Setting Up the Historian Environment

Important: You do not have the latest version of Historian! You are missing out on the newest capabilities and enhanced security. For information on all the latest features, see the Historian product page. For more information on upgrades, contact your GE Digital sales agent or e-mail GE Digital Sales Support. For the most up-to-date documentation, go here.

Setting Up the Historian Environment

Before you start setting up your Historian environment, identify the computers that will function as your clients, data collectors, administration workstations, and archiver.

  1. Set up each computer.
    See Hardware Requirements , and refer to the user manual that accompanies each component for detailed setup information.
  2. Use a login account with administrator rights so that you can install Historian later.
    See Software Requirements, and refer to the user manual that accompanies each software product for more detailed setup information
  3. Activate the License Key on your Historian Server node. Additional licenses may be required on other nodes (such as mirroring and collector nodes) depending on your configuration requirements. See Historian Licenses.
  4. Disable the Guest account in Windows security if you want to limit authentication to known Windows users only.

Historian Licenses

Historian Product License Management

Advantage Licensing is the software system for activating and managing product licenses. Using the tools in Licensing and our Customer Center web site you can view, activate, and manage licenses at your site.

With Advantage Licensing you can:
  • View current licenses for the products residing on a computer
  • Choose a licensing method (Internet, local intranet, or file-based)
  • Change licenses (Activate, Return, Refresh)
Note: If you received an email containing an activation code, you must migrate to Advantage Licensing. Get the newest licensing software at http://digitalsupport.ge.com.

If you did not receive an activation code, follow the instructions about M4 keys at http://digitalsupport.ge.com.

Historian License Editions

Historian is available in three license types: Essentials, Standard, and Enterprise. The Essentials edition is included as the on-board Historian with the purchase of some iFIX and CIMPLICITY licenses, and cannot be licensed or sold outside of those packages. Essentials edition customers who require options available in the Standard or Enterprise editions or require more than a 1000 tags must purchase either a Standard or Enterprise License with the appropriate tag count.

You can install all components using the single install media, but the use of specific components and functionality are controlled by the GE license you purchase and install.

The Historian components and functionality supported by each license type are shown in the table below:

Component Essentials Standard Enterprise
Allow Data Modification Y Y Y
Digital / Enumerated / Array Tags Y Y Y
Excel Add-in Y Y Y
Fault Tolerant Computer Support Y Y Y
Historian Server Y Y Y
Windows Admin Console Y Y Y
Cluster Support - Y Y
Collector Redundancy - Y Y
Collector Toolkit SDK - Y Y
Microsecond Support - Y Y
Multiple Data Stores - Y Y
User Defined Multi-Field Tags - Y Y
Web Admin Console - Y Y
Web Trend Client - Y Y
Data Mirroring - up to 3 (Primary +2) - - Y
Expression Support - - Y
Electronic Signatures - Optional Optional
Maximum Data Stores (200) - - Optional
Historian Client Access Licenses (CALs) 2 5 5
Data Stores 5 10 20
Max Historical Tags 1,000 50,000 20,000,000
SCADA Buffer (2500 tags, 200 days) Y Y Y
iFIX Collector Y Y Y
ME Collector Y Y Y
OLE DB Provider Y Y Y
OPC HDA Server Y Y Y
Server to Server Distributor Y Y Y
Windows PerfMon Collector - Y Y
Calculation Collector - Optional Y
OPC Alarms - Optional Y
Simulation Collector Y Y Y
OSI PI Distributor - Y Y
GE Data Collector for OPC HDA w/Cloud Option - Y Y
GE Data Collector for OPC UA (DA) w/Cloud Option - Y Y
GE Data Collector for OPC UA Linux (x86) w/Cloud Option - Y Y
GE Data Collector for OSI PI w/Cloud Option - Y Y
GE Data Collector for Wonderware w/Cloud Option - Y Y
Server to Server Collector w/Cloud Option - Optional Y
Cygnet Data Collector w/Cloud Option - Y Y
OPC DA Collector w/Cloud Option Y Y Y
Note: Historian HD is a separately sold and licensed component from Historian. Historian HD provides the Historian user a standard method to move Historian tag configuration and historical archive data from a Windows environment to a Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). HDFS is the primary distribution storage used by Hadoop applications.

