Web-based Management 2:
Configuration - Network
Valid from firmware release 2025.0 - for earlier firmware see Configuration - Network
On the Network WBM page you can view or configure the LAN interface settings of your controller (depending on the user role).
From firmware release 2023.0 LTS, the Network WBM page contains a tab for configuring the Netload Limiter.
LAN interfaces tab
User role with read permissions
When you are logged in with a user role with read permissions only you can view the current network settings and status values in the column Status. Because you can't change anything, there a no other buttons visible in the page.
User role with write permissions
When you are logged in with the Admin or SecurityAdmin user role you can view the current network settings and status values in the column Status. You can change the current network settings in the Configuration column.
To change the network settings, proceed as follows:
- Enter the new settings in the Configuration column.
- Click to apply the new settings.
The new settings are sent to the controller. An automatic reboot of the controller is performed to activate the new settings.
You can also change the network configuration by means of the PLCnext Engineer software. Information on network setting options can be found in the PLCnext Engineer Online Help. You can find the PLCnext Engineer Online Help in its menu Help → View Help.Tip: Starting with release 2022.0 LTS, the PLCnext Engineer embedded help is also online available.
Changing IP addresses for a redundant control system
If you're working with a redundant control system, the configuration of IP addresses is different:
Even though you are working with two controllers, the IP address are set for the whole system. From there, the IP addresses for the controllers are derived. For details, see Structure of IP addresses for system redundancy with RFC 4072R.
To change the network settings of a redundant control system, proceed as follows:
- Enter the new settings in the Configuration column, which is set as the system IP address.
The physical IP addresses for the redundant controllers will be set automatically, incrementing the last octet of the address by 1 (for the First Controller) or by 2 (for the Second Controller). - Click to apply the new settings.
The new settings are sent to the controllers. An automatic reboot of the controllers is performed to activate the new settings.
Netload Limiter tab
Prerequisite: The Netload Limiter is activated by means of the System Services WBM page.
The Netload Limiter offers an option to limit the CPU load caused by an increasing amount of Ethernet telegrams. For details see Netload Limiter.
The Netload Limiter tab in the Network WBM page shows present configurations and statistics, allows to change configurations (depending on a user role with write permissions), and to reset the statistics. The handling is quite self-explanatory. After applying a different configuration of the Netload Limiter by means of the button, that configuration is active immediately. The controller does not need to be restarted. That allows for approaching cautiously to proper limits.
- The Duration since last statistics reset counter at the top of this WBM page shows the time that has elapsed since the last reset of the statistics.
- Statistics are always collected, even if no limiter is enabled.
- Statistics are not reset by applying a configuration change.
- The button resets the enabled packet and byte counters in this WBM page as well as the Time since last reset statistics time counter. It does not reset the controller. However, when resetting the controller, the enabled counters in this WBM page are restarting, too.