Remote Access to AB Control/Compact Logix

Hi All

I did a search of the forum and I didn't find anything that I appeared to be about my issue.

A little baskground first. All our machines have AB PLC´s. The newer ones are all CompactLogix however older ones use ControlLogix, SLC 500 and Micrologix. Most of them have PanelView Plus 700 HMI´s, with some of the older ones having PanelView 550´s.

What I would like to do is this, when a customer calls with a problem and needs assistance, at times it's an issue that requires me to "Go Online" with the PLC in order to resolve it (sometimes it is a bug that has since been corrected but has not been passed to them etc). However I would say 95%+ of our customers do not have RSLogix 500/5000 or any other AB software.

We have already done this with a few customers who had AB software and we used Teamviewer in order to make any changes or upgrades to the machines. However Teamviewer will only work if the customer has AB software on the machine that the PLC is connected to.

So what I would like to do would be to use some form of remote access where the customer would connect an Ethernet cable (lets assume that they have a PLC with an ethernet port) from the PLC to their computer and then using my PC "Take Control" of their PC and make any adjustments necessary in their PLC.

You´ll notice that I'm not using very specific terms here because I don't know if this kind of thing is even possible (I guess it is, using some form of VPN but I'm not sure).

Has anyone any experience implementing something along these lines? Ideally we would like this to use "Freeware" and we do not want to have to put special hardware into the machine if at all possible.

Thanks very much in advance for all help or ideas.
Regards
Ian

There are a number of options.

Easiest thing you could try first without getting IT involved is Teamviewer VPN.

This would let you create a point-to-point tunnel between your programming PC, and the customers laptop which is connected to the PLC.

I haven't tried it myself, but have heard others say it works well (look at this post by Jesper)

Otherwise if the plant network is connected to the corporate network, you could ask IT to help set up a VPN connection for you or they may decline,

Other option is a GSM modem/router that can be connected to the PLC.

And then there are other solutions like Secomea which I've used before with good results.

If the plant's PC uses Windows you could use remote desktop. I prefer that to VNC as long as you don't mind logging out the local PC user (XP at least only allows one user at a time).

In any case you'll probably need someone in IT to set up some method for you to connect into their network from outside, say a VPN. Last place I was at allowed certain vendors access to certain IP addresses for just this purpose.

I would try VPN Router with 3G port. If you can make your customer go to the machine and plug some cables in the switch, I think you could have one of these routers and make the customer plug the cable of the router. This way you won't have to bother with the IT personnel and lot of hardware firewalls which are present in the large plants.
VPN to the customers computer should work. I've done it even with Hamachii. But Hamachii and Teamviewer, just to remind you are free only for personal use, not for work or commercial.

Thanks for the help so far everyone, I am getting there but I have encountered a problem now.

I followed the guide from Jesper and now I am able to ping the VPN server (remote PC in his vocabulary) from my local PC (PG in his vocabulary). However I cannot ping the PLC and as a result I cannot connect to it via RSLinx or RsLogix. I have added the route he mentions on page (both types for the single PLC and for the Subnet) but I am still unable to communicate.

Is there something I am missing? Does anyone have any ideas on what might have gone wrong or what I need to do to correct it?

Thanks in Advance
Ian

Can the remote PC ping the PLC?

The OP stated that the original intention was to "remote-control" one of the customer's PCs, PC which has PLC-Online connecting capabilitiers.
Once your VPN is "connected" to the LAN, run the chosen "remote-control" software in Viewer Mode (I am usually using VNC (for 32-bit OS LAN PCs) or TightVNC (for 64-bit OSs)pointing to the IP Address of the PC you wish to "remote control".
Of course the "Remote Control" software will need to be installed on both, your PC and the LAN "target" PCs.

gbeaker said:

Can the remote PC ping the PLC?

Click to expand...

