Overview
The Beckhoff Service Tool, BST for short, is an easy-to-use graphical backup and restore program for industrial PCs with a Windows operating system.
With the Beckhoff Service Tool (BST) you can create an image of your operating system at any time. This creates a backup copy of the contents of your PC's data carrier. You can then restore the created images and thus the Windows installation on a previously empty data carrier.
The BST is supplied on a USB stick. The BST sticks are available in sizes of 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 GB. Select the size of the BST USB flash drive according to the size of the backup copy of your operating system. The BST starts as soon as you boot the industrial PC from the BST stick. You can save the images on the industrial PC, on a network drive or directly on the BST stick. You can keep the flash drive as a backup copy. For this purpose, the BST USB flash drives are designed for particularly long data preservation by means of special flash.
BST versions and supported industrial PCs
BST version 2.1.x.xx is the current version of the Beckhoff Service Tool and is suitable for all newer industrial PCs. To use this BST version, the industrial PC must meet the following criteria:
- at least 2 GB RAM
- Legacy/UEFI (x64) BIOS mode
The old BST version 2.0.x.xx is still available for older industrial PCs that do not meet the above criteria.
The following table compares the two BST versions:
| BST version 2.1.x.xx | BST version 2.0.x.xx |
|---|---|---|
DRAM (min.) | 2 GB | 256 MB |
Acronis version | Acronis Backup 11.x | Acronis True Image 9.1 |
WIM format | possible | not possible |
Boot mode | Legacy/UEFI | Legacy |
Touch screen | Single touch / multi touch | not possible |
Remote access with TightVNC | possible | not possible |
TwinCAT license transfer in case of image change | possible | not possible |
Updating the BST stick with the ApplyBST tool
You can use the ApplyBST tool to update a BST stick. You can download the BST versions from the Beckhoff website. ApplyBST tool
Remote access with TightVNC
Remote access to the BST is possible with TightVNC. The prerequisite for this is BST version 2.1.x.xx. Use remote access if no input and output devices are available for configuring the BST on an industrial PC. If you are not yet using TightVNC, ask your company's IT department for the software.
BST start page
The start page of the Beckhoff Service Tool (BST) appears as soon as the industrial PC has successfully booted from the BST stick.
No. | Button | Description |
|---|---|---|
1 | Creates an image of storage media or individual partitions in TIB or WIM format. | |
2 | Enables or disables Easy mode. With Easy mode enabled, the Backup or Restore button can be used to automatically create or restore an image with predefined default settings. The default settings for the Easy mode can be configured under Settings. | |
3 | Use this button to manage the images | |
4 | Settings | Further settings, e.g. user-defined buttons, Easy mode, network drives and Fallback. |
5 | CalibrateELO | Starts the calibration program to calibrate resistive touch screens of the CP6xxx, CP7xxx and CP3xxx series directly from the BST. However, no calibration is required for multi-touch devices. |
6 | This button can be used to restore previously created images or to install Beckhoff images. |