Configure Encryption

Communications between Plant SCADA runtime processes, computers and CtAPI are encrypted by default.

To use encrypted communications:

• You need to have a System Management Server configured (see Configure a System Management Server).

• The Runtime Manager should be running as a service on any computers hosting a server process (see Running the System as a Windows Service).

• To validate security certificates, each entry in the Computers view in Plant SCADA Studio needs to have a DNS Name configured when using IP addresses for Network Addresses. See Add a Computer.

If these prerequisites are not met, warning messages will be displayed.

Note: If a Plant SCADA computer is configured to run in single process mode (see Configure the Computer Role Setup Page), it cannot run as a service and will not support encryption.

To configure encryption:

1. Launch the Configurator after the installation, or from the Windows Start menu.

2. In the left pane, select Plant SCADA | Encryption.

   

   The following page is displayed.

   

3. Firstly, check that the Encryption Prerequisites have been met. If a red cross appears next to an item, you will need to make the required configuration changes before you can enable encryption.

   • To register the computer with the System Management Server, see Connect a Computer to a System Management Server.

   • To configure Runtime Manager to run as a service, see Configure a Runtime Computer for Encryption.

4. Confirm that Enable Encryption is selected.

5. If you are performing an online upgrade of Plant SCADA or running a system that includes an older version of Plant SCADA (or Citect SCADA), select Accept encrypted and non-encrypted connections (mixed mode). Note that you can clear this option and configure your system to use encryption after the upgrade process is complete.

6. Click Configure. A message is displayed when encryption setup is complete. If you did not select Enable Encryption, the following message is displayed: "Encryption is currently disabled. It is recommended that you enable encryption".

The following table indicates the encryption mode that will align successfully across server and client.

Note: If you reinstall Plant SCADA, all encryption settings will be returned to the safe defaults. Encryption will be enabled for Plant SCADA runtime processes and CtAPI.

See Also

Runtime System Security

Connect a Computer to a System Management Server