Product Updates
2024

Manufacturing Connect Edge 3.16.1

5min

Important: For a seamless upgrade experience in upcoming releases, it's essential to follow the correct upgrade path. Begin by upgrading from version 3.5.6 to 3.11.6, then proceed to 3.16.1 before making any further updates if you are on 3.5.x versions. If you are on 3.11.6 proceed with 3.16.1. Skipping these key LTS versions may cause issues that can disrupt the upgrade process, so it is highly recommended to follow this sequence.

Release Date: Sept 23, 2024

Review the current list of Limitations.

New Features

Description

Analytics:

  • The following new nodes are now available:
    • The Change node allows you to move the property of a message.
    • The FileReader node allows you to create a file read with no limitations. You can use it to dump any file into string into either a NATS message or to the file writer.
    • The FileWriter node allows you to define a file name with a file path, which will write the file. If the path or file doesn't exist, the file will be created.
    • The Inject node inserts a message into an Analytics processor, either manually or at regular intervals.
    • The Switch node allows you to route or filter messages based on rules.

Tokens:

  • You can now create API Credentials using an OAuth 2.0 client.

Zerotouch:

  • You can now activate Manufacturing Connect Edge devices with Manufacturing Connect through Zerotouch.
  • You can now automatically configure activation, static IP, and marketplace container apps using Zerotouch provisioning.

Enhancements and Improvements

Description

System:

  • The System menu has been re-organized and features have been consolidated to improve the user experience.
  • The API key creation process now includes a popup dialog box that displays the generated key immediately with a Client ID and Client Secret.

DeviceHub:

  • A new user interface workflow is now available when adding a new device.
  • A new Write Response topic, which allows you to view a success/failure response for write requests that the driver sends, is now available for the following drivers:
    • BACnet BacnetIP
    • OPC UA Client Advanced
    • Emerson DNP3 Ethernet
  • Retry count is now available for the Enron Modbus driver.
  • The following FOCAS libraries can now be read for the Fanuc CNC Ethernet (Gen1) driver:
    • cnc_modal
    • cnc_rdexecmcode
    • cnc_rdgcode
    • cnc_rdcommand
  • The Count tag parameter is now available for the Koyo Ethernet (Gen1) driver.
  • When using Batch Write, you can now use the DeviceName and TagName parameters to configure it, instead of deviceID and registerID. When leveraging this feature with DeviceName and TagName, make sure to select Enable Alias Topics in the device settings.
  • The parameters status, statusCode, and sourceTimestamp are included in DeviceHub payloads for the following drivers:
    • BacnetIP
    • OPC UA Advanced Client
  • Include Extended Event Data is now enabled to read W&M Events in the Emerson ROC800 driver.
  • Fragmented writing is now supported for the Emerson DNP3 Ethernet driver.
  • The Siemens S7 CommPlus Symbolic Driver now supports encrypted firmware.
  • The Enron Modbus driver now has a restriction that items for History Points must be integers equal to or greater than 1.
  • The Count tag parameter is now available for the JTEKT Toyopuc CMP-Link Ethernet (Gen1) driver.
  • You can now download the default certificate for the OSI Agent Advanced driver.
  • The Modbus RTU over TCP driver now has a new Override Station ID parameter for devices and Station ID parameter for tags, which allows the driver to support multiple connections to slaves.
  • The following enhancements have been made to the ROC800 Ethernet driver.
    • Timestamps are now displayed in ISO 8601/RFC3339 format with time zone offset.
    • The local time is now used for data and time data points.
    • The table parameter properties have been updated to avoid incorrect values from being entered.
    • Requests only W&M index only if Opcode 6 returns ROC800L type.
    • Include Extended Event Data is now enabled to read W&M Events.
  • The following enhancements have been made to the Enron Modbus driver:
    • You can now retrieve history tag data in ASCII mode for serial communication.
    • Read and Write is now implemented for the string data type.
    • It is possible to configure names for items in sequential history data.
    • Alarms and Events are now automatically acknowledged.
    • The new Max record number parameter is now available, which improves how archives are read.
    • Empty events are no longer published.
    • Null characters are no longer included in strings.
    • The algorithm for determining the connection status is now re-factored.
    • A new string size parameter is now available.
    • The device parameter “Retry count” is now available.
    • A restriction has been added to ensure that items for HistoryPoints must be integers greater than or equal to 1.

