Configure Multiple Instances

A single AIM installation can define various settings, such as:

• The database connection.

• The Access Control List (ACL), see Deny Access to AVEVA AIM Dashboard.

• The location of a connected Document Management System (DMS), see Interface with DMS .

• AVEVA Asset Information Management Player configuration, see Configure the AVEVA AIM Player.

However, when a single Web Server is used with multiple Database Servers (multiple instances), this requires further changes to the <portals> section. Each database has its own <portal> section, therefore giving each Instance separate control of the settings mentioned previously.

Note: There is a maximum of 32 Portal IDs (<portal> elements) that can be added to the web.config file.

Advantages of this are that each Instance can have:

• Its own ACL, providing a simpler, higher-level granularity of access control than available when using Security Access Groups (SAGs, see Security Access Groups). This can give access control configured at a database level.

• A database which has DMS files (for example, Documentum) in a different location.

  Note: At least one <portal> must be defined.

You can configure multiple instances using procedures in either of the following two methods:

• Using the web.config file

• Using the Configuration Database

Using the web.config file

To configure multiple Instances using the web.config file:

1. Install and deploy AIM with details of your Default database.

2. Run the Database Manager (see Database Manager Tool) to initialize, populate and (optionally) register the File Store for each additional Instance.

3. Open the web.config file found in the application root.

4. In the <portals> section, add a new <portal> section for each Instance and provide the connection string details. For example:

   <ConnectionString connectionString="DBUsername=ipe;DBPassword=ipe;PasswordEncrypted=false;
   DBDataSource=WIN-1N61CGSFN1V\SQL2008R2, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard"
   name="Default" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

   Note: DatabasePort is the port number on which the Database Server is running. The default port number is 1433.

5. To configure SQL Authentication, add the following connection string:

   <ConnectionString connectionString="DBUsername=test;DBPassword=test;PasswordEncrypted=false;
   DBDatasource=localhost, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard" name="Default" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

6. To configure Windows Authentication with account taken from the process thread, add the following connection string:

   <ConnectionString connectionString="Integrated=true;Database=test;Schema=testschema;
   PasswordEncrypted=false;DBDatasource=localhost, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard"
   name="Integrated" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

7. To configure Windows Authentication with a specific Windows account, add the following connection string:

   <ConnectionString connectionString="Integrated=true;Database=test;Schema=testschema;
   DBUsername=AVEVA \MyUserName;DBPassword=MyPassword;PasswordEncrypted=false;
   DBDatasource=localhost, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard"
   name="IntegratedSpecific" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

8. Verify if the complete <portals> section looks like the following:

   <portals>

   <portal id="Default">

   <ConnectionString connectionstring="…" />

   <AccessControlList>

   <Allow ...

   <Deny ...

   </AccessControlList>

   <ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

   <!-- po ... -->

   </ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

   </portal>

   <portal id="SRP">

   <ConnectionString connectionstring="…" />

   <AccessControlList>

   <Allow ...

   <Deny ...

   </AccessControlList>

   <ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

   <!-- po ... -->

   </ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

   </portal>

   </portals>

9. Save the web.config file.

Using the Configuration Database

To configure multiple Instances using the Configuration Database:

10. Install and deploy AIM with details of your Default database.

11. Run the Database Manager (see Database Manager Tool) to initialize, populate and (optionally) register the File Store for each additional instance. You can use either the same database that has your engineering data or a separate database that only holds the configuration data.

12. Make the required changes in the BootstrapAssetInstance.xml file, which can be found at C:\Program Files\AVEVA\AVEVA NET\Import\Server\Bootstrap if you are using the default location.

13. In the <portals> section, add a new <portal> section for each Instance and provide the connection string details. For example:

    <ConnectionString connectionString="DBUsername=ipe;DBPassword=ipe;PasswordEncrypted=false;
    DBDataSource=WIN-1N61CGSFN1V\SQL2008R2, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard"
    name="Default" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

    Note: DatabasePort is the port number on which the Database Server is running. The default port number is 1433.

14. To configure SQL Authentication, add the following connection string:

    <ConnectionString connectionString="DBUsername=test;DBPassword=test;PasswordEncrypted=false;
    DBDatasource=localhost, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard" name="Default" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

15. To configure Windows Authentication with account taken from the process thread, add the following connection string:

    <ConnectionString connectionString="Integrated=true;Database=test;Schema=testschema;
    PasswordEncrypted=false;DBDatasource=localhost, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard"
    name="Integrated" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

16. To configure Windows Authentication with a specific Windows account, add the following connection string:

    <ConnectionString connectionString="Integrated=true;Database=test;Schema=testschema;
    DBUsername=AVEVA \MyUserName;DBPassword=MyPassword;PasswordEncrypted=false;
    DBDatasource=localhost, DatabasePort;ClassLibrary=Standard"
    name="IntegratedSpecific" providerName="System.Data.ProviderName"/>

17. Verify if the complete <portals> section looks like the following in the BootstrapAssetInstance.xml file under the characteristic, BODY :

    <portals>

    <portal id="Default">

    <ConnectionString connectionstring="…" />

    <AccessControlList>

    <Allow ...

    <Deny ...

    </AccessControlList>

    <ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

    <!-- po ... -->

    </ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

    </portal>

    <portal id="SRP">

    <ConnectionString connectionstring="…" />

    <AccessControlList>

    <Allow ...

    <Deny ...

    </AccessControlList>

    <ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

    <!-- po ... -->

    </ContentManagementInteroperabilityServices>

    </portal>

    </portals>

18. Process the BootstrapAssetInstance.xml file through the Import Controller.

19. Open the web.config file found in the Application root.

20. Replace the Default Configuration as shown in the following screenshot:

    

    with the OPEProvider Configuration (to use configuration database) as shown in the following screenshot:

    

    Note: The OPEProvider configuration can be found in the web.config file, which is commented out by default. To use the OPEProvider configuration, you must uncomment the configuration and provide the connection string of the initialized

21. To open the new instance in a browser, add the ID to your AIM Dashboard URL, for example:

    http://localhost:16000/?portalId=SRP

    Note: The Portal ID must be inserted before the # character in the URL. For example: http://{site}:{port}/?portalId=IPE#/item=J-9002A. The "Default" Portal ID defines the settings to be used when there is no portalId parameter specified in the URL.