3.21.3

WebUI Runtime – Bridging OT and IT with a Centralized Runtime

Today's industrial systems must reconcile two fundamentally different paradigms:

• Operational Technology (OT) prioritizes stability, reliability, and long lifecycles
• Information Technology (IT) focuses on agility, security, and continuous evolution

Traditionally, solutions have attempted to connect both worlds at the interface level. However, true integration requires more than combining features — it demands a shared foundation designed to support both approaches simultaneously.

With the latest WinCC OA release, the WebUI Runtime introduces exactly that: a convergence layer that enables OT and IT to operate together without compromise.

Built as a server-side runtime with a thin browser client, it provides:

• Centralized execution with zero-install deployment
• Web-native communication mechanisms for real-time interaction
• Integrated support for industrial protocols and modern identity management
• A consistent runtime from edge to cloud environments

By combining web technologies with industrial system requirements, the WebUI Runtime establishes a scalable and secure foundation for modern industrial applications.

See WebUI Runtime for details.

Alarm Shelving and Suppression (IEC 62682)

WinCC OA now provides alarm shelving and suppression capabilities based on IEC 62682 / ISA 18.2 standards. The new AlertService enables three complementary alarm management mechanisms:

• Alarm Shelving: Operators can temporarily hide individual alert instances from the active alert list. A configurable timer automatically restores shelved alerts after the shelving period expires.
• Suppression by Design: Engineers can suppress alert handler configurations at the datapoint level to prevent alert generation during commissioning or planned maintenance.
• Out-of-Service Mode: Datapoint elements can be placed into maintenance mode by swapping alert classes to dedicated maintenance counterparts (alarm-maint, warning-maint, info-maint). Alerts continue to be generated but are visually distinguished and excluded from operational KPIs.

All actions are logged as Security Events and provide a complete audit trail. Dedicated overview panels for shelved alerts, suppressed handlers, and out-of-service objects are accessible from the Alert Event Screen.

See Alarm shelving and suppression overview for details.

CTRL

• New AlertService functions: AlertServiceClient::shelveAlerts(), AlertServiceClient::suppressAlerts(), AlertServiceClient::setOutOfService() and their corresponding reverse operations.

Disaster Recovery System

• DRS project file synchronization now uses a network share instead of shared project folders, improving security. The synchronization reuses the export path configured in the DRS wizard (Step 4) and automatically creates the subdirectories FileSync and SubFileSync on the network share. This eliminates the need for individual projects to access other project folder structures. See Configuration - Step 5 - Project File Synchronization.

UI

• VarTrend: Configurable downsampling is now available for NGA projects, improving data visualization performance.
• Automatic _MemoryCheck threshold calculation now adapts dynamically to the target system hardware.

Drivers

• Modbus: The driver now supports the Output Single direction, allowing a single bit to be written to a register while all other bits are set to 0.

Northbound Manager

• Sparkplug B: The protocol now supports a configurable MQTT keep-alive timeout through the mqttkeepalive parameter in <nbm_instance>.Config.Protocol (default: 60 seconds).