A component that is used only by the Historian HD license is installed with your Historian installation: the Historian Archive Ingestion Service. This service is reserved for use only with the Historian HD big data analytics platform and is listed as Manual under Startup Type. Stopping this service does not impact Historian functionality. Unless you are licensed to use Historian HD, do not attempt to start or monitor this service, as it may impact the ability to run the Historian Data Archiver service.

For more information regarding Historian HD, please visit http://www.ge-ip.com/products/proficy-historian-hd/p3714.

Hardware Requirements

This topic describes hardware requirements for Standard Historian.

Historian Server

For Historian Servers, the minimum hardware requirements are:
  • A 2.4 GHz clock-speed Intel Core i3 or i5 or i7 CPU or equivalent AMD Phenom CPU with 8 GB RAM for a 64-bit Historian Server.
  • A DVD-ROM drive.
  • 80 GB free hard-drive space for the data archives, message files, buffer files, and log files used by the system.
  • 100 Mbps TCP/IP-compatible network interface adapter for network communication and certain I/O drivers.

Data Collector Node

For Data Collector nodes, the recommended minimum hardware requirements are:
  • A 2.0 GHz clock-speed Intel Core i3 or i5 or i7 CPU or equivalent AMD Phenom CPU with 2 GB RAM.
  • 40 GB of free hard-drive space to store buffered data.
  • A DVD-ROM drive.
  • TCP/IP-compatible network interface adapter for network communication and certain I/O drivers.

Microsoft Windows Server

Many desktop-class computers are not certified to run Windows Server. Check the Microsoft web site and your computer hardware vendor web site for possible conflicts between your hardware and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. These specifications are sufficient to meet the needs of a small pilot application. However, production system requirements may be significantly different depending on many application-specific factors. Please contact the Product Manager to review the requirements of your application.

Microsoft Cluster Service

For the Microsoft Cluster service, the minimum hardware requirements are:
  • A 2.6 GHz clock-speed Intel Core i3 or i5 or i7 or Xeon or equivalent AMD Opteron CPU with minimum 8 GB RAM.
  • 80 GB of local, free hard-drive space.
  • 40 GB shared SCSI hard-drive (RAID preferred).
  • Two 100Mbit TCP/IP-compatible network interface adapters for network communication and certain I/O drivers (One for public network, another for private network).
Note: The configuration of each server added to the cluster must be identical to the other servers in the cluster.

Data Mirroring and Redundancy Service

For the Data Mirroring and Redundancy service, the minimum hardware requirements are:
  • Minimum 8 GB RAM.
  • Dual Core Processor.
  • 64-Bit Operating System.
Note: If you are using single node setup, then it is recommended to use 32 GB RAM.

Ensure that you are using the same hardware requirement for the mirror node as well.

Network Speed

For a large Enterprise Historian setup, it is recommended that network speed is 1 GBPS.

Notes

  • If you are using single node setup, then it is recommended to use 32 GB RAM.
  • Ensure that you are using the same hardware requirement for the mirror node as well.
  • You must have a minimum of 10 GB free space available for the Data Archiver to start.
  • Many Desktop-class computers are not certified to run Windows Server. Check the Microsoft web site and your computer hardware vendor web site for possible conflicts between your hardware and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. These specifications are sufficient to meet the needs of a small pilot application. However, production system requirements may be significantly different depending on many application-specific factors. Please contact the Product Manager to review the requirements of your application.

