Logix 5000 Task Monitor

Using RSLogix 5000 Task Monitor Tool To Check Processor Health 

The RSLogix 5000 task monitor is mainly used to assess the health of a computer processor, It can also be used to check how healthy a program or processor is scanning the logic. The task monitor tool is largely overlooked although it is an important tool for diagnostics with regard to the health of a system and understanding how your application or machine will run. You could be having strange unanswered issues that you are overlooking which could be easily pointed out by using this tool.

For most people, the first time they use a new tool, there could be a question if this is going to hurt or mess up something but let me clear the air. When you first open this tool, it does auto-connect to the processor so you need to use the communications tab then select your path in RSLinx for whatever PLC or processor that you want to monitor.

With that said, you need to have a good communications path in RSLinx and once it is selected then it will take up to one minute to fully load all of the processor’s information so don’t be alarmed.

Note: Virtual systems and emulated systems are unable to do this, however.

It is important to have the correct version of RSLogix 5000 Task Monitor to illustrate better features of the processor health and thereby making use of the processor. By clicking the RSlogix 5000 enterprise, going to tools, and the task monitor. It is noteworthy the interface is dependent on the version of one’s system.

Direct path is usually Start —> Rockwell Software —-> RSLogix 5000 Tools —-> Logix5000 Task Monitor

By going to monitor, selecting start, and connecting, all the running tasks are shown. Since all the running tasks are displayed, it is necessary to widen the tab to show more. Shortening everything also helps to bring more items into view. When using very low CPU capacity, as in the video, certain steps can be taken for illustration.

Shown below is a video that I put together to help describe the use of task monitor and why it is important to use this tool, again, often overlooked but very much a part of making and keeping the system healthy so that your machines run at their peak.

RSLogix 5000 CPU Health Checking Using Task Monitor

In the video, the task rate can be changed from 47 to 8 without much effect because memory and task are low. Furthermore, it is only one program running with the L7 processor at this moment and has limited tasks or I/O so the memory or consumption is low so in other words, not the greatest example but it does show the point.

It is noteworthy that the CPU usage increases immediately with this step. An examination of the next tab for performance on the CPU, communications, and memory is illustrated by means of a pie chart.

RSlogix 5000 Task Monitor Connections Tab

Connections form the next tab and they include links and connections to devices. The next tab is the messages which would be displayed in a menu if present. Due to its simplicity, it is easy to determine the absence of any messages within the video. The next tab is the RSLinx for packets and connections if available. One is able to switch between bars and lines in order to get better illustrations.

RSlogix 5000 Task Monitor Communications Tab

Communications are the next tab on display. The displays can be varied between bar graphs and line graphs. There is more data to be gleaned here and one can also check the health of the system. For instance, one can check modules such as that for Ethernet whether multiple or single. It is possible to discern the health of the system within the video as being fairly high.

Within this instance, the CPU usage can be seen to be 5.3%. By selecting save, it is possible to see no major change within the CPU usage and the operation occurs immediately. This shows that the program is a very small one while the reverse would be true for a big program. For instance, CPU usage of 70% would have caused the extreme end of the bar to turn yellow as extremes are reached – this indicates an unhealthy processor.

By using very low task rates when programming, the health of the processor is risked. In the video, the CPU usage jumps to 14% when the task rate is lowered because the program running is a very small one. This is because the saving operating takes up more CPU as a result of the lowered task rate.

The task monitor is a very powerful tool, by exploring other tabs such as options, it is possible to change scan rates and lock programs. The log tab enables one to access the logs and check log warnings in addition to performing
other advanced functions.

Using an HMTL with the RSLogix 5000 Task Monitor Tool

It is also possible to generate reports in the next tab. This entails saving the report to another place such as desktop whereupon a generated report is then saved. As in the video, the generated report is an html file. This can be printed to show everything going on within the processor including the Ethernet and IP address. The report contains all the running programs and other items are displayed in hyperlinks. The displays can be done through pies, grids, or other formats depending on the preferences of the user.

As shown in video, I made an HMTL file and saved it to the desktop. When it is opened then it has all of the data that was current at the time of the save so you will have a backup to show people if needed or just to use for your own information when doing improvements. It is important to document system upgrades from start to finish so you fully understand what the benefits of the upgrade are so this tool is very helpful in doing this.

Logix 5000 Task Monitor can be used for troubleshooting in addition to checking processor health. When running continuous tasks, several results can be reached as a result but there is a way to set the system up to be useful. If it is not setup correctly this makes it difficult to troubleshoot since the CPU usage will read 100%. Periodic tasks, however, are suitable to troubleshoot.

