Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Prerequisites
2.1 Required Software
2.2 Required Hardware
2.3 GPOS
2.4 Necessary Accessories
2.5 Hardware Specific Requirements - Steps to Install Hypervisor
3.1 Update the BIOS (if necessary)
3.2 Configure the BIOS
3.3 Install B&R Installation Packages (Only Required for Non-B&R Linux Image)
3.4 Shrink the Linux Volume (If Not Done During Linux Installation)
3.5 Plan Ethernet and USB Interfaces
3.6 Configure the Automation Studio Project for Hypervisor
3.7 Generate the Hypervisor USB Install Drive
3.8 Install the B&R Hypervisor Driver
3.9 Install Hypervisor
3.10 Connect to ARembedded via Automation Studio - Appendices
4.1 Appendix A – Hardware Specific BIOS/UEFI Setting Requirements
4.2 Appendix B - Hyperthreading
4.3 Appendix C – FAQ
4.4 Appendix D – Troubleshooting Tips
4.5 Appendix E - Known Issues
4.6 Appendix F - B&R Support
1 Introduction
B&R Hypervisor makes it possible to run B&R Automation Runtime parallel to Windows or Linux on a B&R PC. Each operating system runs directly and exclusively on the hardware allocated to it. All of the configuration for Hypervisor is done in Automation Studio.
The purpose of this document is to provide a step-by-step guide for B&R Hypervisor installation with Windows as the GPOS. It is assumed that the user has basic knowledge of B&R systems and Automation Studio.
For a full overview of the details and theory behind B&R Hypervisor, refer to the following location in the AS Help: Real-time operating system → Target systems → Target systems – SG4 → B&R Hypervisor.
2 Prerequisites
Before you get started with the Hypervisor installation, verify that you are using supported hardware / software and that you have the necessary accessories at your disposal.
2.1 Required Software
B&R Hypervisor is available beginning with the following Automation Studio / Automation Runtime versions, depending on your target:
| PLC Family | Minimum AS/AR Versions |
|---|---|
| PC9xx | AS 4.4 / AR F4.44 |
| PC21xx | AS 4.4 / AR F4.44 |
| PC22xx | AS 4.6 / AR E4.61 |
| PC31xx* | AS 4.4.5 / AR B4.45 |
| MPC3100 | AS 4.10 / AR B4.91 |
| APC4100 | AS 6.0 / AR 6.0 |
* requires hardware upgrade 2.0.0.0 or newer
2.2 Required Hardware
- x86 architecture with BIOS/CSM support
- At least one logical CPU must be available for each configured operating system
- RAM: 4 GB (technically 2 GB can be sufficient, but 4 GB is highly recommended)
2.3 GPOS
GPOS stands for General Purpose Operating System. The GPOS (Linux) runs parallel to ARembedded. The GPOS must already be installed on the target system prior to Hypervisor installation.
Supported GPOSs:
- B&R (Debian) Linux 9 64bit (legacy boot)
- B&R (Debian) Linux 9 64bit (UEFI boot). Supported with AS4.7 and up.
- B&R (Debian) Linux 10, 64-bit (UEFI boot)
This installation guide is designed for the case that Linux is the GPOS. If you need the installation guide for Windows as the GPOS, please contact the B&R Support team (Appendix F).
2.4 Necessary Accessories
- USB mass storage device (note that all existing contents will be overwritten!)
- USB keyboard
- A USB hub is helpful if your PC only has 2 USB ports total (e.g. the PC2100 / PC2200)
2.5 Hardware Specific Requirements
See Appendix A.
3 Steps to Install Hypervisor
3.1 Update the BIOS (if necessary)
If your MTCX version is insufficient, then it will be updated when Hypervisor is installed. On the contrary, if your BIOS version is insufficient, then you must update this manually.
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Determine the minimum required BIOS version for your PC according to the chart below. This information can also be found in the Help at the following path:
Real-time operating system → Target systems → Target systems – SG4 → B&R Hypervisor → Configuration and installation → Preparations for installation
PC Family Minimum BIOS Version xPC9xx-TS77 1.27 xPC9xx-TS17 1.14 xPC2100 1.40 xPC2200 1.05 xPC3100 1.12 MPC3100 1.00 APC4100 1.10 -
Determine what keystroke is required to enter the BIOS on your PC. Refer to the chart below:
PC Family Key to Enter BIOS xPC9xx F2 or Del xPC21xx F2 xPC22xx F2, Del or Esc xPC31xx F2, Del or Esc MPC3100 F2, Del or Esc APC4100 F2, Del or Esc -
Cycle power on the PC. Repeatedly press the key identified in Step 2 while the PC is booting to enter the BIOS.
