GE

Grid Solutions

Perception Server
Transformer Monitoring Software
v1.22

Installation & User Guide

GEDE-GA_M-DLIS-TE.MA-021 Rev 4.2 29-Mar-18

Contents
CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Software Family ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
1.3 What’s New in v1.22? ........................................................................................................................................... 7
1.4 Server Features ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.5 Architecture .............................................................................................................................................................. 8
1.6 System Requirements .......................................................................................................................................... 9
1.7 Terminology .............................................................................................................................................................. 9
1.8 Software Licensing ............................................................................................................................................. 10
1.8.1 License Expiry ............................................................................................................................................. 11
1.9 Customer Support ............................................................................................................................................... 11
CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
2.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................................. 12
2.2 Run the Perception Server installer ............................................................................................................ 12
2.3 Create the Perception Server database ................................................................................................... 16
2.4 Enable MS-DTC Service .................................................................................................................................... 17
2.5 Connect Perception Server to the database .......................................................................................... 18
2.5.1 User Access .................................................................................................................................................. 18
2.5.2 Server Location .......................................................................................................................................... 19
2.6 Activate the Perception Server ..................................................................................................................... 19
2.7 Reactivate the Perception Server ................................................................................................................ 20
2.8 Perception Server Software Activation Wizard..................................................................................... 20
2.8.1 Automatic Activation ............................................................................................................................... 21
2.8.2 Manual Activation ..................................................................................................................................... 23
2.9 Establish Client Connections.......................................................................................................................... 27
2.9.1 Trust the Client Certificate .................................................................................................................... 28
2.10 Firewall Settings ................................................................................................................................................... 29
2.11 Perception Database Upgrade Tool ........................................................................................................... 29
CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................................................................. 31
3.1 Functionality Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 31
3.2 Menu Options ........................................................................................................................................................ 32
3.3 Configure Users.................................................................................................................................................... 32
3.3.1 Add a user..................................................................................................................................................... 33
3.3.2 Edit a user ..................................................................................................................................................... 34
 3.3.3 Delete a user ............................................................................................................................................... 34
3.4 Configure Alarm Emails .................................................................................................................................... 35
3.4.1 Expert analysis emails ............................................................................................................................ 36
3.5 Configure Modems ............................................................................................................................................. 36
3.6 Export Download Data to TOA ...................................................................................................................... 37
3.7 Define Custom CSV Mappings ...................................................................................................................... 38
Appendix A Removing anonymous user permissions ...................................................................................... 40
Appendix B Communicating with Perception Server via OPC UA ............................................................... 41
Appendix C Troubleshooting ......................................................................................................................................... 42
Appendix D NERC-CIP Compliance............................................................................................................................. 48
Contact details & Copyright statement ........................................................................................................................ 48
Contact & Copyright Details ............................................................................................................................................... 49

List of Tables & Figures

Figure 1-1: System architecture .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Table 1—1: Tier scores ........................................................................................................................................................... 10
Table 1—2: Device scores .................................................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 1-2: License expiry notification........................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 2-1: Welcome to the Perception Server Setup Wizard ........................................................................... 12
Figure 2-2: License Agreement ......................................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 2-3: Select Installation Folder .............................................................................................................................. 13
Figure 2-4: Confirm Installation ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Figure 2-5: Installing Perception Server ........................................................................................................................ 14
Figure 2-6: Installation Complete..................................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 2-7: SQL Server login ............................................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 2-8: Services - Select the Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service......................................... 17
Figure 2-9: Perception Server Configuration Tool – Database tab .................................................................. 18
Figure 2-10: Activate the Perception Server ............................................................................................................... 19
Figure 2-11: Reactivate the Perception Server ......................................................................................................... 20
Figure 2-12: Welcome to the activation wizard........................................................................................................ 20
Figure 2-13: License key activation ................................................................................................................................ 21
Figure 2-14: Select automatic or manual activation.............................................................................................. 21
Figure 2-15: Company details ........................................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 2-16: Automatic validation of the key successful ..................................................................................... 22
Figure 2-17: Automatic validation complete .............................................................................................................. 23
Figure 2-18: Automatic validation failed ...................................................................................................................... 23
Figure 2-19: Select Manual Activation ........................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 2-20: Obtaining Installation key ......................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 2-21: GE Digital Energy activation website .................................................................................................. 25
Figure 2-22: Copy the key onto the clipboard ........................................................................................................... 25
Figure 2-23: Manually paste the key from the activation web page.............................................................. 26
Figure 2-24: Manual validation of the key successful............................................................................................ 26
Figure 2-25: Manual validation complete .................................................................................................................... 27
Figure 2-26: Server certificate not trusted .................................................................................................................. 28
Figure 2-27: Client certificate not trusted .................................................................................................................... 28
Figure 2-28: Perception Database Upgrade Tool .................................................................................................... 29
Figure 3-1: Perception Server Configuration Tool .................................................................................................... 31
Figure 3-2: Configure users................................................................................................................................................. 32
Figure 3-3: Add user dialog ................................................................................................................................................. 33
Table 3—1: Role permissions .............................................................................................................................................. 33
Figure 3-4: List of users ......................................................................................................................................................... 33
Figure 3-5: Edit user details ................................................................................................................................................ 34
Figure 3-6: Delete a user ...................................................................................................................................................... 34
Figure 3-7: Alarm email configuration .......................................................................................................................... 35
Figure 3-8: Modem configuration .................................................................................................................................... 36
Figure 3-9: TOA Export .......................................................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 3-10: Import Mappings ........................................................................................................................................... 38
Figure 3-11: Export Mappings ........................................................................................................................................... 38
Figure 3-12: Custom CSV mappings ............................................................................................................................... 39
Figure C—1 SQL Server Management Studio Express Tool ................................................................................. 42
Figure C—2: Login - New Dialog ....................................................................................................................................... 43
Figure C—3: Select User or Group dialog ..................................................................................................................... 43
Figure C—4: Select User or Group dialog – expanded ........................................................................................... 44
Figure C—5: List of users and groups............................................................................................................................. 44
Figure C—6: Sysadmin server role assigned ............................................................................................................... 45
Table C—1: Problems & resolutions ................................................................................................................................ 46
 CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Perception Server

