Tips from the Trenches

Tips from the TrenchesRebekah Atkinson

Steve Nye, Kathy Kennedy

Overview

OSI ResourcesTroubleshooting – The Big PictureBackupsBufferingArchive SizingQ&A

OSI Resources

OSI Resources

Log FilesPIPC.Log (client & server)

NT only, usually located in \PIPC\Dat

PIMessLogFile Unix only, located in $PIHOME/log

PI Server Log PI - HealthcheckPIGetMsg (PI3)PISysMgr:PIMessLog.Txt (PI2)

OSI Resources

DocumentationInterface Manuals (interfaces.osisoft.com)

Point attribute sectionStartup file flags sectionTroubleshooting section

Client ManualsServer Manuals

OSI Resources

Support Web Site (support.osisoft.com)Online Call Center

Tracking of callsNew call entrySearchable knowledge base

Bug reportsEngineering PlanNew Release Announcements

Feel Free to call us at Tech Support

Troubleshooting

The Big Picture

Consider Big Picture

Ask yourself…Did it ever work?If so, what changed?New software? New hardware? Etc…

Use Log Files to help isolate problemNo errors in client logs - Server problemAlways an error message somewhere!

Know your utilities

Know Your Nodes

API Node PI Server

Client

Client

Client

Connection Troubleshooting

YES NO

YES NO

YES

YES

NO

NO

C heck C lient Log,A dd P IServer to H O STS file

C lient Problem

C heck C lient Log,Increase N etw ork

Tim eout,C heck speed of D N S

C heck Server Log,Look for L istener,

See w hat is connected(Netstat -a)

R un APISN A P onPIServer

A dd P IServerto HO STS file

C ontact N etw orkA dm instrator

P ing Serverby Num ber

P ing Server by Nam e?

N etw ork Problemor Server Problem

C an any other PC connect to P I?

Common Network Issues

DNSIf DNS is slow, connection may time outCheck HOSTS file

Multiple NIC cardsWAN traffic

Know your routers!

Port 5450 not initialized

Backups

Backups

ArchivesNightly & After Shift

Pi\dat DirectoryNightly & when server is shutdown

Site specific files & log filesNightly

Recommend Test Recovery

Backups

Known problems with PI 3.2 SR1 Script

Piartool –be ignored if system is busyOne Subsystem would stop while another was starting

New Beta ScriptVerify that the subsystem is responsive

Schedule piartool -be to run 30 minutes after backup

Example Script ChangeRem Backup files owned by pibasess

%BinPath%\pibasess -stop

set BaseFiles=pipoints.dat piptattr.dat piptclss.dat pidigst.dat pidignam.dat piusr.dat piusrgrp.dat piusrctx.dat piptunit.dat piptalia.dat

for %%i in (%BaseFiles%) do ( copy %DatPath%\%%i %BackupPath% )

Rem Restart pibasess and wait for it to become responsive

Rem Record timestamps before and after to document the time this requires

%BinPath%\pibasess -start

%BinPath%\pidiag -t "*"

%AdmPath%\piartool -block pibasess -verbose%BinPath%\pidiag -t "*"

Buffering

Buffering Basics

Why Buffer?Avoid data loss during PI server shutdownsOptimize your PI network transactionsFaster throughput

Set up a PI-API nodeData collection is not affected by the PI server

Configuring Buffering

Must configure PICLIENT.INITurn Buffering ONDefine Maximum Buffer SizeSize for down time and recovery time(size in KB)Define how frequently it will attempt to reconnect(time in seconds)

Example PICLIENT.INI

[APIBUFFER]BUFFERING=1MAXFILESIZE=500000RETRYRATE=120

Buffering Issues

Remember Configuration required, NT/UnixHave plenty of disk space available Buffering isn’t working?

Check BufServ Service LoginMake sure /host entry matches Default PI

Server in PILOGIN.INIAll API programs must be stopped before

bufserv can be restartedUse bufutil program

BUFUTIL Example

Tips from the Trenches

Documents

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