Commissioning differences in Niagara 4

The following items have been added to the Commissioning Wizard process in Niagara 4 :
 
NOTE: In Niagara 4.8 and later, there is added support for verifying third party module signatures. Currently third party module signing is optional in most cases, but this will gradually shift to a requirement over the course of the next few releases. As a result, the Software Installation window is changed to include signature status icons in the Installed Version and Available Version columns indicating the signature status of the installed and available modules. Attempting to install modules with signature warnings (indicated by a yellow icon) will cause a signature warning dialog to be displayed, and attempting to install modules with signature errors (indicated by a red icon) will cause the installation to fail. For more details see, Niagara Third Party Module Signing.
 

Other differences include the following items.

  • The “Configure Runtime Profiles” step reflects the differences in software modules, as refactored for Niagara 4. However, the basic premise for installing only the types of modules needed for the intended application (preserving storage space on the controller) remains the same.
  • The wizard will not let you commission and install a unit with the factory-default platform user credentials. Instead, a step requires you to replace this default platform admin user with a different user name, and specify a “strong” password for this admin account. Optionally, you can create additional platform admin accounts in the controller (up to 20). Each platform admin account must have a unique user name, and also use a strong password. Note each account has the same (full) platform admin access—users can change their password, even create additional platform admin accounts.
  • The Platform Administration view includes an “SFTP/SSH” option, specifying a common port (22 by default, disabled). Although the SFTP and SSH protocols are more secure than FTP and Telnet (available in earlier releases), disabling is still recommended, except for troubleshooting or upon request by technical support.
  • If converting the JACE-8000 to run AX, after first running the N4-to- AX conversion distribution file in the Workbench (which converts the controller to the AX ‘clean’ state), then switch to the AX-3.8U1 Workbench to run the Commissioning Wizard. For more details see, “ Converting the controller to AX.”
  • Niagara 4 cannot successfully configure the system passphrase on the JACE-8000 when it is running the AX daemon. You must use AX-3.8U1 instead.

    Also, in the N4 Platform Administration view, the Update Authentication and System Passphrase buttons are disabled when the remote platform is the AX-3.8U1 daemon. Note, that in release N4.1, the buttons do not appear disabled, however, setting the system passphrase fails when you attempt to configure it.