Send a remote HMI panel backup by email for USB restore

Pick the package by the firmware on the target panel

There are two payloads, and they are not interchangeable.

A project-only backup keeps the file small, which is what makes email practical. Its restore expects a panel running the firmware version the project was saved under. So the first number in this job is the firmware version on the field panel: have the technician read it on the panel's system screen and read it back to you. Reading an HMI panel firmware version for field maintenance shows where that number sits. Compare it against the revision your project was saved under before anything is transferred, the check described in checking the HMI firmware revision before a project transfer.

When the versions differ, the panel's operating system has to be brought up to the version the engineering software expects. A larger package does that in one pass: selecting system and project on the panel backup, or generating the software's own transfer package, produces a folder carrying the OS, the firmware and the project together.

One distinction matters here: a project that opens cleanly on your bench and a panel that can restore it are two separate checks. The software check happens at your desk. The firmware check happens at the panel.

What you need

• The engineering PC with the project and the panel software installed.
• The firmware version read from the field panel, in hand before you choose the payload.
• A USB stick with more room than the package. One HMI vendor's documentation names an industrial-grade stick as the storage medium and sizes a full backup for its larger panels at up to 20 GB, so a 32 GB industrial stick covers that worst case. A project-only package is far smaller; any stick on hand that exceeds the measured file will do.
• A way past the email size cap. Most mail services cut a single message off near 20 to 25 MB. A small package attaches to the email; a full package travels as a link to a shared folder.
• About 15 minutes of technician time at the panel for the backup, the copy and the restore.

Generate the package on the bench PC

1. Open the project and confirm the firmware version it was saved under. Write the number down; a project-only restore has to match it at every target.
2. Start Project Transfer in the panel software and choose External Memory Device as the destination. Your hard drive works; the point is that the software builds the folder, not you.
3. Let the software write the package. For a project-only transfer the project file itself is startupStorage.eas; a full package adds the OS and firmware files around it.
4. Inspect the result in the file manager before anything leaves the bench: the total folder size and a complete tree. Zip the folder, and tell the technician to extract it on the site PC before copying, because a package rebuilt by hand from loose attachments is where the structure gets lost.
5. If a spare panel is on the bench, run the copy-to-stick and restore once on it before the remote change. The email route has no undo at distance.

Keep the folder tree whole from email to stick

The restore looks for the files where the transfer wrote them, so the folder goes out whole and lands whole. Extract the zip on the site PC so the original hierarchy returns, then copy the extracted folder to the stick in one operation. Never merge files from two transfers into one folder, and never hand-rebuild the package from individual attachments.

Other HMI software families follow the same rules for a restore from copied folders; one walkthrough covers an HMI project backup restored from a manual folder copy.

Back up the field panel, then restore

1. At the panel, open system screen > memory > backup and save the current contents to the USB stick. That file is the rollback copy.
2. Move the backup off the stick to the site PC, or use a second stick, so the incoming package cannot crowd it out.
3. Copy the extracted transfer package to the stick, whole folders, one operation.
4. Open system screen > memory > restore and point the panel at the incoming package.
5. Let the panel restart and load. A project-only restore leaves the firmware as it was; a full package brings the panel back on the version it carried.

If the running project stores recipe files, have the technician copy those off separately too; backing up HMI recipe files before a project download covers that job. Label the backup with the site and the date, and keep it beside the email you sent, because the pair is only useful while it stays together.

Example: a program change to a site running firmware 2.75

Your bench panel runs firmware 2.75 and the project was saved under 2.75. The field technician reads 2.75 on the target panel, which is running the program you are about to replace. The versions match, so the payload is project-only.

Project Transfer to External Memory Device writes the package to your hard drive. In the file manager the exported folder measures 12 MB, an example size; read your real one before sending. The project file inside is startupStorage.eas. The mail cap sits near 25 MB, so the zipped folder attaches with 13 MB of margin and no shared link is needed.

At the site, the technician extracts the zip, saves the running panel to the stick with system screen > memory > backup, moves that backup to the site PC, copies the extracted folder to the stick, and runs system screen > memory > restore. The panel restarts into the new program. The change cost one email and one visit to the panel, and no drive in the post.

The mismatch branch, for contrast: the field panel reads 2.4. The project-only file is now the wrong payload, and the full package carries the OS and firmware. Say it measures 95 MB. That is 95 ÷ 25 = 3.8 times the mail cap, so it goes as a shared-folder link. The stick must hold the measured package with margin: size the stick above the folder you read in the file manager before it leaves the bench. For a panel family whose documentation puts full backups at up to 20 GB, the next standard size up is 32 GB, and that covers the worst case.

Check that it worked

• The panel restarts into the project you sent: the startup screen loads and a value you recognize moves on it. That last point proves the PLC link as well as the restore.
• The firmware version on the system screen reads what you intended: unchanged after a project-only restore, the package's version after a full one.
• A package rejected with an unsupportable hardware version after a USB restore points to a transfer built for another panel family; fixing an unsupportable hardware version after a USB restore takes that message apart.
• A restore that cannot see the stick at all is a drive question first; testing a USB drive the panel does not recognize gives the order of checks.
• Archive the emailed package and the site backup together, labeled with the site and date. That pair is the recovery kit for the next change, and it is the same discipline as keeping a master copy against upload protection.

Recommendation: Email a project-only backup only after the field technician has read the panel's firmware version back to you and it matches the version the project was saved under. When the firmware differs or cannot be read, generate the software's full transfer package with the OS and firmware included, send it as a shared-folder link, and have the technician copy the whole folder tree to a stick sized above the package and back up the running panel before restoring.

Questions