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Quick Start

System Requirements

  • Operating System: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
  • TIA Portal: Version 15 through 21 installed
  • TIA Portal Openness: Your Windows user must be a member of the "Siemens TIA Openness" user group (see setup below)
  • Memory: Minimum 4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)
  • Disk Space: 500 MB for the application

Installation

  1. Extract the AnyAutomation Studio archive to a folder of your choice
  2. Run AnyAutomation Studio.exe
  3. On first launch the Sign-In dialog opens. Click Sign in via browser — your browser opens anyautomation.ch/sign-in where you enter your email and the 6-digit code we send you. After confirmation the dialog closes and the application unlocks.
  4. After signing in you can start a 30-day trial with all features unlocked, or activate a paid license.

Note: TIA Portal must be installed but does not need to be running.

Note: You stay signed in across application restarts. Use Settings → Manage License → Sign out (Account section at the top of the License window) to release the current machine binding.

Add your Windows user to "Siemens TIA Openness"

TIA Portal requires that your Windows user is a member of the "Siemens TIA Openness" user group. Without this, the connection will be denied.

  1. Press Win + R, type lusrmgr.msc, press Enter
  2. Click Groups on the left side
  3. Double-click "Siemens TIA Openness"
  4. Check if your user is listed. If not, click Add, type your username, click Check Names → OK
  5. Click Apply → OK
  6. Log off and log back in for the change to take effect

Windows 11 Home: lusrmgr.msc is not available. Use an elevated command prompt instead:

net localgroup "Siemens TIA Openness" %USERNAME% /add

First Launch

On first launch, the Welcome tab opens — follow the Get Started walkthrough or jump straight into connecting to TIA Portal. You can reopen the Welcome tab anytime from Help → Welcome Guide, or turn off auto-open with the checkbox at the bottom of the page.

Tip: Press Ctrl+Shift+P anywhere in the application to open the Command Palette and type a command by name (for example Connect). Press Ctrl+P for Quick Open to jump to a file, and Ctrl+, to open Settings.

1. Connect to TIA Portal Project

Open the TIA Portal view from the Activity Bar (the icon strip on the far left), then run Connect — from the view's title-bar button or via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P → Connect). There are two ways to connect:

Option A: Open Project File

  1. Run Connect and choose to open a project file
  2. Select your .ap15/.ap16/.ap17/.ap18/.ap19/.ap20/.ap21 project file
  3. The connection starts automatically and the project tree appears in the Side Bar

Option B: Attach to Running TIA Portal

  1. Open your project in TIA Portal
  2. Run Attach (from the TIA Portal view or the Command Palette)
  3. Pick the running instance from the list and confirm; the project tree appears in the Side Bar

Tip: Attaching is faster since the project doesn't need to be reloaded.

Tip: No project yet? Click New TIA Project… in the Welcome tab to scaffold a project — pick the TIA Portal version inside the wizard, no prior connection required. See New Project Wizard.

2. Set Export Directory

Choose the folder where exported XML files are written, either with Browse Export Folder… on the Welcome tab or in Settings (Ctrl+,) under the export-folder options.

Tip: Use a Git repository folder for automatic version control.

First Export Operation

Export All Blocks

  1. In the TIA Portal view's Project Explorer (Side Bar), expand the PLC and navigate to Blocks
  2. Right-click the PLC or the Blocks folder and choose Export All
  3. Blocks are exported as XML files to the chosen export folder

Export Selected Blocks

  1. Tick the per-row checkboxes next to the blocks you want to export
  2. Run Export Selected from the right-click menu

First Import Operation

Import Blocks from XML

  1. Open the Export Folder view to see the XML files in your export folder
  2. Tick the checkboxes next to the files you want to import
  3. Run Import Selected

Important: Import will overwrite existing blocks with the same name!

Next Steps

  • Read the complete User Manual for all features
  • Explore the Preview Diff function to compare changes
  • Use Find Unused Blocks to identify unused blocks
  • Set up Protected Items to prevent important blocks from being overwritten
  • Activate the optional EPLAN Electric P8 add-on (License → Add-ons → EPLAN) to open and export .elk projects without leaving the manager — see User Manual section "EPLAN Integration (Add-on)"
  • Try Hardware Simulation (Trial and Enterprise plans) to drive simulated tag values into a running PLCSim Advanced instance with constant/ramp/sine/square/triangle/random functions, force overrides, watch lists and linker rules — see User Manual section "Hardware Simulation"

Disclaimer

The software is provided "as is". The provider assumes no liability for damages. The user bears full responsibility for reviewing all content. See EULA at https://www.anyautomation.ch

Support: For questions, contact support or consult the detailed User Manual.

© 2025-2026 AnyAutomation.

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