Hardware Requirements for Historian Enterprise, Mirroring

The following table describes the hardware requirements for Historian Enterprise, Mirroring and Alarms & Events:

Hardware Requirements
RAM (GB) 16 GB / 32 GB (recommended)
Disk Size Required 250 GB (Minimum)
Processor Type Intel Core-i5, i7 family, or equivalent
CPU Dual/Quad cores
CPU Speed (GHz) 2.8
Recommended CPU clock in Giga Hz 2.8
Storage Type SAS SSD with RAID Level 0 Configured

Other requirements:

Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit) or Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) or Windows 2012 Server R2 or Windows 2016 Server.

Tags: Upto 50K

Years of data online: 1 year

Historian Server Sizing Recommendations

You determine the size of an Historian Server as a function of the number of tags from which data is collected, the rate of alarm and event collection, and how often you intend to collect the data and how much data you want to keep online. The number of tags is an indicator of the number of concurrent users likely to access the system. The primary factor is server memory requirements; CPU load is a secondary factor. If the number of concurrent users is significantly different from the suggested guidelines, adjust server memory size accordingly.

The following recommended configurations may vary based on years of data online, update rate, data compression setting, and other tag configuration parameters.

Notes

  • Historian Server runs only on 64-bit versions of Windows.
  • When possible, for performance reasons, consider using computers with multiple disk drives so that archives and buffers can be given their own drive. Or, multiple data stores can each have their own drive.
  • Sustained event rate is 18 million per minute.
  • Historian supports Intel Core i3, i5, i7 Duo based processors as long as they are compatible with the operating system.
  • Historian does not support Itanium processors.

The recommended configurations may vary based on years of data online, update rate, data compression setting, and other tag configuration parameters.

Recommended Historian Standard Edition Server with <10K Tags

Tags <10K
RAM (GB) 8 GB/16GB (recommended for Single node setup)
Disk Size Required 100 GB/250 GB (recommended)
Processor Type Intel Core-i5, i7 family, or equivalent
CPU Dual/Quad cores
CPU Speed (GHz) 2.8
Recommended CPU clock in Giga Hz 2.8
Operating System Windows 7 (64-bit) or Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) or Windows 2012 Server R2 or Windows 2016 Server.
Storage Type SAS SSD with RAID Level 0 Configured
Years of data online 1 year

Recommended Historian Standard Edition Server with 10K - 50K Tags

Tags 10K to 50K
RAM (GB) 16 GB / 32 GB (recommended)
Disk Size Required 250 GB
Processor Type Intel Core-i5, i7 family, or equivalent
CPU Dual/Quad cores
CPU Speed (GHz) 2.8
Recommended CPU clock in Giga Hz 2.8
Operating System Windows 7 (64-bit) or Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) or Windows 2012 Server R2 or Windows 2016 Server.
Storage Type SAS SSD with RAID Level 0 Configured
Years of data online 1 year

Recommended Historian Standard Edition Server with 100K to 1 Million Tags

Tags 100K to 1 Million
RAM (GB) 16 GB / 32 GB (recommended)
Disk Size Required 250 GB
Processor Type Intel Xeon (56xx, E5 family or AMD Opteron 42xx/62xx family)
CPU Dual/Quad cores
CPU Speed (GHz) 2.8
Recommended CPU clock in Giga Hz 2.8
Operating System Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 2012 standard (64-bit) or Windows 2012 Server R2 or Windows 2016 Server .
Storage Type Direct attached or shared storage with SAS enterprise class drives. Hardware RAID controller with cache memory. SAN recommended over NAS
Years of data online 1 year

Recommended Historian Standard Edition Server with 1 Million to 2 Million Tags

Tags 1 Million to 2 Million
RAM (GB) 16 GB / 32 GB (recommended)
Disk Size Required 500 GB
Processor Type Intel Xeon (56xx, E5 family or AMD Opteron 42xx/62xx family)
CPU 2-Socket
CPU Speed (GHz) 2.6
Recommended CPU clock in Giga Hz 2.6
Operating System Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 2012 standard (64-bit) or Windows 2012 Server R2 or Windows 2016 Server.
Storage Type Direct attached or shared storage with SAS enterprise class drives. Hardware RAID controller with cache memory. SAN recommended over NAS
Years of data online 1 year

