Installing the iFIX Software

The steps that follow outline how to install the iFIX software from the product installation.

NOTE: The iFIX DVD no longer includes GE Historian or WebSpace (previously known as iFIX WebSpace) installs. These products are now distributed  on separate media. To install or upgrade these products, you must obtain the media for that product.

IMPORTANT:

• Installing or uninstalling iFIX via a remote desktop connection or through a terminal server session is not supported.
• When configured for WebSpace, none of the iFIX SCU’s on WebSpace Server should be configured to start iFIX as service, as this is an unsupported configuration.

For iFIX upgrade steps or for more general information on upgrading iFIX, refer to the Upgrading from an Earlier Version of iFIX and Upgrading from FIX 7.x sections.

To install iFIX software:

1. Log in to Windows with Administrator privileges. You must be an Administrator to install iFIX. Ensure that there are no iFIX or GE processes running, and close any other programs that are running.

NOTE: It is important to shut down any GE or Proficy services and licensing prior to installing iFIX.

2. Insert the iFIX DVD into your DVD drive. The iFIX installation screen appears.

NOTE: If this screen does not automatically appear, double-click the InstallFrontEnd.exe file on the DVD to display it. A message may appear with a security warning. If it does, select Run to proceed.

IMPORTANT: Be aware that if you do not already have .NET 4.6.1 installed and you choose to install iFIX, the .NET 4.6.1 install will run first. After it installs, you will be prompted to restart your computer. After the restart, the iFIX install continues. The install media must be available or connected to the target machine the entire time for the install to finish.

3. Click the "Install iFIX" link. A message box appears asking you to confirm the install.
4. Click Yes to proceed.  An informational message box appears.

TIP: If you see this message during iFIX installation, you will need to install a Microsoft update before you can continue: “A necessary Windows security update for the Universal C Runtime component is missing on this computer. Please install the latest Windows updates and then install iFIX. For details, check the New Features section of the IPIiFIX.chm found in ReleaseNotes folder on this install media.” Install the Microsoft Update, KB2999226, and then try installing iFIX again. To install KB2999226, you may need to install other updates first. For Windows 7, you must have SP1 installed before you can install KB2999226. For Windows Server 2012 R2, you must have KB2919442 and then KB2919355 installed before installing KB2999226. For Windows 8.1, you just need KB2999226.

3. Click OK to proceed. The install program starts and the Welcome screen appears.
4. Click Next to continue. The license agreement screen appears.
5. Click "I accept the terms of the license agreement" if you want to continue, and then click Next.

IMPORTANT: If a previous version of iFIX is detected, you can choose to upgrade iFIX. For iFIX versions before 4.0, you have the choice to upgrade or install iFIX to a completely new folder, without upgrading. If you want to upgrade, it is suggested that you do so using the install at this point.

The Setup Type screen appears.

8. Select an option and click Next:
• Complete – Installs all iFIX components, including options such as Electronic books (e-books), the My-T-Soft virtual (on screen) keyboard, and the Water and OEM Solutions Packs.

• Custom – Installs iFIX and the options that you choose. You are prompted to enter your options after you select an install path.
• Typical – Installs iFIX, the Electronic books (e-books).

The Choose Destination Location screen appears.

9. Leave the default path or click Browse to select a folder.

NOTES:

• If you are upgrading from FIX32, make sure that you choose a location other than the folder that contains your FIX32 software, if it is installed on the same computer. Do not install over a current FIX32 installation.
• If you enter a custom install path, be aware that the path can be no greater than 100 characters long.
• If you want to use 6.x drivers, the iFIX compressed install path must be no greater than 64 characters long. iFIX uses the Microsoft compression algorithm to try to fit longer paths within this boundary. Some paths are not compressible to the 64 character maximum length. Please be aware of this. In addition, make sure that the registry key, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation, is not enabled (is set to 0) when the install folder is created. When set to 1, the compression algorithm is disabled. Refer to Microsoft help for more information on the GetShortPathName() compression algorithm.
• After installing a 6x driver, the driver is listed in the SCU in the Drivers Available dialog box (which can be accessed from the I/O Driver Name browse button in the SCADA Configuration dialog box). You need to manually add the driver to the Configured I/O Drivers list in the SCADA Configuration dialog box.

