Exceeded number of remote panel licenses with no remote panels open(!)

[The_Seeker]

Greetings, 

Is there some special method required to enable remote panels on the Smart Camera? We are working on an application using 2 Smart cameras and an RT-enabled Desktop PC.

To simplify the streaming of images for all systems (and minimize development efforts), we have implemented remote panels for live RT image display to the (Windows) HMI.

I have been having no problems using the Remote Panels option with the RT-PC. However, when I try to open Smart Camera components via Remote Panels, I get a message indicating I have exceeded the number of (activated) available licenses.  

The confusion is that our system is licensed for up to 5 remote-panels. With no remote panel instances open, when I try to open the first remote panel connection to the Smart Camera,  the "exceeded maximum number of licenses" error message pops up.  

Am I missing something here? My RT-PC seems to have no problem displaying the remote pannels, but no luck (so far) with the Smart Cameras.

Notes:

- Web servers are enabled on all 3 RT systems. Each of the RT systems (RT-PC and Smart Cameras) have unique IP addresses. Port 80 used for the web server on all RT systems.

Any suggestions? 

Thanks.

[Tejinder_G.]

Hi,

If I understand correctly, you have been hosting remote front panels on your RT Desktop and accessing it through another Windows machine, but now you want to host from your Smart Camera? 

If this is correct, remote front panel license files can only be accessed by one computer at a time.  The computer that has access to the remote front panel license file can issue remote front panels, but it cannot remotely issue them.  This means that it is not possible for a computer to act as a remote front panel server.  If you want to issue remote front panels from multiple computers you will need a license file for each of the computers from which you want to publish.

I hope this helps. 

[The_Seeker]

Hi Tejinder,

 

I’m not sure I follow your response. Are you saying we need to purchase additional RP licenses to enable RP from multiple systems? (We have 2 sets of 5 RP licenses installed on the HMI PC, but can only access the RT-PC remote panels.) As far as I can tell, the Remote Panel Licenses reside only on the Windows PC (not on the RT target). Is there some way to associate a particular license with a particular RT target?

   

Let me clarify what we are trying to do, then perhaps you can point us in the right direction. (See attached .png file.)

 

We have constructed an HMI application to call remote panels from 3 RT systems at once. The HMI (Windows) PC issues a command to each RT system (in turn) to launch a VI. The HMI PC initiates Remote Panel connections to each RT system , as requested via the HMI PC’s GUI.

 

At no point do we need to have active remote panels from two (or more) RT systems. In other words, we only activate one remote panel at a time. However, all three RT systems need to be available at all times to host their panel.

 

Question 1: Is it possible to do what we are doing? Can we concurrently access remote panels on multiple RT systems from a single HMI PC?

 

Question 2: If so, what steps do we need to take? Do we need to map RP licenses to targets in some way?

 

As noted above, we have the PDS, which comes with 5 RP licenses. In addition, we purchased an upgrade 5 more RP licenses. Presumably, this should accommodate at least 2 of the 3 systems, yet we haven’t been able to make this work.

 

Thanks in advance for any additional info you can provide.

-- D.

[BlueCheese]

Hi D,

I'm no expert on the subject, but my understanding was that Remote Front Panel licenses had to be installed on the target or system hosting the panel itself. There is seemingly a tool (http://sine.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/1970) to transfer licenses to your RT target.

What I don't know is why you need this license in the first place. On your diagram you show a single HMI viewing all the RT target front panels. My impression was that the Remote Front Panel licenses were only needed if *more than one viewer* needed to be able to connect to a single target simultaneously. Opening multiple targets from the same system doesn't seem like it should need the license.

Eric 

[The_Seeker]

Thanks for the additional perspective Eric.

Yes, your expectation - "that the Remote Front Panel licenses were only needed if *more than one viewer* needed to be able to connect to a single target simultaneously" - is consistent with my original assumption about how this worked. In practice, it appears that multiple RP sources creates an issue as well.

I followed the link you provided and found a reference to the "Remote Panel License Transfer Utility" However no information is offered on the actual filename or location (presumably in the National Instruments file hierarchy) of this utility.

Do you know where to find this "Remote Panel License Transfer Utility"? Based on the description, this *may not* solve my problem. At this point however, I'm certainly willing to give it a shot.  

Thanks again Eric.

-- D

[The_Seeker]

Looks like I spoke a bit prematurely here...

There is a download link for the "Remote Panel License Transfer Utility" on the page referenced here: http://sine.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/1970

I have loaded the utility in, but it appears that I may not have the right "type" of RP license file anyway. (It appears I need a special RT license.)

Anyway, I guess it will be up to the boss to either spring for 3 sets of Remote RT Panel licenses (so we can give that a try), or pay for us to recode the UI components without relying on this cumbersome (and somewhat expensive) technology.

Anyway, thanks again Eric.

-- D.