation. The OS should be able to support their entire range of software and hardware.

This way support and development would be in-house and not dependent on open source community, also they can keep a strict control on the kind of applications that can be used on their OS (similar to Apple, itunes etc...).

Manglemender · Jun 18, 2015

swimmy67 said:
From an earlier post about the Raspberry Pi.

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showpost.php?p=634055&postcount=10

Perhaps, having taken the step to make a Linux Codesys control, 3S might port their IDE to Linux too. I don't write much software any more but I'd be interested to try Codesys programming on a Pi.

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PLC programming software under linux

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