Connect IoT - Upload Recipe to Equipment Tutorial#

Estimated time to read: 9 minutes

Overview#

This tutorial shows how to configure Connect IoT to upload MES recipes directly to equipment. When an operator triggers an upload from the Resource page or the Recipe page, MES publishes a request on the message bus. The Automation Controller workflow receives it, performs the upload on the equipment side, and sends a reply — success or failure — back to MES.

This integration bridges the MES recipe repository with the equipment's internal recipe storage, eliminating manual file transfers and providing a traceable upload record per resource.

sequenceDiagram
    participant Operator
    participant MES
    participant MessageBus as Message Bus
    participant Controller as Automation Controller
    participant Equipment

    Operator->>MES: Trigger upload (Resource or Recipe page)
    MES->>MessageBus: Publish RecipeManagement.UploadRecipe
    MessageBus->>Controller: recipeUploadRequest fires
    Controller->>Equipment: Write recipe body to equipment
    Equipment-->>Controller: Upload result
    Controller->>MessageBus: recipeUploadReply (success / failure)
    MessageBus->>MES: Receive reply
    alt success
        MES->>MES: Update Last Upload Date & Version
        MES->>Operator: Upload successful
    else failure
        MES->>Operator: Show failure reason
    end

Use this approach when:

• Recipe-driven equipment — when equipment must be loaded with the correct recipe before production begins.
• Audit and traceability — when you need a record of which recipe version was uploaded to which resource and when. MES updates Last Upload Date and Last Upload Version on the Resource Recipe record after each successful upload.

Example#

A cookie factory uses a baking oven that must receive the correct baking program before each production run. The recipe body is stored in MES and contains the temperature profile, timing, and allergen parameters. When the production engineer is ready, they select the recipe from the Resource page and click Upload. Connect IoT delivers the recipe to the oven and confirms success within seconds.

Prerequisites#

Before configuring the upload workflow, confirm the following.

0. Load the tutorial masterdata#

The tutorial uses pre-built masterdata packages that create the factory entities, the Connect IoT infrastructure, and the recipe records. Load them in order using Master Data Packages:

After loading, the sections below describe how to verify the resulting configuration before proceeding to build the workflow.

1. Resource configuration#

Open the Resource record and verify:

The Resource entity type must also be enabled as a Connect IoT Integration Entity (see How To: Enable Connect IoT on an Entity Type) and the user performing the upload must be configured as an Integration User (see How To: Enable a Connect IoT Integration User).

2. Recipe configuration#

The recipe must:

• Be Active, Effective, and not a Template.
• Have a non-empty Body Source and Body — the body is what gets sent to the equipment.
• Be associated with the Resource via a Resource Recipe record (Manage Resource Recipes).

3. Connect IoT Entities#

The following entities must exist and be configured before starting:

Configuration#

The upload integration uses Connect IoT's message bus to decouple MES from the equipment. MES publishes a request and waits for a reply — the Automation Controller Workflow owns the equipment interaction. This means the workflow can be adapted to any equipment protocol without changes to the MES side.

For the purposes of this tutorial we are not actually sending the recipe to the equipment — we are just using some Connect IoT tasks to simulate possible upload outcomes.

The following sub-sections detail the setup.

Create the Automation Controller workflow#

Go to Automation > Automation Controller, select EQ mqAutoController, open the Workflows tab, and select Add Workflow.

Create a Data Flow workflow — e.g., named upload handling — with the following tasks:

1. Recipe Upload Request#

This task listens for upload requests published by MES. The Reply Timeout defines how long MES waits for a reply before showing a timeout error to the operator.

Outputs used downstream:

• Success → activate the next task
• Recipe Name → pass the recipe name to the routing logic

2. Expression Evaluator (routing)#

In a real implementation, replace this with the actual upload driver task. The expression evaluator is a mock that simulates routing — it returns true on the happy path and false for any recipe that would fail on the equipment.

3. Happy path — On Timer (mock upload delay)#

Activated by the Success output of the expression evaluator. Simulates a 5-second upload operation. In a real workflow, replace this with the driver task that writes the recipe body to the equipment.

