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RT-LAB: System Requirements
- 1 Host PC (Windows)
- 2 Microsoft Windows Compatibility
- 3 Windows target node / MinGW compiler
- 4 Real-Time Operating System Compatibility
- 5 Installation and Permission Requirements
- 5.1 Installation recommendation
- 5.2 Administrator right requirements
- 5.3 Required Accessible Ports
- 5.3.1 Listening Ports and Firewall rules
- 5.3.1.1 (1) Used in version 2024.4 and older for RT-LAB
- 5.3.1.2 (2) Used for ePHASORSIM
- 5.3.1.3 (3) PanelViewer opens listening ports from the windows ephemeral dynamic range. The real-time application running on the Target will initiate connections to those ports. Therefor TCP incoming traffic for the whole windows dynamic port range needs to be opened.
- 5.3.2 Listening Ports Details
- 5.3.1 Listening Ports and Firewall rules
- 6 Workspace Folder
- 7 OPAL-RT Chassis Compatibility
- 8 RT-LAB vs OPAL-RT Chassis (Target Nodes)
- 8.1 XG2 Chassis
- 8.2 Legacy Chassis
- 9 RT-LAB vs OPAL-RT Chassis (I/O Expansion Boxes)
Host PC (Windows)
Performance Requirements
Category | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
Operating System | Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit only) | Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit only) |
Processor | Any Intel or AMD x86-64 processor | Any Intel or AMD x86-64 processor |
RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB |
Disk |
| An SSD is strongly recommended |
Graphics | No minimum | No recommendation |
Microsoft Windows Compatibility
For the below compatibility tables, the following legend applies:
: Supported.
: Not supported.
: Partial support (read notes below table).
| Windows 11 | Windows 10 | Windows Vista | Windows 7 | Windows 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RT-LAB 2023.3 and newer |
| ||||
RT-LAB 2023.2 | |||||
RT-LAB 2023.1 and older |
Windows target node / MinGW compiler
In order to use the Windows command station as a target node, one compiler is available, the free and open-source MinGW compiler.
This compiler is installed during the setup of RT-LAB.
If for any reason the installation fails, it can be manually started using the installer located in <Installation_directory>\<RT-LAB_Version>\mingw\mingw_download.bat
RT-LAB enforces the use of a specific version of MinGW which has been verified as compatible with the software.
Real-Time Operating System Compatibility
RT-LAB targets run on OPAL-RTLinux (x86-64) and (x86-based) real-time operating systems.
| OPAL-RTLINUX 3.8.1 | OPAL-RTLINUX 3.5.4 | OPAL-RTLINUX 3.4.1 | OPAL-RTLINUX (X86-BASED) (red hat 5.2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
RT-LAB 2025.4 and later | ||||
RT-LAB 2025.1 to RT-LAB 2025.3 |
| |||
RT-LAB 2024.4 (LTS) |
| |||
RT-LAB 2024.2 to RT-LAB 2024.3 |
| |||
RT-LAB 2024.1 (LTS) |
|
| ||
RT-LAB 2023.3 | ||||
RT-LAB 2023.2 | ||||
RT-LAB 2023.1 | ||||
RT-LAB 2022.1 and older |
RT-LAB no longer supports targets running on QNX real-time operating systems.
Red Hat 5.2 (build 2.6.29.6-opalrt-6.2.1)
End of support
This is for OPAL-RT 32 bits operating system. Note that after years of service, we have decided to phase out the support for our 32-bit Operating System, effective Q1 2024.
The last software that support the 32-bit OS is RT-LAB 2024.1. We will ensure full Technical Support until Q1 2027.
Installation and Permission Requirements
Installation recommendation
The default installation path is C:\OPAL-RT.
Though it is strongly advised to use C:\ for best user experience, the installation in a different drive or path is possible as long as:
The settings for short name (8dot3 name) is activated. For more details, please refer to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/fsutil-8dot3name.
The path contains no consecutive space characters.
However the Windows/localhost license files will always be stored under C:\OPAL-RT.
If access management software BeyondTrust is used on the host system, it must be disabled during installation because it is incompatible with PostgreSQL commands such as initdb or pgctl - https://www.beyondtrust.com/
Administrator right requirements
Starting from version 2024.1, RT-LAB installation requires administrator permissions due to the need to create and modify HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry keys.
