Distribution File Installer

Starting in AX-3.6, the Distribution File Installer also applies to a Workbench platform connection to a JACE-603 or JACE-645 controller configured for Niagara R2. See the “Distribution File Installer” section in the document Retrofit Board Niagara R2 Install and Startup Guide for related details.

The Distribution File Installer is one of several NiagaraAX platform views, used to install dist files. A dist file is a zip file that contains other files and a “manifest” that describes the contents of the distribution. For technical details, see the “Distributions” section in the online Niagara Developer Guide.

Use this view for either of these two tasks:

To restore a locally available “backup” .dist file of a remote JACE. Such a backup can be initiated using the Backup command from the platform’s Platform Administration view, or directly from the BackupService in the NiagaraAX station running on that host. For details, see Restoring a backup dist.
In AX-3.7u1, backup .dist file restoration to a host other than the original host may first require manual editing. See Security update 1 changes to backup dist usage. However, in AX-3.8 this sort of editing is unnecessary. For further details, refer to the NiagaraAX 2013 Security Updates engineering notes document.
To install a “clean” dist file, in order to downgrade a JACE to an older release level, or restore it to a “known good” state before installing other software. Note that this wipes the file system (including all station files), leaving the JACE in a “near factory” state. For details, see Downgrading a JACE (Clean Dist).

Note you do not use this view to upgrade a JACE. Instead, you must use the Commissioning Wizard to upgrade NiagaraAX in a JACE controller. In early NiagaraAX releases, upgrading core NiagaraAX soft ware was possible (but not recommended) via the Distribution File Installer. The Commissioning Wizard is a right-click option on a platform when opened in Workbench. See Upgrading a JACE.

If a station is already running on the remote host, any dist file install requires all applications to be stopped, after which all are invariably overwritten! After selecting a dist file, the Installer provides a confirmation dialog for this, as shown in Figure 16. When you finalize the install (click Finish), the Installer automatically stops the station, then continues with the distribution file install process.Before finalizing any dist installation, make sure that controlled equipment that might be adversely affected by the JACE’s station stopping (and removal) is put in a manually controlled state.

Figure 16. Stop station dialog in Distribution File Installer

The following sections provide more details on the Distribution File Installer: