I am setting up a PR1 with Ignition 8 Edge for R&D.
I am aware that the PR1 can run 8, and have downloaded the latest PR1 8 image from the Opto site.
This has Ignition Edge 8.1.21.
My goal is to connect, via MQTT, my remote workshop with my main workshop. In my main workshop, I have Ignition (“full platform”) 8.1.25 currently.
Questions:
Are there any foreseen incompatibilities publishing from 8.1.21 MQTT modules to 8.1.25?
I am aware there is a “lag” between IA publishing LTS versions and Opto following with images, as they need to be verified for potential regressions. 8.1.21 was released September 29th, 2022. The current LTS IA is 8.1.35. When is 8.1.35 planned for release by Opto? As the license structure has significant changes, e.g. unlimited device connections.
I am doing this work as I have a customer with 105 remote sites currently on Modbus TCP/4G/VPN, and we are considering a change to MQTT.
There is no issues or incompatibilities with these modules.
You are correct in the versioning and why we take some extra time. With the licensing, you just need to have support package with Inductive Automation, and any existing licenses with the device limitations can be migrated to the new structure.
Replies on a bank holiday are one reason why the community around IA and Opto far trumps other brands.
I don’t mean to argue with free advice on a bank holiday, however for the posterity of anyone else who finds this thread in the future;
is not true. Or at least, not an IA license on an e.g. OnLogic NUC. If you have 8.1.0, you can upgrade to 8.1.35 free of charge, with no support arrangement with IA. It would only be a move to 8.3.0 that would require support. If this is not the case with an IA license on a Groov PR1, please advise.
For reference, I am an Ignition Gold certified integrator with over a decade’s experience.
I can in the meantime, get around the 2-device limit, and use a data concentrator.
I’m sure I shall have some more specific questions about the implementation of my MQTT architecture, however, I endeavor to complete the Opto training and follow the IA guides first.
The support package requirement is to update any license that was purchased under the 2 device limit to be upgraded to the now unlimited edge licensing per the announcement at ICC this year.
Am I missing something or have there been no Edge advancements for PR in the last year?
As this is my own Groov for internal testing, and not for a customer, can I request shell access on the portal and via that upgrade Ignition itself to a newer version, at my own risk?
You are correct on the current version. We are locked to 8.1.21 until we can update the firwmare(linux OS). We are working on that right now, and will have a new firmware update early Q1 that will get us into Edge 8.1.4X.
We do offer a free SHELL License. With that license you will have root access to the Linux OS. Although with this you still will not be able to move beyond the version above due to OS limitations.
Hello again, I thought I’d continue this topic rather than starting a new one.
Due to being an internal, not customer, project, this never made it off the back-burner.
I see from the release notes, that the latest PR1 build has Edge 8.1.47, so I am going to deploy that. In the past year, I have updated the server to 8.1.48.
New questions;
for my 105-site customer, the CTO issues me with site certs for the MQTT instances. We use an MQTT broker on AWS, the details of that I’m not so sure as I wasn’t involved in the config.
For my setup, I know that on the server I need the MQTT engine module, and on the Edge node the Transmission module. Do I therefore also have to install e.g. Cirrus MQTT distributor module?
How do I go about generating the 3 certs? Root CA, Private Cert, Private Key?
You have 105 sites with Ignition Edge that are publishing to a MQTT Broker?
On a groov EPIC you can either use the native MQTT client to publish MQTT messages, or Ignition Edge with the Transmission module. The broker can be the Cirrus MQTT Distributor or any other MQTT broker.
The MQTT Engine module is subscribing to a MQTT broker and converts the messages into OPC-UA tags. This ism usually needed to show MQTT messages in a software that can’t subscribe directly to a broker, but supports OPC-UA client functionality.
Not yet. Out of the 105 sites that were ModbusTCP over a VPN, we have about 20 converted to MQTT (not using Groov, using OnLogic CL250 w/Ign Edge). We have another 25 planned to onboard soon this year.
OK, so on the server, the Cirrus MQTT Distributor, the Engine module. And on the EPIC, Ignition Edge with MQTT Transmission.
The problem you are experiencing is related to the limited SSD space on a PR1, and the growing size of the firmware with Ignition 8. The firmware is now ~2.6GB with Ignition 8. On a PR1 there is just not enough SSD space to decompress the uploaded firmware file.
That is why there is a GRV-EPIC-PR2 with a larger SSD and more RAM.
There is a firmware without Ignition for the PR1 that you can install prior to the FW update with Ignition 8. That will speed up the updade process, because that firmware is much smaller and installs faster. You find it in your my.opto account. No need to install the firmware with Ignition 7 anymore.
