FactoryTalk Remote Access Release Notes

June 2022

Feature release of FactoryTalk Remote Access and FactoryTalk Remote Access Tools 13.2.644.

Features

• FactoryTalk Remote Access Runtime - Introducing installable remote access runtime software that enables you to remotely connect through FactoryTalk Remote Access to any device running Windows. The runtime software is available in two versions:

  • BASIC - once connected, you can start a remote desktop session, transfer files or establish a secure VPN connection with the remote device.

  • PRO - you can establish a VPN connection to any device that is connected to your remote device via Ethernet, serial, or USB ports.

• FactoryTalk Remote Access Trial Period - This FactoryTalk Remote Access release introduces a trial period to let you try out remote access services in your environment. The trial period is 90 days. During that time you will have full access to FactoryTalk remote access and the maximum number of concurrent connections. During the trial you can track your usage of the service so that you can choose the subscription that is right for your organization. During the trial period, in addition to unlimited concurrent connections, you will have access to two FactoryTalk Remote Access Runtime PRO entitlements. To continue using FactoryTalk Remote Access beyond the trial period, you must purchase a subscription for concurrent connections and entitlements for any FactoryTalk Remote Access Runtimes you wish to continue using. Any setup and configurations made in FactoryTalk Remote Access will be retained.

• Device Access — Select a device in your domain and establish a remote desktop session to the device using either the Web Only or Desktop version of the Device Access Tools. Using the Desktop version provide access to the entire suite of connectivity services: remote desktop, file transfer, remote process management, and chat. Using the Web Only version provides access to chat and provides the ability to view the desktop and send commands using the virtual keyboard.

• Improved Update Service - Available updates for the FactoryTalk Remote Access client tools are now easily visible from within the FactoryTalk Remote Access service.

• Improved Client Logging - The FactoryTalk Remote Access client log files now include the number of opened connections for the domain so that you can track usage over time.

Changes in functionality

• Unique device registration passwords - Each FactoryTalk Remote Access device is provided a unique eight digit password to use to register the device with the domain. If a device is removed from the domain and attempts to rejoin the domain, a new password is generated by the remote access service that must be provided to re-register the device.

• Removed support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 - Transport Layer Security protocols version 1.0 and 1.1 have reached end of life and are no longer supported for secure connections. Any client that attempts to negotiate a secure connection with FactoryTalk Remote Access service using these protocols will be denied.

Corrected anomalies

The following list identifies the anomalies corrected with this release.

ID Number	Title	Description
	Connection issues when using Firefox browser.	Client experienced occasional drops in remote desktop connection when using Firefox browser.

Security updates

The versions of the following open source software components used by FactoryTalk Remote Access have been updated to improve security:

• System.Net.Security updated to 4.3.2

• System.Text.RegularExpressions updated to 4.3.1

March 2022

Maintenance release of FactoryTalk Remote Access and FactoryTalk Remote Access Tools 13.0.028.

Please visit the Rockwell Automation Product Compatibility and Download Center to download and update FactoryTalk Remote Access Tools to version 13.0.028.

November 2021

Initial release of FactoryTalk Remote Access!

Features

• Domains — The domain represents the company account hosted by the FactoryTalk Remote Access Cloud Infrastructure. A domain consists of a group of devices, users, groups, firewall rules, and permissions.

• VPN — Establish a secure virtual private network between supervisors and operators of devices within your domain.

• Firewall — Configure firewall policies as needed to control access to your network.

• Permissions — Define permissions for devices, groups, and individual user accounts to control access to your resources.

Usage Notes

Router configuration

The 2-port Stratix 4300 Remote Access router includes two network ports, a LAN port and a WAN port. Both ports support statically assigned IP addresses. However, if the LAN port is disconnected, the statically assigned IP address will not be used for VPN connections to the router. Instead a virtual IP address is created for use during the VPN session. In this situation the FactoryTalk Remote Access service device information displays both the statically assigned IP address and the virtual IP address. However, the Stratix device configuration only displays the virtual IP address because this is the IP address that is active during the session. If the LAN port is later connected to the network using a network cable inserted into the LAN port, the statically configured IP address will be used.

Note

The same behavior applies for the 4-port Stratix 4300 when the LAN port is configured to take the IP address from a DHCP server and the DHCP server cannot be contacted by the router, so the LAN has no IP.

Multi-factor Authentication

When you first sign-in to FactoryTalk Remote Access you will receive a message that multi-factor authentication must be configured and activated before use. After clicking the Activation link a QR code is displayed that can be scanned with any application that supports the Google Authenticator standard. Use the following links from your device to download an authenticator app:

• Authy

• Google Authenticator

• Duo

• Microsoft Authenticator

If your device cannot scan the QR code click the link Can’t read? to view the security code to be used with your authentication app as an alternative to scanning the QR code.

After the first sign-in, subsequent sign-ins will ask for your authenticator code. This code is updated every 3 minutes. Open the authenticator app on your device and type in the current code that is assigned to your account.

Known anomalies

The following list identifies the known anomalies at the time of release.

ID Number	Description	Work around
1320589	Refresh view does not work after adding router.	This issue occurs intermittently. Wait a few minutes and try again. If refresh view does not work, close the browser and reopen the session.
1320997	Concurrent connections number is only lowered when the applet is closed.	After disconnecting a session, close the connection applet to remove the session from the active session list.

Issues

If you encounter issues using FactoryTalk Remote Access, please report them using the feedback form accessible from the main menu under Help > Provide Feedback.

Please use the documentation feedback form to let us know about improvements we could make to the Help.

As issues are reported and fixed, they will be listed in the release notes.