OPC Router Upgrade to v5.0 or newer Best Practices

This article provides guidelines for upgrading and addresses some commonly asked questions at the bottom. If you are upgrading from any version older than 5.0, please review and consider these best practices for best results.

Before you Start

Consider your company's change management practices and incorporate them into your planning for this upgrade to ensure the best results. The larger and more complex your system is, the longer the amount of time you should allow for this major upgrade, and ideally, you should have done testing on a test system first. We are happy to provide temporary licenses to users on active support & maintenance agreements for testing purposes prior to the upgrade.

Before you upgrade from v4.x to the new version, you MUST make sure to consider the following:

Your OPC Router license must be on support to get access to version 5.0 or newer. If on support, the license will be available in the OPC Router Licensing Portal. We recommend logging into the portal and adding your license to ensure you have access to the current version. If you are not sure if your license is on support you can contact us to see if you qualify for the free upgrade or if you will need to renew Support & Maintenance first.
You must make a backup of your current OPC Router database (see Step 1 below).
Review the FAQs below.

Side-by-Side Upgrade: Version 5 of OPC Router will install side-by-side with any v4.x OPC Router. This will allow you to run both systems while you test the v5 functionality before fully moving to version 5 and uninstalling v4.x.

1 - Backing up First

Before you start the upgrade process you must make a backup copy of the existing OPC Router database. This is particularly important with this version upgrade.

Making a backup will allow you to manually restore your project to your current version if something goes wrong with the upgrade.

To create a backup go to 'File -> Create OPC Router backup'.
Take note of the path to the backup and click 'Create'

2 - Create a restore point for the Operating System

This is just a best practice step in the event you were to roll back your production system. We do not expect you will need to roll back but it is always best to have a backup plan. You should be able to work with your internal IT department to ensure this is done properly.

3 - Upgrade to v4.28 before Installing v5

This step is important so that the project import on the V5 instance goes smoothly. Upgrading to v5 from an older v4.x build can result in unintended consequences due to the number of enhancements made since. You can download v4.28 here. You do not need to uninstall OPC Router first when upgrading to v4.28 from an older v4.x.

Stop the OPC Router Service.
Start the Installer
It will first install any prerequisites that are bundled into the installer package
Last it will prompt you to install OPC Router

4 - Export OPC Router v4.28 Project

Now that we have v4.28 installed you need to launch OPC Router and do an Export of the project. Go to 'File -> Export OPC Router project'.

5 - Install OPC Router v5

Now that you have a backup and export from v4.28 of your OPC Router project, you can start the upgrade. You do not need to uninstall OPC Router first; however, OPC Router v5 and v4.28 will reside side-by-side on the same machine to allow you to test everything before fully moving over to v5. Download the current version here if you have not already.

You can now launch the OPC Router 5 Management, which will launch a web browser tab for the OPC Router configuration.

By default, OPC Router v5 will look for an available port during installation. To connect to the v5 instance of OPC Router, one can simply open a supported web browser (Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome) and enter "hostip:port/menu/start"

6 - Adding a new User

Go to Homepage > User Management > Add a User. This will allow you to configure OPC Router from any system that has a network path to the system running OPC Router.

7 - Importing v4.28 Project into v5

We can now import your v4.28 project into v5 so we can start testing. Go to Homepage > Import and choose the v4.28 project that was exported in Step 4.

It is important to note that if the v4.28 instance is running in the background, it is advised to import the project into v5, but enable connections one by one while disabling the same connection on the v4.28 instance. This will allow you to test each connection in v5 while not having both the v4.28 and v5 OPC Routers performing the same task. This might not be feasible depending on the size of the configured project.

8 - Testing and Backup Again

You must ALWAYS test after you go live with any upgrade. With a major upgrade like this, we recommend you budget sufficient time for post-upgrade testing and follow your company's procedures and processes for change management post-rollout testing.

Once you are satisfied the system is working well, make another backup, label it clearly, and store it somewhere other than the machine where OPC Router is running.

9 - Activating your License

The final step in the upgrade is to Activate your license. Follow these steps to activate your OPC Router license. You will need to also de-activate the v4.28 license once done to ensure the license is used on a single OPC Router instance.

Please contact our support team with any questions about migrating to v5.

FAQs:

Q: What is new in v5?

A: Click here to see what improvements were made.

Q: How long does the upgrade install process take?

A: The upgrade takes about 10-15 minutes. If the OPC Router Service is running during the installer, it may request a reboot, so factor that into your downtime equation. Allocate 30-60 minutes for this upgrade in a production environment for a moderately large system. Your upgrade time may vary. The larger and more complex your system is, the longer amount of time you should allow, and ideally, you should have done testing on a test system first. We are happy to provide temporary licenses to users on active support & maintenance agreements for testing purposes prior to the upgrade.

Q: Are any features not available in v5?

A: The following Plug-Ins are not available in OPC Router v5 web configuration: RFID, Barcode Reader, Heidenhain, SQLite, Charm, and Euromap77. Currently, the plan is to re-enable these Plug-Ins in v5.1.