OPC UA:

  • The user interface for security settings of the OPC UA Server has been updated.
  • The Certificates pane is renamed Connections.
  • Logging and telemetry is now available in OPC UA > Management.
  • A new Sessions tab displaying active sessions is now available in OPC UA > Certificates.
  • Two new parameters are now included with tag data:
    • ArrayDimension
    • ValueRank
  • You can now view the list of tags that will be imported from DeviceHub.
  • Updates have been made to data type mappings.
    • DeviceHub data type: usint OPC UA data type: byte
    • DeviceHub data type: ENUM16 OPC UA data type: uint16
    • DeviceHub data type: uint OPC UA data type: uint16
    • DeviceHub data type: udint OPC UA data type: uint32
    • DeviceHub data type: ATTRIBUTE OPC UA data type: string
    • DeviceHub data type: ltod OPC UA data type: string
    • DeviceHub data type: dtl OPC UA data type: string
    • DeviceHub data type: UC10 OPC UA data type: string
    • DeviceHub data type: UC20 OPC UA data type: string
    • DeviceHub data type: UC30 OPC UA data type: string
    • DeviceHub data type: UC40 OPC UA data type: string
  • You can now log in with LDAP/AD users.

Integration:

  • The InfluxDB v2.x TCP and InfluxDB v2.x SSL connectors are now able to publish standard and additional key/value pairs from the payload. This allows metadata to be included in the JSON payloads.
  • You can now use one local topic to publish to multiple remote topics for all connectors.
  • The Kafka connector has been enhanced for increased bidirectional throughput.
  • The Show Mapping option is now available for the following connectors:
    • PostgreSQL SSL
    • MongoDB 3
    • Mongo v4+
  • A new device_name column is now included in payloads for SQL connectors.
  • You can now upload tags in batches to all the SQL connectors.
  • You can now edit the following connectors even while they are still connected:
    • AMQP TCP
    • AMQP SSL
    • Kafka TCP
    • Kafka SSL
    • REST API
  • The command-line interface (CLI) is now an option to pre-process configurations.
  • You can now filter connector logs based on a time range.
  • You can now connect to Postgres databases using the scram-sha-256 authentication method.
  • You can now use external-account type credentials for the Google Pub/Sub connector.
  • MQTT connectors will now auto-generate the Client ID parameter if it is blank.
  • The copy icon is no longer available for connector parameters that are protected.
  • Integration sub tab is renamed to streaming now.

Template:

  • When uploading a template, you can now view the list of items for each component that will be included.
  • When importing a template, if the Manufacturing Connect Edge instance already has the same DeviceHub device as the template with additional tags that are not in the template, the additional tags will be automatically deleted.
  • You can seamlessly import and export RBAC configs and LDAP group mappings using templates.

Flows Manager:

  • The Flows Manager canvas is now updated to Node-Red version 3.1.
  • The node-red-node-email palette is upgraded to v.2.1.0.
  • The Go To Flow Definition icon and Start/Stop buttons are now always enabled, regardless of the status of the Flows Manager.
  • Introduced safe mode in flows.

External Storage:

  • You can now use multi-level folder paths when mounting external storage.
  • Mounted storage is now continuously monitored, so if the status of the mounted folder is down, the storage is unmounted automatically. When the status of the mounted folder is up again, the storage is mounted automatically.

Users:

  • Granular permissions are now available for individual DeviceHub devices.
  • The OPCUA now supports RBAC permissions, allowing for more granular control over user access and permissions within the system.

Events:

  • A new event now displays when a message fails to publish.

License:

  • If a Manufacturing Connect Edge instance doesn't have a license, you can now do the following:
    • Access network settings
    • Download a support bundle

User Interface:

System menu changes:

  • Integration tab is now renamed to streaming.
  • Input fields now undergo validation for trailing and leading spaces.
  • The session expiration timeout warning message has been updated.
  • A new "Online Users" component has been added to the Manufacturing Connect Edge toolbar. It will display the number of active users and provide a real-time list of all active users.
  • Validation to eliminate leading and trailing spaces in input fields for:
    • FlowsManager
    • OPCUA
    • DataHub
    • Analytics
    • Integration
  • Validation for leading/trailing spaces in input text.

Upgrade:

  • When doing an upgrade of Manufacturing Connect Edge, you now have the option to skip the automatic backup before proceeding with the upgrade process.

Resolved Issues

Description

Applications:

  • Fixed issue with input fields in Applications > Networks not undergoing validation.
  • Fixed issue with processes not displaying correct information in Container Top.
  • Fixed issue with duplicate registry being added with the same name and credentials.

Analytics:

  • Fixed issue with the Rounding processor not calculating values correctly.

Network:

  • Fixed issue with not being able to delete static routes after modifying the network interfaces.
  • Fixed issue with the interface parameter not being correctly included in firewall rule settings.

