This quickstart guide shows how to automatically capture data from any Microsoft Windows-based instrument and upload it to the Tetra Data Platform (TDP) by using a Tetra File-Log Agent.

Time to complete: ~30 minutes

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NOTE

For Waters Empower, Thermo Scientific Chromeleon, and Agilent OpenLAb CDS data, it's recommended that you use those systems' specific Tetra Integrations (Tetra Empower Agent, Tetra Chromeleon Agent, or Tetra OpenLab Agent) when uploading data to the TDP.

Prerequisites

To complete this procedure, you must have the following:

• TDP v4.0.0 or higher
• A Tetra File-Log Agent installed on a host server that meets all of the hardware, software, and networking requirements. For installation instructions, see Install and Configure a Tetra File-Log Agent in the latest installation guide.
• The Agent's Receive Commands option must be set to Yes. If not, then you must enter the required configuration details in the local Agent Management Console.
• (Recommended) Configure the Agent’s upload method to S3 Direct Upload to support large files (>500 MB) and improve upload performance.

For guidance on selecting a connection type, see Agent Deployment Options and Recommended Approaches for Cloud / On-Premises Network Connectivity.

Configure a Tetra File-Log Agent to Pull Instrument Data

To automatically upload data from an on-premises instrument to the TDP by using a Tetra File-Log Agent, do the following:

Step 1: Access the Agent Details Page

Open the Agent Details page by doing the following:

1. Sign in to the TDP as a user with an Administrator role.
2. In the left navigation menu, choose Data Sources.
3. Choose Agents. The Agents page appears.
4. Select the name of the Tetra File-Log Agent that you want to configure. The Agent Details page appears.
5. Select the Configuration tab. The Agent's configuration information appears.

Step 2: Configure the Agent's Scan Path

To configure the directory that you want the Agent to monitor and upload data from, complete one of the following procedures based on the type of instrument you're using:

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NOTE

You can use a similar procedure to configure scan paths for other Windows-based instrument types that aren't listed here.

• Configure a Plate Reader FLA Path
• Configure a Mass Spectrometer FLA Path
• Configure a Flow Cytometer FLA Path
• Configure a Microscope FLA Path
• Configure a CDS FLA Path
• Configure a Dissolution Tester FLA Path

Step 3: Test the Setup

Verify that the Agent is uploading data from the instrument by doing the following:

Generate Test Data

To upload test files from the Tetra File-Log Agent, do the following:

1. Run a test experiment on your instrument.
2. Save the results to the directory that you configured the Agent to monitor.
3. Wait a few minutes for the Agent to detect the new files and upload them to the TDP.

Monitor Upload Progress

To monitor the Agent's file upload progress in the TDP, you can do either of the following:

• If your TDP environment has the Health Monitoring App activated, open the app's FLA tab and verify that the test data was uploaded successfully.

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• Use the Health Monitoring Dashboard's Events tab to verify that the Events and Files from your experiment appear in the dashboard. For more information, see View Events.

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NOTE

You can also check the Processing Summary in the local Agent Management Console to verify the test files were uploaded.

Search for the Results in the TDP

Verify that the files appear in the TDP user interface by doing the following:

1. Sign in to the TDP.
2. Search for the data the Agent uploaded based on the labels you configured in Step 2.

Congratulations! Your Tetra File-Log Agent is now configured to automatically capture and upload data from your instrument to the TDP.

Next Steps

• Add multiple paths if your lab has multiple instruments.
• Set up additional labels for better data organization. For more information, see Recommended Labels.
• Create a Windows task to automatically restart the Agent each day at a specific time. This setup ensures that the Agent remains online without having to check it manually each day.
• Create pipelines to process your data for specific use cases.
• Access and analyze the data through Search, the Tetra Data and AI Workspace, or third-party applications.
• Monitor Performance (latency, throughput) by using the Health Monitoring App.
• Horizontally scale the Agent to ingest more data by installing more than one Agent instance. For more information, see Horizontally Scale Agents in the TetraConnect Hub. For access, see Access the TetraConnect Hub.

Troubleshooting

To troubleshoot common issues, see the Tetra File-Log Agent Troubleshooting Guide and FAQ page.

Related Documentation

• Tetra File-Log Agent
• Agent Deployment Options
• Common Glob Patterns
• Recommended Approaches for Cloud / On-Premises Network Connectivity (TetraConnect Hub)