Operate Runtime Manager in Service Mode

Plant SCADA can be run as a Windows™ service, allowing for unattended operation of system servers. The associated service, named "Plant SCADA Runtime Manager", is configured using the Microsoft Management Console. For more information, see the topic Configure a System to Run as a Windows Service.

When Plant SCADA is running as a service, the Runtime Manager will operate in "Service Mode". This is indicated by the application title bar, which displays "Runtime Manager (Service Mode)".

Note: If you are running as part of a trusted network (for example, [Client]PartOfTrustedNetwork is set to 1), you will not be able to run your project if the current user is not assigned to the Configuration Users or Server Users security role (see Security Roles). Similarly, if you are running an /X client process as part of a trusted network ([Client]AdditionalClientsArePartOfTrustedNetwork is set to 1), the current user will also need to be assigned to one of these security roles.

When operating in Service Mode, the Runtime Manager will demonstrate the following functionality changes:

• The display client process will not appear in the list of processes.

• A process named "System Services" will appear in the list of processes. This process performs system functions for the service. If you stop the System Services process, it will cause the other Plant SCADA processes to close down as the system will no longer be able to detect a license.

• When the display client is manually shut down, it will not close Runtime Manager.

• After the display client is manually shut down, clicking the Restart All or Start All button (if they are available) will not start the display client. You can start the display client again from Plant SCADA Studio, or by launching Plant SCADA Runtime from Windows Start menu.

• Clicking the Shutdown All button will shut down all the managed processes that are currently running. When all the processes have stopped, you can manually close Runtime Manager via the close button in the top right-hand corner.

Running Plant SCADA as a service in single process mode is not recommended. If you run Plant SCADA in this condition, the following limitations will apply:

• Hardware alarms originating from the server process will not appear.

• The following Cicode functions will not be executed within the server process:

  • AlarmSumAppend

  • AlarmSumCommit

  • AlarmSumDelete

  • AlarmSumFind

  • AlarmSumFindExact

  • AlarmSumFirst

  • AlarmSumGet

  • AlarmSumLast

  • AlarmSumNext

  • AlarmSumPrev

  • AlarmSumSet

  • AlarmSumSplit

  • AlarmSumType

  • DriverInfo

  • IODeviceControl

  • IODeviceInfo

  • SPCAlarms

  • ServerInfoEx

  • TrnAddHistory

  • TrnDelHistory

Note: If you attempt to switch Plant SCADA between Service Mode and normal operation, you need to close down the display client and the Runtime Manager before you restart Plant SCADA in a different mode.