Migrating to a Dedicated Virtual Machine (VM)

Before you begin

Before migrating the PA, be sure you have first migrated the database and management service.

About this task

Use this procedure to migrate a protocol adapter (PA) to a dedicated virtual machine that hosts no other services.

Table 1. Abbreviations
Abbreviation Term
FS File store service
LS Logging service
MQTT MQ telemetry transport
MS Management service
PA Protocol adapter
REST Representational state transfer
SQL Refers to the structured query language database environment
VM Virtual machine
Device System Detail
RIL-PerfMon16.sotidev.com
  • Contains: SQL, MS, LS, FS
RIL-PerfMon17.sotidev.com
  • The system to migrate (source VM)
  • Contains: MQTT PA, REST PA
RIL-PerfMon27.sotidev.com
  • Contains: migrated SQL and MS
RIL-PerfMon28.sotidev.com
  • Destination for the migration (target VM)
RIL-PerfMon29.sotidev.com
  • Emulates devices
  • Holds the MQTT broker

In our example, the environment should appear as follows:

Current environment

Procedure

  1. Verify that the source PAs are stopped on the System Management > System Architecture screen.
    SOTI Connect System Management screen, System Architecture tab showing stopped source PAs
  2. Run SOTI Connect Installer.exe. The SOTI Connect Setup Wizard is displayed. When prompted, confirm that you want to allow the installer to make changes to your system.
  3. Select Install Connect components and select Next.
    SOTI Connect Setup Wizard
  4. On the Select Components panel, select only the protocol adapter types you want to install: REST, MQTT, or both.
    Installation Wizard Select Components screen showing PA adapters selected
  5. Make sure all the other components are deselected, then select Next. The environment is configured as follows.
    Diagram showing the migrated PAs inside the virtual machine where the management service resides
  6. Verify that the new PAs are running on the System Management > System Architecture screen.

    SOTI Connect System Management screen, System Architecture tab showing new PAs

  7. Next, restore the configuration settings for each PA along with links to devices. To do this, stop the PA services on the target VM.
  8. On the source VM, locate the folders containing each PA's ID and copy their .dat files. Folders are named in the following format: C:\ProgramData\SOTI\Connect\[PA type id]\Settings\ComponentIdStore.dat.

    For example:

    C:\ProgramData\SOTI\Connect\Protocols.Stacks.Mqtt\Settings\ComponentIdStore.dat

    C:\ProgramData\SOTI\Connect\Protocols.Stacks.Rest\Settings\ComponentIdStore.dat

    Windows explorer showing showing path to protocol adaptors

  9. Replace the duplicate files on the target VM with the corresponding files from the SRC VM.
  10. Restart the disconnected services for both PAs on the target VM.
    SOTI Connect Administration panel, System Architecture tab showing stopped PAs
  11. Devices are available once their connection status is updated (up to approximately five minutes). Alternatively, you can manually send any command, such as 'check in, to a device.'
    SOTI Connect Devices panel with several devices selected and the Check Action button pressed
  12. Remove any unnecessary PAs.
    SOTI Connect Administration Page with a PA selected and the Delete Adapter option visible
  13. Some devices can send 'push' messages, such as alerts, to a Rest PA. The PA is typically a client which periodically connects to devices. A device can also connect to a Rest PA using a webhook receiver configured during installation. The connection must be refreshed on the device side. To do that, run Discover Devices on the Rest PA as shown in the diagram below.
    SOTI Connect System Management, System Architecture page with PA selected and More options menu open. Discover Devices is shown on the dropdown list