Product documentation
PI Nexus+
Learn how to install, configure, administer, and use PI Nexus+.
Installation GuidePlan, install, upgrade, and verify a PI Nexus+ deployment, from the service account and SQL Server to the first scan.Overview and ArchitectureThis chapter tells you what PI Nexus+ installs, where its parts run, and the order in which you install it.Plan the DeploymentThis chapter helps you choose the servers, check their prerequisites, open the network paths and size SQL Server before you install.Prepare the Service AccountThis chapter prepares the Windows account that runs PI Nexus+, so that the installer can assign it and scans can read the PI System.Prepare SQL ServerThis chapter decides who creates the PI Nexus+ database and makes sure that person has the SQL Server rights for it.Run the InstallerThis chapter installs the web application and the scanner service, interactively or silently.Set Up the DatabaseThis chapter creates or prepares the PI Nexus+ database, applies its schema and saves the connection that PI Nexus+ uses.Verify Runtime IdentitiesThis chapter confirms that Windows runs PI Nexus+ as the service account, because a fallback identity opens the app but fails at SQL Server and the PI System.Open PI Nexus+ and Install the LicenseThis chapter opens PI Nexus+ for the first time, checks the database connection and installs the license.First Targets and First ScanThis chapter takes a new installation to automatic monitoring: add the targets, check readiness, prove each scan type on a small scope, then start automatic monitoring.Split DeploymentThis chapter installs the web application and the scanner service on two servers, converts a single server, and covers operating and changing a split deployment.Upgrade, Repair and UninstallThis chapter upgrades PI Nexus+ to a new version, repairs an installation and removes it.Installation TroubleshootingThis chapter fixes the problems that stop an installation from working. Read the log in C:\ProgramData\Software Athlete\PI Nexus+\Logs for the full error. Scan and connection problems are covered in Troubleshooting Scans and Connections in the Administration Guide.Checklist and Important PathsThis chapter is the sign-off list for an installation and the short list of paths and facts support asks for.
Administration GuideConfigure targets, rules, scan automation, notifications, and monitoring, and keep PI Nexus+ running.Administration OverviewThis chapter shows where each setting lives in the Admin area and how to give people access to PI Nexus+.PI Data ArchivesThis chapter adds the PI Data Archives whose PI Points PI Nexus+ inventories, and optionally tracks their PI Interfaces and the interfaces' runtime health.AF Servers and DatabasesThis chapter chooses the AF databases PI Nexus+ inventories, sets how their attributes and analyses are evaluated, and controls which databases may receive analysis recalculations.OpenID ConnectThis chapter connects PI Nexus+ to PI Data Archives and AF servers through AVEVA Identity Manager instead of the Windows service account, and protects the client secret.PI Vision InstancesThis chapter adds a PI Vision instance so PI Nexus+ can inventory its displays and show which displays use a PI Point, AF attribute or analysis. Skip it if you do not use PI Vision.PI Point RulesThis chapter defines which PI Points PI Nexus+ inventories and which health checks apply to them, so that issues match how each group of tags is expected to behave.External SystemsThis chapter records the systems outside the PI System that feed PI Points or receive their data, such as OPC servers, ERP or MES, so that issues and dependency graphs name the source, the owner and the runbook. Users work with them as described in External Systems in the User Guide.SitesThis chapter groups servers into sites, usually by plant, so that users can filter the app by site and emails can go to each site's team. Sites are available in every edition. What users see is described in Servers and Sites in the User Guide.PI Adapter MonitoringThis chapter turns on monitoring of AVEVA PI Adapters (for example OPC UA, DNP3, Modbus, MQTT and RDBMS) through the health data they publish to PI. Users work with the results as described in PI Adapters in the User Guide.Host MonitoringThis chapter sets up agentless monitoring of the Windows servers in your PI landscape: CPU, memory, disks, PI services and PI roles. Users work with the results as described in Host Monitoring in the User Guide; all values and limits are in the Host Monitoring Reference.Scan AutomationThis chapter sets up automatic monitoring, the one policy that keeps health, inventory and full verification current for every managed target. Operators follow the result on the Scanning page (see Scanning in the User Guide); all cadences and timings are in the Scan Automation Reference.Manual Scans and PI Point Rule ReconciliationThis chapter covers the scanning tasks that need an administrator: reconciling PI Point rule changes and recovering a stuck scan. Deleting a single scan run is a support action described under Delete a scan run in the Reference. How operators queue manual scans, read the work list and use Run now is described in Scanning in the User Guide.NotificationsThis chapter sets up email: the SMTP connection, which emails PI Nexus+ sends, and who receives them. Email types, defaults and delivery timings are in the Notifications Reference.Support and DiagnosticsThis chapter shows where PI Nexus+ logs, how to capture a problem with temporary debug logging and a support bundle, and how to read the readiness and scale checks. File names, levels and the bundle's contents are in the Logs and Support Bundle Reference.Inventory Maintenance and SQL Admin UIThis chapter sets how long PI Nexus+ keeps history, explains the purge and reset actions, and covers the SQL Server page. Every retention default and what each purge removes are in the Retention and Maintenance Reference.PI Vision Ad Hoc Workspace LinksThis chapter makes Open in PI Vision available, so users can open a PI Point or AF Attribute as a trend in PI Vision's Ad Hoc Workspace.Troubleshooting Scans and ConnectionsThis chapter helps you find why scans fail or fall behind, and where each kind of target's own problems are covered. Installation problems (installer, website, database connection, license) are in Installation Troubleshooting in the Installation Guide.