1.1 Overview
Perception Server is a software product designed for fleet-wide monitoring and
diagnostics of oil-insulated equipment used in the transmission and distribution of
electrical power. It allows both the maintenance engineer and asset manager to
monitor and diagnose transformer data collected by GE’s Monitoring & Diagnostics
range of on-line monitoring units. The data includes Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA),
calculated models, bushing and other transformer measurements. By providing access
to this valuable data along with powerful diagnostic tools, Perception Server delivers
clear transformer condition information. This enables decisions to be made quickly and
reliably, helping to extend the life of transformers, reduce unplanned outage, and avoid
catastrophic failure.

Perception Server provides time saving scheduled downloading to automatically collect

measurement data from devices, and then store it in a central database for
simultaneous user access. The centralized location increases data integrity by creating
a single point for data backup. OPC UA architecture provides secure network
communication between client and server. Access control prevents unauthorized
access to monitoring devices, limiting unit and configuration setting changes to
designated personnel.

If a discrete, ratio or rate of change alarm is triggered on the device, Perception Server
will automatically send an email alert to notify the user of the change. The email
notification system provides details on the current asset state, including gas levels and
historical measurements. When exceeded, caution and alarm limits are highlighted,
using a predefined colour-coding system. Email alerts can be configured at a unit level
for critical transformers. Perception also has the capability to generate more detailed e-
mails on the overall transformer state via the Expert analysis e-mail feature.

Although Perception is an expert analysis and information system, it is only an aid and
should not be regarded as a replacement for the knowledge of someone who is an
expert in the analysis of insulating oil used in electrical equipment and the operation of
oil filled power equipment.

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1.2 Software Family
There are four members of the Perception family.

• Perception Desktop
A standalone software application that provides customized access to the
centrally located asset database. It provides advanced diagnostic profiles on
device data, a one-page transformer report containing key transformer
information as well as the facility to launch external applications. Additionally,
Perception Desktop can operate standalone or as part of a larger centralized
asset management suite in conjunction with Perception Server.
• Perception Server
The pinnacle of transformer asset management software. Perception Server
provides a fleet wide network overview via a wallboard display, automatic data
downloading with configurable scheduling, email notifications of device
condition changes and a TOA4 data export facility. It uses a centralized data
storage location utilizing SQL Server to which Perception Desktop links
seamlessly via secure OPC UA communications.
• Perception Web
A web-based solution that provides read-only access to the centrally located
asset database. This offers a convenient way to obtain readings and
consolidated data analysis across a variety of platforms including mobile
devices. This includes transformer dashboards, wallboards and an overview to
the status of the entire transformer fleet.
• Perception Workflow Designer
The workflow designer uses common flowcharting techniques to express
transformer diagnostic processes as a model. These models are known as
workflows and in turn are used to drive the Perception dashboard. The Designer
brings easily modifiable workflow-enabled capabilities to the Perception
software suite allowing you to customize the diagnostic process and determine
how data is presented on the Perception dashboard.

