Upgrading from an Earlier Version of iFIX
This chapter contains information about issues concerning upgrading your iFIX version.
NOTE: Direct upgrades from iFIX 3.5 to the latest version of iFIX are not supported. To upgrade iFIX in this case, upgrade to 5.8 first and then upgrade to the latest version of iFIX.
Upgrade Paths
The following table describes the upgrade paths with the associated operating systems supported for iFIX.
No = No upgrade path exists
Yes = Upgrade path exists
N/A = Not supported on this version
| iFIX 6.5 Upgrade Paths | Win7 | Win7 Embeded | Win 8 | Win 8.1 | Win 10 | Win IoT LTSC | Win 2008 | Win 2008R2 | Win 2012 | Win 2012 R2 | Win 2016 | Win 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iFIX 5.5 SP2 | No | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | No | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| iFIX 5.8 SP2 | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | N/A | No | No | No | Yes | N/A | N/A |
| iFIX 5.9 | No | No | N/A | Yes | Yes | N/A | N/A | No | N/A | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| iFIX 6.0 | No | No | N/A | Yes | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| iFIX 6.1 | No | No | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| iFIX 6.5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The Database and the Upgrade
Be aware that when you upgrade to the current version of iFIX, the file size of your process database file will increase.
Also, when you upgrade your database, the high and low engineering units (EGU) fields are converted from single precision to double precision floats. What that means, is that the degree of accuracy (the Epsilon value) changes from +/_0.00000012 to +/_0.00000000000000022. If you are using extreme ranges (very large or very low values) for your EGU limits, you may possibly experience issues after an upgrade. To resolve these issues, open the Database Manager, export your database and then re-import it. This procedure resets the block values.
SCADASync.ini File and the Upgrade
Be aware that during the upgrade, as part of the updated Enhanced Failover functionality, the existing SCADASync.ini file will be overwritten. This happens so that the SCADASync.ini will be updated to include the new Maintenance Mode parameters.
DDA Drivers and the Upgrade
If you are using DDA drivers, such as ROC, BR3 or MBR, you must reinstall them after upgrade. If the driver installation files are unavailable, you can use a copy of your existing FIX.INI file to compare to the one created after the upgrade. Then, copy the missing lines from your old FIX.INI file to your new FIX.INI file.
OPC Drivers and the Upgrade
If you are running the OPC I/O driver as a service along with iFIX, be aware that after an iFIX upgrade the driver will no longer be registered as a Windows service and it will need to be re-registered as a service to run with iFIX as a service. Run the “OpcDrv.exe REGSERVICE” command on the command line to reregister.
This change occurs because the driver is re-installed as part of the iFIX install, and it resets the driver to its original installed state, but the *.opc configuration file remains.
The driver’s settings will also be reset to defaults, such as the default configuration file (*.opc). You should run the OPC driver’s powertool and re-configure the settings in the Setup dialog box.
Before You Upgrade
Before you upgrade your version of iFIX make sure you:
- Shut down all GE applications. It is important that no GE products are running when you run the iFIX installation program.
- Save copies of your existing .INI files with your application preferences and any custom files you create. Customized files, such as *Res.dll files, and some *.INI files may be overwritten during an upgrade. As such, you may need to integrate your custom changes into the newer versions of these files after you upgrade.
- Back up your existing iFIX projects. This includes the files in your LOCAL, Config Files Backup, PIC, and PDB folders.
- It is also recommended that you create a backup copy of your Alarm ODBC configuration file(s).
- Export a report of your system configuration (SCU), for reference. (In the SCU, on the File menu, click Report. Refer to the Generating a System Configuration Report section for detailed steps.)
- Export a report of your security configuration, for reference. (In the Security Configuration application, on the File menu, click Export. Refer to the Exporting a Report of the Security Configuration section for detailed steps.)
- If you have an application created by an Integration Toolkit, Database Dynamo Toolkit, or System Extension Toolkit from iFIX 2.5 or earlier, and you want to use this application with latest version of iFIX, do not uninstall iFIX. You must install the newer version of iFIX over your existing iFIX configuration. Your toolkit application will not run if you uninstall your previous version of iFIX.
- Be sure to obtain any toolkit updates that you need, prior to installing iFIX. For instance, if you have previously installed the iFIX Productivity Pack for Allen Bradley, you must get the updated version prior to upgrading iFIX.
- If you plan to use Enhanced Failover feature provided in iFIX, review the Enhanced Failover and Upgrading section.
Steps to Upgrade from an Earlier Version of iFIX
To upgrade from
earlier versions of iFIX
Use the steps in the Installing the iFIX Software topic. When a message box appears indicating that a previous version of iFIX has been detected, click Yes to upgrade.