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The BIOS version can be viewed on the Main page of the BIOS with no additional user input for all PCs except for the PC2100. In the case of the PC2100, on the Main page you must click Enter on “System Information” and then you will see the BIOS version.
If your BIOS version is less than the required BIOS version identified in Step 1, then it needs to be updated before Hypervisor is installed. If your BIOS version is already sufficient, skip to Section 3.2.
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The BIOS upgrade files and steps to perform the BIOS upgrade can be found on the B&R website (www.br-automation.com). Click the Downloads tab, then specify your PC family. For example, for the PPC2100:
You may have to click “Load more” at the bottom of the download results to find the BIOS and User’s Manual. Then the BIOS will appear in the list:
The manual will be found in the documentation section:
The steps to update the BIOS are included in the PC User’s Manual. Refer to the “Software” chapter and update the BIOS.
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After the BIOS update is complete, repeat Steps 2 & 3 to go back into the BIOS in preparation for Section 3.2.
3.2 Configure the BIOS
At this point you should still be in the BIOS of your PC. If not, repeat Section 3.1 Steps 2 & 3 to enter the BIOS. Then:
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Restore BIOS defaults by pressing “F9” followed by “Enter”.
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Navigate to the following location in the AS Help to identify the required BIOS settings for your PC for Hypervisor:
Real-time operating system → Target systems → Target systems – SG4 → B&R Hypervisor → Configuration and installation → Preparations for installation
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Make the necessary changes in the BIOS.
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Press “F10” to save changes and exit the BIOS. Wait for the PC to boot back into Linux.
3.3 Install B&R Installation Packages (Only Required for Non-B&R Linux Image)
If you have installed a generic Debian 9 image (as opposed to the B&R Linux 9 image which would be installed on the PC from the B&R factory), then at this point you need to install several installation packages to make the generic image equivalent to the B&R image. If you are already using the B&R Linux 9, then skip to Section 3.4.
A full list of required installation packages is shown below:
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First Config: Contains the B&R First Config program for automatic configuration on the first boot.
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Service Tool: Contains the B&R Service Tool program for easy configuration of common tasks.
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Touch Screen: Contains the B&R Touch Screen program for setting and calibrating resistive and capacitive touch screens.
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Touch Click: Contains the B&R Touch Click program.
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MTCX driver: Contains the B&R MTCX driver for communicating with the MTCX on a B&R device.
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ADI Library: Contains the B&R ADI library.
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Display Brightness: Contains the B&R Display Brightness control.
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License Viewer: Contains the B&R License Viewer program.
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UPS Daemon: Contains the B&R UPS service.
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UPS Control: Contains the B&R UPS Management program.
The installation packages can be found on the B&R website (www.br-automation.com) via the Downloads tab and the following download filters:
Once you have downloaded the installation packages, copy them to the Linux PC and install them via the GDebi Package Installer.
3.4 Shrink the Linux Volume (If Not Done During Linux Installation)
The size of the Linux volume needs to be decreased to make space for ARembedded. Various tools can be used to adjust the Linux partition. The steps below will use GParted Live, installed on a USB drive via Rufus.
GParted Live is the tool which can adjust the size of the Linux partition. The tool Rufus is used to create a bootable USB drive and install the GParted Live ISO.
If you prefer an alternate method of installing GParted Live which does not involve Rufus, refer to the methods described at the following link and then skip to step 7: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/liveusb.php
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Navigate to: GParted -- Download
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Download the ISO for the Stable Release labelled for amd64 (e.g. “Download gparted-live-1.0.0-5-amd64.iso”).
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Navigate to: https://rufus.ie
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Download Rufus. This download will yield an executable (e.g. rufus-3.8.exe).
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Plug your first USB drive into the development PC (laptop). Note that all contents will be overwritten.
