I was tinkering with the gateway network for some POC work.
I found that I can set up a gateway network with Ignition 7.x and Ignition 8.x but I cannot perform any agent tasks of sending updated templates/windows, etc.
Is this the expected result?
If so, what is the recommendation for customers whose systems are running and can’t/won’t upgrade their existing systems but want to build on top of it? I’m thinking a NOC type of a central system. If we can’t perform agent tasks through the EAM module across the platforms, is there any value in purchasing the module for intra-platform scenarios?
https://docs/inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC79/Enterprise+Administration has a list of various tasks that can be accomplished with the E.A.M. and a remote agent. I do not see Tags ( thus UDT as in User-Defined-Templates ) on the list.
What is claimed: Activate License, Collect Backup, Install Modules, Restart Agent, Restore Backup, Send Project, Send Project Resources to remote servers, Unactivate License, And Update License. This means that if an Ignition Gateway fails, the restore time should be significantly reduced (provided a backup was run).
I might also point out that https://support.inductiveautomation.com has some Knowledgebase answers.
I agree. UDTs aren't a part of agent tasks.
My issue is working across Ignition 7 and Ignition 8 platforms.
I can't run any tasks from a controller on Ignition8 to agents on Ignition7.
I went to the manual and searched on Agent System Tags. Here is a quote:" To view EAM Tags, Launch a Designer on the controller Gateway. In the Tag Browser, Navigate to System>Gateway>EAM>Agents. A Tag folder is created for each agent. As with other Tag values, all EAM system Tag values are read-only." That then implies User-defined-templates, which rely on Tags, would not be something one would expect to transfer with the EAM system. A complete backup would be different, yet I was informed that the Tags are not covered under EAM “Send Project Resources” or other means, thus another user was told that he would have to manually export/import those lists.
The business of using an Ignition 8 EAM controller to work an Ignition 7+ (<8) Agent (controller) would be a good feature to ask for. Maybe we could get some attention for it on the ‘suggestions’ site, which is better pointed out in the ‘Messages’ section.
Unfortunately, due to the vast under-the-hood changes to the project system, it wasn’t possible to EAM in 8.0 to understand how to work with projects from earlier versions. The upgrade logic for project resources is itself a complicated problem to solve - generally speaking, your best option is to try to get the systems onto the same major version (as in 8 vs 7, not 7.8 vs 7.9) or accept the limitations of EAM in this regard. You are able to upgrade 7.9 gateways to 8.0 via EAM, which does trigger the requisite conversion process, although you’ll then need to go to the agent gateway and manually complete the system commissioning process.
We have some plans to change EAM pretty significantly to improve its value proposition now that resources live on disk; it’s much, much easier to write your own synchronization system now, which makes just sending project resources a less attractive feature.
It sounds like you might be able to request that feature by somehow logging in and entering:
Yet having read Paul’s description, I am guessing they might not give it a lot of priority. You may note that I made some edits to my posts here. One had to do with the feature request section, which probably requires login to leave a request- and was moved. ( Above https: may or may not work ).
The other was because the business of moving Templates and Windows has some ambiguity to it, as in was that a User-Defined-Template or the other sort? Even when the text of ‘Send Project Resources’ in the manuals are examined, it leaves some room for interpretation, unlike Tags which are the basis of creating UDTs. Finally, there is an example in the Ignition 8 training videos under Vision Client Launch where Clients in 7.9 are seen yet not accessible by Ignition 8. Sorry that it appears the work will need to be done ‘the hard way’.