ClearSCADA

Please read the information below prior to upgrading to ClearSCADA 2009 R1.1 for important information on changes in this version and any known issues.

  • To ensure that the new KEPServerEX server for ClearSCADA continues to run when the Windows user logs off, the KEPServerEX for ClearSCADA should be configured to run as a service. To do this, follow the steps below.
    • Start the KEPServerEX for ClearSCADA.
    • Go to Tools > Options Menu.
    • In the "Service" tab, enable the check box "Automatically start as a Windows NT service".
      NOTE: Please note that this option will be grayed out and will not be available on Windows 2008 Server and Windows Vista. For more information, please refer to the Kepware Online Help.
When the KEPServerEX for ClearSCADA is run as a service, shutting down the ClearSCADA server will not shutdown KEPServerEX. It should be shutdown manually (if required) by right-clicking on the Kepware icon in the system tray and selecting "Shutdown KEPServerEX for ClearSCADA".
  • Older versions of ClearSCADA contained a section in the Server Configuration tool called "User Contact Details" which allowed some of the fields associated with a user object such as E-Mail Address and Pager Id to be renamed. This section has been removed from the Server Configuration tool in ClearSCADA 2009.
  • Editing the names of database fields this way creates some entries in the "Metadata" key at the following location "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Serck Controls\SCX6\Metadata" in the Registry. The entries will look like one of the following depending on the field that has been renamed.
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress2
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress3
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress4
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_TextOnly
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_TextOnly2
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_TextOnly3
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_TextOnly4
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress2
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress3
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_EmailAddress4
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId2
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId3
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId4
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerServiceId
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerServiceId2
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerServiceId3
    • Field_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerServiceId4
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId2
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId3
    • Label_CDBUserContactConfig_PagerId4

Before upgrading databases containing these renamed fields, these entries must be removed from the Metadata registry key. Otherwise, after the upgrade when the server is started, the Server Icon will go purple with "Invalid Metadata" error. By removing these registry values, the rename functionality will be disabled while maintaining the data associated with these points.

  • On Windows Vista and Windows 2008 Server, an upgrade to ClearSCADA 2009 R1 cannot be performed. You need to uninstall the older version of ClearSCADA that is installed on the machine and then install ClearSCADA 2009 R1.
  • In ClearSCADA 2009 R1, the Snapshot filename has been changed from "DB_Snapshot_" to "DBSnapshot_". To ensure that the appropriate number of Snapshot files are generated, please update the settings in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Serck Controls\SCX6\DBSnapshot.
  • The older versions of ClearSCADA allowed Ethernet 1 or 2 to be selected as the DNP3 Master Port in the settings for DNP3 outstations even though the TCP/IP option was not enabled on the outstation. This is invalid configuration and has been fixed in ClearSCADA 2009 R1. When upgrading to ClearSCADA 2009 R1 from older versions, the outstations having this invalid configuration will have errors on them with an error message displayed saying "Invalid DNP Master Port 5".To correct this, enable TCP/IP and enter valid IP addresses for the Ethernet settings.
  • In older versions of ClearSCADA, for a Channel with Connection Type set to "Network", an outstation could be configured with the "Network" field in the Network tab set to "None". This is invalid configuration and if a database containing this configuration is upgraded to ClearSCADA 2009 R1, then configuration error is displayed on the outstation with the error message saying "Network Channel ... on set ... is not compatible with outstation.". To correct this error, a Network Type needs to be selected and the host address and port details need to be entered for the oustation.
  • Dial-In Line Settings for PSTN outstations:
    • In older versions of ClearSCADA, a PSTN Channel could be configured as "Dial In Only" or "Dial In and Dial Out" and there was no provision on the PSTN outstation form to specify the dial in channel settings. In ClearSCADA 2009 R1, the PSTN tab for outstations has been modified so that the dial in line settings can be specifed. Hence, when upgrading from older versions of ClearSCADA to ClearSCADA 2009 R1, if the PSTN Channel is specifed as "Dial In Only" or "Dial In and Dial Out", the status of the PSTN outstation will be "Available, Outgoing Only" unless the dial in channel details are specifed in the "Dial In Line Settings" of the PSTN outstation. Then the status of the outstation becomes "Available".
  • Incremental Import:
    • Canceling an Import/Import and Merge in ClearSCADA 2009 R1 results in the imported objects having configuration errors on them with error messages displayed saying "Object has been imported but not yet validated". The recommended recovery procedure for this scenario is to delete the objects that have been imported and to perform the import again.
    • When trying to Import/Import and Merge on a redundant pair of machines, it is advisable to perform the import on the Main machine. When importing on the Standby, the configuration needs to be sent to the Main server to be validated and in case of network failure or any other such problems, this would result in the imported objects in the database to have configuration errors on them that can only be cleared by deleting these objects and performing the import again.
  • The new de-reference operator '->' in SQL is not supported in Microsoft Query Editor. Queries using this operator to retrieve information from the ClearSCADA server will not work from Microsoft Excel and will return an error.
  • Changes in Port Configuration on E-Series Outstations:
    • In ClearSCADA 2009, port configurations for E-Series outstations have been moved into a multi-choice aggregate.
    • If you used automation interface code to configure port settings, then this code will no longer work in ClearSCADA 2009. Please use the example code below to modify your applications to use the new port structure.

ClearSCADA 2007 and earlier

Sub main()
Dim objserver As ScxV6Server
Dim obj As ScxV6Object
Dim sPort0DLRetries as String

Set objserver = New ScxV6Server
objserver.Connect "MAIN", "", ""

Set obj = objserver.FindObject("E-Series OS")

'read the properties directly
sPort0DLRetries = obj.Property("Port0DLRetries")

End Sub

ClearSCADA 2009

Sub main()
Dim objserver As ScxV6Server
Dim obj As ScxV6Object
Dim aggOSType As ScxV6Aggregate
Dim sPort0DLRetries as String

Set objserver = New ScxV6Server
objserver.Connect "MAIN", "", ""

Set obj = objserver.FindObject("E-Series OS")

'Note that you need to find the board type aggregate before reading properties
Set aggOSType = obj.Aggregate("BoardType")
sPort0DLRetries = aggOSType.Property("Port0DLRetries")

End Sub