It may be necessary to adapt an existing project, for example a sample project from the curriculum materials, to work with an alternative model of S7-1200 PLC. This is a simple process which is documented in the following step by step guide.


1) Click File and select Retrieve (v15) or Open (v16+). Locate the the ZAP file and select it, upgrading the project version if prompted. A new project folder will be created on your PC.

2) Locate the PLC in the Devices tab of the Project tree. Right click it and select Change device.

3) Locate the correct CPU option in the list of available controllers. In this example a 1212C DC/DC/DC is being used. You may see some errors due to architecture differences between the original and alternate CPUs. This should not be an issue. Click OK to continue.

4) In some cases the program may have been specified with an additional Analogue module attached. This is not required as the PETRA II doesn’t contain any analogue devices and needs to be removed for the program to download to the PLC without errors. Double click Devices & networks, once loaded go to the Device view tab.

5) If the analogue module (SB1232 AO1) is present simply right click the module and select Delete.

6) Click Yes to the pop up warning and the module will be removed from the device view.


The program is now ready to be downloaded to the PLC. If the program contains two PLCs repeat the above process for the second PLC.