S7-1200 connection with VirtualBox

Vadagor

Member
Join Date
Jul 2017
Location
Barcelona
Posts
30
Hi everyone,

I wanted to connect to a S7-1200 with TIA 13, but installed on a VirtualBox. The software works fine, and I can make successful ping to the PLC. Network card is configured as "bridged" on the same subnet. The problem is that the TIA Portal is not discovering it. I just need to make a backup of the program but not being able to connect to it, I can't do it. Any suggestion??

It happened the same with two different PLCs so:
- I'm doing something wrong;
- There is a network misconfiguration between the Virtual Machine and the Host PC (I always use VMWare, but I received this VM from a collegue).

As always: thanks!!!

Nick.
 
hi vadagor i have faced the same issue. you just need to verify that if the IP is pinging or not in your pc and the Virtual machine
if it does show the ping in pc and not in the vm then do the setting for vm ware network as attached,

if this is all good then check your PG/PC Interface and type of PG/PC inteface while accessing the accessible devices by going online

vm.jpg
 
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If you can ping the PLC but not go online, it might be your firewall.

One way to check without dealing with all the Step 7 settings is to try to telnet to the PLC's IP address on port 102. For a GUI type program you can use things like putty.

For a CLI program you can use the telnet client that comes with windows, but you might need to install it from add/remove windows components. The CLI command would be something like "telnet 192.168.1.1 102".

If it fails, you'll get some kind of error message like "connection timed out". If it succeeded, the command prompt will go to a blank screen. You can't actually enter any commands there, but it means that the network path between your PC and the PLC is OK. Any other problems are with Step 7.
 
Thank you both for your answers.

Usama, both the host and the vm have successful ping. I configured the profinet with the network card in order to connect to the plc. What else should I check?

MK42: I also thought about the firewall. I disabled it in the host and the vm. I don't know what else I can do with it as I don't have more knowledge. It didn't work. I will try the telnet tomorrow. What else could I test on the Step7 side?

Thanks again for your help!

Nick
 
What else could I test on the Step7 side?

Most of the time, unfortunately, comms from Step 7 usually either works, or it doesn't. There isn't much leeway, or warning that you were close, except for XYZ. A few ideas you can try though.


  • Make sure it's the right part number and FW of 1200. Especially with the 1200s, it is very unforgiving about a mismatch between the online/offline PLCs.
  • See if you can see it when you browse under Online Access. This is a totally unfiltered search, unlike the Go Online or Download windows.
  • Reboot your VM and the host computer. It's stupid, but sometimes that really does help.
 
Hi everyone,

I wanted to connect to a S7-1200 with TIA 13, but installed on a VirtualBox. The software works fine, and I can make successful ping to the PLC. Network card is configured as "bridged" on the same subnet. The problem is that the TIA Portal is not discovering it. I just need to make a backup of the program but not being able to connect to it, I can't do it. Any suggestion??

It happened the same with two different PLCs so:
- I'm doing something wrong;
- There is a network misconfiguration between the Virtual Machine and the Host PC (I always use VMWare, but I received this VM from a collegue).

As always: thanks!!!

Nick.


I have two VMs one with TIA13 SP2 and one with TIA14 SP1 and can connect to s7-1200s Firmware versions ranging from 2.1 to 4.2 with no problems at all. My host doesn't even need to be on the same subnet.
In the project tree click on "online access" and double click update accessible devices, your CPU should appear regardless of software or firmware version. If it doesn't appear then the problem is with firewall,windows defender,anti virus and sometimes even wifi interferes with connecting. If all else fails do another install on a new machine.

I should add that after you connect, the software version (version of TIA) used to download the program to the CPU and the firmware version of the CPU will be very important in whether you can upload the program, hardware configuration or both. Best to make sure you install the TIA version that you need to work with the CPU so you don't have to go through the troubleshooting again.

accessibe_devices.jpg
 
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For the fun of it I tried to ping my CPU from the guest and got "General failure" and from the host got "Request timed out" even after I changed my network settings to obtain ip address automatically yet I can connect with TIA within seconds!
 
Hi again!

I couldn't find the plc with "search" but I configured a device like the one I have, configured the IP that it has and I tried to make an online connection. When I searched it, now I can see it. My doubt now is: if I press "connect", will it just connect or it will download something to the PLC as well?. I would say 'no', but I have no experience with TIA.

As my proyect is blank, I don't want to erase anything!!!!!!

Thanks!!!!

Nick
 
If you clicked "Go Online" originally, then all it will do is create the connection, and automatically start doing a comparison of the program in your PLC (online) and the (empty) program on your PC (offline). Nothing will be affected.

If you clicked "Download", then you'll still have another window that pops up later verifying exactly what you want to do before it starts.
 
Thank you mk42!

I found another thing: the PLC is found when "show compatible devices" is not selected. If I select it, nothing appears... What could it be? (I configured on my Project exactly the same controller I have)

Cheers

Nick
 
Thank you all!
I found the issue. I could connect through a new Project but when I tried to upload the program from the PLC, it gave me the errors which clarified me everything. The program was done with TIA 13.0.0.0 and I have TIA 13.0.1.0 (SP1) and, apparently, they are totally incompatible.

Just posting it to let everybody know and for further reference.

Cheers,

Nick
 
No v13 and V13SP1 are not totally incompatible.

When you created a new project to get access to the existing PLC, the CPU was probably selected with the latest firmware. You should have selected the firmware version that matched the one in the PLC.
Kalabdel explained it in post #6
 
Hi Jesper,

thank you for your response. The thing is that the CPU I had to connect to, had only one FW choice to select from on TIA Portal. I didn't have any other option. In addition to this, what I found in some Siemens official forum responses was that it was not possible to upload from the PLC a Project done in v13 with a v13 SP1.

To do this, the option is to open a v13 version and choose not to upgrade it. Then upload the program from the PLC and overwrite the file you opened. Siemens facilitates v13 empty projects on their webpage to do this.

Thanks again!

Nick
 

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