Prerequisites for collective creation

Before you create a collective, make sure you meet the following requirements:

1. Access and licensing:

   • Ensure you have access as described in Requirements for running PI Collective Manager.

   • Verify your PI license supports your collective.

2. Data Archive version:

   • Confirm that each collective member is running Data Archive version 3.4.380, or later. The primary server can be an existing Data Archive server or a newly installed Data Archive server.

   • If you are using an existing Data Archive server as the primary server, make sure that you have a valid backup.

3. Point classes:

   Create or edit all necessary point classes on the primary server. After the collective is created, point class changes are not replicated. To synchronize members, you must reinitialize all secondary nodes.

4. Time synchronization:

   • Synchronize time settings on all collective members.

   • For all computers hosting PI Server server roles and individual features, you must ensure that the time is set correctly and synchronized to Data Archive. In addition, ensure that all Windows machines have the proper time-zone settings and are set to automatically adjust for daylight-saving changes.

   • We recommend that you synchronize the Data Archive clock with a network time protocol (NTP) server.

     For details, see the Knowledge Base article Handling DST on PI Server, PI Interface, and PI Client nodes.

5. Trusts and mappings:

   Establishing trusts and mappings between data archives is a critical step for creating a PI collective. These trusts and mappings allow secure communication and data replication between the primary and secondary servers.

   For details on defining PI trusts and mappings, see Define a PI trust against a PI identity.