DeviceHub:

  • Fixed missing empty metadata in payloads for the following drivers:
    • OPC UA Client Advanced
  • Fixed issue with the incorrect timestamp included in payloads for the Emerson DNP3 Ethernet driver.
  • Fixed issue with the OPC UA Client Advanced driver generating a Could not load certificate or private key from PKI after upgrading the database.
  • Fixed issue with the connection configuration for the Enron Modbus driver.
  • Fixed issue with the auto-scrolling functionality on the Logs screen.
  • Fixed issue with drivers not reading tag data quickly enough.
  • Fixed issue of History registers reading null for opcode requests of more than 60 points.
  • Fixed issue with tag addresses for Gen1 drivers being incorrectly rejected. Address validation is no longer enabled for tag addresses.
  • Fixed issue with the AB CompactLogix Ethernet Advanced driver not being able to browse UDT tags.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to enter a tag address that ends in 8 or 9.
  • Fixed issue with duplicate topics being created for tags with underscore “_” in the tag name.
  • Fixed the following issues with the FB107 Ethernet driver:
    • History tags no longer send duplicate NATS messages.
    • Location and Logical tag parameters have been updated with appropriate default values and upper/lower limits.
  • Fixed issue with tags timing out and not sending NATS messages for the DNP3 Ethernet driver.
  • Fixed issue with the Alarms tag type not parsing correctly with the ROC800 Ethernet driver.
  • Fixed issue with the CompactLogix Ethernet Advanced driver using the "TagName" parameter instead of "Name" to poll data.
  • Fixed issue with the Siemens S7 driver crashing when an incorrect tag address is configured.
  • Fixed issue with the system hanging when importing a large number (3000+) of tags.
  • Fixed issue with being able to create duplicate topic names with tags that have similar names, but one uses a hyphen and another uses an underscore (for example, C2-1 and C2_1 creates one topic (C2_1) for both tags).
  • Fixed issue with the BACnetIP driver showing a connected status even though the ethernet cable is disconnected.
  • Fixed issue with the Fanuc CNC Ethernet (Gen1) driver not being able to read values from the X, Y, and Z axes.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to configure decimal-point values for the Polling Interval parameter.
  • Fixed issue with DeviceHub metrics displaying an incorrect status for Device Online Status.
  • Fixed issue with the Modbus TCP (Gen2) driver displaying an incorrect tag status.
  • Fixed issue with the Watchdog option not being enabled by default after upgrading from version 3.5.6.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to configure positive float values for tag poll intervals.
  • Fixed issue with devices showing a polling status for several minutes when visiting the page for the first time.
  • Fixed issue with the format of OpCode 7 values for the Emerson FB107 driver.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to manually change the tag data type for the Euromap 63 driver.
  • Fixed issue with all tags not being selected when using Browse Tags, selecting tags, using search to filter the results, and then selecting additional tags.
  • Fixed issue with tag formulas not functioning properly for Manufacturing Connect Edge version 3.11.1 when trying to divide the tag value.
  • Fixed issue that was causing increased CPU and memory usage over time with some DeviceHub devices.

Integration:

  • Fixed issue with a restart of the docker service causing the persistence layer to be corrupted and data to stop being sent.
  • Fixed issue with panic and error messages generating for connectors.
  • Fixed issue with the NATS connector not reconnecting successfully after a network issue.
  • Fixed issue with integration tiles disappearing after opening the browser debug window and navigating to the subsequent page of integration tiles.
  • Fixed issue with connectors generating a too many open files error.
  • Fixed issue with unsupported data types for the following connectors:
    • DB - MySQL
    • DB - MySQL SSL
  • Fixed issue with Manufacturing Connect Edge generating an excessive number of connections to Confluent.

OPC UA:

  • Fixed issue with hierarchy names only allowing one whitespace character.
  • Fixed issue with the Management page incorrectly allowing you to add new users.
  • Fixed issue with a restriction on the number of segments allowed in topic names. There is no longer a restriction.

Flows Manager:

  • Fixed issue with the Flows Manager not restarting automatically when killed manually.

System:

  • Fixed issue with errors being generated when trying to download a template file if there are a lot of applications being used.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to edit tokens when there is more than one access account.
  • Fixed issue with templates not uploading successfully if it has a large number of applications.
  • Fixed issue with the error message not displaying information if the disk limit size is exceeded.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to delete a catalog with an incorrect marketplace catalog URL.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to add a mount point with FTP.
  • Fixed issue with activation showing as successful if the activation remote domain name is not correctly configured.
  • Fixed issue with not being able to update group permissions for LDAP users.
  • Fixed issue with an "Authorization" missing from the header error message displaying if you navigate to System > Events.
  • The purging of system events from the UI now correctly reduces the size of the events to 0.

User Interface:

  • Fixed issue that was causing Passwords do not match error when the user copies and pastes the password using the mouse in the New Password and Confirm New Password fields.

Security:

  • Resolved several vulnerabilities related to Golang.

Deprecated Components and Features

Description

DeviceHub:

  • The ExpandAll icon in the Browse Tags dialog is no longer available to address issues with the browser window freezing.

Analytics:

  • The view icon (eye) is no longer available from the output processor. Data can be viewed by clicking the view icon for input and function processors.

OPC UA:

  • You can no longer create new users OPC UA users from the OPC > Management page. You can manage users from the OPC UA server.



Updated 24 Sep 2024
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