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

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.

How It Works

The Tetra File-Log Agent runs on a Windows server in your on-premises network and monitors instrument output folders. When new files appear, the Agent uploads them to the TDP through your organization’s forward proxy:

Agent host server → Customer forward proxy → TDP (Tetra-hosted)

All communication is outbound (Agent-initiated) over HTTPS (port 443). No inbound connections from the internet to your network are required.

Prerequisites

To complete this procedure, you must have the following:

• TDP v4.0.0 or higher
• A Windows server that meets the hardware and software requirements (Windows Server 2016 or later, .NET Framework 4.8+, 4 CPU cores, 16 GB RAM, 10 GB disk)
• Network access — outbound HTTPS (port 443) from the Agent host server to the TDP and AWS endpoints (see Step 2: Verify Network Access)
• (For network folders) A dedicated Windows service user account (Group User) with Read access to the shared folders the Agent needs to monitor (see Step 5: Configure Network Folder Access)

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NOTE

The File-Log Agent can only retrieve files stored on the NTFS file system. Other file systems are not supported. When using NTFS, do not make any directory you want to watch case-sensitive.

Step 1: Create an Agent and Select a Data Connection Type

1. Sign in to the TDP as a user with an Administrator role.
2. In the left navigation menu, choose Data Sources, then choose Agents.
3. Choose Create New Agent. The Add Agent wizard appears.
4. Select the No Connector option (recommended), then choose Next.
5. Enter the following information about the Agent:
   • For Name, enter the Agent's name (for example, Lab-FLA-01).
   • For Description, enter a description (for example, File-Log Agent for Building A instruments).
   • (Optional) For Attributes, add labels to organize the Agent (for example, site:building-a).
   • For Agent Type, select File-Log Agent from the dropdown.
6. Choose Create Agent on Platform. A dialog confirms that the Agent is created.
7. Choose Continue Installing Agent. The Install Agent Locally page appears. Note down the Agent ID and the Org Slug — you’ll need both when configuring the Agent in Step 4.
8. Add a new Service User for the Agent to use when communicating with the TDP. Make sure that the Service User has at least a Member role. Then, generate a JWT for the Service User and save it — you'll need it in Step 4.

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IMPORTANT

For security reasons, always create a new Service User for each Agent. The TDP does not allow you to select an existing Service User and copy its tokens to create a new Agent.

For more information about data connection types (including Tetra Hub connections), see Agent Deployment Options and Step 2 in the Installation Guide (v4.5.x).

Step 2: Verify Network Access

Configure your proxy or firewall to allow outbound HTTPS access (port 443) from the Agent host server to the following endpoints.

Required TDP API Endpoint

Allow access to your target TDP environment's API endpoint. Each TDP environment has a unique API URL that must be used to call TetraScience API endpoints. To identify which API URL to use in your requests, review the following deployment URLs and confirm which one you use to access your target TDP environment. Then, add its listed API URL to your proxy's or firewall's allow list.

For single-tenant (ST) deployments, the URL format is: https://api.<customer-tenant>.tetrascience.com

Required for Receive Commands Option

For the Agent to Receive Commands from the TDP (activated by default), the following endpoint must also be allowed. This endpoint for US-based MT deployments (us-east-1). For EU deployments, replace us-east-1 with eu-west-1 or your deployment’s AWS Region.

Required for S3 Direct Upload (Recommended)

S3 Direct Upload is enabled by default and recommended for all setups. The following AWS endpoints must be allowed. These are for US-based MT deployments (us-east-1). For EU deployments, replace us-east-1 with eu-west-1 or your deployment’s AWS Region.

For the complete and current list of endpoints, see Tetra Agent Allow List Endpoints.

For more information about recommended network architectures, see Recommended Architectures for Network Connectivity to Private Cloud and On-Premises Components in the TetraConnect Hub. For access, see Access the TetraConnect Hub.

Step 3: Install the Agent

TetraScience provides a Microsoft Windows Installation Package (.msi) file to install the Tetra File-Log Agent on the host server.

To get the installation package and install the Agent, do the following:

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IMPORTANT

To access the server and run the installation package, you must sign in as an Administrator.

1. On the host server, download the latest File-Log Agent installation package from the Tetra Agent & Connector Installers page in the TetraConnect Hub. For access, see Access the TetraConnect Hub.
2. Move the downloaded files to a local folder.
3. Run the installer by opening the installation package and follow the guided wizard to complete the installation.

Default Installation Folder Location C:\Tetrascience\Tetrascience.Agent.File-Log.v4.5.<x>

Step 4: Connect the Agent to the TDP

From the Agent Management Console, configure the connection to the TDP:

1. In the left navigation menu, under Menu, choose Configuration.
2. Verify that S3 Direct Upload is set to active (enabled by default).
3. Verify that Receive Commands is set to active (enabled by default).
4. For Agent Id, enter the Agent ID from Step 1.
5. For Connection Url, enter your TDP API endpoint (for example, https://api.tetrascience.com/v1/data-acquisition/agent/). See the endpoint table above for the correct URL for your deployment.
6. For Org Slug, enter your organizational slug from Step 1.
7. For Authorization, select Add/Edit. Enter the JWT you generated for the Service User in Step 1. Choose Save to encrypt and save the JWT.

After you enter the information, the Agent immediately validates the TDP connection status next to the Connection Url field.

(Optional) If your Agent connects through a proxy, select Advanced Settings and set the Proxy option to System (to use your Windows system proxy) or Custom (to specify proxy settings directly). For more information, see Configure Advanced Settings in the User Manual.

Step 5: Configure Network Folder Access (If Needed)

If the Agent needs to monitor files on network shared folders (rather than local folders only), you must configure a dedicated Windows service user account (Group User):

1. Create a dedicated service account on the Agent host server with the following permissions:
   • At least Read and List folder content permission on the network shared folders (including all subfolders and files).
   • Membership in the local user group of the Agent host server.
   • No account expiration date — if the account expires, the Agent can’t extract data and data acquisition is interrupted.
   • The Log on as a service permission.
2. In the Agent Management Console, enter the User Name and Password for the Group User account.

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NOTE

If you don’t configure a Group User, the Agent runs under the Windows predefined LocalSystem account, which can only access local folders. To access remote network folders, you must provide a Group User. For detailed instructions, see Configure a Windows Service User Account for the Agent in the User Manual.

Step 6: 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 7: 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 6.

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 Installation Guide (v4.5.x)
• Tetra File-Log Agent User Manual (v4.5.x)
• Agent Deployment Options
• Tetra Agent Allow List Endpoints
• Common Glob Patterns
• Recommended Architectures for Network Connectivity (TetraConnect Hub)