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1.3 What’s New in v1.22?
• DGA 900 — Perception now supports the DGA 900 device. DGA 900 devices can
be created in the Asset Explorer and have the following worksheets available —
Properties, Data Table, Status, TDCG, Trend Chart, Key Gas, Gas Ratios, Ratios,
ETRA, Duval’s and Web Browser. Users can download data and alarms from the
DGA 900 via network media and the HTTP protocol. DGA 900 data can be
exported and imported like any other device. DGA Standard and Simplified DGA
workflow support is also available.
• MS 3000 — extended support for the MS 3000 system, such as dashboard
support, fleet ranking workflows and communication over HTTPS.
• Transport X2 — A new asset is defined for the Transport X2 device. On connection
by USB cable to a machine with Perception Desktop, the asset is represented in
the asset tree and has three options on the shortcut menu: download
transformer measurements stored on the device, retrieve the service logs and
export stored data to a CSV file.
• Hydran M2-X — Support for the new Hydran M2-X device.
• Hydran M2 — Extended support of Hydran M2 firmware up to v5.04.
• Enhanced service emails — more detailed technical data, such as measurement
flags and errors, are now included in the email sent when a device requires a
service.

Note: If upgrading to Perception Desktop/Server v1.22 from an earlier version, please contact GE Support
before commencing as depending upon the size and complexity of the existing database, a service visit
may be required to make the transition.

1.4 Server Features

Perception Server offers the following:
• Automatic scheduled results downloading
• Wallboard fleet overview
• Centralised data source allowing multiple Perception Desktop instances to
connect, gather and manipulate the same data.
• E-Mail condition notifications when devices raise condition alerts,
communication issues, service or rate of change alarms
• SQL Server database storage
• Access control security with login permission level access settings
• OPC UA Server
• Ability to define a custom CSV file format for import and export, including out-of-
the-box support for Perception, TOA4 and TransConnect CSV formats

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1.5 Architecture
The Perception Server architecture consists of one or more client PCs running
Perception Desktop and a remote server machine running the Perception Server
software as illustrated in Figure 1-1.

Perception Server utilises OPC UA Discovery Server to establish a secure encrypted

connection to a centralised repository for multiple Perception Desktop clients. This
combination allows users to add DGA devices (and other GE transformer monitoring
devices) and download the same devices and data. Perception Server uses SQL server
to host the database. SQL Server can be hosted on the same server machine as
Perception Server or on a separate dedicated server machine.

Figure 1-1: System architecture

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1.6 System Requirements
Prior to installing Perception Server, ensure that the SQL Server bit type matches the
operating system bit type. A 64-bit Windows operating system requires a 64-bit SQL
application. Perception Server must be installed with an appropriate database
connection and then the server license must be activated to avail of full functionality
(refer to CHAPTER 2). The minimum PC and system requirements for Perception Server
are:

Operating System: Windows Server 2008 with .NET Framework 3.5 sp1, 4.0 & 4.5

Database: SQL Server or SQL Express 2008

CPU: 3 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bt (x64) processor

Memory: 4 GB RAM

HDD: 500 GB free

Note: Perception Server automatically enables and configures FILESTREAM on the SQL Server. It is not
possible to enable FILESTREAM on a 32-bit version of SQL Server running on a 64-bit operating system.
Visit https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645923.aspx for more details.
Note: Windows Server 2012 does not enable Microsoft .NET 3.5 features by default. However, all
Perception installers require .NET 3.5.
Note: It is possible to exceed the SQL Express database size limit of 10 GB so upgrading to SQL Server is
recommended if there are many monitoring devices and/or large data imports expected.

1.7 Terminology
Perception specific

KPD file suffix for a Perception Database file (stored in a SQL format)

TOA file suffix for a device configuration file (stored in a CSV format)

DGA Dissolved Gas Analysis

General

CSV Comma Separated Variable, an industry-standard neutral data exchange

format.

SQL Structured Query Language, an industry-standard database format.

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1.8 Software Licensing
Perception uses a tier licensing model when used with Perception Server. This provides
greater flexibility to add devices and manage license expiry. There are six tiers in the
model as listed in Table 1—1 with each tier supporting an increasing number of devices
according to a range of accumulated device weightings.
Table 1—1: Tier scores
Tier Accumulated weightings
1 0-50
2 51-100
3 101-150
4 151-250
5 251-500
6 501+

The weighting scores for each type of device are listed in Table 1—2.
Table 1—2: Device scores
Device Weighting Score
Offline 1
201Ti 2
Hydran M2 3
MO150 4
MINITRANS 4
TRANSFIX 5
DGA 500 5
DGA 900 5
BMT 300 5
DUALTRANS 6
TAPTRANS 6
MULTITRANS 6
TRANSFIX PLUS 6
TMS 7
MS3000 7

You can add any number of devices and assets within the limits set by the Perception
fleet license tier. To add further devices or assets requires a license upgrade — contact
Customer Support.

Note: Customers on an existing annual fleet licensing agreement can add assets and devices beyond the
limits set by the new license tier. However, once the annual fleet license agreement expires, the license
tier is recalculated and may require an upgrade to service all devices.
Note: When connected to Perception Server, the Fleet Summary window becomes available in Perception
Desktop and provides details on the Perception license tier including expiry date and a summary of the
devices and assets that have been added to the database.

