Configuring SCALANCE Unmanaged Switches in TIA Portal Topology

Overview

Siemens SCALANCE XB-000 and SCALANCE XC-100 unmanaged switches are non-configurable Industrial Ethernet switches. By design they carry no PROFINET device name, no IP parameters, no diagnostic Web server, and no port-level GSDML description. This means the TIA Portal hardware catalog cannot represent them as a "device" the way it represents a CPU, an ET 200 station, or a SCALANCE XC/XR managed switch.

The presence (or absence) of the unmanaged switch in the project tree has no effect on the program's ability to compile, download, or communicate. The switch only becomes visible when you place it in the Topology view, where it is drawn as a passive node for documentation, port mapping, and PROFINET cable-length calculation. The Siemens release window for the topology editor's "switch" graphic and the SCALANCE XB-000 catalog entries is tied to TIA Portal V15 and later; V14 (any SP) was shipped before the topology switch objects and predates the corresponding HSP/HW catalog updates that contain the XB-000 part numbers.

This reference covers the part numbers, the catalog update path, the topology-view insertion sequence, and the field conditions under which the unmanaged switch does not need to be inserted at all.

Prerequisites

• TIA Portal V15, V15.1, V16, V17, V18, or V19. V14 (including V14 SP1 Update 6 / Update 9) does not contain the unmanaged-switch topology object in the hardware catalog. Install a current version, or at minimum update the hardware catalog to the matching HSP for the SCALANCE XB/XC family.
• A valid STEP 7 / TIA Portal license (Basic, Comfort, or Professional). Topology editing requires at least the Professional edition; Basic and Comfort will open the topology view but do not allow saving port interconnections or cable lengths.
• Siemens Automation License Manager running with a valid TIA Portal license USB dongle or Software Certificate.
• For HSP installation, administrator rights on the engineering station and access to the Siemens Support Online (SIOS) portal support.industry.siemens.com.
• The project must already contain at least one PROFINET IO controller (CPU S7-1200, S7-1500, ET 200sp CPU, or Software Controller) so the topology has a controller anchor.

TIA Portal Version Compatibility Matrix

SCALANCE Unmanaged Switch Catalog Numbers

Siemens assigns MLFB (order) numbers to unmanaged industrial switches in the SCALANCE XB-000 and XC-100 families. The most common field-encountered parts:

The unmanaged XC-100 series (e.g. XC108 - 6GK5 108-0BA00-1AB2) is also catalogued in TIA V17+ as unmanaged and uses the same topology insertion procedure as the XB-000 family.

Topology View vs Network View

TIA Portal exposes two distinct views of a PROFINET network:

• Network view (Devices & Networks → Network view) - shows PROFINET devices with their IP addresses, device names, and IO controllers. Only configurable, addressable devices appear. Unmanaged switches are intentionally filtered out.
• Topology view (Devices & Networks → Topology view) - shows the physical port-to-port wiring. Unmanaged switches, managed switches, WLAN, and any other passive or active network component with a port count appear here. Topology view is the only view in which an unmanaged switch is represented.

Use the topology view when you need to:

1. Document the exact cabling between the CPU, the unmanaged switch, and the connected IO devices.
2. Calculate PROFINET cable length and signal-propagation budgets across the network.
3. Generate the topology XML that is read by PRONETA and the topology diagnostics of the CPU (S7-1500 with firmware V2.5+ and S7-1200 with firmware V4.4+).
4. Support commissioning engineers who expect to see every switch as a discrete object.

Updating the TIA Portal Hardware Catalog

Before the unmanaged switch becomes visible in the topology view, the matching Siemens Hardware Support Package (HSP) must be installed. The catalog files are shipped as standalone HSP installers or as part of cumulative TIA Portal updates.

1. Open TIA Portal → Options → Support Packages → Install Support Packages.
2. Click Add from file system and browse to the HSP for SCALANCE XB-000 (e.g. HSP_TIA_Vxx_SCALANCE_XB000.zip). The HSP file is delivered via Siemens SIOS entry SCALANCE XB000 Hardware Support Package.
3. Select Continue, accept the license agreement, and click Install. A progress bar shows the catalog being merged.
4. Restart TIA Portal when prompted.
5. Verify the new entries by opening the hardware catalog (Devices & Networks → right-click → Open catalog or via the catalog pane on the right-hand side of the network view) and filtering on SCALANCE XB. The XB008 part number 6GK5 008-0BA10-1AB2 should now appear under Switches → SCALANCE XB-000.