Recommended Historian Standard Edition Server with 2 Million to 5 Million Tags

Tags 2 Million to 5 Million
RAM (GB) 32 GB / 64GB
Disk Size Required 500 GB
Processor Type Intel Xeon (56xx, E5 family or AMD Opteron 42xx/62xx family)
CPU 2-socket or 4-socket
CPU Speed (GHz) 2.6
Recommended CPU clock in Giga Hz 2.6
Operating System Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 2012 standard (64-bit) or Windows 2012 Server R2 or Windows 2016 Server.
Storage Type High speed shared storage with SAS or SSD drive types. Hardware RAID controller with cache memory. SAN recommended over NAS.
Years of data online 1 year

Sustained Event Rate Example System

System performance may vary depending on the hardware specifications, operating system, and tuning parameters. These hardware specifications are provided as a reference only.
Specification Medium Size Server Large Size Server
Processor Type Intel Xeon 5540 Intel Xeon E5-2670 or E5-4650
CPU Dual socket Dual socket or quad-socket
CPU Speed (GHz) 2.5 2.7
RAM (GB) 64 256

Historian Collector Configuration Recommendations

Configuration Item Recommendation
RAM (GB) 8 GB
Disk Size required 80 GB
Historian Collectors 32-bit or 64-bit (GE Data Collector for Wonderware support 64-bit only)
Operating System
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 10
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Standard (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016

Notes

  • Historian Collectors work as 32-bit applications on a 64-bit Windows operating systems using WoW64 mode (Windows-on-Windows 64-bit). However, you can read and write data from a 64-bit Historian Server.
  • RAM and Disk Size required may vary based on the collectors available on the system.
  • Recommended number of tags per collector is 20 to 30K.
  • For iFIX systems, count each Node.Tag.Field (NTF) as a separate tag when you determine the size of the system. For example, FIX.FIC101.F_CV and FIX.FIC101.B_CUALM (current alarm) both count as tags, even though they are derived from the same iFIX tag.

Optimizing Virtual Memory

Through the use of paging files, Windows allocates space on your hard drive for use as if it were actually memory. This space is known as virtual memory. Be sure to optimize the virtual memory on the Historian archiver computer.
Note:

If the paging file is set to grow dynamically, your system may experience severe performance problems during run time. To ensure optimal performance, be sure that the Initial Size and Maximum Size of the paging file are the same so that the paging file does not grow dynamically. For more information on creation and sizing of Windows paging files, refer to the Microsoft Windows Help.

To optimize the virtual memory paging file for Historian in Windows:

  1. Double-click the System icon in the Windows Control Panel.
  2. Open the Performance Options dialog box:
    1. On Windows 7, or Windows 8, or Windows Server 2008, click Advanced System Settings in the left pane.
    2. In the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.
    3. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
  3. In the Virtual Memory group box, select Change.
  4. In the Initial Size field, enter a value equal to three times your physical memory.
  5. In the Maximum Size field, enter a value equal to three times your physical memory.
  6. Select Set.
  7. Click OK.

Software Requirements

This topic describes the minimum Historian software requirements.

Microsoft Windows Operating Systems

Historian requires one of the following operating systems, with latest service packs or revisions:
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (32-bit or 64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Note: Historian 7.0 32-bit components such as Collectors, Excel Add-in 32-bit, Interactive SQL 32-bit, APIs, and Non-Web Administrator work as 32-bit application on 64-bit Windows operating systems using WoW64 mode (Windows-on-Windows 64-bit). However, you can read and write data from a 64-bit Historian Server.

If you use Historian 6.0 or later on Windows Server 2008 (32/64-bit) or Windows Server 2008 R2, you must go for a Full Installation and not Core Installation of Windows.