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1.8.1 License Expiry
A License Expiry message appears in Perception Desktop 90 days before the Perception
fleet license is due to expire as shown in Figure 1-2. Reminder messages are
automatically scheduled to reappear at 60 days, 30 days, 15 days and 5 days, or on
each first launch of the application within the set days of the expiration period.

Note: This reminder applies to annual license agreements only.

1.22

Figure 1-2: License expiry notification

Perception Server restricts functionality after license expiration. The following features
are disabled:

• Transformer Risk Evaluations

• Fleet Ranking
• Transformer and Fleet Dashboard
• Wallboard Fleet Visualisation
• Perception Web
• Expert Email Notifications

1.9 Customer Support

E-mail: [email protected]

North America toll-free: 1-800-361-3652

Worldwide: 1-514-420-7460

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 CHAPTER 2
Installing and Configuring Perception Server

2.1 Overview
The Perception Server Installer installs Perception Server and the Perception Server
Configuration Tool. If the UA Local Discovery Server service is also installed, it is bound
to the Perception Server, so restarting the UA Local Discovery Server also restarts the
Perception Server. The Perception Server and Desktop are supplied on separate
installation CDs.

2.2 Run the Perception Server installer

To install Perception Server, insert the Perception Server CD into the CD drive and
double click the Perception.Server.Setup.exe file in the root directory of the CD. The
Setup Wizard opens as shown in Figure 2-1. Click Next to proceed to the License
Agreement.

Figure 2-1: Welcome to the Perception Server Setup Wizard

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If the License Agreement is acceptable, select I accept the terms in the License
Agreement and click Next as shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2: License Agreement

Browse to select the installation folder or accept the default folder and click Next to
continue as shown in Figure 2-3.

Note: If the PC is shared with other users, you can choose to install Perception Server for use under the
current login account only, or for all user accounts on the PC.

Figure 2-3: Select Installation Folder

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Click Next to start the installation, Back to backtrack and change some of the
selections, or Cancel to quit the process entirely, as shown in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4: Confirm Installation

Click Next and a progress bar indicates the progress as shown in Figure 2-5. The
installation may take some minutes.

Figure 2-5: Installing Perception Server

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The Setup Wizard completes the installation and presents the following message as
shown in Figure 2-6. Click Finish to exit.

Figure 2-6: Installation Complete

To install the TransCom software for TRANSFIX 1.0/1.5 device support, select the
TransCom option and click Install Now.

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2.3 Create the Perception Server database
Perception Server uses SQL server to host the Perception Server database. Note: SQL
Server can be hosted on the same server as the Perception Server or on a separate
dedicated server machine.

To create the Perception Server database:

• Open SQL Server Management Studio.

• Log in using an Administrator account as shown in Figure 2-7.

Figure 2-7: SQL Server login

• Run the CreateSQLServer2005Schema.sql file in the Perception Server

installation folder. Typically found in C:\Program Files\GE
Energy\Perception\SQL Schema.
• To apply the changes made by the schema, including manual database changes
to the Perception Server, restart the Perception Server service.

By default, a database called ‘Kelman’ is created in the SQL database list — this
database is used by Perception Server to host the data.

A specified SQL user account must be configured with ‘db_owner’ rights to the specified
database. These account details are added using the Perception Server Configuration
Tool to establish a connection between Perception Server and SQL. See Section 2.5
Connect Perception Server to the database.

Note: SQL Server 2012 and 2014 do not give ‘NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM’ ‘sysadmin’ permissions by default —
users should assign this permission manually in SQL Management Studio - Logins.

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2.4 Enable MS-DTC Service
To communicate with the SQL Server databases, the MS-DTC service must be enabled
on the Perception Server.

Select Start > Run, type services.msc and click OK.

In the Services window, select the Distributed Transaction Coordinator service and
click the Start Service button as shown in Figure 2-8.

Note: To ensure that the service always runs if the PC restarts, right click on the service and select
Properties. Set the Startup type to Automatic and click OK.

If problems are encountered with the MS-DTC service, see Configuring MS-DTC.

Figure 2-8: Services - Select the Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service

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2.5 Connect Perception Server to the database
Open the Perception Server Configuration Tool and select the Database tab as shown
in Figure 2-9. Note: All other tabs are disabled if the database is yet to be configured.

Figure 2-9: Perception Server Configuration Tool – Database tab

The recommendation is to use ‘Integrated Security’ (Windows Authentication) to

connect to the Perception Database, since Perception Server uses ‘FILESTREAM’ which
does not support SQL Authentication.

Currently Integrated Security doesn’t support Active Directory so this requires that you
manually create the same Windows user on the SQL Server machine to match the
credentials of the user on the Perception Server machine.

Note: If Perception Server is installed on a different machine to the database, FILESTREAM will not be
enabled automatically. (Perception Server logs this fact in the Server.log file).

2.5.1 User Access

Select the security connection method defined by your System Administrator. An
‘Integrated Security’ connection uses the profile of the currently logged-in user.