Once installed, RT-LAB usage doesn't normally require administrator permissions. However, some exceptions apply:
When the default MATLAB version on the host machine is different from the one used with RT-LAB.
Required Accessible Ports
Listening Ports and Firewall rules
(1) Used in version 2024.4 and older for RT-LAB
(2) Used for ePHASORSIM
(3) PanelViewer opens listening ports from the windows ephemeral dynamic range. The real-time application running on the Target will initiate connections to those ports. Therefor TCP incoming traffic for the whole windows dynamic port range needs to be opened.
source ports are dynamic "ephemeral" ports provided by the operation system
Listening Ports Details
Process name | Usage | Ports |
|---|---|---|
OpalD | This process is responsible for starting the simulation process on the Host PC | 1987 |
Controller | Process that manages the simulation | [25250 -> 25349] * [47386 -> 57626]* |
AppServer | Unicon processes manager | 60780 |
Maestro | Ressource management server (TCP/IP for shared socket) | 60781 |
Maestro | Ressource management server (gRPC) | 60782 |
* A range of the ports that can be used. For each project opened RT-LAB will need a port in this range.
These processes must be allowed access to the ports they require by the user’s firewall configuration.
Workspace Folder
The workspace is the folder were RT-LAB projects are created.
User needs to have full writing access to the workspace, which has to be a local folder. Online folders (such as SharePoint, OneDrive) are currently not supported.
OPAL-RT Chassis Compatibility
OPAL-RT chassis have reconfigurable FPGA boards for which the compatibility varies depending on the version of RT-LAB. It is important to note that the same OPAL-RT chassis (ex: OP5600) may be powered by different FPGA boards (ex: OP5142_1, OP5142_2, ML605_1, and ML605_2 or OP5143).
In the column header, the different possibilities of FPGA boards are under each OPAL-RT chassis. The FPGA boards are identified with their firmware filename prefix.
For example, the “MMPK7_1-EX-0001-2_2_2_4-RESOLVER_IO-02-01.bin” firmware file is for the “MMPK7_1” FPGA board in the “OP4500” OPAL-RT chassis.
The table below presents the compatibility between RT-LAB versions and OPAL-RT chassis that serve as target nodes. In other words, all these OPAL-RT chassis have processor power. The OP5031 chassis is the only one without an FPGA board and, without an I/O expansion box, has no I/O capability.
RT-LAB vs OPAL-RT Chassis (Target Nodes)
XG2 Chassis
| OP5020XG2 (no FPGA board) | OP5025XG2 (no FPGA board) | OP5033XG2 (no FPGA board) | OP4605XG2 Kintex-7: TE0741_4 | OP4610XG2 Kintex-7: TE0741_4 | OP5707XG2 Virtex-7: VC707_2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RT-LAB 2025.4 and newer |
|
|
| |||
RT-LAB 2025.3 and older |
|
|
|
|
Legacy Chassis
| OP5033XG (no FPGA board) | OP5031 (no FPGA board) | OP5020XG (no FPGA board) | OP5707XG Virtex-7: VC707_2 | OP5707 Virtex-7: VC707_2 | OP5705XG Artix-7: OP5143 | OP4610XG Kintex-7: TE0741_4 | OP4510 Kintex-7: TE0741_3 TE0741_4 | OP5600 Spartan-3: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RT-LAB 2024.2 and newer |
| ||||||||
RT-LAB 2022.1 to RT-LAB 2024.1 | |||||||||
RT-LAB 2021.3 and older |
RT-LAB vs OPAL-RT Chassis (I/O Expansion Boxes)
| OP4300-IO Zynq™ UltraScale+™ FPGA | OP4810-IO Versal | OP5707-IO Virtex-7: VC707_2 | OP5607-IO Virtex-7: VC707_2 | OP5607-IO Artix-7: OP5143 | OP4610-IO Kintex-7: | OP4520 Kintex-7: | OP7000V2 | OP7170 Kintex-7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RT-LAB 2025.1 and newer | |||||||||
RT-LAB 2024.2 to RT-LAB 2024.4 | |||||||||
RT-LAB 2023 to RT-LAB 2024.1 | |||||||||
RT-LAB 2022.1 and older |
|