Releases

Release strategy

Each year comes a long-term support (LTS) release which will be supplied with bug fixes (if necessary).
Each quarter follows a feature release with additional capabilities.

This gives you the opportunity to develop your application or app always with the latest features. Newer feature releases always contain the former features in full, so you can adapt your projects to new releases easily.

For operating, Phoenix Contact recommends to depend on LTS releases only. Newer features will be included in the following LTS release.

Release history

The PLCnext Technology adventure began in 2016 with an Early Adopters' phase, driven by the PLCnext Control AXC F 2152 with firmware release version 1.0 and the former PC Worx Engineer, a derivative of the well-known PC Worx Automation Suite of Phoenix Contact.

In 2018, the PC Worx Engineer has become the PLCnext Engineer, which is the general engineering tool for PLCnext Technology related programming.

Beginning in late 2018, the above mentioned release strategy was adopted to address the demand for an agile development.

This Info Center spans these firmware releases:

Long-term support release	Feature release	Release date
2019.0 LTS		February 20, 2019
	2019.3	March 29, 2019
	2019.6	June 27, 2019
	2019.9	September 29, 2019
2020.0 LTS		December 6, 2019
	2020.3	April / May 2020
	2020.6	July / August 2020
	(2020.9)	– not published –
2021.0 LTS		Dec. 2020 – Feb. 2021
	(2021.3)	^[1] – not published –
	2021.6	July – Sept. 2021
	2021.9	October 2021
2022.0 LTS		Feb. – May 2022
	2022.3	^[2] May 2022
	2022.6	July - Aug. 2022
	2022.9	^[2] October 2022
2023.0 LTS		Dec. 2022 – March 2023
	2023.3	– coming soon –

But there is a PLCnext Engineer software suite release 2021.3, published in May 2021
For AXC F 2152 only

Note: Not every controller receives every firmware version. An overview of the available firmware versions per controller can be found in the table Firmware releases on controllers.

In order to update to firmware version 2022.3 or newer at least a firmware version 2020.0 LTS or newer must be installed on the controller. Firmware versions 2021.9 and before will not accept the *.raucb firmware update file.

Firmware update

You can download all available firmware releases for free in the Downloads section of your controller's product page on phoenixcontact.com.

See the PLCnext Control features for an overview of the releases that are available for your hardware, and use the links at the item no. to get to the product page on phoenixcontact.com.

Before upgrading, check the change notes document of your hardware for breaking changes.

Attention icon exclamation mark in triangle

Incorrect operation or modifications to a device can endanger your safety or damage the device.

Do not repair a device yourself. If a device has a defect, please contact Phoenix Contact.

Do not modify hardware or firmware if not advised doing so by Phoenix Contact.

Thoroughly follow requirements and notice restrictions for the firmware release in use.

Check the product page for firmware updates quarterly.