SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY FACILITATING REMOTE AND AUTOMATED MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES IN AN INDUSTRIAL CONTROLLER ENVIRONMENT

The present invention relates to a system and methodology facilitating remote maintenance in an industrial control environment. An industrial control system is provided that includes an industrial controller to communicate with a network. Explicit and/or implied maintenance events are determined, wherein one or more automated actions are configured or adapted to interact with remote users over the network in response to the events. This can include configuring and communicating human-readable schemas describing the events in support of remote maintenance procedures. The schemas can include embedded documentation to further aid diagnosis and correction of potential problems. Other aspects can include automated actions such as automatically generating component orders and providing remote firmware and/or documentation upgrades.