The remote PLC can Ping the PLC and I can ping the remote PC from the local PC. But I cannot ping the PLC directly from the local PC.

dmargineau said:

The OP stated that the original intention was to "remote-control" one of the customer's PCs, PC which has PLC-Online connecting capabilitiers.
Once your VPN is "connected" to the LAN, run the chosen "remote-control" software in Viewer Mode (I am usually using VNC (for 32-bit OS LAN PCs) or TightVNC (for 64-bit OSs)pointing to the IP Address of the PC you wish to "remote control".
Of course the "Remote Control" software will need to be installed on both, your PC and the LAN "target" PCs.

Click to expand...

Maybe I was unclear. If necessary I would take control the other PC, however if possible I would prefer to only use it to access the PLC. The only system that I have worked on has required me to take control of the remote PC. On the remote PC we have a virtual machine with all of the rockwell software we need installed on it. However this will not be possible in other cases as we cannot install the virtual machine on all the PC´s which we will want to remote access.

The most important part is that the Client would not need to install Paid Rockwell software.

Thanks
Ian

There are 50 ways under the sun to skin this cat but for OEM's / Machine builders I like to use a WebPort from spectrum controls with the WebPort Connects cloud app for management.

Since this is just a connection with some decent security I like to have a firewall in place that protects from both remote access and LAN threats or accidents and for that I use Tofino security appliances.

If you only have a few machines then the Tofino will be your VPN and you won't need the webport but the Webport and cloud app is a good solution for managing lots of machines and customers from a centralized point of view.

Reviving an old thread of mine. I returned to this subject today because of a request from my boss. Here is what he would like

• Our PLC will be installed in the clients factory.
• The client will make a Laptop available when needed which will have No Rockwell/AB software installed on it. (Only Rockwell/AB software which may be installed on it must be free to obtain so for example RsLinx Lite etc)
• When Needed our company will connect to the clients laptop and GoOnline with the PLC.

Is this possible? It seems that some people say it is then others say it isn´t! I followed the link above which linked to a post by Jasper. I followed the guide but then once it comes to RSLinx I cannot seem to find the PLC. I´ve tried Ethernet Devices, Ethernet IP, Devices via Gateway etc etc etc. But to no avail, I just cannot see the PLC and I cannot ping it from my laptop. I can however ping it from the PC that is connected to it.

Thanks in advance
Regards
Ian

We are begining to use a 3G modem, because here is dificult to pursuade the costumer IT guys to set up a VPN.


http://www.****.biz/en/home.html

Usireland,

What's the PC at client used for, I can't see a purpose for it. Without programming software it's not serving any function. I think the idea is to use as a gateway bridging internet and local control network, right?

Better to tell them to get a WebPort instead or install VNC software and Rockwell programmign software on the local PC. That way, you can VNC in and do onlline editing through the programming software.

The company I work for started using the **** vpn switch for this exact purpose. I would recommend them to anyone that would like to get remote access to a system.

You can look at their site http://www.****.us/us/usa/home.html to see what they offer.

harryting said:

Usireland,

What's the PC at client used for, I can't see a purpose for it. Without programming software it's not serving any function. I think the idea is to use as a gateway bridging internet and local control network, right?

Better to tell them to get a WebPort instead or install VNC software and Rockwell programmign software on the local PC. That way, you can VNC in and do onlline editing through the programming software.

Click to expand...

We thought that the PC would serve as the access to the internet, as you said a gateway between the internet and the local control network.

The suggestion of installing Rockwell software on the local PC wont work. Clients wont pay for the Licences so hence its dead in the water. This is more so to help us trouble shooting the machines, so we would like the client not to have to pay anything other than having a Laptop available (which generally speaking is not an issue).

Seems that this might not work at all. Anyone any experience?

Ron Brown said:

The company I work for started using the **** vpn switch for this exact purpose. I would recommend them to anyone that would like to get remote access to a system.

You can look at their site http://www.****.us/us/usa/home.html to see what they offer.

Click to expand...

replace the **** with e W o n