Requirements and Installation

It is possible to install VTScada silently as part of a larger system install. Refer to Command Line Arguments, later in this topic.

Hardware recommendations when running on Windows operating systems:

We've seen 1000-tag VTScada applications running perfectly on pocket-sized PCs. As a general rule, bigger, newer, and more powerful is better, especially as your application grows in size.

( This is a guide. Actual requirements will depend on your application architecture.)

Small Systems

(Less than 1000 I/O)

Medium Systems

( 1000 to 25,000 I/O)

Large Systems

( Over 25,000 I/O)
  • 32- or 64-bit Windows OS.
  • 2 GHz dual-core processor.
  • 40 GB free hard drive space.
  • 8 GB RAM.
  • 100 Mb Ethernet or higher.
  • 64-bit Windows OS.
  • 3 GHz or more quad-core processor.
  • Solid State Drive.
  • 1TB free space.
  • 16 GB RAM.
  • 1 Gb Ethernet or higher.
  • Most medium systems specifications (left) should be adequate for +100K systems.
  • Increase processor clock speed to 4GHz or higher
  • Scale to large systems by load sharing services across servers or using Master & Subordinate Apps.
  • If using blade servers, high clock speeds help, more cores don’t.
  • Use segmented networks.

Notes:

  • VTScada versions 12.0 and newer are not supported on Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, or other earlier versions.
  • Version 12.1 is supported on Windows 11. Earlier versions of VTScada have not been tested on Windows 11 and are not supported.
  • VTScada runs on Windows® 10 IoT Enterprise not IoT Core. Microsoft has ended support for XP®, Vista®, Windows 7®, Windows 8®, Server 2008®, and Server 2008 R2®.
  • Check your hardware's power settings and switch to high or ultimate performance mode where applicable for optimum performance.

Do not log data to a network share location.
Keeping a remote copy of data via a backup Historian is a very good idea.
For initial storage, sending your data anywhere other than the current Historian server is a very bad idea, leaving your data at risk of a host of problems that can occur with network connections. Refer to Historian and Logger Configuration

Memory

  • Requirements vary according to the number of tags in your system and several other factors. In general, memory equal to at least twice the number reported in the VAM as being in use under normal operations should be available.

Alarm Notifications

  • Text-to-speech phone alerts require a voice modem or web-based messaging service like Twilio® or VoIP.
  • Choosing modems: VTScada.com/modems (url forwards to the VTScada forum.)
  • Connection to an email server required for email alarm notifications.
  • Cell modem or email account required for text alarm notifications.
  • Sound card and speakers required for local alarm annunciation.

Virtualized Servers

  • VTScada can run on virtual servers.
  • Do not clone virtual servers with VTScada installed.
  • Ensure host PCs have enough capacity for all VMs, e.g., CPU, RAM, drive space, ports, Ethernet bandwidth.
  • Twilio and VoIP offer simpler alternatives to configuring voice modems in virtual server environments.

Other Recommendations

  • If you need RS-232 ports to communicate with legacy devices, we recommend Ethernet to serial converters.
  • Keep VTScada & History data on a separate drive from the operating system, if supported by your system.
    This is not a suggestion to use a network drive for data storage, which carries its own risks. (Refer to: Optimize Your Configuration for a list of the reasons behind this recommendation.)
  • NetDDE is not available (it was removed in Windows XP Service Pack II).
  • VTScada uses IANA registered TCP/IP port 5780. Set up firewalls to route RPC traffic accordingly. Do not expose port 5780 to the Internet.
  • VTScada's architecture makes RAID drives unnecessary in redundant systems. For performance reasons, they are not ideal (and possibly harmful) for any SCADA historian. If you must use RAID, use SSDs for better performance.

  • Do not use Network Address Translation routers (NAT) with multi-server VTScada installations. NAT routers are incompatible with multi-server VTScada installations.

Thin Client Recommendations

Thin Clients require a connection to a running VTScada application, licensed to allow Thin Clients.

HTML5-Compliant Browsers

Access the VTScada Anywhere Client from mobile devices, PCs, and Macs by entering a web address in a browser.