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Run the Rufus executable. Then in Rufus:
a. Set the “Device” dropdown to your USB drive.
b. Set the “Boot selection” dropdown to “Disk or ISO image”. Click the “SELECT” button to navigate to the GParted Live ISO file that you downloaded in Step 2.
c. The rest of the Rufus settings can be left at the default value. Click the “START” button at the bottom.
d. Click “Yes” to the subsequent pop-up to download the necessary Syslinux files:
e. Select “Write in ISO Image mode (Recommended)” in the next pop-up, and then click “OK”:
f. Click “OK” for the last pop-up:
g. Wait for the process to complete. Once the status bar says “READY”, click close:
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Boot the B&R PC off the USB drive which was prepared by Rufus in Step 6. To do so:
a. Determine what keystroke is required to enter the boot menu on your B&R PC. Refer to the chart below:
PC Family Key to Enter Boot Menu PC9xx F11 PC21xx F5 PC22xx F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” PC31xx F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” MPC3100 F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” APC4100 F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” b. Power up the B&R PC. Repeatedly press the key identified in Step A on the USB keyboard while the PC is booting to enter the Boot Menu.
c. Once you are in the Boot Menu, select the USB drive from the list. This will cause the B&R PC to boot from the USB drive and launch the GParted Live tool.
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Once the PC boots from the USB drive you will see the Gnome Partition Editor. Select the first option for “GParted Live (Default Settings)” and press Enter:
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Wait several seconds for the next menu to load. Then select “Don’t touch keymap” and press Enter:
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When asked “Which language do you prefer?”, press Enter to select the default value of 33 (US English).
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When asked “Which mode do you prefer?”, press Enter to select the default value of 0 (“Continue to start X to use GParted automatically”).
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Next, the GParted tool will load automatically. Right click on the main partition (/dev/sda1) and select “Resize/Move”. Alternatively, you can select the main partition and then go the Partition menu at the top to select “Resize/Move”.
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Set the “Free space following (MiB)” to at least 1024 MB (2048 MB is recommended). Then click “Resize/Move”.
Note that you cannot set the free space so high that the “New size (MiB)” is less than the “Minimum size” listed at the top.
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Afterwards, you will see that there is one operation pending to shrink the drive. Click the green checkbox at the top to execute the operation.
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Click “Apply” to confirm the operation:
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After a few moments, you will see a message indicating that “All operations successfully completed”. Click “Close”.
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Afterwards, you will see that the unallocated space has increased to the size allocated in Step 13. The size of the Linux partition has decreased accordingly. Close out of GParted by clicking the square icon in the far right at the top (not pictured).
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Double-click on the “Exit” icon on the top left. Then select “Shutdown” and click “OK”.
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Cycle power on the PC to boot back into Linux and login.
3.5 Plan Ethernet and USB Interfaces
The physical Ethernet and USB ports on the B&R PC must be assigned to either ARembedded or Linux. They cannot be accessed by both operating systems. Therefore, at this point you must decide which interfaces will correspond to which operating system. Take note of the following:
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At least one USB port must be assigned to ARembedded
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At the moment, any USB ports integrated into the panel will always be assigned to the GPOS
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You must use a USB port which is assigned to ARembedded for your Technology Guard dongle
For example, the PPC2100 has two Ethernet ports and two USB ports. Therefore, one of each port can be assigned to each operating system:
| Interface | Address | Example OS Assignment |
|---|---|---|
| ETH1 | IF3 | ARemb |
| ETH2 | IF4 | Linux |
| USB1 | IF5 | ARemb |
| USB2 | IF6 | Linux |
3.6 Configure the Automation Studio Project for Hypervisor
At this point it is assumed that an Automation Studio project has been created with the relevant hardware.
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Confirm that the correct PC hardware has been set in the Physical View.
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Open the CPU configuration (Physical View, right-click on CPU, select “Configuration”). At the bottom, expand “B&R Hypervisor configuration” and make two changes:
a. Set “Activate B&R Hypervisor” to “on”.
b. Set the “Size of DRAM” to a value between 256 MiB and 2048 MiB. This corresponds to the amount of DRAM assigned to ARembedded. The remaining DRAM on your PC gets assigned to Linux.
For example, a 5PPC2100.BY48-000 has 8GB of DRAM (refer to the Technical Data of the datasheet). If 1GB is assigned to ARembedded in the CPU configuration, then 7GB are left for Linux.
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Assign the Ethernet interfaces according to the planning from Section 3.5. To do so:
a. From the Physical View, right click on an Ethernet interface and select “Configuration”.
b. Assign the interface to either ARembedded or Linux (GPOS) via the “Operating system” dropdown.
c. If you assign the interface to ARembedded, set the IP parameters as needed for the application. This will be the IP address that you use to connect to ARembedded via Automation Studio.
d. Repeat for all Ethernet interfaces.