User GuideUse PI Nexus+ to review inventory health, investigate dependencies, track changes, and confirm repairs.Getting StartedThis chapter explains what PI Nexus+ does, how to find your way around, and what the Evaluation edition limits.Health, Issues and KPIsThis chapter explains the few ideas every page is built on: health states, issues, suppression and the health percentages.Daily WorkflowThis chapter gives a 15-minute daily routine that finds the most important problems and confirms yesterday's fixes.DashboardThis chapter shows how to find where the estate is unhealthy and decide what to work on first. The Dashboard has two modes: Overview for the health picture and Action View for the work queue. Your last choice is remembered in the browser.Investigate an IssueThis chapter takes one issue from the list to its root cause, and shows how to confirm a fix or suppress an accepted exception.Host MonitoringThis chapter shows how to see which servers and PI services are down right now, check one server, and respond to its issues. An administrator chooses the monitored servers (see Host Monitoring in the Administration Guide); all thresholds are in the Host Monitoring Reference.Servers and SitesThis chapter shows how to check whether PI Nexus+ can still reach a server, find which server holds the bad objects, and how sites group servers.ScanningThis chapter shows operators how to check that every target is scanned on time, run a manual scan and follow up failures. The Scanning page needs the Operator role; open it from the scan status at the bottom of the navigation. Administrators set up automatic scanning (see Scan Automation in the Administration Guide).PI PointsThis chapter shows how every inventory list page works, and how to find and follow up PI Points with bad, stale or missing data.Point SourcesThis chapter shows how to see, per PI Data Archive, what feeds each PointSource and how its PI Points are doing. Use it for questions such as "everything on this PointSource went bad on Tuesday" or "is anything still feeding this PointSource?"PI InterfacesThis chapter shows how to see which legacy PI Interfaces feed which PI Points, and whether each interface is configured correctly, delivering good data and running.PI AdaptersThis chapter shows how to check whether the AVEVA PI Adapters (OPC UA, DNP3, Modbus, MQTT and others) are collecting and delivering data.External SystemsThis chapter shows how to check the health of PI data flowing from or to named systems outside PI, such as a LIMS, an MES or a cloud service.AF Attributes, Elements and TemplatesThis chapter shows how to find unhealthy AF attributes and see where AF problems concentrate, by element or by template.AF Analyses and RecalculationThis chapter shows how to find broken and costly AF analyses, and how to recalculate analysis results after a data outage, once or on a schedule.Compression TuningThis chapter shows how to measure whether PI Points store too many or too few archive events, and how to review and apply the recommended exception and compression settings.PI Vision DisplaysThis chapter shows how to find PI Vision displays that show broken data or that nobody opens any more.Change History, Missing Inventory and ExportsThis chapter shows how to find what changed in the PI System, look up objects that disappeared, and take a list out of PI Nexus+ as a CSV file.