If your MS SQL setup requires login credentials for access control, uncheck ‘Integrated
Security’ and enter the user ID and password of the SQL user who has permission to
access the Kelman database. The MS SQL login used must have the “db_owner”
membership role for the Kelman database.

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2.5.2 Server Location
Enter your SQL Server instance information into the Db Instance box. Typically this is
the computer name of the SQL Server host and the SQL Server instance name (i.e.
SQLServerHost\SQLExpress). Finally, type Kelman into the Database box and
click Save.

2.6 Activate the Perception Server

Before the Perception Server Service can be started, the Perception Server must be
activated with a license key. Open the Perception Server Configuration Tool and select
the Activation tab as shown in Figure 2-10.

Figure 2-10: Activate the Perception Server

Then click the Activate button to open the license key activation wizard and follow the
onscreen instructions (see Section 2.8).

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2.7 Reactivate the Perception Server
If the Perception Server needs to be reactivated (i.e. if the device limit has been
changed), open the Perception Server Configuration Tool and select the Activation tab
as shown in Figure 2-11 below.

Figure 2-11: Reactivate the Perception Server

Then click the Reactivate button to open the license key activation wizard and follow
the onscreen instructions (see Section 2.8).

2.8 Perception Server Software Activation Wizard

The Activation Wizard is shown in Figure 2-12. Click Next to proceed.

Figure 2-12: Welcome to the activation wizard

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Enter the license key provided with the Perception Server software and click Next as
shown in Figure 2-13.

Figure 2-13: License key activation

Select the Activation Method either Automatic (see Section 2.8.1) or Manual (see
Section 2.8.2) as shown in Figure 2-14.

Figure 2-14: Select automatic or manual activation

2.8.1 Automatic Activation

An active Internet connection is required for automatic activation.

Note: If your company Internet security requires the use of a secure proxy server to connect to the
Internet, then select the Requires Proxy Authentication checkbox and enter your user identification and
password.

Click Next to continue.

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Complete the required information fields as shown in Figure 2-15 and click Next.

Note: The * denotes mandatory fields.

Figure 2-15: Company details

The software now attempts to validate the license key. If successful, a message displays
as shown in Figure 2-16. Click Next to continue.

Figure 2-16: Automatic validation of the key successful

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Confirmation of successful license activation is shown in Figure 2-17. Click Finish to exit
the Activation Wizard. To add a user, see Section 3.3.1.

Figure 2-17: Automatic validation complete

If the key could not be validated due to a communication error (for example, if the
Internet was down or the GE Digital Energy server was unobtainable) then a message
displays as shown in Figure 2-18.

Figure 2-18: Automatic validation failed

To resolve, repeatedly click the Back button until the ‘Select Activation Method’ screen
displays as shown in Figure 2-14 and instead select the Manual method.

2.8.2 Manual Activation

The manual method generates a unique ‘installation key’ that will need to be entered in
the GE Digital Energy website along with your company details. The website will return a
matching ‘activation key’ which should be pasted into the activation key field displayed
on the license wizard. Follow these steps to manually activate Perception Server:

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In the Select Activation Method screen, select Manual and click Next as shown in Figure
2-19.

Figure 2-19: Select Manual Activation

The software’s unique installation key is displayed in the 6 boxes shown at the top of
Figure 2-20. Click the Copy Installation Key link to copy the displayed installation key to
the Windows clipboard.

Figure 2-20: Obtaining Installation key

Next use a web browser to visit the activation website:

www.gedigitalenergy.com/perception/activation

If there is a problem with the Internet connection, contact GE Digital Energy Support to
obtain the activation key at:

E-Mail: [email protected]
North America toll-free: 1-800-361-3652
Worldwide: 1-514-420-7460

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On the Activation Key Request Form, click into the Installation Key field as shown in
Figure 2-21 and right click to Paste the installation key into the entry field.

Figure 2-21: GE Digital Energy activation website

Complete the remaining details and click Activate.

Note: All fields except ‘Area’ and ‘Position’ are mandatory. The web page will generate an error message if
mandatory fields are not completed.

If successful, an activation key is generated that is specific to this installation of

Perception Server. An example is shown in Figure 2-22.

Figure 2-22: Copy the key onto the clipboard

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Copy the activation key from the web page and paste it into the Activation Wizard and
click Next as shown in Figure 2-23.

Figure 2-23: Manually paste the key from the activation web page

The software validates the license key. If successful, a message displays as shown in
Figure 2-24. Click Next to continue.

Figure 2-24: Manual validation of the key successful

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Confirmation of successful license activation is shown in Figure 2-25. Click Finish to exit
the Activation Wizard. To add a user, see Section 3.3.1.

Figure 2-25: Manual validation complete

2.9 Establish Client Connections

There are several prerequisite steps to perform before client\server communications
are operative:

• The client PC must have Perception Desktop installed.

