Migrate the PI ICU settings away from the PI Module Database

Interesting idea the one of the AF, even if I have some doubt about how reliable could be the Windows authentication: PI interface node and PI server are normally segregated by firewalls and not in the same domain. In similar cases (i.e. when using a PI EMDVB interface to Event Frames) we happened to get some inexplicable unauthorized errors that later disappeared again inexplicably. Today (with PI MDB) we set easily a PI trust and just open port 5450/tcp.

There's at least one more soft using MDB - PI ACE. Nevertheless, you are 100% right. ICU should keep it's settings out in AF. AF has been designed to replace MDB. There's one more reason - there are no tools to edit MDB. I'm now trying to improve my systems security by changing ICU identity from piadmin and I am forced to do it manually.

Czuprynski, PI ACE is deprecated in favour of the PI Analysis Service (see this: https://pisquare.osisoft.com/s/article/000036664). I've never used PI ACE before, so I can't tell you if the PI Analysis Service has all of the functionality of PI ACE. If we REALLY wanted to kill the PI Module Database, we could always set up our PI Interfaces without the PI ICU, but it would be harder than when we do use the PI ICU. I don't understand why the PI ICU needs to store a separate copy of the configuration settings in the PI Module Database. The settings are already contained in the batch file and PI ICU will even complain when the batch file and the PI Module Database don't match.

I know this thread is old but this needs to be revived and addressed. The ICU needs to either be decoupled from the MDB, or there needs to be a mechanism where users can bulk edit settings that affect multiple interfaces. Perhaps by allowing the batch file to override the MDB (rather than just having it one way), migrating the settings into AF where they can be managed by the administrator or just allowing the batch file to be the "master" copy. Every time we have to change even a single setting now, it has to be done manually via the ICU. When dealing with hundreds of interfaces, what should be a simple change has become a time consuming, tedious and error prone task. I don't know how many hours we have burned being stuck clicking through the ICU just to make a change that could have been done quickly, easily and consistently via a simple bulk edit of the batch files. Worse yet, many of these settings are likely to need change over the life of a PI system, or even as the system is tuned and optimized, so chances are most users will be faced with the unpleasant task multiple times over.

If this suggestion cannot be completed, then the PI ICU should be deprecated, or at least its use should be discouraged. As much as I prefer the PI ICU's user-friendliness over writing batch files manually, the latter requires fewer permissions and so is more secure.* I'm glad to see that, as of late 2020, the PI ICU is not included in PI Interface install kits going forward. *Specifically, the PI ICU requires all of the permissions required when you write batch files manually, plus read access to PIDBSEC and read and write access to PIModules and certain branches of the PI Module Database.