Siemens SIMATIC technical reference: SIMATIC, from S5 to S7-1500.
Controller families, software, the files to send us, lifecycle dates and the official Siemens manuals, in one place.
- Controllers
- S5 to S7-1500
- Software
- STEP 5, STEP 7, TIA Portal
- Networks
- PROFINET, PROFIBUS, MPI
Hardware and software
Families at a glance.
Status is only what the manufacturer says, with the source beside it. For a specific part, check its number in the manufacturer’s lifecycle tool.
| Family | What it is | Software | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIMATIC S5 | S5-90U to S5-155U controllers | STEP 5 | Long out of production. Spares come from the surplus market. |
| SIMATIC S7-300 and ET 200M | Modular controller and its distributed I/O | STEP 7 V5.x (SIMATIC Manager) or TIA Portal | Orderable until Oct 1, 2023; cancelled Oct 1, 2025; spare parts planned until Oct 1, 2033. Source: Siemens |
| SIMATIC S7-400 (incl. H and F) | High-end and redundant controllers | STEP 7 V5.x, PCS 7, or TIA Portal | Check each part number’s lifecycle in SiePortal. New projects go to S7-1500. |
| SIMATIC S7-1200 | Compact controller | TIA Portal (STEP 7 Basic or Professional) | Current platform. |
| SIMATIC S7-1500 | Standard, failsafe (F), technology (T), redundant (R/H), ET 200SP CPUs, software controller | TIA Portal (STEP 7 Professional) | Current platform. |
| HMI | OP/TP panels, Comfort Panels, Unified Comfort Panels, PC stations | WinCC flexible (older), WinCC in TIA Portal, WinCC Unified | Mixed. Check the panel’s part number. |
| Drives | SINAMICS G120, G120C, S120, V90 | Startdrive (TIA Portal); STARTER and SCOUT on older systems | Current families. |
| Distributed I/O | ET 200SP, ET 200MP, ET 200pro, ET 200eco PN (and ET 200M, ET 200S on older lines) | Configured in the controller project | ET 200M: see S7-300 above. |
Before you send an RFQ
What to send us.
| Software or system | Send | How |
|---|---|---|
| STEP 5 | The whole project folder: the program file ends in ST.S5D, plus the other S5D files beside it | Zip the folder. |
| STEP 7 V5.x | A SIMATIC Manager archive (.zip) | SIMATIC Manager > File > Archive. |
| TIA Portal | A project archive (.zapNN, where NN is the version, e.g. .zap19) | Project > Archive. Tell us the TIA Portal version and update level. |
| Drives | The drive configuration, inside the TIA Portal project or as a STARTER archive | Include the drive part numbers and firmware. |
From the floor
Worth knowing first.
Match the software to the controller
TIA Portal opens a project only in its own version or newer, and an upgrade is one-way. Keep an archive of the version the plant runs.
PROFINET device names
A replaced PROFINET device has no name until it is assigned. Topology in the project, or "device replacement without exchangeable medium", lets the controller name it automatically.
Optimized blocks
S7-1200 and S7-1500 data blocks are optimized by default: symbolic access only. Absolute addressing from an HMI or another controller needs a standard (non-optimized) block.
Migrating off S5 or S7-300
S5 code goes through a converter to S7 first and still needs rework by hand. See the S5 / S7 migration page for how we stage it.
Official documentation
Straight from the manufacturer.
These open the live source, so you always get the current revision. Manufacturer manuals are copyrighted, so we link to them rather than copy them.
- SiePortal (Industry Online Support) sieportal.siemens.com
- TIA Portal Information System docs.tia.siemens.cloud
- S7-1500 / ET 200MP system manual (PDF) cache.industry.siemens.com
- S7-300 module data manual (PDF) cache.industry.siemens.com
- S7-300 / ET 200M phase-out dates (Siemens guideline, PDF) cache.industry.siemens.com
- SIMATIC S7-300 product page siemens.com
Field notes
Answered on The Floor.
- PID_Compact on a 1500 — good in manual, oscillates in auto after a valve trim
- PROFINET device name lost after a switch replacement — ET200SP won't assign
- S7-300 to S7-1500 — what you keep in the DB and what you rewrite
- TIA Portal v19 license floating away mid-download
- GSDML version on an ET200SP doesn't match TIA — update the file or the module?
- S7-1200 web server is on — how much is too much to expose on a cell VLAN?
- S7-1500 watchdog after a TIA V19 download — cell stays in STOP
- First S7-1500H redundant pair — what bit you on switchover that the brochure skipped?
Siemens work on your line
Send it to us.
The files above, the symptom and the outage window. Planning a move off old hardware? See S5 / S7 to TIA Portal migration.