• A user must be created in the Perception Server Configuration Tool.
• The user must attempt to open the connection with the Perception Server.
• Both the client user and the server administrator then must override their
respective trust certificates before the client-server link can work.
• Every time a new client user is added, both the user and the server administrator
must act together to override their trust certificates.

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2.9.1 Trust the Client Certificate
The first time that a Perception Desktop client attempts to connect with the server, the
connection is rejected as shown in Figure 2-26. This is because the client does not trust
the server. To trust the server certificate, the certificate must be moved from the
rejected certificate folder and added to the trusted certificate folder.

Figure 2-26: Server certificate not trusted

Subsequently another connection error occurs as shown in Figure 2-27. This time
because the server does not trust the client. To trust the client certificate, the certificate
must be moved from the rejected certificate store and added to the trusted certificate
store.

Figure 2-27: Client certificate not trusted

This will occur with every first connection attempt of a new user and so needs both the
client user and server administrator to be logged in so that both can move the
respective certificates to the trusted certificate store. To do this, follow these steps:

In Windows 7/Server 2008, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the following
location:
C:\ProgramData\GE_Energy\Perception\RejectedCertificates

Look for a certificate with this format: Perception.Desktop.<computer

name>[key], where <computer name> is the computer name of the client and
[key] is the public certificate key.

Move the certificate from the rejected certificates folder to the trusted certificates folder
at this location in Windows 7/Server 2008:

C:\ProgramData\GE_Energy\Perception\TrustedCertificates\certs

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2.10 Firewall Settings
In order that the client and server successfully communicate, Perception Desktop must
be allowed to communicate through the firewall. A firewall program is usually accessed
via the Windows Control Panel. In the advanced settings for Perception Server, ensure
that ports 4840, 4841 & 62541 are open for inbound connection on the Perception
Server machine.

If the UA Discovery Server application is installed, it should be added as a program that

can send and receive through the firewall.

2.11 Perception Database Upgrade Tool

If migrating from a previous version of Perception (e.g. Perception Desktop 1.16) or if
you wish to import data from a legacy database, you must use the Perception Database
Upgrade Tool to convert the database to a 1.22 compatible format. The Perception
Database Upgrade Tool can be used in several migration scenarios, such as converting:

• an older local (KPD) database to a Perception 1.22 local (KPD) database

• an older local (KPD) database to a Perception 1.22 SQL Server database
• an older Perception SQL Server database to a Perception 1.22 SQL Server
database

The Perception Database Upgrade Tool can be found at the following location:

C:\ProgramFiles\GE Digital Energy\Perception 1.22

Double click the Perception.Database.Upgrade.Tool.exe file to open the tool as shown

in Figure 2-28.

Figure 2-28: Perception Database Upgrade Tool

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Use the tool to specify the source and destination database formats.

Note: Depending on the type of upgrade, a path or database connection details may
also be required.

If moving from a local KPD database to a SQL Server database, use the tool to add
appropriate user access.

Finally, in the Database Server Location section, ensure that the tool is pointing to the
newly updated database.

Click Upgrade to start the upgrade process.

Note: Customers should be aware that Perception does not support the ‘merging’ of databases.
Note: If any issues occur during the migration of Server data, contact Customer Support.

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 CHAPTER 3
Using Perception Server

3.1 Functionality Overview

The Perception Server Configuration Tool allows complete configuration of the
Perception Server. Once installed, the user interface presents seven tabs as shown in
Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1: Perception Server Configuration Tool

The seven tabs provide access to the different configuration themes of Perception
Server as outlined below:

• Alarm: See Section 3.4 Configure Alarm Emails.

• Modem: See Section 3.5 Configure Modems.
• Database: See Section 2.5 Connect Perception Server to the database
(performed during the initial installation).
• User: See Section 3.3 Configure Users.
• Activation: See Section 2.6 Activate the Perception Server.
• TOA Export: See Section3.6 Export Download Data to TOA.
• Map: See Section 3.7 Define Custom CSV Mappings.

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3.2 Menu Options
The menu bar consists of two menus — File and Help.

• File > Exit: Closes the Perception Server Configuration Tool.

• Help > About: Displays an information dialog containing the Release notes,
License agreement and Component version numbers.

3.3 Configure Users

By default, the Perception Server allows anonymous connections from Perception
Desktop. This is less secure as access is not restricted to requiring valid login
credentials. It is recommended that all users are configured on the Perception Server to
provide an audit trail of all user actions. See Appendix A for details on how to remove
anonymous users.

To configure users on the Perception Server, open the Perception Server Configuration
Tool and select the User tab as shown in Figure 3-2.

Figure 3-2: Configure users

In the example above, Ed is of ‘Architect’ status (full read-write with workflow

permissions), Jim is of ‘Observer’ status (read-only permissions) and Paul is of
‘Supervisor’ status (full read-write permissions).

Note: The Import permission is an additional right that can be assigned to any role. Inadvertently
importing the wrong data could overwrite valid data, so this right should be assigned with caution.