Network Interface Software

The TCP/IP network protocol is required.

Microsoft.NET Framework 4.5.1

The installation of .NET 4.5.1 is a prerequisite to the Historian install. You can install it manually or you will be prompted to download and install it via the Historian install. In order to have .NET 4.5.1 downloaded and installed as part of the Historian install, your Proxy must be configured for internet access.

Microsoft SQL Server

One of the following 32-bit or 64-bit SQL Server systems to configure alarm and event archiving or to use Historian as a linked server:
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2, Standard, or Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2012 SP3
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2014 SP1 Express, Standard, or Professional
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Express, Standard, or Professional
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Express, Standard, or Professional
Note: The collation for your Alarm and Event database needs to match the collation of your SQL Server. This happens automatically by default but can become different if the Alarm and Event Database is moved to another SQL Server.

Microsoft Excel

The Historian Excel Add-In requires one of the following
  • Microsoft Excel 2007 (32 bit only)
  • Microsoft Excel 2010 (32 & 64 bit)
  • Microsoft Excel 2013 (32 & 64 bit)
  • Microsoft Excel 2016 (32 & 64 bit)

Web Server

Web server requirements are as follows.
  • Microsoft.NET Framework 4.5.2
  • Historian Client Tools 7.0 or greater
  • OLE DB, User API, and Historian Client Access Assembly

Historian Server

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP2 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional (64-bit)
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
  • Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5
Note: Historian Server runs on 64 bit only.

Supported Browsers

The following are the supported browsers for Historian Web Administrator and Trend Client:

  • Firefox 46+

  • Google Chrome 39+

  • Internet Explorer 11

Supported Browsers for Historian Help

The following are the supported browsers for Historian Help:

  • Firefox 46+

  • Google Chrome 39+

  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge 40

Historian and Microsoft Windows

Optimizing Server Settings

If you are running Historian on a Windows computer, do not set your File and Printer Sharing for the Server optimization options to Maximum Data Throughput for File Sharing. The Maximize Data Throughput for File Sharing setting in File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks Properties controls the system cache size and allows the cache to grow very large. This could cause excessive paging when dealing with large files and might interfere with applications like Historian.

It is recommended that you select the Maximum Data Throughput for Network Applications option.

To view or change your Server Optimization settings on Windows servers:

  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Double-click the Network and Dial-Up Connections icon.
    The Network and Dial-up Connections dialog box appears.
  3. Right-click the Local Area Connection Properties icon and select Properties.
  4. Select the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks component and click the Properties button.
  5. Ensure that the Maximize Data Throughput for Network Applications option is selected.
  6. Click OK.
    For more information on changing the Server Service properties, refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q228766.

Archiver Obtaining List of Domain Controllers

If the archiver is configured to use domain group security, the data archiver obtains the list of primary and backup domain controllers at archiver startup. If a domain controller is not available at that time or if you add new domain controllers, they are not seen by the archiver until the next time the archiver is restarted. For example, if your backup domain controller was not available on archiver startup, the archiver will not fail over to the backup domain controller for user authentication.

For more information, refer to the Working with Security section in Online Help.

Windows Firewall Enabled by Default

Windows Firewall is enabled by default in Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008, and Server 2012.

If you install Historian on any of the given systems, you will be prompted to allow Historian to reconfigure the Windows Firewall. If you answer Yes, Historian is added to the firewall's exception list and set to Enabled. If you answer No, Historian is added to the list and set to Disabled. You can change this setting through the Windows Firewall control panel at any time.

VMWare Support

Historian provides support for VMware ESXi Server version 5.0 and above. The virtualization capability provided by VMware lets you run multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine, with each virtual machine sharing the resources of that one physical computer. Please be aware that while we have tested VMware ESXi 5.0 and above, issues with the VMware software or the virtualized environment are outside the scope of GE Digital's responsibility. You must use VMWare Compatibility Hardware and Software before installing Historian 7.0 or greater Data Archiver on a Virtual Machine. For the current release, the only supported type of Proficy licensing for use with VMware is keyless (software) licensing.
Note: VMware Player is not supported.
Important: Advanced features of ESXi Server (such as VMotion, High Availability, and Clustering support) have not been tested with Historian.

