Settings

The Settings menu displays the following sections:

  • General
  • Logging
  • Users
  • Proxy
  • Backup
  • SSL/TLS
  • Performance Metrics and Alerts
  • BACnet Server IP
  • Expert Settings

General

  1. Display MSIB Local Timestamps: Activates or deactivates local timestamps. See Working with Nodes.
  2. Buffering Max Files Per Node: Amount of files per node. The default value is 675.
  3. Buffering: Activates or deactivates the override of old data.
  4. Once the size limit is reached, use this switch to either start replacing old data with new data (On) or to stop MSIB from buffering all new data (Off). The default setting for the switch is On.

  5. MSIB imposes a buffering limit based on available disc space which is by default 80%. Reaching either of these limits will stop MSIB from buffering any further data.

  6. Navigator URL: Choose from the options based on local firewall configuration. See Navigator Settings.
  7. The URL displays in the field below.

Logging

Generate and view log files by choosing a level of provided application logging.

  1. Logging Level: Select the preferred type of log file to generate.
  2. The options are sorted from none to debug in order of wordiness for each logging level. The debug option provides the most verbose option for logging. Choosing none mutes all application logging.
  3. Get log files: Download a log file generated as a ZIP file. The ZIP file name will be timestamped with the day's date, for example, msib-log_2020-6-24.zip.

Users

See Working with User Accounts for information about managing user accounts.

Proxy

Some IT departments require the use of a proxy for connecting to the Internet. The Proxy option allows the user to set up a proxy for all nodes to use. By default, a proxy is not enabled.

If a proxy is required, choose Yes for the Proxy Enabled field. The dialog box expands as shown below.

Complete the fields as required.

  1. Proxy URL: The proxy server address should be specified as an IP address and should not include the http:// prefix.
  2. Proxy Port: Enter the proxy server port number. The default port is 80.
  3. Proxy Username: Enter the user name for the proxy in the field (if needed).
  4. Proxy Password: Enter the password for the proxy in the field (if needed).

Backup

Best practices dictate backing up of MSIB data. In particular, back up the node configuration content and private key.

To backup folders and files from the working MSIB folder, select Get backup from the Download MSIB configuration pane.

This tasks creates a ZIP file containing all pertinent MSIB files needed to restore the current application installation. The following example details a common configuration file download.

To restore an installation, use the left-hand Upload MSIB configuration window pane to choose a previously saved configuration file. After choosing the saved file, select the Restore button to restore the current installation to the previously saved configuration.

The main intent of this process is for best practices of backing up work. The process can also be used to bring node data from one instance of MSIB to another. The difference lies in restoring the data in the original MSIB or a new instance of MSIB.

A manual refresh of the MSIB UI web browser page is required after a restore. While restore is performing an auto MSIB restart, the MSIB UI presents a partial login page and a 500 - Internal Server Error message appears at the bottom right. The manual refresh of the MSIB UI web browser page removes the error message and displays the MSIB UI log in page.

Restoring after HTTPS Port Changes

For the default HTTPS installation, port configuration is Port 8443. MSIB will fail to start if the initial specified port is already in use by another application, so it is important to ensure that an unused port is provided as the MSIB port.

If a restore is to be performed using a backup containing a different port than the current MSIB port, additional manual steps are required.

  • Verify that the different port is not already in use by another application.
  • Verify that the different port is defined in the firewall settings. The port will need to be defined if not already there.
  • After restore, the MSIB UI must be manually relaunched in the browser using its new URL containing the different port number.

For more information, see Changing the HTTPS Port.

SSL/TLS

Selecting the SSL/TLS link opens the following configuration interface.

For a thorough discussion of SSL/TLS, see Applying Certificate and Key Files.

To change the Web UI Port (HTTPS) after initial installation, see Changing HTTPS Port.

Performance Metrics and Alerts

  1. Disk Utilization Threshold
  2. Memory Utilization Threshold
  3. CPU Utilization Threshold
  4. (Linux only) Linux Load Average - 1 Minute
  5. (Linux only) Linux Load Average - 5 Minutes
  6. (Linux only) Linux Load Average - 15 Minutes

BACnet Server IP

A BACnet server can be identified as part of the discovery process in normal data collection mode.

To define the settings of a BACnet Server for use within MSIB select go to Settings > BACnet Server IP.

  1. Network IP Adapter: Select a network interface for BACnet communication in server mode as well as during the discovery process.
  2. Network IP Address: Enter an address for MSIB to use for the BACnet server.
  3. Network UDP Port: Defines UDP port for outgoing BACnet communication (as well as the listening port) for the BACnet server. In most cases, the port can be the same UDP port as other BACnet onsite devices. In situations to avoid a conflict with different BACnet applications using the same interface and IP address, a different UDP port can be defined.

After saving the BACnet Server IP information, the entered data populates the Settings dialog when entering data during the Discovery process. See Using MSIB to Discover a BACnet Network.

Using this feature directly connects the Discovery process to BACnet server settings.

  • The Discovery Port defines the UDP port where BACnet onsite devices are listening for requests.
  • The Register Foreign Device with BBMD field defines the IP address of BBMD within the customer network. BBMD has to listen on the same UDP port as defined as the Discovery port or another formulation Discovery port has to be set to the same value as the onsite port that BBMD is listening to.

Expert Settings

The following Expert Settings are included here but are not typical settings for routine modification.

  1. Override description field limit: Use the field if an MSIB scan fails to obtain the Description field for data points.
  2. Timeout for BACnet Discovery: In certain configurations, a timeout longer than the default setting of one second is required in order for manual discovery of BACnet devices to work properly. Use the field for adjusting the timeout default setting.
  3. Convert BACnet object names to uppercase: By default the switch is On so MSIB imports all data point characters as uppercase letters. Turn this switch Off to override the uppercase setting to force MSIB to import data point data exactly as shown in the import file.
  4. Include DXR device name prefix in discovery file: The switch is enabled by default. If enabled, all BACnet Object Names and Point Names of DXR objects listed in the Discovery file are prefixed with the device, for example: DXR01:BRBE'R'Flr_00'FacArr'M01'ROpModDtr'PrOpMod.
  5. If disabled, the BACnet Object Names and Point Names of DXR objects will not contain the device name prefix, for example: BRBE'R'Flr_00'FacArr'M01'ROpModDtr'PrOpMod.
  6. BACnet single port mode: If the switch is enabled, all BACnet pollers in MSIB will use only one shared socket for BACnet UDP communication.

  7. Enabling the switch can have an impact on performance and scalability of MSIB. Using only one shared socket can hinder MSIB performance. Standard performance is when each BACnet poller uses its own socket. Use this feature cautiously if there is need to have no additional firewall rules dynamically created for each BACnet poller process/socket on the server where MSIB is installed.

  8. UDP Port number for BACnet port manager: Value of BACnet port manager is only relevant when MSIB is not running in BACnet single port mode. If MSIB is running in BACnet single port mode, BACnet port manager shares socket with main BACnet server port (default is 47808).
  9. Periodic watchdog process: Enter period of time for watchdog process.
  10. Resolve hostnames for devices: If disabled, only IP address will be used.
  11. (Hedge only) Resolve hostnames for devices: If disabled, only IP address will be used.
  12. Keep old discovery files: If disabled, the old discovery files are deleted.