Installing other software side-by-side with Rockwell

zacslade

Member
Join Date
Oct 2014
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Posts
84
Hi all,

I was thinking today about installing VirtualBox on a computer which has an existing installation of Studio 5000, and it got me thinking. I've heard various stories about different software packages not playing well with Rockwell software. So, my questions:

1. Does anyone have experience installing VirtualBox next to Studio 5000, and are there problems?

2. Is there any good way to predict conflicts when installing an arbitrary software package on a machine which already has Studio 5000?

Thanks,
Zac Slade
 
1) VirtualBox works pretty good but has USB issues that are sometimes a struggle to learn (VMWare is a little bit better, but you have to pay for it).

2) Unknown

extra - I hardly ever have anything installed on my host that is Rockwell/Siemens related, just easier to have a bunch of starter/template VMs and spin whatever up that I need at the time or for the project.
 
I don't see any more issue with Rockwell software playing along with other software. The #1 issue tend to be antivirus software.

More often, it's different version of the same software that tend to have issues. In this business, we often have to support software of various vintages so we have to use VM to run different of the same software.
 
Problems between software packages are hard to predict, as everyone's OS registry is a little different. I always recommend people install their Rockwell software on a VM to keep it segregated from as much as they can.

WILL you have problems if you install them together? Maybe. Maybe not. But you definitely minimize your issues with a segregated installation.
 
Do yourself a favour - invest in VMWare. Set up a separate VM for each software OEM you need to support, and have nothing on your host machine except VMWare, a cloud storage service, and maybe TeamViewer. The lack of issues you'll have going forward will make the investment in VMWare worth it 10 times over.
 
Keep in mind, you will need to buy each VM a separate Windows OS license unless you are covered under enterprise license agreement.
 
Keep in mind, you will need to buy each VM a separate Windows OS license unless you are covered under enterprise license agreement.

I thought I remember reading something a little loop hole ish about this.

http://download.microsoft.com/downl...g_Windows_Desktop_OS_for_Virtual_Machines.pdf

or

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/virtualization.aspx

Basically: "The PC or the primary user of the PC needs active Windows Software Assurance, which permits running up to four virtual machines concurrently. " Page 6 last section., note windows 10 pro and no remote desktop allowed.
 
I thought I remember reading something a little loop hole ish about this.

http://download.microsoft.com/downl...g_Windows_Desktop_OS_for_Virtual_Machines.pdf

or

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/virtualization.aspx

Basically: "The PC or the primary user of the PC needs active Windows Software Assurance, which permits running up to four virtual machines concurrently. " Page 6 last section., note windows 10 pro and no remote desktop allowed.

I thought I remembered that those only counted if you used Microsoft hyper V. Could be wrong.
 
Unitronics' latest software, Unilogic, will not work if a computer already has Rockwell software installed.
 
Unitronics' latest software, Unilogic, will not work if a computer already has Rockwell software installed.

In my experience, Unitronics software won't work properly no matter WHAT is installed alongside it. I've never encountered so many bugs in a professionally released software package 🔨
 
Do yourself a favour - invest in VMWare. Set up a separate VM for each software OEM you need to support, and have nothing on your host machine except VMWare, a cloud storage service, and maybe TeamViewer. The lack of issues you'll have going forward will make the investment in VMWare worth it 10 times over.

This x1000.

I cannot understate enough how valuable an organised set of VMs and a regular backup to an external hdd is.

Even with a catastrophic laptop failure, you're are back up and running within minutes of obtaining a new one, as opposed to days.

You can buy an win7 pro license from ebay for about £5, make this your clean version, then copy and install away. I have 1 for Siemens, 1 for Rockwell and 1 for the **** we don't use much of.

I don't really give a fig for the license implications of windows, but if you're of the tinfoil hat type, then just buy a license for each VM.

VMWare is well worth the money.
 
Last edited:
I used to have Rockwell (FTView + Studio 5000) Siemens (TIA 13) and Bosh (Indraworks 13) and Codesys on one PC and all packages seemd to be working fine. This was an exception though.

Normally I tend to keep individual vendors on separate VMs. Personally use VMware as for me it is more user friendly however as mentioned above you need a license if you want to use it for commercial purposes (old VMWare i thing version 3 or 4 does not require a license).
VBox is free but I find few things not intuitive so I prefer VMware.
 
VMware is definitely worth it.

Also worth considering is that with the move to virtualised environments for SCADA, one can put the VM running as an instance in a server along with the production stuff and have the same software in a laptop in case you need it elsewhere in the plant.
 
As I use a Linux based distribution, all my Windows stuff is done in virtual machines.

I've used Virtualbox for 10 years pretty much with no issues, and even use it on my server I host at home to keep my email/file sharing/media sharing separate on a headless Linux based server.
 
As I use a Linux based distribution, all my Windows stuff is done in virtual machines.

I've used Virtualbox for 10 years pretty much with no issues, and even use it on my server I host at home to keep my email/file sharing/media sharing separate on a headless Linux based server.

The only things I've had issues with are USB (and sometimes networking setup), but I have 2.0 and 3.0 and dell did some weird thing with the USB configuration. So, I have 3x USB slots, but VB can only use 2 of them at the "same time". But they won't work at the same time if I'm in a rush.
 

Similar Topics

A couple of years ago I posted about my exploits getting as much rockwell software as possible installed on Windows Server 2019. I've taken the...
Replies
31
Views
19,312
I recently reinstalled Logix Deisgner software on a new laptop. Now when I make online edits, it duplicates the rung I edited and it appears...
Replies
3
Views
2,561
Hello I am trying to install starter software on my simatic PG but the installation does not start with error that simotion scout is not installed...
Replies
6
Views
2,556
hello dears. i have a problema installing sotware siemens, I open this window, not installing it, how to install it
Replies
2
Views
1,794
I am getting the starter version of RSLogix500. Can someone give me a guide as to what and how I need to do to install this software. The info I...
Replies
6
Views
2,327
Back
Top Bottom