Antivirus Software Setup
- Last UpdatedAug 20, 2026
- 3 minute read
Antivirus and malware scanners are essential tools for preventing malicious code from executing. However, they can also affect Plant SCADA in the following ways:
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Performance may be significantly degraded due to real-time scanning and access to rapidly changing data and log files.
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Performance may be significantly degraded due to files being locked for scanning when Plant SCADA needs to write to them.
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The deletion of temporary files (*.tmp) may be prevented in the %TEMP% disk location.
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SYSTEM PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION The "on access" scan in antivirus products can lock files used by Plant SCADA, which will slow Plant SCADA down while it waits for scanning of a file to finish. Failure to follow these instructions can result in death, serious injury, or equipment damage. |
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INOPERABLE SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA In extreme cases, antivirus software may (incorrectly) detect certain patterns within data files as being viruses. Depending on the antivirus configuration, files may be relocated or deleted resulting in data being lost or the system being inoperable. Failure to follow these instructions can result in injury or equipment damage. |
To safeguard the performance and reliability of your Plant SCADA system while maintaining protection against malicious code, exclusion rules need to be used. Antivirus/malware products can differ in the way exclusions are configured.
The following table lists various configuration options for setting up your scanner.
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Configuration |
Notes |
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1. Process exclusion |
The scanner will scan all locations on the computer, except for files loaded by the nominated processes. |
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2. Exclude specific file extensions from specific folders |
The scanner will scan all locations on the computer, except for files using the nominated extensions in the specified folders. |
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3. Exclude folders |
Not ideal, as malware can reside undetected in excluded folders. If this is the only option available to you, we recommend selecting an alternative antivirus product. |
Exclusion rules will differ depending upon whether the computer is a pure runtime computer, or a development workstation (with both configuration and runtime components).
Process exclusion
If your scanner supports process exclusion, configure the following rules.
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Computer purpose |
Executable |
Location |
Purpose |
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Runtime / Development |
Citect.exe |
C:\Program Files (x86)\AVEVA Plant SCADA\Bin\Bin (x64) |
64-bit alarm server process |
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Runtime / Development |
Citect32.exe |
C:\Program Files (x86)\AVEVA Plant SCADA\Bin\ |
32-bit client/server process |
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Runtime |
aaLogger.exe |
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\ArchestrA |
Logging process |
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Development *1 |
CtCmp32.exe |
C:\Program Files (x86)\AVEVA Plant SCADA\Bin\ |
Compiler |
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Development *1 |
CtDraw32.exe |
C:\Program Files (x86)\AVEVA Plant SCADA\Bin\ |
Graphics Builder |
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Development *1 |
EquipGen.exe |
C:\Program Files (x86)\AVEVA Plant SCADA\Bin\ |
Equipment generation |
*1. Only add these rules if your scanner is significantly impacting compilation, the page update process, or equipment generation/updates.
Folder and file extension exclusions
If your scanner supports folder and file extension exclusions, or folder-only exclusions, then apply the following rules.
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Computer purpose |
Folder |
Include sub-folders |
Mandatory extension exclusions |
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Runtime |
C:\ProgramData\AVEVA Plant SCADA 2026\Logs |
Yes |
*.dat, *.log, *.log_*, *.bak |
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Runtime / Development |
C:\ProgramData\AVEVA Plant SCADA 2026\Data |
Yes |
*.hst, *.txt, *.cache, *.tmp |
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Runtime / Development |
C:\ProgramData\ArchestrA\LogFiles |
No |
*.aaLDX, *.aaLOG |
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Runtime / Development |
C:\ProgramData\ArchestrA\Logger |
No |
*.log |
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Development *1 |
C:\ProgramData\AVEVA Plant SCADA 2026\user |
Yes |
Database: *.dbf, *.rdb Graphics: *.ctm, *.ctg, *.ctt, *.ctf, *.ctl, *.cts |
*1. Only add these rules if your scanner is significantly impacting compilation, the page update process, or equipment generation/updates.
Additionally, some scanners prevent the deletion of *.tmp files which may impact runtime performance. If you detect this, then also exclude any TMP files (*.tmp) in the following directory:
%TEMP%\*.tmp
By default, %TEMP% resolves to the following:
C:\Users\<current user>\AppData\Local\Temp\