10. Click Next to continue.

NOTES: If you selected a Custom install, instead of Complete, the Select Features screen appears next. Select the features you want to install, and click Next.

The Ready to Install Program screen appears.

11. Click Install. The progress of the installation displays on screen as the files are copied. After a few minutes, when the install finishes copying the files, the iFIX Configure Wizard dialog box appears.
12. Enter the Node Name, Node Type, and Connectivity Type, if applicable, and then click OK. For example, if you want to set up a SCADA server without any remote nodes, select SCADA and Stand-alone. If you want a networked SCADA server, select SCADA and Networked. If you want to configure a networked client, select View and Networked.

TIP: As a best practice, be sure to enter a new name in the Node Name field. Use a name other than the default name of FIX for your node name. This distinction is important if you have multiple SCADA nodes on the same network.

After you configure your settings and click OK, and if prompted to enter your remote nodes (for a networked node), enter the name of your Remote SCADA node(s), click Add, and then click OK. Otherwise, click Skip and you can configure this later in the SCU (from the Configure > Network menu option).

A message box requests that you enable iFIX through the firewall, if the Windows firewall is enabled.

13. Click Yes to continue (otherwise, you may need to do this later, if the firewall is enabled). The install continues.

14. Click Yes or OK to continue. The install continues.

17. When a message box appears requesting that you view the release notes, click Yes. Close the release notes after you finish reviewing them to resume the install. The Setup Complete screen appears.
18. Select Yes to restart your computer, and then click Finish.
19. After you restart your computer and the install completes, install your product licensing. For information on installing and configuring your license, refer to the GE Support site.
20. Restart the computer again. As the computer restarts, log in to Windows with the same user name (with Administrator rights).

NOTE: If a previous version of iFIX already resides on your computer when you try to install the latest version of iFIX, a message box appears during the installation suggesting that you upgrade your existing iFIX install. It is recommended that you elect to upgrade iFIX when this message appears. By following the upgrade process, iFIX installs to same folder where your previous version existed. For example, if you have iFIX installed to the C:\Dynamics folder, when you upgrade, the newer version of iFIX installs to the C:\Dynamics folder. After the iFIX upgrade completes and you restart iFIX, your SCU file is upgraded automatically, and the original file is backed up with a .^CU extension. For more information on upgrading SCU files, refer to the SCU Files and the Upgrade section.

21. Check if there are any required Service Packs or SIMs to install for iFIX on the GE Support web site, and install them.
22. If you just installed a SCADA Server, change the default iFIX Administrator password in the Security Configuration program. iFIX must be running to do this. For steps on how to change the password and other user account settings, refer to the Modifying a User Account topic in the Configuring Security Features e-book. Make sure you save this password.
23. If you are using iFIX on a Domain, in a client/server networking configuration, update the HOSTS file with the name of the iFIX SCADA Server, to ensure the highest reliability for connectivity. This update must be done on the server and all clients, as the contents of the HOSTS file should be identical on each node (client and server) in your TCP/IP network. If your iFIX SCADA Server node name is different from the computer name where iFIX is installed, you also need to add this name to each HOSTS file.

TIPS:

• You can find the HOSTS file in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc folder.
• Use a text editor such as Notepad to edit the HOSTS file, and do not add a file extension to the file.
• An example entry in the HOSTS file is as follows:  198.212.170.4      SCADA01.  If SCADA1 was the iFIX SCADA Server node name, but the computer name where the iFIX SCADA Server was installed was AREA1, you would need to add a second line to the HOSTS file for AREA1: 198.212.170.4      AREA1.
• If you do not know the TCP/IP address of the SCADA computer, run the IPCONFIG command on the SCADA Server.
• Be sure to update the HOSTS file on the SCADA Server and each iFIX Client that you install.
• The same, identical entries should appear in the HOSTS file for the iFIX SCADA Server and each iFIX View node (Client) on your network.

24. If you just installed an iFIX View (Client) node, and you want to be able to view pictures from the SCADA Server from this node, you need to either copy the pictures from the iFIX SCADA to the iFIX client (no database or other files need to be copied), or map a drive on the View node to the picture folder on your SCADA Server. You should then update the SCU (with Configure > Paths menu option) on the View node to point to this mapped drive location.

 

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