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Assign the USB interfaces according to the planning from Section 3.5. To do so:
a. From the Physical View, right click on a USB interface and select “Configuration”.
b. Assign the interface to either ARembedded or Linux (GPOS) via the “Operating system” dropdown.
c. Repeat for all USB interfaces. Remember that at least one USB interface must be assigned to ARembedded.
Any interfaces that are assigned to the GPOS (Linux) will appear grayed out in the Physical View and will be indicated by “–> GPOS” (with the exception of USB ports integrated directly into the panel).
3.7 Generate the Hypervisor USB Install Drive
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Plug your second USB drive into your development PC (laptop). Any USB flash drive (USB2.0 or USB3.0) with sufficient storage space will suffice. Note that in the following steps, all of the existing contents of the USB drive will be destroyed. Be sure to copy any pertinent files from the USB drive to another storage medium as needed.
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Rebuild the project (Project → Rebuild Configuration). After the build completes, select “Don’t Transfer” on the transfer pop-up.
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Go to “Project” → “Project Installation” → “Create USB Install Drive”.
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In the resulting pop-up, confirm the drive letter corresponding to your USB drive has been selected in the drop-down. Then click “Install on application storage”. You will then see a pop-up reminding you that the USB drive will be formatted, and all existing data will be lost. Click “Yes” to this pop-up.
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Once the install finishes, click “Close”. Remove the USB drive from your development PC.
3.8 Install the B&R Hypervisor Driver
The B&R Hypervisor Driver installer was automatically added to your USB drive when you created the Hypervisor USB Install Drive in Section 3.7. To install:
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Plug the USB drive into the B&R PC and boot the PC into Linux.
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Copy/paste the Hypervisor driver installer from the USB drive onto the PC (e.g. the Desktop). The installer will be located on the USB drive at the following path:
D:\BRHypervisor\GPOSDrivers\Linux -
Open the GDebi Package Installer via the Start menu → System Tools → GDebi Package Installer:
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Go to File → Open and then navigate to the brhypervisor_1.3.0-1_amd64.deb file that you copied in Step 2. Click “Open”:
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Click “Install Package”:
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Provide the administrative password if/when prompted.
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The B&R Hypervisor driver is installed. Once installation is complete, you will see a message indicating that the installation has finished. Click “Close” and then close the Package Installer.
3.9 Install Hypervisor
Now that the Hypervisor driver has been installed, Hypervisor itself as well as Automation Runtime and the application project need to be installed. To do so:
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Shut down Linux and power down the B&R PC.
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Plug the USB drive that was prepared in Section 3.7 into a USB port which was assigned to ARembedded in Section 3.6 Step 4. This is very important: you must plug the USB drive containing the Hypervisor installation into a USB port which is assigned to ARembedded. Hypervisor will not install properly if you plug the USB drive into a USB port which is assigned to Linux!
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Determine what keystroke is required to enter the boot menu on your PC. Refer to the chart below:
PC Family Key to Enter Boot Menu PC9xx F11 PC21xx F5 PC22xx F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” PC31xx F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” MPC3100 F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” APC4100 F2, Del or Esc → Select “Boot Manager” -
Power up the PC. Repeatedly press the key identified in Step 3 while the PC is booting to enter the Boot Menu.
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Once you are in the Boot Menu, select the USB drive from the list. This will cause the B&R PC to boot from the USB drive.
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You will see a black screen with a lot of vertically scrolling white text. Wait for this process to finish.
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Next, you will see a box with two options. Highlight option 1 for “Install” and press Enter to select this option.
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On the subsequent selection box, highlight “Install” and press Enter.
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On the final message box, press Enter to trigger the PC to restart:
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Hypervisor is installed. This process will take at least 4 minutes. The PC will reboot 5 times. Once installation is complete, the PC will boot back into Linux.
If the PC does not boot back into Linux after about 10 minutes, refer to Section 4 for troubleshooting steps.
3.10 Connect to ARembedded via Automation Studio
Now that Hypervisor is installed, ARembedded can be accessed via Automation Studio just like a standard ARembedded target (i.e. X20CPU). Go to to “Online” → “Settings” to either manually connect to the IP address that you configured in Section 3.6 Step 3c or browse for the target. If you have trouble connecting to ARembedded, contact B&R Support (Appendix F).
4 Appendices
Seperated to accomodate character limit.
