Fixing Simotion Scout V5.1 wbsnapin.xml Installation Fault

Problem Overview

Engineers installing SIMOTION Scout V5.1 on a Windows 10 64-bit engineering workstation frequently encounter a startup fault the first time SIMATIC Manager or the Scout add-in is launched. The diagnostic message is presented by the SIMATIC Manager shell, not by the Scout installer itself, which is why the failure looks post-installation even though its origin lies in the build sequence.

The reported symptom reads:

Error occurred while reading in the file:
C:\PROGRA~2\SIEMENS\Step7\U7umc\data\wrkbnch\metadata\wbsnapin.xml
unknown error

SIMATIC Manager then refuses to open any project, refuses to enumerate the SIMOTION hardware catalog, and refuses to load the project tree. A second, related symptom may surface during the original setup run:

Creating config files failed! Please check the log files for details
C:\ProgramData\Siemens\Automation\Logfiles\Setup\mkcfgdb_<timestamp>_log.txt
C:\ProgramData\Siemens\Automation\Logfiles\Setup\hwakatimport_<timestamp>_log.txt

The hwakatimport log file is typically absent in this scenario, which is a strong indicator that the hardware catalog import step never completed.

Affected Software Stack

The fault is documented against the following combination. Engineers running any of these products in a virtual machine, an RDP session, or a heavily customized corporate image are at the highest risk:

Refer to the Siemens SIMOTION Scout V5.1 Readme and the STEP 7 V5.6 Compatibility Tool for the full, version-specific matrix. The general rule is that Scout V5.1 expects a STEP 7 V5.6 base; it will not run on top of STEP 7 V5.5 SP4 without intermediate updates, and it will refuse to install cleanly on top of a partial STEP 7 V5.7 install.

Root Cause Analysis

The wbsnapin.xml file is a workspace metadata document used by the SIMATIC Manager MMC snap-in to enumerate installed engineering components. It is generated the first time SIMATIC Manager finishes its post-install configuration and is regenerated by the mkcfgdb setup task and by the hardware catalog (hwakat) importer.

When SIMOTION Scout V5.1 is installed before a complete and healthy STEP 7 V5.6 instance, the following sequence breaks:

1. The Scout installer registers COM components and writes registry entries under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\InstalledComponents.
2. The Scout installer invokes the STEP 7 setup bootstrap to refresh the catalog.
3. STEP 7 setup attempts to read its own installation state from S7SETUP.INI in Siemens\Automation\Setup. If STEP 7 is missing, partially installed, or was installed under a different Windows user profile than the one running the Scout setup, mkcfgdb aborts with the Creating config files failed message.
4. The hwakatimport step is skipped because it depends on the catalog database that mkcfgdb was supposed to create.
5. SIMATIC Manager is launched at the end of setup. Because the workspace metadata was never written, it cannot find wbsnapin.xml in the expected 8.3 path C:\PROGRA~2\SIEMENS\Step7\U7umc\data\wrkbnch\metadata\, and the unknown error message is raised.

In short: Scout V5.1 cannot self-bootstrap a missing STEP 7 V5.6 installation. The installer assumes STEP 7 is already present, healthy, and able to refresh its own catalog. If that assumption fails, the workspace is left in an inconsistent state and the only safe recovery is to repair the STEP 7 install first.

Pre-Diagnostic Checklist

Before removing software, capture evidence of the failure mode. The following checklist reduces the number of unnecessary reinstall cycles:

If wbsnapin.xml is present but is 0 bytes, the workspace is half-initialized. If it is absent entirely, the STEP 7 setup never finished and the cleanest path is a full STEP 7 repair.

Reading the Setup Logs

The two log files that the installer complains about are the canonical source of truth. They are timestamped and written to %ProgramData%\Siemens\Automation\Logfiles\Setup:

Open mkcfgdb_*.log in Notepad and search for the strings ERROR, EACCES, access denied, and could not register. The most common lines observed in the field are:

ERROR  : Failed to open S7SETUP.INI - access denied
ERROR  : Could not write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation
ERROR  : mkcfgdb returned -1

All three are caused by a missing or corrupted STEP 7 base install. They cannot be repaired by deleting the registry key or by copying files; the underlying setup must be re-run.

Resolution Procedure

The verified, field-tested recovery sequence is to repair or reinstall SIMATIC STEP 7 V5.6 first, and only then to (re)install SIMOTION Scout V5.1. Reverse the order is the most common cause of repeated failures.

