User manual/Getting started

Installation

Download abSCADA for Windows, open it for the first time and try the examples with their simulated PLCs.

2 min read

abSCADA ships as a ready-to-run Windows program: there is no need to install Python or anything else.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
  • About 250 MB of free disk space.
  • Optional: Git installed, to turn on version history for your projects.

Download and open

  1. Download the ZIP of the latest version from the home page (Download for Windows button).
  2. Unzip it into a folder, for example Documents\abSCADA. Do not run it from inside the ZIP.
  3. Open abscada.exe.

The beta is unsigned. Check file integrity by comparing its hash with SHA256SUMS.txt, published with every version on GitHub.

To update, download the new version and replace the folder. Your projects are not stored inside it, so nothing is lost.

The start screen

Opening abscada.exe without a project shows the start screen:

  • New project and Open project (a .abscada file).
  • Recent projects.
  • Examples: they are copied to Documents\abSCADA\Ejemplos and opened from there, so you can change them freely.

Try it without a physical PLC

abSCADA never fabricates values: without communication, linked tags are marked bad and keep their last value. To see live data without hardware, the examples come with simulated PLCs built into the program.

  1. On the start screen, pick an example.
  2. Keep Arrancar también su PLC simulado (also start its simulated PLC) ticked.
  3. When Studio opens, click Abrir runtime (open runtime).

You can also start or stop the simulators at any time from Herramientas → Simuladores de PLC… (Tools → PLC simulators).

Example What it shows Simulated PLC
Craft brewery · La Tolva Batch process, recipes, encrypted OPC UA, users and roles OPC UA
Hydro plant · CH Valdearenas Sequences, protections, single-line and multiple monitors Siemens S7 and Modbus TCP
Beckhoff test bench Needle gauges and commands over ADS Beckhoff ADS
SCADA lab Every control, states, pop-ups, alarms and scripts S7 and Modbus TCP
Pumping plant The simplest example: layout, tank, pumps and alarms —
Library authoring How to build and publish library objects —

Operation only

On an operator station you can open the Runtime directly, without Studio: create a shortcut to abscada.exe and add the project path followed by --runtime to its target, for example abscada.exe "C:\Plants\Plant.abscada" --runtime.

Linux

For now there is only a Windows executable. On Linux, abSCADA runs from source: see the developer documentation.

Installation · abSCADA