Factory Talk Activation in XP Virtual machine?

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I'm running Windows 7 professional 64bit directly on my laptop, and I've downloaded and install the WIndows XP mode virtual machine that Microsoft offers.

I can get RSLogix5000 Standard installed and then use Factory Talk for successful activation (I can see the activation listed in the current tab in FT). Yet when I start RSLogix from the Start button shortcuts, or by clicking on RSLogix5000.exe directly in the "C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\RSLogix 5000\ENU\v17\Bin\", it tells me that activation has not been successful and I'm now in grace period.

I called tech support, but of course once I opened my mouth and mentioned that it is an XP VM, they kind of dropped it like a hot potato. At one point he asked me to locate some kind of SYS file located C:\, but it wasn't there.

Has as anyone gotten around this issue?
 
i managed to run 5000 vs 12.06 on windows 7 direct but cannot do this with 500 and rslinx, i have bought view studio ME and want to know if anyone has tried this on a virtual machine, i do not have windows 7 VM as i only have home edition but i have sun virtualbox which is usable on that edition.

Rob
 
Factorytalk view and most other programs will run in xp with vm ware. I have not tested virtual box with industrial software but it is somewhat limited compared to vm ware workstation. I would get vm ware for your needs cost is 189.00 many people on the forum use it and know it works the xp mode does not work and has many known flaws with industrial software.
 
On your host machine you need to install Factory Talk Activation Server, then on the VM machine you need to install Factory Talk Activation Client. In the client setup you need to point to the activation on the "host" machine, so you need network communication between the two. The VM will "borrow" it from the server when it is used.

I am doing this with Vmware without issues.

I'm not sure how windows 7 will handle Factory Talk Activation Server.
 
Last edited:
Look in your bios for "virtualization settings" and turn them on. If it's a newer computer it'll have it.. it enables certain passthrough functions for virtual machines to use system resources as if they are real rather than simulated by the emulator.
 
VMWare

Working great with FT Studio and Rslogix 5000. I use dongle for lic. Virtual box or Xp MOde did not work had to go with VMWare.
 
I believe you can still call AB Tech support and request a license "downgrade" to Activation Disks instead of Factory Talk activation. That's what we always do, but I AB may stop offering that at some point.
 
Look in your bios for "virtualization settings" and turn them on. If it's a newer computer it'll have it.. it enables certain passthrough functions for virtual machines to use system resources as if they are real rather than simulated by the emulator.

The OP would not even be able to launch XP Mode if this setting was turned off. Since that is not the problem being described, this setting is not at issue.

OG
 
I'm running Windows 7 professional 64bit directly on my laptop, and I've downloaded and install the WIndows XP mode virtual machine that Microsoft offers.

I can get RSLogix5000 Standard installed and then use Factory Talk for successful activation (I can see the activation listed in the current tab in FT). Yet when I start RSLogix from the Start button shortcuts, or by clicking on RSLogix5000.exe directly in the "C:\Program Files\Rockwell Software\RSLogix 5000\ENU\v17\Bin\", it tells me that activation has not been successful and I'm now in grace period.

I called tech support, but of course once I opened my mouth and mentioned that it is an XP VM, they kind of dropped it like a hot potato. At one point he asked me to locate some kind of SYS file located C:\, but it wasn't there.

Has as anyone gotten around this issue?

I don't know about rslogix 5000, but I was able to install rslogix 500 (the free version) on windows 7 home premium 64bit.

I read somewhere on the net about it... You need to right-click on the setup file(s) and set it to run in xp-pro mode. Of course you can't use the virtual machine you metioned in the home premium version.

When I did it I went through all the installation folders, and set every setup.exe file there is to xp-mode. It worked for me, and saved me from having to upgrade to 7-pro, as well as not downloading even more microsoft overhead.

Just a thought not a promise, good luck! PcRider
 
To OP, this is definitely not a virtualization issue. I run different VMs for all my software, from about 5 different vendors. I have never had an issue with the AB stuff in the VM. However, in VMware, if you move/restore the VM, it will ask you if you moved or copied, you need to click moved, or it will change the UUID of the partition on the VMDK. Because AB licenses off UUID or MAC, I would pick UUID and make sure you always move the files, not copy. Same goes for VirtualBox. Both work extremely well. The only issue with XP Mode is the fact that it connects through Terminal Services, which screws up setting up FactoryTalk Security.
 
Can anyone discuss the pros and cons of whether to have the activations in the guest machines as opposed to a client/server relationship between the Guest and the Host?

I am using an XP ver 3 VM created with VMware Workstation ver 8.0. and Running Windows 7 Ult SP1 64bit on my host.
 
The way I we do it is to have the Activations on the host computer, and have the Virtual Machines point to the host's IP address via a dedicated "host only" virtual network adapter.

This works with our Toolkit, and I think it works because all of the activations in a Toolkit are "Concurrent" type that can be activated across a network.

The benefit for me is that I can create and configure virtual machines that I distribute among the whole engineering team, without tying up Activations within that VM.

We have a dozen VM's that we've created with various mixes of RA and other software on them, but the only *.LIC files we need to be concerned with are the ones on our host computers, which are maintained by each of our six programmers who use FactoryTalk.
 
Can anyone discuss the pros and cons of whether to have the activations in the guest machines as opposed to a client/server relationship between the Guest and the Host?

I am using an XP ver 3 VM created with VMware Workstation ver 8.0. and Running Windows 7 Ult SP1 64bit on my host.

Having them on your host machine allows you to have software installed on your host as well as your VM (say you want to run RSLinx so you can use your host install of Excel to use OPC comms). Also allows you to have any number of VMs access to all your licenses.

However, you can't run multiple instances of a program (say RSLogix 5000) across multiple VMs at the same time. Granted, from a license agreement standpoint, you are in violation of this anyway so it should be a moot point.
 
Ken & Paully's, thanks for tips. My original license for RSLogix 5000 and 500 was for Node-Locked. I was using it with a dongle so all was good. Unfortunately back then I didn't even know what a VM was. So I assume that eliminates the possibility of accessing it from the VM when on the Host, or can I still point to a piece of hardware on the Host through the VM?


My FT Talk SE is Concurrent, so I guess I can go either way.

On a side note, I retired the dongle a coule years ago. I had it nearly sheared off one day and subsequently activated it to my hard drive shortly thereafter. Don't know why they had to make the thing stick out so far. The things are pretty delicate. At least the version I ended up with.
 

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