Using RSLogix 5000 Task Monitor Tool To Check Processor Health 

The RSLogix 5000 task monitor is mainly used to assess the health of a computer processor, It can also be used to check how healthy a program or processor is scanning the logic. The task monitor tool is largely overlooked although it is an important tool for diagnostics with regard to the health of a system and understanding how your application or machine will run.

You could be having strange unanswered issues that you are overlooking which could be easily pointed out by using this tool.

For most people, the first time they use a new tool, there could be a question if this is going to hurt or mess up something but let me clear the air. When you first open this tool, it does auto-connect to the processor so you need to use the communications tab then select your path in RSLinx for whatever PLC or processor that you want to monitor.

With that said, you need to have a good communications path in RSLinx and once it is selected then it will take up to one minute to fully load all of the processor’s information so don’t be alarmed.

Note: Virtual systems and emulated systems are unable to do this, however.

It is important to have the correct version of RSLogix 5000 Task Monitor to illustrate better features of the processor health and thereby making use of the processor. By clicking the RSlogix 5000 enterprise, going to tools, and the task monitor. It is noteworthy the interface is dependent on the version of one’s system.

Direct path is usually Start —> Rockwell Software —-> RSLogix 5000 Tools —-> Logix5000 Task Monitor

By going to monitor, selecting start, and connecting, all the running tasks are shown. Since all the running tasks are displayed, it is necessary to widen the tab to show more. Shortening everything also helps to bring more items into view. When using very low CPU capacity, as in the video, certain steps can be taken for illustration.

Shown below is a video that I put together to help describe the use of task monitor and why it is important to use this tool, again, often overlooked but very much a part of making and keeping the system healthy so that your machines run at their peak.

RSLogix 5000 CPU Health Checking Using Task Monitor

In the video, the task rate can be changed from 47 to 8 without much effect because memory and task are low. Furthermore, it is only one program running with the L7 processor at this moment and has limited tasks or I/O so the memory or consumption is low so in other words, not the greatest example but it does show the point.

It is noteworthy that the CPU usage increases immediately with this step. An examination of the next tab for performance on the CPU, communications, and memory is illustrated by means of a pie chart.

RSlogix 5000 Task Monitor Connections Tab

Connections from the next tab and include links and connections to devices. The next tab is the messages which would be displayed in a menu if present. Due to its simplicity, it is easy to determine the absence of any messages within the video. The next tab is the RSLinx for packets and connections if available. One is able to switch between bars and lines in order to get better illustrations.

RSlogix 5000 Task Monitor Communications Tab

Communications are the next tab on display. The displays can be varied between bar graphs and line graphs. There is more data to be gleaned here and one can also check the health of the system.

For instance, one can check modules such as that for Ethernet whether multiple or single. It is possible to discern the health of the system within the video as being fairly high.

Within this instance, the CPU usage can be seen to be 5.3%. By selecting save, it is possible to see no major change within the CPU usage and the operation occurs immediately. This shows that the program is a very small one while the reverse would be true for a big program.

For instance, the CPU usage of 70% would have caused the extreme end of the bar to turn yellow as extremes are reached – this indicates an unhealthy processor.

By using very low task rates when programming, the health of the processor is risked. In the video, the CPU usage jumps to 14% when the task rate is lowered because the program running is a very small one. This is because the saving operating takes up more CPU as a result of the lowered task rate.

The task monitor is a very powerful tool, by exploring other tabs such as options, it is possible to change scan rates and lock programs. The log tab enables one to access the logs and check log warnings in addition to performing
other advanced functions.

Using an HMTL with the RSLogix 5000 Task Monitor Tool

It is also possible to generate reports in the next tab. This entails saving the report to another place such as a desktop whereupon a generated report is then saved. As in the video, the generated report is an HTML file.

This can be printed to show everything going on within the processor including the Ethernet and IP address. The report contains all the running programs and other items are displayed in hyperlinks. The displays can be done through pies, grids, or other formats depending on the preferences of the user.

As shown in the video, I made an HMTL file and saved it to the desktop. When it is opened then it has all of the data that was current at the time of the save so you will have a backup to show people if needed or just to use for your own information when doing improvements.

It is important to document system upgrades from start to finish so you fully understand what the benefits of the upgrade are so this tool is very helpful in doing this.

Logix 5000 Task Monitor can be used for troubleshooting in addition to checking processor health.

When running continuous tasks, several results can be reached as a result but there is a way to set the system up to be useful. If it is not set up correctly this makes it difficult to troubleshoot since the CPU usage will read 100%. Periodic tasks, however, are suitable to troubleshoot.