If the catalog is missing entirely on a fresh install, download the HSP directly from Siemens Support Online:

• TIA Portal Hardware Support Packages overview
• SCALANCE XB000 product support page

Step-by-Step Insertion in Topology View

1. Open your project and select Devices & Networks from the project tree.
2. Click the Topology view tab at the top of the working area.
3. In the right-hand Hardware catalog pane, expand Switches → SCALANCE XB-000. If the catalog pane is empty, toggle the Filter checkbox off (the gear icon at the top of the catalog pane).
4. Drag-and-drop SCALANCE XB008 (6GK5 008-0BA10-1AB2) onto the topology editor canvas.
5. Position the switch between the CPU port and the downstream IO devices. Visual alignment does not affect runtime behavior; it affects only the topology XML exported to PRONETA.
6. From the CPU's PROFINET port, drag a connection line to Port 1 of the SCALANCE XB008. Repeat for each IO device, terminating the line on the appropriate XB008 port (Port 2 .. Port 8).
7. Set the cable length for each connection: double-click the line → enter cable length in metres. PROFINET allows 100 m of copper per segment; values up to 100 m are valid for cat. 5e / PROFINET Type C cable.
8. Click Save project → Project → Save (Ctrl+S).
9. Compile the project (Project → Compile → All) and verify the build succeeds without topology warnings.

Insertion Without a Catalog Entry (Direct MLFB Entry)

If a specific MLFB is not in the catalog, you can still draw the topology using the generic Switch object:

1. Switch to the topology view.
2. Drag the generic Switch icon onto the canvas (category Other → Switch).
3. Right-click the inserted switch → Properties → General → enter the order number (MLFB) manually: 6GK5 008-0BA10-1AB2.
4. Confirm and proceed with port interconnections.

Working Without the Switch in HW Config

For PROFINET and standard Ethernet TCP/IP, an unmanaged switch is fully transparent. The CPU's IO controller sends frames; the switch floods them out the correct ports based on MAC table learning. Nothing about that requires the switch to be known to TIA Portal.

Concretely, the project will compile and download and run if the SCALANCE XB008 is omitted entirely from the topology. Confirm by:

1. Compile the project without the switch. Build status must remain No errors.
2. Download the hardware configuration to the CPU.
3. Go online → Accessible nodes. The IO devices downstream of the XB008 must be discoverable.
4. Watch the IO traffic light turn green and PROFINET diagnostics return No fault.

Insert the switch in the topology only when:

• The customer or end-user specification mandates a topology drawing.
• PRONETA commissioning reports require topology comparison (PRONETA → Topology view → Compare topology).
• You need automated cable-length documentation for the as-built panel.

Verification

After insertion and compilation, verify the topology is intact:

1. Topology compile: in the topology view, click Compile. Expected result: 0 errors, 0 warnings.
2. Topology export: Topology → Export. The resulting XML must list every port-to-port connection.
3. PRONETA compare: open the project in Siemens PRONETA, scan the live network, and compare to the exported topology XML. Mismatched port numbers are flagged as Topology mismatch.
4. Online diagnostics on the S7-1500 CPU: Diagnostics → Topology should list the SCALANCE XB008 by MLFB.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Field-Proven Notes and Edge Cases

• Some V14 SP1 Update 6 installations appear to have an HSP installed, yet the SCALANCE XB-000 still does not appear in the catalog. This is because the topology switch object (separate from the hardware catalog) was not part of the V14 SP1 line. Migrating to V15 or later is the only fully-supported path.
• The unmanaged switch does not consume a PROFINET device number. The CPU's PROFINET IO controller will not generate a station number for it, and slot 0 is reserved.
• If the panel builder documents the wiring in EPLAN or AutoCAD Electrical, export the topology XML and import it into the EPLAN project — the topology view is the canonical source for cable-length documentation.
• SCALANCE XB-000 switches do not support LLDP in the way that PROFINET expects (they have no GSDML); for that reason they are passive in PROFINET topology but visible as a switch node in the topology editor.
• Compared to consumer-grade unmanaged switches (e.g. Cisco CBS110 series, see Cisco CBS110 unmanaged switch setup guide), SCALANCE XB-000 devices add industrial-grade 24 V supply, DIN-rail mounting, conformal coating on selected variants, and extended temperature rating (-40 °C to +70 °C for XB008-01G).

FAQ