FactoryTalk AssetCentre Agent Group frequently asked questions
For a video introduction, see Agent Groups for Disaster Recovery.
What are FactoryTalk AssetCentre agents?
See "FactoryTalk AssetCentre agent frequently asked questions".
What are FactoryTalk AssetCentre Agent Groups?
Agent Groups allow for the categorization of individual agents within a FactoryTalk AssetCentre system. By default, and in versions before 6.00, all agents were required to be identically configured such that the FactoryTalk AssetCentre server could assign a task to any existing agent. With Agent Groups, an asset can now have an assigned Agent Group, allowing for agents to have different configurations.
Starting from FactoryTalk AssetCentre version 15.00, you can create local and remote agent groups. A local agent group contains agents that are members of a FactoryTalk Directory to which the FactoryTalk AssetCentre system belongs. A remote agent group contains agents that are members of a remote FactoryTalk Directory. For more information, see
Work with remote FactoryTalk Directory
in the FactoryTalk AssetCentre Getting Results Guide.How are FactoryTalk AssetCentre Agent Groups licensed?
An activated FactoryTalk AssetCentre server will provide four Agent Groups by default. If more Agent Groups are required, additional capacity activations can be added, which will provide four Agent Groups per activation. See Knowledgebase Document ID: QA9523 - FactoryTalk AssetCentre Activation for information on the difference between capacity and capability activations.
How are FactoryTalk AssetCentre Agent Groups created?
Agent Groups are created using the FactoryTalk AssetCentre desktop client, and requires the user to be in Design Mode. Agent Groups are administered using the Agent Group plug-in.
How many FactoryTalk AssetCentre Agent Groups can be created?
FactoryTalk AssetCentre version 15.00 and later support both local and remote Agent Groups. You can refer to the following for characterized system size. Exceeding these evaluated limits might impact system performance.
Product Version | Agent Groups | Remote Agent Groups |
|---|---|---|
16.00 | 100 This is a sum of local and remote agent groups. | 50 |
15.00 | 100 This is a sum of local and remote agent groups. | 50 |
13.00 | 50 | Not supported |
12.00 | 50 | Not supported |
11.00 | 50 | Not supported |
10.00 | 50 | Not supported |
9.00 | 35 | Not supported |
8.00 | 25 | Not supported |
7.00 | 10 | Not supported |
6.00 | 10 | Not supported |
5.00 | Not supported | Not supported |
How many FactoryTalk AssetCentre agents can be added to a single Agent Group?
Up to five agents can be added to one Agent Group.
Can a FactoryTalk AssetCentre agent be a member of more than one Agent Group?
- For a local agent, it can be associated with multiple local Agent Groups.
- For a remote agent, it can only be associated with one remote Agent Group.
Is there a maximum number of Agent Groups that a single agent can be a member of?
- For a local agent, it can be a member of every local Agent Group configured in the system.
- For a remote agent, it can only be associated with one remote Agent Group.
Must all FactoryTalk AssetCentre agents in a single Agent Group be configured identically?
Yes. Agents that belong to the same Agent Group must be able to perform any task requested of that Agent Group, meaning that they must be configured identically (for example, common RSLinx Classic drivers.)
What is the System Default Agent Group?
The System Default Agent Group is created by default, and cannot be deleted. By default, all assets in the system are assigned to the System Default Agent Group, as are all new agents. Note that any upgraded system will also assign all existing assets and agents to this group.
How is an asset's Agent Group configured?
Each asset has an Agent Group property in the Asset Information category.
Will an asset hierarchically inherit the Agent Group configuration of its parent asset?
Yes. The Agent Group defined for a parent asset will inherit to any child assets. This inheritance can be broken at any level.
Can an asset be configured to use more than one Agent Group?
No. Only one Agent Group can be assigned to an asset.
Is there a list of all assets configured to use a certain Agent Group?
Yes. The Agent Group plug-in contains a view that will display all agent groups, and the assets to which they are assigned.
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