For information regarding VMWare compatibility and its supported software and hardware environments, please visit: http://www.vmware.com/resources/guides.html

VMWare Best Practices and Limitations

Disk Growth
To prevent disk growth during run time, make sure you pre-allocate the hard disk in your VMware image.
Important: If the VMware disk needs to grow at runtime because of IHA growth or creation, the Data Archiver will be slowed. If there is not enough disk space on the host machine to grow the VMware disk, the archiver may lose data.
Suspended Images/Power Metered Images
ESXi servers have power meter functions and options as well as the ability to suspend images to conserve power. We do not recommend or support these functions due to the potential effects on the Guest operating system, specifically in regards to polling I/O and timely updates.
I/O Devices and Connections and VMware
There are a multitude of devices and methods of communications on the market. These devices may be used if you can successfully connect them from the virtual machine through the physical HOST, but we do not support the setup of that connection. Be aware that device drivers used to write to proprietary cards for the ESXi HOSTS as part of virtual device setup can cause issues.
USB Controller Limitations
The USB controller has these limitations when using Historian and VMware:
  • Minimum virtual hardware version 7 is required.
  • Only one USB controller of each type can be added to a virtual machine.
  • The USB arbitrator can monitor a maximum of 15 USB controllers. If your system includes an additional number of controllers and you connect USB devices to these controllers, the devices are not available to be passed through to a virtual machine.
  • You must add a USB controller to a virtual machine before you can add a USB device.
  • You must remove all USB devices from a virtual machine before you can remove the controller
USB Device Limitations
USB devices have these limitations when using Historian and VMware:
  • A virtual machine may have up to 20 USB devices attached to it; however, each unique USB device can only be attached to one virtual machine at a time.
  • Unsupported USB devices may not interact as expected with other ESXi features.
Additional VMware Notes
GE Digital cannot guarantee the performance of the Historian software in a virtualized environment due to the wide range of parameters associated with the hardware, configuration, memory settings, third-party software installations, and the number of virtual machines running; all of which can affect performance. Therefore, GE Digital cannot provide support related to the performance of the Historian software running on a virtual machine if it is determined that the issue is related to the virtual environment. Also, GE Digital does not provide support or troubleshoot a customer's virtual machine infrastructure.

It is the responsibility of you, the customer, to ensure that the performance of the Historian software and any third-party applications (especially those not recommended by GE Digital) are adequate to meet the needs of your run mode environment. GE Digital does not support issues related to functionality that is not available as a result of running in a virtual machine infrastructure. Examples include the functionality of card level drivers such as those for the Genius family of drivers, the Allen-Bradley DH/DH+ drivers, the Cyberlogic's MBX Driver for the SA85 card, as well as functions requiring direct video access. Check with the vendor of your third-party application for support statements regarding that third-party product's ability to run in a virtualized environment.

For more detailed information regarding VMware specifications and requirements, visit the VMware web site: http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php.

Compatibility with Other GE Products

Several GE products work with Historian. The following is a general set of required versions to work with Historian 7.0.

