RA Activation establish trust SSL/TLS issue

[thehoneybadger]

Hey all,

I am experiencing issues activating some rockwell products. I have submitted a ticket to rockwell with request for assistance, but to be honest, i figured you guys would probably be able to help me way faster than RA.

I have installed Studio5000 and attempted to activate the product. I received this error code:

"The underlying connection was closed: Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel"

I interpret this as their server firewall blocking me. Maybe i am not using a compatible encription protocol.

Please advise if you have experienced something similar and what did you do to resolve. Thank you.

 

[Robobob]

Try this link to the knowledgebase article. Access level everyone.


https://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/461217

 

[thehoneybadger]

Thank you Rob. Will try it out.

I will paste the contents of the article here for posterity.

Solution 1
This problem generally occurs when you do not have the default SSL certificates installed on the workstation. This can occur because they have been removed from the workstation(s) by your local IT departments security policy. Generally they will be added back provided you do not have a group policy preventing you from installing these certificates back into the "Trusted Root Certification Authorities".

You will need to import the SSL certificates to your Trusted Root Certification

If the issue persists after the installation of the certificate, install the Root Authority update on Windows:

Close all instances of the web browser that may be open.
Go to Control Panel --> Add Remove Programs --> Add Remove Windows components.
Next, select the Update Root Certificates option by marking the checkbox.
Click Next to begin the installation and complete the installation wizard.
Solution 2
Upgrade the version of the FactoryTalk Activation Manager.

 

[thehoneybadger]

I made another attempt at activating Studio5000 today.

I am running Win7, 32bit

The steps i tried are as follows:

1. Control Panel/Programs and Features/Turn Windows features on or off
2. Searched thoroughly for Update Root Certificates by expanding all folders in the list of features.
3. Unable to find.

Attempted solution 2

4. Uninstalled existing FT Activation Manager V3.*** (installed with Studio5000)
5. Downloaded FT Activation Manager V5.00.12
6. Began installation process

Failure Message:

'This version of FactoryTalk Activation is not compatible with this operating system' For a full list of supported operating systems, see the release notes.

Read the release notes. Win10 to Win11 supported. Not Win7.

I do not plan to change my operating system.

Any ideas?

 

[KuulKuum]

For Windows 7 32/64 you are going to need to download version 4.x of FactoryTalk Activation Manager. The last FTAM that supports your Win7 OS is 4.04.16-FTActivation-Web.exe

 

[thehoneybadger]

For Windows 7 32/64 you are going to need to download version 4.x

Thank you KK, am trying to find it now on RA website. They do not make it easy i can tell you that

 

[KuulKuum]

Thank you KK, am trying to find it now on RA website. They do not make it easy i can tell you that

See if this link will work for you. You will need to login for access.

https://compatibility.rockwellautom...areSelections.aspx?dlpop=1&id=60459&crumb=113

 

[thehoneybadger]

https://compatibility.rockwellautom...areSelections.aspx?dlpop=1&id=60459&crumb=113

Thank you KK. That link took me straight to the download.

 

[joseph_e2]

How to get to it (as of May 2023):
1) Go to Rockwell's main website
2) Click "Downloads"
3) Click "Downloads by Product"
4) In search box, type "Activation"
5) Click "FactoryTalk Activation". A version selector will pop up
6) Select the version to download
6a) You can select a bunch of versions and click "Compare". Based on that comparison, the last one that supports Windows 7 is v4.04.16
7) Once you have the version selected, hit "Downloads"
8) Click "Select files"
9) Check the box next to what you're downloading and click the download cart icon
10) Click "Download Now" and follow the prompts.

 

[thehoneybadger]

I was able to download and install FTActivation V4.***.

1. I started with "Get new activations".
2. data file
3. bindings
4. Create Data File

Got this far. Then it loops me back to the menu. Which only gets me back here.

I am trying to get to a point where i can enter my seriel number and product key. But i cannot seem to get there

 

[joseph_e2]

Hmmm....when I select "Get New Activations" under the "Manage Activations" tab, I get fields to enter the Serial # and product key right there.

However...when I do it from within a virtual machine that doesn't have internet access, I get the same thing you're seeing.

Does your PC have internet access?

FTAM gives a link to https://activate.rockwellautomation.com/ as an alternative. I clicked "Smart Guide" and it lets you drill down through a bunch of selections. The combo I tested, with FTAM installed on the computer that needs the licenses but doesn't have internet access, and having internet access but no FTAM on another PC, it just said that I need to install FTAM on a PC with internet access. That doesn't sound right, so I suggest you log into your RA account, go to support, and start a chat support session. I'm pretty sure it's always available for activation issues. In my experience, they've always been prompt and helpful.

Be sure to let them know what versions of Studio 5000 you need to activate. They have a couple of ways to do it and there's a transition point where the new method doesn't work for older versions. But they can make it work for old and new (my license bought in 2020 activates current versions and all the way back to v11, but I had to have them do something to make it work).

 

[thehoneybadger]

...I suggest you log into your RA account, go to support, and start a chat support session.

I have internet access

And i have been on RA chat for the past hour.

Still perservering.

Still not there

 

[joseph_e2]

Ugh, sorry man. I've never had issues with their chat support. I've often had trouble with activating software directly within FTAM, but chat support is usually right there and quick.

 

[thehoneybadger]

Ugh, sorry man. I've never had issues with their chat support.

i do not have an issue with support. They were quick to appear. They have been with me for over an hour now trying to get FTAM to work

No comlaints

 

[thehoneybadger]

This problem has carried on a lot longer than expected.

Was with Tech support chat for around 2 hours last night

Made numerous changes to my computer, specifically firewall inbound changes, port changes, and numerous others.

To no avail. FTAM refuses to recognise the internet connection.