Connect the OnTimer task Success output parameter with Recipe Upload Reply task's Activate input parameter.

4. Error path — Code Execution (mock error)#

Activated by the Failure output of the expression evaluator. Emits an error object that is forwarded to Recipe Upload Reply task's Failure Reason input parameter.

In a real workflow, the error path is typically the error output of the upload driver task — no separate code task is needed.

Connect:

• Code Execution task's Output1Out parameter with Recipe Upload Reply task's Failure Reason input parameter.
• Code Execution task's Success output parameter with Recipe Upload Reply task's Activate.

5. Recipe Upload Reply#

Sends the result back to MES. If Failure Reason is connected and non-null, MES treats the upload as failed and displays the error message to the operator.

Full workflow diagram#

Download and start the manager#

After saving the workflow:

1. Open the Automation Manager EQ recipe-upload-manager record and click Connect.
2. Click Download to push the latest controller configuration to the manager runtime.
3. Click Start to bring the manager online.

Confirm the Automation Controller Instance shows Running status before attempting an upload.

Simulation#

This simulation uses the mock workflow (expression evaluator + timer) to demonstrate the upload flow without real equipment.

Scenario 1: Happy path — successful upload#

1. Navigate to EQ Baker-01 or EQ Baker-02 on the Resource page.
2. Open the Resource Recipes section.
3. Select the recipe EQ BakingOreos and click Upload to Resource.
4. MES publishes the request to the message bus. The controller workflow receives it and routes to the onTimer path.
5. After 5 seconds the timer fires and Recipe Upload Reply sends a success reply.
6. MES displays a success message and updates Last Upload Date and Last Upload Version on the Resource Recipe relation record.

Scenario 2: Error path — upload rejected by equipment#

1. Select EQ BakingWafers (or any recipe whose name is not EQ BakingOreos) and click Upload to Resource.
2. The expression evaluator routes to the Code Execution error path.
3. Recipe Upload Reply task receives the error object as Failure Reason and sends a failure reply.
4. MES displays an error message. Last Upload Date is not updated.

Scenario 3: Timeout path — controller not running#

1. Stop the EQ recipe-upload-manager (or disconnect it).
2. Attempt an upload from the Resource page.
3. MES waits for 60 seconds (the Reply Timeout configured on Recipe Upload Request task).
4. After the timeout, MES displays a timeout error. No update is made to the Resource Recipe relation record.

Scenario 4: Upload from the Recipe page#

The same behavior applies when triggering from the Recipe Page, using Upload to Resources. Select the Recipe, pick one or more Resources, and confirm. Each Resource upload is processed independently through the same workflow. Re-run previous scenarios, but using this page.

Troubleshooting#

Upload button is not visible#

The Upload button only appears on resources that have IsUploadRecipeCapable property enabled. Verify this property is set on the Resource record. Also confirm the user has the Resource.UploadRecipe security feature assigned.

Upload never completes — always times out#

Check that the Automation Manager is running and the controller instance status is Running. If the manager is down, the Recipe Upload Request task never fires and MES waits until the reply timeout expires.

Last Upload Date is not updated after a successful upload#

Last Upload Date and Last Upload Version are only updated when TrackResourceRecipes property is enabled on the Resource and a Resource Recipe record already exists for the recipe/resource combination. If the record is missing, add it via Manage Resource Recipes first.

Replacing the mock workflow with a real driver#

In this tutorial the Expression Evaluator and OnTimer tasks are placeholders. For real equipment integration:

1. Replace the expression evaluator and timer with a driver task that writes the recipe body to the equipment (e.g., an OPC-UA Write command or a custom protocol command).
2. Connect the driver's success output to RecipeUploadReply.Activate input parameter.
3. Connect the driver's error output to RecipeUploadReply.FailureReason and then to RecipeUploadReply.Activate input parameters.
4. The Recipe Upload Request task outputs Recipe Body, Recipe Version, and Recipe Name — use these as inputs to your driver task.

Related Documentation#

For reference details outside this tutorial, see these pages in the User Guide:

• Recipe Page
• Upload Recipe to Resource