Moving TopView to a new machine (license details)

1. TopView v7.1 and later: Decommission and transfer process
   
2. TopView v7.0 and earlier: Decommission and transfer process

Moving TopView to a new machine (technical details)

If you also intend to upgrade TopView versions in addition to moving TopView to a new machine, we recommend maintaining the TopView version while migrating computers. Then follow the TopView upgrade instructions to upgrade TopView's version.

Note: SCADA Sync was previously named SCADA Connect

• Old machine:
  
• Locate the TopView DataPath on the old machine
  The location of the DataPath can be discovered by
• Running the application from Start...Programs...Exele TopView...More...Open DataPath
  OR
• From the TopView Configurator, select Tools...Open DataPath folder from the top menu
  The default location for DataPath is C:\ProgramData\Exele\TopView\
• SCADA Sync users only: Locate the SCADA Sync Settings folder:
  
• "C:\Users\Public\Documents\TopView\ScadaConnectivity\Settings"
• New machine: Decide on a location for DataPath on the new machine and create the DataPath folder. If possible, create the same location as the old machine.
  
• Both machines: Copy all DataPath files and folders from the old machine to the new machine
  
• New Machine: (PI and PIAF users):  make sure that the PISDK/AFSDK is installed on the new machine and can connect to your PI/AF servers.
• New machine: Install TopView on the new machine. This can be the same version as the old machine or a newer version.
  
• During the TopView installation you will be prompted for the location of DataPath. Select the DataPath folder that you created on the new machine.
  
• Both machines: (SCADA Sync users) Copy the contents of the SCADA Sync Settings folder from the old machine to the Settings folder on the new machine. The default location on both machines is "C:\Users\Public\Documents\TopView\ScadaConnectivity\Settings"
  
• New machine: run the Configurator.
  
  • Ensure that the Configurator is looking at the correct folder for the Engine configuration files
    
  • Select "Configuration files" from the left menu
    
  • Click the [Set to default] button above the list of Engine configuration files. You should see a list of the configuration files copied from the old machine.
    
  • If you installed a newer version of TopView on the new machine
    
  • Perform the upgrade steps for the new version. 
    The TopView upgrade instructions are provided as a link on the download page for the newer version.
  • Open each configuration file and visually check the settings - alarm limits, email settings, etc - to make sure things look correct.
    
  • Test any notification settings to verify that the new computer can send notification.
    
  • Install any TopView Services on the new machine to match what was installed on the old machine.
    
  • SCADA Sync Users: if TopView requires a separate gateway installation (FactoryTalk Linx Gateway, AVEVA OI Gateway) install and configure the gateway on the new machine.
    
  • For details, see the SCADA Sync Users Guide (available on the TopView download page) sections "Gateway installation" and "Verify/Configure your gateway"
  • If you are outputting TopView Performance Counters (available v6.7 and later):
    
    • Click [Health] in the Configuration Settings section of the left menu.
      Under Performance Counters:
    • If you are installing TopView 6.34 or later: the [Create] button should be disabled. This indicates that the TopView Performance Counters have been created and are up to date. If the [Create] button is enabled, click [Create]
      
    • If you are installing TopView 6.33 or earlier, click [Verify]
      
  • If you are outputting/writing a heartbeat signal to a tag/tags on the data server for failover/redundancy:
    
  • Click [Health] in the Configuration Settings section of the left menu
    
  • Under Heartbeat settings
    
  • If "Only output heartbeat if the TopView Engine is running on computer named..." is selected, make sure that the entered computer name is the name of the primary TopView computer
  • If you are using SQL Server for TopView outputs (alarm logging, Snapshot Output, ...):
    
  • Click [Edit Global Options] in the Global Settings section of the left menu and select SQL Server screen.
    
  • Click [Connect and Verify Database] to verify connection to SQL Server
    
  • If you are creating files in TopView (Snapshot reports, Alarm reports, Snapshot output...) verify that the file paths specified for these files are valid on the new machine
    
  • Verify that any audible notification *.wav files present and referenced in configurations on the old machine are present on the new machine. Audible alarm files could be referenced at any path. For TopView versions 6.35 and later, we recommend moving *.wav files to the DataPath\Sounds folder and updating configuration references to use them from within that DataPath folder.
    
  • Test-to-speech voices
  • Verify that any audible alarms using Text-To-Speech (TTS) are using voices that the new computer provides. Microsoft has changed the voices available on their OSes over different years.
    
  • Verify that any voice notifications using Text-To-Speech (TTS) are using voices provided on the new system.