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3.3.1 Add a user
To add a new user, click the Add button. The Add User dialog displays as shown in
Figure 3-3.

Figure 3-3: Add user dialog

Specify a username and password. Assign a role according to the required permissions
outlined in Table 3—1. If the user requires Import Permission, select the Import
Permission checkbox. Click OK to add the new configured user.
Table 3—1: Role permissions

Role Permission
Supervisor Full read / write access
Observer Read Access only
Architect Full read / write access with workflow

The new user is added to the list of users as shown in Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4: List of users

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3.3.2 Edit a user
To edit a user, open the Perception Server Configuration Tool and select the User tab as
shown in Figure 3-4. Select a user and click the Edit button. The Edit User dialogue is
displayed as shown in Figure 3-5.

Figure 3-5: Edit user details

It is possible to change all details except the Username. Click OK to confirm the change.

3.3.3 Delete a user

To delete a user, open the Perception Server Configuration Tool and select the User tab
as shown in Figure 3-4. Select a user and click the Delete button.

Figure 3-6: Delete a user

A confirmation message appears. Click Yes to delete the user.

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3.4 Configure Alarm Emails
Emails can be issued to alert users of device condition or communication issues. To
configure the server to issue emails, open the Perception Server Configuration Tool and
select the Alarm tab as shown in Figure 3-7.

Note: To receive such emails, Perception Desktop must be configured with an email address in the
Notification E-mail Address box via the device’s Properties tab. See Section 3.8.2 Device Properties in the
Perception Desktop Installation & User Guide.

Figure 3-7: Alarm email configuration

The following details need to be completed:

Login Information: Enter the authentication details to allow access to the SMTP server.
Note: Consult with your IT Administrator to see if authentication is required.

Server Information:

In the Outgoing mail server (SMTP) box, enter the SMTP server address.

In the Port box, enter the email port — typically 25.

In the E-mail Address box, enter the email address of the sender of the emails E.g.
‘[email protected]’. Note: The email address does not have to exist.

In the Maximum communication failure count box, specify the number of failures
required before an email is sent. This is designed to limit the number of emails recipients
receive about a communication issue.

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3.4.1 Expert analysis emails
A further email can be issued to nominated persons containing more detailed
information on the alarm.

To enable this feature, select the Expert E-mail checkbox in the Perception Server
Configuration Tool.

Note: To receive such emails, Perception Desktop must be configured with an email
address in the Expert E-mail Address box via the device’s Properties tab. See Section
3.8.2 Device Properties in the Perception Desktop Installation & User Guide.

3.5 Configure Modems

To configure the modems used by Perception Server, open the Perception Server
Configuration Tool and select the Modem tab as shown in Figure 3-8.

All available modems to the Perception server are listed. Select the checkbox next to
each modem you want the Perception Server to use.

When Perception Server attempts a data download, the Server will use the first
available modem in the list. If that modem is busy, the server will try the next selected
modem on the list until an available modem is found.

Note: Ensure that selected modems are exclusive to Perception Server and not used by
any other applications running on the Perception Server host.

Figure 3-8: Modem configuration

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3.6 Export Download Data to TOA
If interrogation and analysis is required using other tools, the Server can be configured
to export all downloaded data to the universal TOA format.

Select the TOA Export tab and select the Export download data to TOA files checkbox
as shown in Figure 3-9.

Figure 3-9: TOA Export

The files are stored at the following location:

C:\Program Data\GE energy\Perception\Export\TOA

The files are named as follows:

<device serial number>_YYYYMMDD_Time.TOA

Where YYMMDD is the date in reverse order so that it is listed in the correct
chronological order in Windows Explorer.

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3.7 Define Custom CSV Mappings
The Map page allows you to define custom CSV mappings for imports and exports. Click
the Import tab to specify the source and destination field names to ensure correlation
of the imported data.

Figure 3-10: Import Mappings

Note: The import map now includes alarms and engineering units.

Click the Export tab to customise the export in a similar way.

Figure 3-11: Export Mappings

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If the export table is empty, click Add to add the default fields serialnum,
sampledate and asssettype to the table as shown in Figure 3-12. Additionally, you
can select a date and time format and reorder the rows accordingly.

Figure 3-12: Custom CSV mappings

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 Appendix A Removing anonymous user permissions

Anonymous user access is enabled by default. This means users do not have to supply a
username or password to login to the server, but are limited to Observer (read-only)
status. However, for security reasons it may be prudent to remove anonymous user
access.

