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With numerous PCo agent instances, agents don't load on server restart

Former Member
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When we restart the server on which PCo is running, the agent instances tend not to start up as they should.

We have 13 different PCo agent instances that are set to automatic, and it appears that after a server restart, they all compete for system resources in such a way that some of them tend to give up and "hang" rather than start successfully. By "hang" I mean what you see in the screenshot below. They show up as a "question mark" in PCo rather than a "green arrow" or "orange square." They are not working, even though Windows will tell you they are started.

We can resolve this manually but want to avoid having to do this after every server restart.

Am I right that this is related to us having a larger than usual number of PCo agent instances?

Is there a recommended way of resolving this issue?

Thanks,

Greg

Accepted Solutions (1)

Accepted Solutions (1)

former_member196557
Active Contributor
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Hi Greg,

Please try these suggestions:

1.  Make sure that each Agent Instance has a startup dependency to the OPC Server that you are using (Host Tab, Change Service Dependencies, add KepServerEX 5.xx Runtime)

2.  Using the Services control panel applet, set the startup mode for each Agent Instance to Automatic - Delayed Start.

3.

3. Make sure that Kepware 5.xx Runtime service is set to start Automatically (not delayed start).

Regards, Steve

Former Member
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Thanks Steve. That did the trick.

I never noticed the "change service dependencies" feature before. Very helpful, thanks!

Greg

former_member196557
Active Contributor
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Hi Greg,

Glad to help as always!

The service dependency is really important for Agent Instances that connect to an OPC Server.  When the instance starts, and the OPC Server has NOT started, the instance itself will try to launch the OPC Server through COM.  I suspect that all these services are starting and the OPC Server not being started first is causing some of them to go to an unknown state while trying to get access through COM to "start" the OPC Server service.

The other option for Automatic - Delayed Start is useful as well as it will delay starting any service marked this way until ALL other Automatic services are started.

We have customers that utilize both settings, especially where there are 40-50+ Agent Instances in the PCo configuration.

Regards, Steve

Answers (0)