Release notes

PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC

Version 4.3.2.12

UniInt Version: 4.7.3.1

Overview

The PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC is designed to read data from a PLC on a periodic or event basis, and to send output data (commands to the PLC) on an event basis. The ModbusE interface attempts to optimize scanning performance by grouping input tags with the same scan rate, PLC destination node and function code.

Only Modbus communication with an ethernet device is supported.

The PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC is available in two different options: read-only and read-write. The read-only option is strongly recommended for installation if updates to the data source are not needed. Since the read-only option cannot write to the data source, this option provides the best defense against accidental or malicious changes to the control system.

For more information on these two interface options and how to switch from the read-write option to the read-only option, see the PI Interfaces Read-only versus Read-write FAQ guide.

Fixes and Enhancements

Fixes

This section lists items that were resolved in this release of PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC:

Enhancements

There are no enhancements in this release of PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC

Known Issues

There are no known issues in this release of PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC.

System Requirements

Operating Systems

This interface is a 32-bit application. It runs in emulation mode if installed on a 64-bit architecture system. This release supports Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 versions and later.

The latest service packs and updates to the operating system are recommended.

Distribution Kit Files

* - The PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC - Read-Only component is included only in the read-only setup kit.

** - The PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC component is included only in the read-write setup kit.

*** - The PI Network Subsystem Support (PINS) component is not displayed on the installation welcome screen if the PI Data Archive is installed already.

****- PI SDK 2018 (x86) contains PI API, version 1.6.9.68.

Installation

Installation and Upgrade

The PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC can be installed or upgraded using the desired option of the installation kit:

• For the read-only option: ModbusE_ReadOnly_4.3.2.12_.exe

• For the read-write option: ModbusE_ReadWrite_4.3.2.12_.exe

These installation kits can be obtained through the Customer Portal site.

For detailed instructions on downloading the installation kits, please see the How to Download Products link located in the Customer Portal How To's list.

For additional information regarding the PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC installation, please see the Installation instructions.

Uninstalling PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC

The PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC interface can be uninstalled using the Programs and Features list accessible from the Windows Control Panel. After accessing the Programs and Features list, perform the following steps to uninstall the interface and its ICU control:

• For the read-only option:

  Select the entry named PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC (ModbusE) - Read-Only and then click the Uninstall option from the menu to uninstall the interface.

  Select the entry named PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC (ModbusE) - ICU Control and then click the Uninstall option from the menu to uninstall the ICU control.

• For the read-write option:

  Select the entry named PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC (ModbusE) and then click the Uninstall option from the menu to uninstall the interface.

  Select the entry named PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC (ModbusE) - ICU Control and then click the Uninstall option from the menu to uninstall the ICU control.

Security information and guidance

We are committed to releasing secure products. This section is intended to provide relevant security-related information to guide your installation or upgrade decision.

We proactively disclose aggregate information about the number and severity of security vulnerabilities addressed in each release. The tables below provide an overview of security issues addressed and their relative severity based on standard scoring.

Overview of New Vulnerabilities Found or Fixed

This section is intended to provide relevant security-related information to guide your installation or upgrade decision. We are proactively disclosing aggregate information about the number and severity of PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC security vulnerabilities that are fixed in this release.

For this release of PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC, no high security vulnerabilities were identified.

Security vulnerabilities fixed or mitigated

The following table lists the number of fixed vulnerabilities for PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC by severity category and CVSS base score range.

This table lists the known vulnerabilities along with their mitigation in this product.

Microsoft Software Security Defenses

In addition to finding and fixing security bugs within the PI Interface for Modbus Ethernet PLC, it is equally critical that we leverage security defenses provided by the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler that builds it and the Microsoft Windows operating system that runs it.

Over the past decade, Microsoft has continually added new defenses and improved existing defenses with successive versions of the compiler and the operating system. To learn more about many of these key defenses, review the Mitigating Software Vulnerabilities white paper from Microsoft (http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/5/505646ED-5EDF-4E23-8E84-6119E4BF82E0/Mitigating_Software_Vulnerabilities.pdf).