Runtime connection and registration

A device can be connected to a network and to a domain, whereas its
entitlement
 needs to be
registered
. To activate Runtime,
an entitlement
 registration is mandatory.
NOTE: You can register a device to a domain while the same device is registered to another domain, if the domain it is registered to has an expired Trial entitlement.

Windows device connection

Once Runtime is installed and running on the remote device, proceed as follows to connect:
  1. Click on the Windows Runtime icon. The Windows Runtime pane will display the
    Network Connection
     section.
    NOTE: See Windows Runtime installation and configuration to learn how to start Runtime.
  2. Click on the
    Connect
     button and wait until a connection is established.
  3. If the remote device is not registered to any domain yet, Windows Runtime will display an ID with a password used for device registration to the domain.
  4. To register the Runtime of the remote device, log on to
    FactoryTalk Remote Access Manager
     using a user account with administration rights.
  5. Access the
    Explorer
    Domain view
     section and open the folder where you wish to store the remote device and click on the
    Add resource
     (
    circled plus
    ) button, then select
    Add device
    .
  6. Select
    Add device remotely
     and enter the remote device ID and password obtained when selecting
    Connect
     on the Windows Runtime pane (see step 3).

Linux device connection

  1. Access the Linux Device Manager and select
    Server Connection
    Connection
    .
  2. Select the
    Connect
     button.
  3. The Linux Device Manager will then display an ID and a password.
  4. Access
    FactoryTalk Remote Access Manager
     and the
    Explorer
    Domain view
     section and open the folder where you wish to store the remote device and click on the
    Add resource
     (
    circled plus
    ) button, then select
    Add device
    .
  5. Select
    Add device remotely
     and enter the remote device ID and password obtained when selecting
    Connection
     on the Linux Device Manager.

Ubuntu 22 device connection

  1. When the Runtime is running, connect to the
    FactoryTalk Remote Access
     network infrastructure by entering the following commands: 
    cd /opt/Rockwell_Automation/FactoryTalk_Remote_Access/Runtime/bin
FactoryTalkRemoteAccessRuntimeCli --connect
  2. If the Runtime needs to join an organization/domain, once the Runtime is connected to the
    FactoryTalk Remote Access
     network infrastructure run the command: 
    FactoryTalkRemoteAccessRuntimeCli --getAnonymousID
  3. The ID and the password used to join the organization/domain will display.
  4. Access
    FactoryTalk Remote Access Manager
     and the
    Explorer
    Domain view
     section and open the folder where you wish to store the remote device and click on the
    Add resource
     (
    circled plus
    ) button, then select
    Add device
    .
  5. Select
    Add device remotely
     and enter the remote device ID and password obtained when selecting
    Connection
     on the Linux/Ubuntu Device Manager.
NOTE: You can check whether a device is registered both through the
FactoryTalk Remote Access Manager
 on the right pane of the
Explorer
Domain view
 section, or on the Windows Runtime, on the
Information
 (
circled 'i'
 icon) section.

Hardware identification

Upon its first connection to the network, Runtime stores its identity on the device disk in a file named
auth.bin
. The location of this file depends on the system used, as indicated in the following table.
Runtime for third party devices
System
Path
Windows 10
C:\ProgramData\Rockwell Automation\FactoryTalk Remote Access\Identity
Linux Ubuntu 22
/opt/FactoryTalk_Remote_Access/Identity/
Runtime for Rockwell Automation devices
System
Path
Stratix 4300 Routers, OptixPanels graphic terminals, Embedded Edge Compute Module
/persistent/data/Rockwell_Automation/FactoryTalk_Remote_Access/Identity/
NOTE: It is not possible to transfer the identity file from one device to another by copying the
auth.bin
 file. However, you can create a backup of the file and restore it after uninstalling and reinstalling the operating system or Runtime.
The only scenario in which you cannot restore the identity file is when the disk is replaced. In this case, the device is recognized as a different machine.

Keep-alive feature

The data exchanged for the keep-alive feature between Runtime and the server infrastructure and between
FactoryTalk Remote Access Manager
 and the server infrastructure is approximately 1 KB per minute.
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