Skip to content
Ask A Question
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

How to Upgrade your TOP Server Version 5 to Version 6

Upgrading TOP Server V5.x to V6.x in general is not a difficult process but there are several factors to consider. This FAQ provides details about the upgrade process, and a list of valuable resources to aid you in your process. TOP Server V6 was released in November 2016, has been further improved many times, and has many years of field proven experience with many satisfied user migrations from V5 to V6. 

With any system migration we recommend that you:

  1. Know, consider, and follow your company's change management practices, involving all other stakeholders in the process. 
  2. Test your migrated configurations on test systems before going live 
  3. Have backups of your V5 configurations 
  4. Develop a migration plan, even when migrations are simple. 
  5. Be on support & maintenance - our team's time and expertise in assisting with migrations is reserved for customers on active support & maintenance agreements. 

Step 1: Determine if your license entitles you to upgrade and to support assistance from our team? 

If you are currently on an active support and maintenance agreement and are still running TOP Server version 5 you would have received new activation ID's at some point that would work on V5 and V6, and also updated activation IDs or a support/maintenance renewal certificate *.lic file upon renewals. If you never applied any of those to the machine you plan to upgrade, then you'll need to do that first if you plan an in-place upgrade.

If you do not know if you have activation IDs for V6 or are even on support, you will need to on your V5 machine, open the TOP Server License Utility and get your activation IDs.  

You can use our support entitlement validation lookup page to see if you are on support, when it expire(s) or expired, and if on support, obtain your V6-compatible Activation ID that is in our system. 

If your support is expired, then you will need to look at the TOP Server Version & OS history page and you can use any version of TOP Server V6 that was released before your support expired. 

You can also request a quote to upgrade and have your support/maintenance reinstated

Step 2: How are you planning to move - in place upgrade or move to new machine? 

We always recommend you install the most current version of TOP Server for the operating system you are using. The TOP Server Version & OS history page has the details you need.

In Place Upgrade

See details in this FAQ

Moving to new computer

We do not recommend trying to transfer an old V5 license to V6. Instead, we recommend that you use your V6 activation IDs and perform a clean installation and then decommission the V5 machines. It is a violation of the TOP Server End User License Agreement to attempt to circumvent product licensing and not decommission your V5 licenses on the old machines. 

Users on active support and maintenance agreements can contact us for further assistance in planning a move to a new machine, including temporary short term licenses for testing/validation.

If you are not on active support & maintenance our phone/email services to assist in migration will be limited based on available capacity and complexity of your migration needs. 

Configuration and Client Application Impacts

The detailed TOP Server V5 to V6 Migration Guide provides a detailed PDF but we summarize the key points here: 

Project File Migration

TOP Server V5 *.opf project files are fully forward compatible to V6.  You must keep a backup of your V5 project(s) as once a project file has been opened in V6, it cannot be used in V5. 

What about Client Application Settings? 

In general, we tried to make the V5 to V6 migration as painless as possible to avoid minimal work on any client applications connected to TOP Server

  • AVEVA (Wonderware) Suitelink Connections -
    • The default application name server_runtime does not change from V5 to V6. 
    • You will need to go into Project properties in V6 and make sure that the Suitelink Interface is enabled. 
  • OPC DA Connections - the new TOP Server OPC DA ProgID is SWToolbox.TOPServer.V6.
    • Upgrade in place - when we install over a V5, we automatically put in a redirect for you so that client's don't have to change 
    • New machine - If your client's are on other machines and connecting via OPC DA and expecting the old V5 progID, SWToolbox.TOPServer.v5 to be present, you will need to go into the TOP Server Settings, ProgID Redirect tab, and add SWToolbox.TOPServer.v5 to the list of ProgIDs that the new server will respond to. We cover this in detail in the TOP Server V5 to V6 Migration Guide
    • If you have made client connections from remote machines via DCOM, you will need to review the security settings you had in place on your older machine to insure that all the required settings have been made.  
  • OPC UA Connections 
    • You will need to re-accept the OPC UA certificates generated by V6 whether you are doing an in-place upgrade or moving to a new machine.  
    • Details of how this is done will be found in your client application documentation and configuration. 
    • We cover how OPC UA certificates are handled in the TOP Server V5 to V6 Migration Guide

Important Resource Links:

Installing V6 over a V5 installation

When you install Version 6 on a machine with Version 5 it will be replaced and your configuration migrated forward. V5 and V6 cannot co-exist on the same machine.

After installing V6 it will run in two hour limited mode until you finish the registration process with the new Activation ID's. This will require an interruption to communications when you install Version 6, so plan accordingly. 

  1. Install TOP Server Version 6 on the Operating System where the TOP Server Version 5 is currently licensed. If you choose custom installation, make sure you install all current drivers being used. You will lose connections to your Clients and Devices during installation. Please plan to take this step in a way that minimizes production outage risks.
  2. If you have the Versions 6 Activation IDs for this TOP Server, you can ignore all Licensing related warnings during the installation
  3. After installation is complete, a document will be opened with instructions on how to upgrade your licenses for Version 6. Ignore and Close this document if you already have your new Activation ID's.
  4. TOP Server V6 can be started in two hour time-limited mode with your current project while you complete the remaining registration steps.  You can stop and restart the service if you need more time.
  5. Open the TOP Server V6 License Utility (this can be accessed via the Start menu in Windows).
    1. Click the Activate button
    2. Select "I have one or more software activation IDs" and click Next
  6. Enter your activation ID in the text area at the top of the screen (you may copy and paste from this document).
    1. If you have more than one activation ID, enter them on separate lines (Version 6 allows you to register multiple activation IDs at one time)
    2. Do not change the "Machine name" field
    3. (Optional - but Recommended) Enter the location and description of the server.
  7. Click Save to File…and save the file where you will be able to access it. This is your Request File. You will need to have this file for the next step. You can save it to a USB or network drive if you do not have Internet access on the TOP Server PC.
  8. Online Registration: You do not need to do this on the same PC the TOP Server is installed on, but you do need to have access to your Request File. Go to Software Toolbox website https://registration.softwaretoolbox.com and click on the Register Now button.
    1. Select the check box for TOP Server V6 and click Next.
    2. Complete the identification form for the person who will be the contact for Support for the product and follow other instructions as needed. Click Next.
    3. Click Choose File to search for the file. Select your Request File that you saved earlier and click Open.
    4. Click the Lookup button.
    5. A list of the Activation IDs that will be registered will appear. Follow the instructions on the screen before moving to the next step.
    6. Click Next.
    7. Verify that the information you entered is correct and click Register.
    8. When notified that your registration was successful, you will be prompted to download your Response File. If you miss the prompt you can also click the Download File button to download it again. Save it in a location where you can access it or move it back to the Operating System the TOP Server is installed on.
  9. Go back to the TOP Server V6 License Utility where you entered the Activation IDs. Click on Import File…. Browse for the response file you just saved (make sure you select the response file and NOT the request file) and click Open.
    1. If everything is successful, you will receive a notification that your licenses have been applied.
    2. THERE IS NO NEED TO RESTART THE SERVER AFTER APPLYING THE LICENSE ON VERSION 6.

Questions/Concerns?

You can contact us by submitting a support ticket. Our clients with active support and maintenance agreements receive first priority for assistance. 

You can contact our technical sales team to request a quote to upgrade and have your support/maintenance reinstated