Important: If you want to enable the Strict Authentication feature in Historian 7.0, be aware that you will need to apply the latest SIMs that support this feature for all Proficy clients that connect to the Archiver, including the ones listed in this table. In addition, there may be SIMS to allow pre-5.0 collectors and client applications such as Excel Add-In to connect. Refer to the SIM download page for update for Historian and other Proficy products.
Product Minimum Required Version
Proficy Portal 3.5 SP2, 3.5 SP3
Machine Edition View 9.0
CIMPLICITY 10.0
iFIX iFIX5.9
Plant Apps PA7. SP2
Smart Signal 6.0
CSense 6.0
Proficy Historian Analysis 6.0 SP1 SIM5 or greater
Proficy Knowledge Center 6.0 SP1 SIM5 or greater

* For customers using iFIX, there was a change in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry values for WebSpace and it will no longer work with the existing SIM. Ensure that you get the latest iFIX SIMs. The following article provides additional instructions: https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/en_US/Article/iFIX-Webspace-Strict-Historian-Authentication

** For Plant Apps customers using the Historian Type = GE Proficy Historian 3.0 to connect to Historian 7.0, both the Enabled and Disabled options for Enforce Strict Client Authentication selection are supported.

** For Plant Apps customers using the Historian Type = GE Proficy Historianto connect to Proficy Historian 7.0, only the Disabled option for Enforce Strict Client Authentication selection is supported.

In Historian 5.0, the Historian HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key values were changed. The programs accessing the server collection through the SDK are unaffected. Any program or script that directly accesses the registry keys or any Terminal Server login scripts that try to configure a list of servers by importing registry keys directly will no longer work. Such programs need to access the server collection via SDK calls, not directly.

Additional Setup Information

See the topics below for additional setup information.

Regional Settings Support

Historian supports the following regional settings available in the Windows Control Panel:
  • Decimal symbol - one character
  • Digit grouping symbol
  • List separator - one character
  • Time style
  • Time separator
  • Short date style
  • Date separator

Time and Date Formatting

Avoid changing the time style or short date style in regional settings to values that are outside of the standard styles provided. Changing these values to non-standard styles may result in improperly formatted times and dates.

Historian supports the following short date formats, some of which may not be available in certain language versions of Windows:
  • dd/mm/yy
  • dd/yy/mm
  • mm/dd/yy
  • mm/yy/dd
  • yy/dd/mm
  • yy/mm/dd

Datatype Support

The following table lists the supported Historian data types and their sizes:
Data Type Size
Single Float 4 bytes
Double Float 8 bytes
Single Integer 2 bytes
Double Integer 4 bytes
Quad Integer 8 bytes
Unsigned Quad Integer 8 bytes
Unsigned Single Integer 2 bytes
Unsigned Double Integer 4 bytes
Byte 1 byte
Boolean 1 byte
Fixed String Configured by user.
Variable String No fixed size.
Binary Object No fixed size.

Historian does not support the use of the Binary Object data type with the Data Collectors. Refer to the SDK online Help for more information on working with BLOB data types.
Scaled 2 bytes

Enabling Trust for a Self-signed Certificate on Chrome

At install time, a self-signed certificate is generated that you use with Historian web applications. A self-signed certificate is a certificate that is signed by itself rather than signed by a trusted authority. Therefore, a warning in the browser appears when connecting to a server that uses a self-signed certificate until it is permanently stored in your certificate store.

  1. In the Google Chrome browser go the site to which you want to connect.
    A warning box appears to inform you that that the certificate is not trusted by the computer or browser.

    Click the gray lock to the left of the URL, and then select the Details link. The Security Overview screen appears.

  2. Click the gray lock to the left of the URL, and then select the Details link.
    The Security Overview dialog appears.
  3. Click the View certificate button.
    The Certificate window appears with three tabs: General, Details, and Certification Path.
  4. Select the Details tab and click the Copy to Files button.
  5. Follow the wizard to save the certificate to a local file.
    Use the default format: DER encoded binary X.509 (.CER).
  6. Right-click the .CER file, and select Install Certificate.
  7. Select Trusted Root Certificate Authorities and click OK.
    Note: Do not let the wizard select the store for you.

    A Security Warning dialog may appear. If it does, disregard this dialog by clicking the Yes button to install the certificate.

  8. Restart the browser and connect to the server.
  9. Open the URL authenticated by the certificate.
    If error messages do not appear, the certificate was successfully imported.