Windows Desktop/Laptop Systems

Access the VTScada Internet Client from networked Windows PCs using the provided stand-alone ActiveX program.
  • Safari® (MacOS, iOS) - Recommended
  • Edge (Windows®) - Recommended
  • Chrome® (Windows®, iOS®, Android®) - Recommended
  • Firefox® (Windows®, iOS®, Android®)
  • Launch by entering a web address into Internet Explorer on Windows 8 or newer. or...
  • Launch from a desktop using a small program downloaded once from your VTScada server via a browser.

The License Key:

If not running VTScadaLIGHT, the installation program requires a 25-character key that will control your tag count and which options of VTScada will be available in the installation. Activation is required within 30 days, either over the Internet or by calling Trihedral for a code. See notes in Installation & Activation

Installation Options:

  • You must have administrative privileges on your computer to successfully run the installation program.
  • After installation, DO NOT run VTScada as an administrator.
    Running any program as administrator is a security risk, but this is not the primary reason for this recommendation. If running as Admin, files created by VTScada may not be available to regular users, which can lead to problems later on, especially if you later switch to running under another account.
  • You may install VTScada into any directory, but C:\VTScada is the default and is recommended. For security, executable files will be installed to your Program Files folder automatically. Attempting to place the entire installation in that folder structure would require you to run VTScada as an administrator in order to maintain access to the files.
  • When installing VTScada, check the power plan settings on your computer. Balanced or energy conservation modes may cause your application performance to suffer. Switch to High or Ultimate Performance options.
  • When upgrading, it's standard practice to install the new version over the old version. Your application files will not be affected.
  • If the workstation has an Internet connection, choose the option to download maps as required. You can always change this later.
  • You can run VTScada as a Windows service but do not select this option on first installation. Do so only after you create your application using VTScada as a desktop program, then configure it to run automatically upon start up.
  • You can integrate Windows security with VTScada so that operators can sign in using their Windows domain accounts. You must create the application first, configuring the basic security roles, then coordinate efforts with your IT department.

Adding or Changing License Options:

If you choose to add new features to your license, purchase a new key from Trihedral then run the installation file again, installing to the same location as the original installation. VTScadaLIGHT users who discover a need for more tags can purchase a key and re-install. Nothing needs to be done to update their applications.

Multiple Versions

For developers and System Integrators who have been using VTScada for several years, it is common to have more than one version installed. (Each must be in a separate folder.) Your current license key will work for all older versions that you have installed.

Certain features including OPC, running VTScada as a Windows service, and the ability to double-click a ChangeSet to install it, will look only to the most recently installed version of VTScada, regardless of version number.
If you uninstall any version, then the registry entries for those features are deleted. They will not exist for other versions. You must reinstall a version to get them back.

Installation Folders

Every VTScada installation uses two folders:

  • The installation folder that you specify, usually defaulting to C:\VTScada.

  • A folder under C:\Program Files\Trihedral\VTScada for the binary files (*.exe, *.dll, ...)

The binaries folder for each copy of VTScada that you install will always take the name of the installation folder and cannot be otherwise defined. For a default installation, this will result in the path C:\Program Files\Trihedral\VTScada\VTScada.

If you install one version of VTScada in C:\VTScada and another on a different drive as E:\VTScada, then the binaries folder for both will be C:\Program Files\Trihedral\VTScada\VTScada and the later installation will over-write the executables of the earlier installation.
If installing different versions on different hard drives, ensure that you provide a different installation folder name for each.

Command Line Arguments

For example, for a silent installation from the command line, run: VTScadaSetup /Q=A

The following command line options are required to enable installing without graphic interface.

Q=

Silent, value should be 'A' for all. Other options don't seem necessary if providing a command line installer as they would still allow some graphic displays.

K=

VTScada key, no spaces or dashes.

D=

Installation folder including the drive identifier.

OEMNoTSP=

Value 'Y' prevents installing the voice modem.

OEMComponents=

Only required if trying to install as a service, which requires defining the defaults in addition to the service setting. Defaults to ABCDEFGH

A    (Runtime files)

B    (Help files)

C    (Image files)

D    (VIC Support)

E    (Tutorial application)

F    (Debug tools)

G    (Database tools)

H    (Sysadmin tools)

K    (Install as a service)

L    (Don't allow usage reporting)

 

Course setup...