WinCC Tag Logging: Configuring Archive Licenses Beyond 512 Tags

Overview

SIMATIC WinCC (TIA Portal and the classic WinCC Explorer line) ships with a baseline of 512 archive tags per configuration/runtime license. Projects that exceed this number — a 7,000 tag refinery HMI, a 25,000 tag tank-farm SCADA, or a 60,000 tag line-of-sight substation — require an additional WinCC Archive license (sometimes called the "Archiv" option) before the tag logging editor will accept new archive variables in Runtime. Without the supplementary license, additional archive tags silently fail to log, log intermittently, or trigger licensing warnings in the WinCC diagnostics channel.

This reference covers the license part numbers available for V6.0 SP4, V7.2, V7.4, and V7.5, the configuration steps to register the license, the verification checks that confirm Runtime is honoring the upgraded count, and the trade-offs between Tag Logging, User Archives, and Central Archive Server (CAS) for very large tag populations.

The 512-Tag Baseline

The 512-tag figure originates from the WinCC Runtime licensing model, where a single RT license covers the HMI application, the alarm logging engine, and a starter set of archive tags. The starter set is hard-coded into the WinCC Licensing Service (CCLicensing.exe) and is granted as soon as a valid RT license key is detected on the local CMI/USB stick or the central license server.

When you attempt to archive tag #513, WinCC behaves as follows:

• Configuration time: The Tag Logging editor accepts the variable; the wizard does not block additional tags.
• Runtime startup: The Licensing Service issues a warning in the WinCC diagnostics window: "Archive tags exceed licensed count (512). Logging disabled for excess tags."
• Runtime behavior: Excess tags return 0x00000000 values and never write to the segment files in the project archive path.

Siemens documents this behavior in the support article "What should you watch out for when using Tag Logging archive licenses with SIMATIC WinCC?" (Siemens ID 109480488).

Archive License Hierarchy and Part Numbers

Siemens has shipped the archive license in three granularities depending on the WinCC version. The part numbers below are taken from Siemens catalog data; always confirm against the latest Siemens Industry Mall entry before ordering, as Siemens periodically repackages the option bundles.

Prerequisites

1. Confirm the WinCC major version and service pack. The archive license is version-locked: a V7.2 license will not load into a V7.4 Runtime. Use the WinCC Information System or the About dialog (Help > About) to read the exact build.
2. Identify the WinCC Server that owns the archive segments. In a distributed SCADA, multiple servers may each require their own archive license keyed to their own archive tag count.
3. Confirm you have administrator rights on the Runtime station; license transfer requires writing to %ProgramFiles%\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\bin and re-registering the Automation License Manager service.
4. Order the matching license tier (5,000 / 10,000 / 30,000) from Siemens or an authorized distributor. Each license ships as a software DVD or as a License Key USB stick.

Step-by-Step: Installing the Archive License

Step 1 — Stop WinCC Runtime

Close the WinCC Explorer and stop the WinCC Runtime service. From an elevated command prompt:

net stop "WinCC Runtime" /y
net stop "CCArchiveManager" /y
net stop "CCAlgLoggingScheduler" /y

Stopping these services prevents the License Manager from holding the RT license file open, which would otherwise reject the new key.

Step 2 — Transfer the License Key

Insert the License Key USB stick and launch the Automation License Manager (Start > Siemens Automation > Automation License Manager). Connect to the local machine. Locate the new archive license in the right-hand pane and drag it onto the target WinCC Server entry in the left-hand tree.

For floating/network licenses managed by a Siemens License Server:

1. On the license server, install the archive license via the License Manager.
2. On the WinCC station, point the WinCC License Service at the license server (Registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Siemens\Automation\WinCC\License\Server, value ServerName set to the FQDN of the license host).
3. Restart the WinCC License Service with net stop "WinCC License" && net start "WinCC License".

Step 3 — Verify the License in the License Manager

Open the License Manager on the WinCC station and confirm the new line item appears:

WinCC/Archiv       V7.2     10000 Archive Tags   Status: Valid   Expires: Never

If the entry reads Status: Invalid or Status: Expired, the version mismatch (Step 1 prerequisite) is the most common cause. Re-check the WinCC build against the license MLFB.

Step 4 — Restart WinCC Runtime

net start "WinCC Runtime"
net start "CCArchiveManager"
net start "CCAlgLoggingScheduler"

Runtime will re-read the license on startup. The previously-silenced archive tags should begin populating segments within one acquisition cycle.

