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Latest R65 R58 Cloud On-Premise
Seeq Knowledge Base
Latest R65 R58 Cloud On-Premise
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Moving a Remote Agent to a New Machine

Introduction

A Seeq Remote Agent (RA) may be moved when the machine on which it is installed is being replaced, relocated, retired, or resized. This procedure preserves the existing datasource configuration and identifiers so that workbooks and other Seeq content can continue using the same datasources after the move.

The RA is a conduit to customer-managed datasources, not the system of record. Users may temporarily lose access to affected content during the cutover, but the source data remains in the underlying systems.

Prerequisites

Before beginning, confirm the following:

  • The person performing the migration has Seeq administrator access as well as administrative access to both RA machines.

  • A maintenance window and user communication plan have been approved.

  • A rollback plan is available: the existing RA machine and its backup must remain available until the new RA has been fully tested.

  • The new machine is placed in a network location that can reach both the Seeq tenant and the required datasources.

  • The new machine meets the applicable Remote Agent hardware and operating-system requirements.

  • The required service account, credentials, certificates, proxy settings, firewall rules, and datasource permissions are available through the customer’s normal security and change-management processes.

  • Any connector-specific client software or libraries are identified. For example, a PI implementation requires the appropriate PI AF Client and local PI Data Archive and PI AF connection configuration.

Information to record from the existing RA

Record the following information before making changes:

  • The installed RA version.

  • The account under which the Seeq RA Windows service runs.

  • Proxy settings, if applicable.

  • Firewall and network rules, including rules required for each datasource.

  • Certificates and trusted certificate authorities required by the RA, proxy, or datasource.

  • The list of configured datasources and their connector types.

  • Connector-specific prerequisites and configuration, such as client versions, server names, endpoints, ports, service accounts, and authentication methods.

Preparation of the New RA Machine

  1. Provision the new physical or virtual machine: The Remote Agent installation article provides general sizing guidance.

  2. Install a supported version of Windows.

  3. Install and trust the certificates required for communication with the Seeq tenant, proxy, and datasources.

  4. Configure the proxy settings, if required. The settings should allow the RA service account to use the proxy.

  5. Configure the required firewall and network rules.

    At a minimum, confirm that the new machine can:

    • Reach the Seeq tenant using outbound HTTPS/WSS over port 443.

    • Reach each datasource using the ports required by that connector.

      • For example, a PI datasource uses port 5450 for PI Data Archive communication and port 5457 for PI AF communication.

  6. Sign in to the Seeq tenant from a browser on the new machine to confirm basic network and certificate connectivity.

  7. Install the connector-specific prerequisites.

    For example, for PI connections:

    • Install the same supported PI AF Client version used by the existing RA.

    • On the PI Client; configure the PI Data Archive connections used by the existing RA and confirm that the new machine can access the required servers and read data.

    • On the PI Client; configure the PI AF connections used by the existing RA and confirm that the new machine can access the required servers and read data.

  8. Confirm that the Windows service account intended for the new RA has the required permissions to access the local Seeq directories, proxy, certificates, and datasources.

Backup

Perform the backup before stopping or changing the existing RA.

  1. Open the Seeq Command Prompt on the existing RA machine.

  2. Identify the location of the SEEQ_DATA directory by examining the SEEQ_DATA environment variable.

  3. Back up the complete SEEQ_DATA directory.

The backup is important because it contains RA configuration and other information used to preserve datasource definitions and identifiers. Do not modify or delete the original directory until the migration has been validated and the rollback period has ended.

Seeq Remote Agent Installation on the New Machine

  1. Download and install a supported RA version by following Installing a Seeq Remote Agent.

  2. Provision the RA to connect to the correct Seeq tenant using the tenant URL and the provisioning method described in the installation article.

  3. Configure the RA Windows service to run under the required service account.

  4. Confirm that the new RA appears in Administration → Agents.

  5. Do not recreate production datasources from scratch on the new RA. Datasource configuration will be restored during the cutover.

Cutover and Downtime

  1. Notify users that the affected Seeq datasources may be temporarily unavailable during the maintenance window.

  2. Confirm that the backup of the existing RA is complete and accessible.

  3. Stop the Seeq RA Windows service on the existing machine.

  4. Disable the service on the existing machine so that it cannot restart unexpectedly during the migration.

  5. Do not run both RAs against the same production datasource during the transition. Running duplicate connections can result in duplicate datasource entries or conflicting connections.

  6. Keep the existing machine available for rollback until testing is complete.

Steps on the New RA

  1. Stop the Seeq RA Windows service on the new machine.

  2. Restore the backed-up SEEQ_DATA directory.

  3. Start the Seeq RA Windows service.

  4. Confirm that the new RA reports as connected in Administration → Agents in the Seeq tenant.

Testing

Before retiring the old RA, verify that:

  • The new RA is connected and reports the expected version in Administration → Agents.

  • All expected datasources are present, healthy, and indexing or synchronizing normally in Administration → Datasources.

  • Connector logs show no authentication, certificate, proxy, or network errors.

  • Representative data loads from each connector type.

  • Existing workbooks load correctly, including signals, conditions, calculations, asset references, permissions, and historical data.

Have the relevant data owners validate critical workbooks.

If duplicate datasource entries or new identifiers appear, stop cleanup and contact Seeq Support before deleting entries or editing identifiers.

Cleanup

After successful technical and business validation:

  1. Confirm that no users or scheduled processes still depend on the old RA.

  2. Remove or retire the old RA in Seeq, uninstall its software, and decommission the machine only if it has no other dependencies.

  3. Retain the backup and migration records according to the customer’s change-management policy.