ReferenceLook up issue catalogues, health states, defaults, intervals, rights, ports, and paths.Ports and FirewallThis reference lists every network connection PI Nexus+ makes, so you can request firewall rules before installation. Plan the Deployment in the Installation Guide shows the same connections as a diagram.PrerequisitesThis reference lists what each PI Nexus+ server needs, what the setup program installs itself, and what the installer creates.Paths and FilesThis reference lists the folders, files, logs and settings files of a PI Nexus+ installation. On a split deployment each server has its own copy of the data folder.SQL Server Rights and SizingThis reference lists the SQL Server rights each setup step needs, what the preparation script does, and the tempdb figures for the PI Nexus+ instance.Service Account RightsThis reference lists the rights of the PI Nexus+ service account, where each is needed, and what happens when one is missing.Installer and Script ParametersThis reference lists the installer's pages and properties, how it behaves on upgrade, repair and removal, and the parameters of the setup and recovery scripts.Schema MigrationsThis reference describes how PI Nexus+ keeps its database schema in step with the installed version: the migration files, the ledger, and the time limits that apply.Deployment Readiness ChecksThis reference lists the groups and checks on Admin > Support > Readiness. The tab is checked again each time Admin > Support opens.License StatesThis reference lists what PI Nexus+ checks in a license, the states a license can be in, and what each state allows.Roles and PermissionsThis reference lists what each PI Nexus+ role may do, how roles are assigned, and how to recover Admin access. The same checks apply in the web interface and in the API.PI Data Archive SettingsThis reference lists the columns, actions and dependent features of Admin > PI Data Archives, and the statuses of PI Interface runtime monitoring.AF Server SettingsThis reference lists the settings of AF servers and AF databases under Admin > AF Servers, the rules for scanning them, and the analysis recalculation permission.OpenID Connect SettingsThis reference lists the OpenID Connect client settings, the registration values for AVEVA Identity Manager, and the commands for the secret certificate.PI Vision Instance SettingsThis reference lists the fields, defaults and actions of a PI Vision instance under Admin > PI Vision Instances.PI Point Rule FieldsThis reference lists every field of a PI Point Rule, its default for a new rule, and the rule list's columns and actions.External System SettingsThis reference lists the fields and defaults of an External System, its data health policies, and the archive and delete rules.PI Adapter Monitoring StatusesThis reference lists the source statuses on Admin > PI Adapters, the Runtime statuses of PI Adapter Collectors, the service issues and the fixed thresholds.Sites and Change Tracking SettingsThis reference lists the rules for sites and the change tracking settings.Scan Automation ReferenceThis reference lists the cadences, windows, queue rules and timings of automatic monitoring. The Administration Guide chapter Scan Automation links here instead of repeating them.Scan Runs ReferenceThis reference lists the kinds of scan work, what starts them, their scopes and their outcomes, as the Scanning page and the scan history show them.Notifications ReferenceThis reference lists every email PI Nexus+ sends, its settings and defaults, and how delivery, retries and sites work. The Administration Guide chapter Notifications links here.Logs and Support Bundle ReferenceThis reference lists the log files, log levels, event log sources and the contents of the support bundle. The Administration Guide chapter Support and Diagnostics links here.Retention and Maintenance ReferenceThis reference lists how long PI Nexus+ keeps each kind of data, when cleanup runs, and what each purge and reset removes. The Administration Guide chapter Inventory Maintenance and SQL Admin UI links here. Times are the scanner server's local time.Health and KPI CalculationThis reference lists the health states, how an object's health follows its issues, how the dashboard percentages are calculated, and the rules for suppressing issues. The User Guide chapters Health, Issues and KPIs and Investigate an Issue link here.Dashboard ReferenceThis reference lists what each part of the Dashboard shows, its limits and what a click opens. The percentages and bands are defined in Health and KPI Calculation.Servers and Sites ReferenceThis reference lists the service health rules, the columns and dialogs of the Servers page, and how objects belong to sites. The User Guide chapter Servers and Sites links here. The Hosts tab is described in Host Monitoring Reference.Scanning Page ReferenceThis reference lists the cards, tabs, columns, filters and actions of the Scanning page. Kinds of work, triggers, scopes and outcomes are in Scan Runs Reference; cadences and the heavy-work window in Scan Automation Reference.Detail Dialogs and Dependency GraphThis reference lists the tabs and actions of each detail dialog, the dependency graph controls and limits, and the Issues page filters. The User Guide chapter Investigate an Issue links here.Navigation, Search and ExportsThis reference lists the navigation and its roles, what search covers, which pages follow the site, the CSV exports, Change History filters, and what the Evaluation edition locks. The User Guide chapters Getting Started and Change History, Missing Inventory and Exports link here.PI Point IssuesThis reference lists the issues PI Nexus+ raises for PI Points and PointSources, the PI Point health states, and the rule defaults behind them. The User Guide chapters PI Points and Point Sources link here.PI Interface Issues and RuntimeThis reference lists the PI Interface issues, the runtime statuses and the runtime thresholds. The User Guide chapter PI Interfaces links here.PI Adapter Issues and RuntimeThis reference lists the PI Adapter statuses, issues and thresholds. The User Guide chapter PI Adapters links here.AF Issues and ThresholdsThis reference lists the issues PI Nexus+ raises for AF attributes and AF analyses, the analysis thresholds and the attribute scan modes. The User Guide chapters AF Attributes, Elements and Templates and AF Analyses and Recalculation link here.PI Vision IssuesThis reference lists the issues PI Nexus+ raises for PI Vision displays and how display health is counted. The User Guide chapter PI Vision Displays links here.External System IssuesThis reference lists the External System issues and the defaults that turn PI Point health into External System health. The User Guide chapter External Systems links here.Compression Tuning ReferenceThis reference lists the classifications, observation modes, limits, profiles and statuses of Compression Tuning. The User Guide chapter Compression Tuning links here.Analysis Recalculation ReferenceThis reference lists the rules, states, limits and permissions of analysis recalculation, scheduled recalculation and recalculation suggestions. The User Guide chapter AF Analyses and Recalculation links here.Host Monitoring ReferenceThis reference lists the issues, limits, rights, ports and timings of host monitoring. The Administration Guide and the User Guide link here instead of repeating these values.