Verifying the Archive Tag Count in Runtime

Three independent checks confirm the upgrade is live:

Check 1 — License Service Diagnostic

In WinCC Explorer, open Tools > Status of License. The dialog lists the granted archive count versus the configured count. A healthy result reads:

Archive Tags:    Configured 7,000   Licensed 10,000   Status: OK

Check 2 — Archive Segment Growth

Open the project archive path (default <Project>\ArchiveManager\TagLogging\) and confirm segment files (.ARX / .DBF) grow during Runtime. If a tag is configured to archive every 1 s and the segment file size remains flat, the tag is still in the unlicensed tail.

Check 3 — WinCC Channel Diagnosis

In Runtime, press Ctrl+Alt+P to open the process diagnostics. The "Tag Logging" channel lists per-tag archive status. Tags past the 512 line will now show OK instead of License exceeded.

Archive Configuration Parameters

Once the license is in place, configure each archive tag's behavior in the Tag Logging editor. The fields below control how the segment file grows, how long data is retained, and how Runtime responds to segment fills.

Tag Logging vs User Archives vs CAS

For projects well above 10,000 tags, license cost alone does not solve the problem. Evaluate the three Siemens archiving strategies:

If your 7,000 tags represent batch records rather than time-series process values, migrating to User Archives removes the licensing constraint entirely and gives you full SQL query capability. If your project is a multi-server SCADA (for example, three WinCC Servers each owning 8,000 tags), deploy CAS to consolidate the segments onto one SQL Server for unified historian queries.

Performance and Sizing Considerations

Each archive tag costs disk and CPU. Use the following rule-of-thumb to right-size a WinCC Server before procurement:

• Disk: ~0.3 MB per million tag-records at default compression. A 10,000-tag project archiving at 1 Hz with 90-day retention generates approximately 25 GB of compressed segment data.
• CPU: The ArchiveManager service scales linearly up to ~15,000 tags on a 4-core x86 server; above 20,000 tags, expect ArchiveManager to consume 40–60% of one core.
• RAM: Each active archive tag consumes roughly 0.5 KB of RAM in the ArchiveManager working set. Plan for 16 GB minimum on a 20,000-tag station.
• Segment write: Configure segment changes to align with backup windows. WinCC holds the active segment in memory until the change condition fires, so a 24-hour segment with 5,000 tags and 1 Hz acquisition requires ~430 MB of working RAM at the moment of rotation.

Version-Specific Notes

WinCC V6.0 / V6.0 SP4

The V6.0 catalog did not offer 5,000 or 10,000 archive tiers. Sites needing more than 512 archive tags had to purchase the 30,000-tag upgrade outright. Siemens' V6.0 also requires the archive license to be installed on the same physical machine as the WinCC Server; floating licenses were not yet supported.

WinCC V7.2

The V7.2 catalog introduced the 5,000 and 10,000 tiers (part numbers 6AV6371-1HQ17-2BX0 and 6AV6371-1HQ17-2CX0) and added the floating/network license capability. A V7.2 archive license will not satisfy a V7.4 Runtime — version lock is enforced at the License Service level.

WinCC V7.4 and V7.5

The archive license is now bundled with the "WinCC Archive" option and ships as a separate MLFB. The 30,000-tag upgrade remains available for very large historian deployments. Verify the current MLFB with Siemens before ordering.

WinCC Professional (TIA Portal) and Runtime Advanced / Runtime Professional

TIA Portal HMI Panels, Comfort Panels, RT Advanced, and RT Professional handle archive tags differently from classic WinCC. The TIA documentation "Archive tags (Panels, Comfort Panels, RT Advanced, RT Professional)" documents the copy/paste workflow used to replicate archive tags across devices. Licensing on TIA Portal follows the same "PowerPack" or "Archive" option model but uses different MLFBs; the 512-tag baseline does not apply to Comfort Panels — Panels have their own licensing.

Troubleshooting Matrix

Field-Proven Commissioning Checklist

1. Confirm WinCC major build and service pack match the archive license MLFB.
2. Install the archive license on the correct WinCC Server (not on a client).
3. Restart WinCC License Service and Runtime.
4. Open Tools > Status of License and read the licensed archive count.
5. Open the process diagnostics (Ctrl+Alt+P) and verify per-tag archive status reads OK.
6. Force a small archive segment write and inspect <Project>\ArchiveManager\TagLogging\ for growth.
7. Document the licensed count, the configured count, and the segment path in the project Functional Design Specification.

FAQ