Prerequisites

• Local administrator account; UAC must be fully elevated, not just acknowledged.
• Installer media for STEP 7 V5.6 and SIMOTION Scout V5.1, plus any language packs.
• License keys for both products transferred to the local license server or present on a USB dongle.
• All SIMATIC Manager instances closed. The S7wnosvc service may remain in its default state.
• Temporary backup of any user-specific STEP 7 projects under %USERPROFILE%\Siemens\Automation; the repair does not touch user projects, but a snapshot is good practice.

Step-by-Step

1. Uninstall SIMOTION Scout V5.1 first. Use Settings → Apps → Siemens Automation → SIMOTION Scout or run the Scout setup with /uninstall. A failed install is often still registered as an MSI product and must be removed cleanly or the new install will return error 1603.
2. Reboot. This clears the file system filter driver that STEP 7 installs and ensures any pending file deletes from the Scout uninstall are committed.
3. Repair STEP 7 V5.6. Insert the STEP 7 V5.6 DVD, run setup.exe, and select Repair / Update existing installation. Choose Repair, not Modify. A typical repair takes 15 to 25 minutes.
4. Verify the catalog database. After the repair finishes, confirm that C:\Program Files (x86)\Siemens\Automation\Catalog contains CAx01.db and that its size is non-zero. If it is missing, run mkcfgdb.exe from S7BIN manually and watch for the same ERROR lines as before — if present, the Windows image itself is corrupted.
5. Reboot again. Required so that the registry changes are visible to the Scout installer.
6. Install SIMOTION Scout V5.1. Launch the Scout V5.1 setup. Do not launch the Scout before the install completes; some engineers have reported that opening the Scout start menu entry before the catalog rebuild finishes reintroduces the wbsnapin.xml fault.
7. Reboot a third time. Scout installs a service that depends on the STEP 7 catalog. A clean restart guarantees the snap-in registers.
8. Open SIMATIC Manager and create a blank project. This forces the workspace to be rebuilt and writes a healthy wbsnapin.xml.

Batch / Multi-Workstation Rollout

For engineers deploying Scout V5.1 to more than one workstation, use the silent install in the verified order:

:: 1. Silent STEP 7 V5.6 install
setup.exe /s /v"/qn REBOOT=R" /v"SETUPTYPE=INSTALL"

:: 2. Reboot
shutdown /r /t 0

:: 3. Silent Scout V5.1 install (assumes MSI)
msiexec /i "SIMOTION Scout V5.1.msi" /qn REBOOT=R

:: 4. Reboot
shutdown /r /t 0

Wrap the sequence in a deployment tool (SCCM, Ivanti, PDQ, MDT) and verify against a golden image. Do not stage the Scout package in the same SCCM application as STEP 7; keep them as dependent applications so the order is enforced by the deployment tool.

Verification

Confirm the fix with the following checks. All four must pass before the workstation is returned to production:

1. File presence. wbsnapin.xml exists under %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Siemens\Step7\U7umc\data\wrkbnch\metadata and is larger than 1 KB.
2. SIMATIC Manager clean start. Launch SIMATIC Manager and create a new project of type SIMOTION Project. The project wizard must offer SIMOTION devices in the catalog tree.
3. Scout startup. Launch SIMOTION Scout from the SIMATIC Manager menu. No wbsnapin.xml unknown error dialog appears.
4. Online reachability test. Connect to a known-good SIMOTION controller (e.g., D435, D445, P320) on Ethernet. The Online → Accessible nodes view should list the device.

If step 2 passes but step 3 fails with the original error, the workspace metadata is healthy but the Scout snap-in itself is not registered. Re-register the Scout DLLs manually:

cd /d "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Siemens\Automation\Scout"
regsvr32 /u SimScoutExt.dll
regsvr32 SimScoutExt.dll

Then run the Scout setup once more in Repair mode.

Edge Cases and Field-Proven Caveats

Troubleshooting Matrix

Preventive Hardening

To prevent recurrence on a workstation that has just been repaired, apply the following hardening:

• Create a Windows scheduled task that runs mkcfgdb.exe /verify monthly and writes the result to Application event log. A sudden non-zero exit indicates catalog drift.
• Lock down the ACL on %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Siemens and %ProgramData%\Siemens so that only SYSTEM, Administrators, and the engineering user have write access. Group Policy Objects are ideal for this.
• Disable Windows Defender real-time scanning on the two Siemens directories, or add a per-process exclusion for setup.exe, mkcfgdb.exe, and hwakatimport.exe. These binaries perform many small file operations and are frequently mis-flagged.
• Document the install order in the workstation handover pack so that any future upgrade follows the same STEP 7 first, Scout second discipline.