Adding WinCC Unified to TIA Portal V18 for MTP700 HMI Panels

The SIMATIC MTP700 (Multi-Touch Panel 7") is part of Siemens' Unified Comfort Panel family and is engineered exclusively around the WinCC Unified runtime, not the legacy WinCC Professional or WinCC Comfort / Advanced stacks. Engineers who install TIA Portal V18 with only the default options enabled frequently discover that the MTP700 (MTP1000, MTP1200, MTP1500, MTP1900, MTP2200) device is absent from the Add new device catalog even after a successful STEP 7 Professional V18 + WinCC Professional V18 installation. This article documents the root cause, the three viable solutions, and the verification steps required to bring the MTP series online inside an existing V18 engineering workstation.

1. Problem Overview

When you open a TIA Portal V18 project and attempt to insert a new HMI device, the device catalog under SIMATIC HMI > Unified Comfort Panels is either collapsed, empty, or shows a message such as:

The selected device could not be added.
The WinCC Unified engineering software is not installed on this computer.

Typical user-visible symptoms:

• MTP700 / MTP1000 / MTP1200 / MTP1500 / MTP1900 / MTP2200 are not listed under Unified Comfort Panels.
• The HMI > WinCC Unified node in the project tree is greyed out.
• The portal view under Devices & Networks > Add new device > SIMATIC HMI shows only Comfort Panels, KTP Mobile Panels, and WinCC Runtime Professional options.
• The setup log file SiemensAutomationInstaller.log in %TEMP% contains the string "WinCC Unified is not selected".

2. Why the MTP700 Is Missing: Root Cause Analysis

During the TIA Portal V18 setup, the installer presents a feature tree. WinCC Unified is not selected by default. It must be explicitly checked under the WinCC branch in the product selection dialog. If the installer was run with default selections (or via silent install with default selection profiles), only WinCC Professional / Comfort / Advanced is deployed, and the Unified engineering assemblies (TIA Portal plug-ins, ES, RT) are absent from %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation\Portal V18\Bin.

Two additional, related restrictions in TIA Portal V18 further complicate the picture:

Because the user's environment contains a fully installed WinCC Professional V18, the V18 setup routine will refuse to install the WinCC Unified components. The setup dialog will display a blocking message similar to:

Setup has detected that WinCC Professional V18 is installed on this computer.
The installation of WinCC Unified V18 cannot be performed in parallel with
WinCC Professional V18. Please uninstall WinCC Professional V18 before
proceeding, or use a separate computer / virtual machine.

3. WinCC Professional vs. WinCC Unified: Architectural Context

Understanding why Siemens ships two HM engineering stacks is necessary to pick the right remediation path.

MTP panels (introduced 2022 with firmware V16.4 / TIA V17) are only supported by the Unified stack. There is no "compatibility mode" that allows them to be programmed with WinCC Professional or Comfort. If you have invested in the MTP family, you must deploy the WinCC Unified engineering components on the workstation that will edit MTP HMI stations.

4. Prerequisites

Before changing the engineering workstation installation, confirm the following:

1. TIA Portal V18 Update 4 or later is installed (TIA Portal V18.0 + HSPs through the most recent update). The latest Service Packs fix MTP device catalog entries and address panel firmware issues; check the TIA Portal V18 Service Pack download entry.
2. You have administrator rights on the engineering PC (or a domain-elevated account) to run the Siemens TIA Portal setup.
3. You have a valid WinCC Unified Engineering license (floating or single-seat) or are running a 21-day trial license activated via the Automation License Manager.
4. You have a valid WinCC Unified Comfort Panel runtime license per panel (one RT license per MTP device).
5. You have ~25 GB of free disk space for the Unified ES + RT components.
6. You have a current backup of the existing TIA project (.ap18) before any uninstall / install step.

5. Solution Path 1 — Re-run the TIA Portal V18 Setup and Select WinCC Unified

This path is the simplest only when the workstation currently has no WinCC Professional V18 installed. If the install is already in the default state (no Pro, no Unified), the procedure below is sufficient.

5.1 Step-by-step

1. Close TIA Portal V18 and the Automation License Manager.
2. Insert or mount the TIA Portal V18 installation media (DVD image SIMATIC_TIA_PORTAL_V18.iso or the downloaded Setup.exe).
3. Right-click Start.exe and choose Run as administrator.
4. When the product selection dialog appears, expand SIMATIC TIA Portal → WinCC.
5. Check the box WinCC Unified V18 (this includes the Unified ES). To simulate, also check WinCC Unified PC Runtime V18.
6. Click Next > Next > Install. Wait for the transfer window to complete.
7. After installation finishes, restart the PC.
8. Open TIA Portal V18 and verify the Unified catalog entries exist (see Section 9).

5.2 What the installer dialog looks like

SIMATIC TIA Portal V18 - Product Selection
[x] STEP 7 Professional V18
[x] WinCC Professional V18
[ ] WinCC Comfort V18        (default off)
[ ] WinCC Advanced V18       (default off)
[ ] WinCC Unified V18        (default OFF - you must enable)
[ ] WinCC Unified PC Runtime V18  (default OFF)
[x] SIMATIC Visualization Architect
[x] SINAMICS Startdrive V18

If the dialog refuses to allow WinCC Unified to be checked, it is because WinCC Professional is already installed. Skip to Path 2 or Path 3.

