ControlLogix: Go "Online" Then Asked to Upload/Download

We use a 3rd party versioning software.
I check out my .acd files if I have approval to make changes, otherwise I use a working copy to monitor things if I am troubleshooting.

We're going to AssetCentre next year probably.

Overall I'm a fan of AssetCentre, but it's not without it's limitations. Certainly much better than just a shared network folder. We have good compliance of usage by automation engineers, but shift electricians don't always use it correctly because it isn't as straight forward as it should be.

Also your AssetCentre server is a great place to host concurrent activations, reducing administration of licences.

Limitations:
-To do a "Get" for online monitoring typically creates a read-only file. RSLogix will give annoying prompt when opened.

-If you do a "Get" and create a writable file, you won't get the warning, but the next time you get or check-out, it will prompt you that it encountered a writable file. 99% of the time "Overwrite with Archived copy" is the right answer, but 75% of people will select "Keep existing file" regardless of training, which will cause you to lose any documentation changes since their old copy.

-In RSLogix 5 and 500, If you have to do a forced upload due to program mismatch, you want to set your "Project Files Search Path" to your "Asset Centre Working Folder", however when it encounters a mismatch, the first file it suggests to upload against, may not be the most recent copy, but could be a BAK file, duplicate copy someone made at some point (eg: doing an upload to save state while troubleshooting). This can likewise screw up your documentation.

-I recommend on RSL5,500, and 5000 disabling all backup and autosave features if using AssetCentre.

-It requires login to open, but there's no way to set a time limit, so on shared maintenance PCs, people won't bother logging out to log in as themselves. So logs will be accurate on what PC, and what time, but the user could be wrong.

-Even without doing a checkout, a "get" read only copy can still go online and perform online Edits. If the PC has AssetCentre, the Audit log can be looked at to determine what PC did the modification. A PC without AssetCentre installed can still go online and make modifications. You can configure an Agent PC to go around on a schedule (daily, weekly) go Online to all your PLCs, and create a new version if online changes are found. Someone could do a compare between the old version and new version to see what the changes are.

I believe RSLogix 5000 may have more capability to lock down the controller from changes without a checked out version vs 5/500.

Wait, you have controlled code in a folder somewhere?

And you make changes and don't add it to the controlled area because it is too much paperwork?

You don't have a separate area to take backups of current pid settings and setpoints etc?

Get a document management/asset management/ even a free version control system. Wow man. Just wow.

No one has mentioned the automatic backup copies. Every time you save your application, Logix renames and saves the original file with BAK### in the name. If you accidentally save and overwrite your file, the original is still there. Just open it as do a Save As to rename it.

Certainly the other measures mentioned are valuable, but I just wanted to point out that there is a measure of protection from "accidental saves".

Of course that can be turned off and you can increase the number of auto backups from the default of three up to 1000.

Just pointing out the obvious since I didn't see anyone else do so.

OG

AustralIan said:

Wait, you have controlled code in a folder somewhere?

Click to expand...

YES - it's on a server with limited accessibility (Automation write only)

AustralIan said:

And you make changes and don't add it to the controlled area because it is too much paperwork?

Click to expand...

NO - I didn't say that. Don't know where you got that from.

AustralIan said:

You don't have a separate area to take backups of current pid settings and setpoints etc?

Click to expand...

NO - the PID setting and setpoints are documented in the Functional Design Spec. If they need to be changed, the document is changed, and then the code follows (with a re-delivery).

AustralIan said:

Get a document management/asset management/ even a free version control system. Wow man. Just wow.

Click to expand...

I think you misunderstood what I wrote.

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I doubt we'll be getting AssetCentre any time soon, so I'll just have to come up with a system that works for me when handling these PLC apps.

Ask IT if they already have a document management system or similar.

Sorry about my rant, it was late and I dreamed the worst.

And in your specific instance, upload to a new file and use the logix compare tool to show any differences between your controlled code and what is on the PLC. Quietly ask around and say things like, "I know it wasn't you, John, but someone made change X, and the PLC code was different to the controlled copy. That should have gone through change management, even if it is after the fact."

The other explanation is foreign government backed hackers changed the PLC code.

You might find this Rockwell tech note informative on this topic:

How RSLogix 5/500/5000 determines if changes were made

(Requires TechConnect access.)

For RSL 5000, this is mainly through the "change log" that keeps track of various changes such as logic edits, but also includes the download-to IP address among possibly other data/configuration items. Specific versions of RSL 5000 also have other change detection features.