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CanaanP

RA Software for Linux?

16 posts in this topic

Hey I was just wondering if anyone knew about the possibilities of running Logix 500 or 5000, RSLinx, etc in a linux environment. I understand that there is no native version ported to linux, but perhaps with wine?

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Here's the supported software by rockwell: http://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/ci/...3891/1264520789

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Maybe but you can't do much with it without RS-Linx. I haven't however found any trouble with running AB software under VirtualBox with Windows XP loaded.

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So, if you run AB software in virtualbox, how does the activation work? Does it attach to a virtual hardware id, or somehow still see the real hardware ids? Have you been able to run RSLinx in virtualbox as well?

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I agree with Paul. There is no reason to try emulation when virtualization is an option. I'm very familiar with how the "legacy" RSView/RSLinx activation works and I'm fairly certain you'd have no problem with EVMove and virtual machines. As far as the newer FactoryTalk activations...I wouldn't expect issues, but I really have no idea.

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Activation attaches to either the virtual hard drive(s) or virtual Ethernet NIC. RS-Linx runs fine. You can even run RS-Emulate and communicate to it from another machine, depending on how you bridge the Ethernet to the outside world. Or obviously you can store the licenses in another server (if you have concurrent licensing) and access them there. FTA doesn't really care about or look at WHAT kind of device it is attached to. It simply wants a hard drive with a serial number or an Ethernet port with a MAC. Any port will do. It's similar to the old master disk stuff...any hard drive would do. About the only hassle is that since everything is virtualized, you have two ways to access USB devices. You can either connect them to an "USB-IP Server" which is either a software or hardware device and then run the corresponding client "virtual USB" software from within the virtual machine, or else pass through the USB ports via the virtual interface directly. This works fine even with other systems that use Aladdin keys and such.

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Just a single caveat I can see in all this discussion. Being a linux hobbyist myself. If you use VirtualBox-OSE you won't have the USB features that come in the proprietary/free Sun VirtualBox version. I've run both but not with RA software. I've gone to OSE since I find little need for the USB stuff yet.

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Testing Virtuebox on Ubuntu here also, if all continues to go well my next work laptop will be running this setup

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Time I'd be sure to use the long life cycle Ubuntu or Centos rather than Fedora or Regualr Ubuntu. Both the bleeding edge Ubuntu and Fedora are running about 13 month life cycles. This means once a year you're backing up your data and repalcing your OS. Not a real issue since the workhorse stuff is in the VM and it imports to the new OS fine. But will need to plan for that upgrade cycle time. I'm presently using Centos 5.4 for my file server and Fedora 12 for my workstations at home. F12 has a nice package mythtv which is a freeware Digital Video Recorder. Beats TIVO and such hands down.

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Don't know if anyone's still listening here, but I have successfully created an XP VM with virtual box portable. The portable ver is not officially supported, and I just kinda stumbled upon an app that takes the official install and creates the portable version. It's pretty nice, but I'm still just doing all this from Windows. However, I have all the RA software I need installed in the VM from our toolkit and just now got online with a ML1500 as a test. I was using a keyspan usb serial adapter on this laptop (no native serial) and finally got it working. Next I will try to get virtualbox running in ubuntu and launch my same VM and see if I can get it to work there, this is fun! :)

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I have run my VM from within Ubuntu, but I don't have a native serial port on the laptop - I'm using a keyspan usb to serial adapter which works great in windows, but haven't been able to figure out how to get it to work in Linux, let alone how to bond that to the VM serial. Does anyone have any experience using a USB serial adapter in Ubuntu?

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Are you using the OSE version of virtual box or the Sun Proprietary version. Only the sun version has full USB device support from host to guest system.

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I've run a variety of PLC software in VMware on a Windows PC. Especially useful if an older OS like Windows 98 is required. But I have never tried to use PLC software in a PC emulator in Linux. I do know the only vendor I have seen that offers Linux software is Siemens for their Logo smart relays. That's because the software is Java based, and the CD has Windows, Mac, and Linux versions.

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I believe it is the OSE version, or whichever one you can get from within the Ubuntu software center. I'm using the USB Live Ubuntu as well - not installed to the HD. I've not had time to search around for solutions to this yet, but I plan to do some digging this week. Is the Sun proprietary version still open source/free, or do they charge for that one?

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www.virtualbox.org. They have a Debian/Ubuntu compatible repository so you can still install it directly with Ubuntu's package management system. The Ubuntu archives tend to be a bit behind in terms of versioning.

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Paul answered from an UBUNTU perspective but I'll answer the other. the Sun version is Free but considered closed not open source since they don't distributed the full source and comply with GPL. Don't understand all the tech but thats it.

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