6. Solution Path 2 — Use a Separate Computer or Virtual Machine

Because V18 forbids the parallel installation of WinCC Professional and WinCC Unified, the recommended field workaround is to dedicate a separate engineering machine to Unified development.

6.1 Recommended hardware / VM profile

6.2 Procedure

1. Provision the new machine or VM.
2. Install Windows, join the domain, install all Windows updates.
3. Install SQL Server 2019 (or 2022) and configure an instance named WINCC UNIFIED as required by the V18 setup.
4. Run the TIA V18 setup and select only the products you need for Unified development (do not install WinCC Professional):

   [x] STEP 7 Professional V18
   [x] WinCC Unified V18
   [x] WinCC Unified PC Runtime V18 (optional, for RT simulation)
   [ ] WinCC Professional V18  -- LEAVE UNCHECKED

5. Activate the WinCC Unified Engineering license via Automation License Manager.
6. Open TIA Portal and add the MTP700 from Add new device > SIMATIC HMI > Unified Comfort Panels.
7. To move projects between the Pro and Unified machines, export the project as a Project file (.zap18) archive on the Pro machine, copy to the Unified machine, and re-open.

7. Solution Path 3 — Migrate the Engineering Workstation to TIA Portal V19

Siemens lifted the parallel install restriction in TIA Portal V19. From V19 onwards, WinCC Professional and WinCC Unified can coexist on a single engineering workstation, opening the door to mixed HMI fleets. This is the recommended long-term path for plants that have both legacy Comfort panels and the new MTP Unified family.

7.1 Procedure (upgrade in place)

1. Apply any pending V18 service packs and HSPs and ensure all projects compile cleanly under V18.
2. Open TIA Portal V18 and run Project > Archive to produce a .zap18 file (do not rely on plain Save As).
3. Uninstall TIA Portal V18 and the associated Microsoft SQL Server instance used by WinCC Professional (typically WINCCPRO or WINCC). Use the Siemens uninstaller Start.exe > Maintenance > Uninstall; do not remove the SQL Server manually or you will leave orphaned databases that block the V19 install.
4. Reboot. Confirm in services.msc that no Siemens* services remain.
5. Mount the TIA Portal V19 media and run the installer.
6. In the product selection dialog, enable both WinCC Professional V19 and WinCC Unified V19:

SIMATIC TIA Portal V19 - Product Selection
[x] STEP 7 Professional V19
[x] WinCC Professional V19
[x] WinCC Unified V19          (NEW in V19: parallel install supported)
[x] WinCC Unified PC Runtime V19
[x] WinCC Comfort V19
[x] WinCC Advanced V19

7. Install. After completion, install the latest V19 Service Pack and any required HSPs.
8. Open the archived V18 project in TIA V19. The project will be upgraded in place; compile and download to confirm that no regressions occurred.
9. Insert the MTP700 from the device catalog. It will appear because the Unified ES is now installed.

7.2 Compatibility matrix V18 ↔ V19

8. Verifying That WinCC Unified Is Installed Correctly

After any of the three paths above, perform the following checks before resuming project work.

8.1 Filesystem verification

8.2 Start menu verification

Confirm the following shortcuts exist:

• Siemens Automation > TIA Portal V18
• Siemens Automation > SIMATIC > WinCC Unified Configuration (only when PC RT is installed)
• Siemens Automation > SIMATIC > WinCC Unified Station Simulator (V19+)

8.3 In-app verification

1. Launch TIA Portal V18.
2. From the portal view choose Devices & Networks > Add new device.
3. Navigate to SIMATIC HMI > Unified Comfort Panels.
4. Confirm that the MTP700 (and siblings MTP1000, MTP1200, MTP1500, MTP1900, MTP2200) appear with a green device icon.

8.4 Help & License Manager verification

1. Open Help > Installed SIMATIC Software. The dialog should list WinCC Unified V18.
2. Open the Automation License Manager. Confirm a valid WinCC Unified Engineering license (or trial) is present.

9. Adding the MTP700 to Your Project

1. In the project tree, double-click Add new device.
2. Select SIMATIC HMI > Unified Comfort Panels > MTP700.
3. Confirm the device version (firmware V18.0.0.0 or whichever Service Pack the catalog shows).
4. Click OK. The MTP700 is created under Devices in the project tree.
5. Configure a PROFINET connection to the S7-1500 / ET 200SP CPU. Use the standard Unified HMI connection wizard, selecting SIMATIC S7-1500 as the PLC.
6. Add tags, screens, and alarms using the Unified HMI editors.
7. Compile the project, then download to the MTP via PROFINET (default IP 192.168.0.1 / mask 255.255.255.0). Update the IP through the MTP's Control Panel > Network & Internet or via TIA's online & diagnostics interface.

10. Common Installation Errors and Messages

11. License and Runtime Considerations

When the engineering workstation contains both Pro and Unified (V19+), keep the following rules in mind:

• You may simulate a Unified Comfort Panel locally using WinCC Unified PC Runtime, even when the target is an MTP hardware panel. The PC RT does not require a Unified PC tag-count license for simulation, only for production deployment.
• You may not simultaneously run a Pro RT simulation and a Unified RT simulation on the same PC if both attempt to bind to the same HMI port range. Stop one service before starting the other.
• The license USB stick (ALM dongle) may host both Pro and Unified licenses; the Automation License Manager arbitrates transparently.

12. Troubleshooting Matrix

13. FAQ