The user token permissions are in the “perception.server.config.xm” file which

can be found in the following folder on Windows 7 or Server 2008:

C:\ProgramData\GE_Energy\Perception

The anonymous user token policy code is as below:

-<UserTokenPolicies
xmlns:d2p1="http://opcfoundation.org/UA/2008/02/Types.xsd">
-<d2p1:UserTokenPolicy>
<d2p1:PolicyId xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-
instance" i:nil="true"/>
<d2p1:TokenType>Anonymous_0</d2p1:TokenType>
<d2p1:IssuedTokenType
xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
i:nil="true"/>
<d2p1:IssuerEndpointUrl
xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
i:nil="true"/>
<d2p1:SecurityPolicyUri
xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
i:nil="true"/>
</d2p1:UserTokenPolicy>

The d2p1 section is repeated for ‘Observer’ and ‘Supervisor’ tokens. You can delete all
between, and including the lines d2p1.... to /d2p1... or comment it out by
changing <d2p1:UserTokenPolicy> to <!--d2p1:UserTokenPolicy> and
</d2p1:UserTokenPolicy> to </d2p1:UserTokenPolicy>-->

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Appendix B Communicating with Perception Server via OPC UA

Perception Server utilizes OPC UA to establish secure client\server communications to

and from Perception Desktop.

OPC UA also provides a standardised secure communication protocol that third party
applications can use to communicate directly with the Perception Server. This allows
other products to read, write and poll information from Perception Server.

Refer to the online OPC foundation documentation for technical information on

communicating using OPC UA. Visit https://opcfoundation.org/.

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 Appendix C Troubleshooting

Tabs not enabled on the Perception Server Configuration Tool

For the Perception Server and Perception Server Configuration Tool to run in the
Windows 7 environment with multiple users, the SQL Server/ SQL Express login must be
given “sysadmin” rights. The following steps outline the process to make the necessary
changes in the database security settings:

1. Launch Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio application.

2. Expand the Security node as shown in Figure C—1.
3. To create the required login, right click on the Logins node and select New
Login.

Figure C—1 SQL Server Management Studio Express Tool

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 4. The Login - New dialog appears as shown in Figure C—2. Select the General
node and then click the Search button.

Figure C—2: Login - New Dialog

5. The ‘Select User or Group’ dialog appears as shown in Figure C—3. Click the
Advanced button to expand the dialog as shown in Figure C—3.

Figure C—3: Select User or Group dialog

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 6. Click the Find Now button as shown in Figure C—4 to list all the Users and User
Groups in the lower section of the window.

Figure C—4: Select User or Group dialog – expanded

7. Select Authenticated Users as shown in Figure C—5 and click OK to continue.

Figure C—5: List of users and groups

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 8. In the ‘Login – New’ dialog, select the Server > Roles node, then select the
sysadmin checkbox and finally click OK to complete the process as shown in
Figure C—6.

Figure C—6: Sysadmin server role assigned

The SQL Server/ SQL Express login now has the required ‘sysadmin’ rights.

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 General Faults

Table C—1 lists several configuration problems and resolutions.

Table C—1: Problems & resolutions

Problem Resolution

Perception Server service starts This happens if the Perception Server service is started
and then stops within a few without first using the license key to activate the
seconds. software. See Section 2.6 to activate the software.
Perception Server will fail to start if FILESTREAM is not
enabled for the Microsoft SQL Server instance.
If using Microsoft SQL Server 2012, this can happen if
the NT Authority\System account does not have
‘sysadmin‘ privileges.
Users are no longer able to log This can occur if a new server certificate has been
in even though usernames and created on the Perception Server host. For example, if
passwords are correct Perception Server has been migrated to another
machine. To resolve, delete and recreate the users.
This can be caused by several incorrect configurations.
Perception Service does not
appear in Desktop Discovery • Ensure that the IP Address or Hostname of the
wizard. Perception Server is correct.
• For Perception version 1.18 or greater, ensure that
the UA Local Discovery Server service is stopped.
Verify in services.msc.
• Ensure that the Perception Server Service is running.
Verify in services.msc.
• Ensure that the SQL Service is running. Verify in
services.msc.
• Ensure that the Kelman database is configured in
the Perception Server Config Tool.
• Ensure MS-DTC is configured correctly:
For Windows Server 2008, see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817064
• Ensure that the Perception Server and Discovery
Server certificates exist in the trusted certificate
folder and are configured correctly within the
services configuration files. To correct the
configuration, run the Perception Server installer
and select the repair option.

Database Upgrade Tool – First export the data from a KPD database to a CSV file.
upgrade fails from KPD to SQL Use the Database Upgrade Tool to convert to the new
Server when data from one of database. Import the data into the new database.

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the assets already exists on the
Server
Perception Server Configuration When using the Perception Server Configuration Tool
Tool tabs not enabled across multiple users on the same Microsoft Windows
PC the ‘Authenticated Users’ in Microsoft SQL must
have ‘sysadmin’ profligates
Perception Server installation Intermittent error - Perception Server installer fails to
fails error – ‘Console Error’. complete and gives a ‘console error’, when installing on
a PC which has already had Perception Desktop or
Server installed previously.
To resolve this issue:
1. Browse to C:\ProgramData\
2. Delete the 'OPC Foundation' folder
3. Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files (on x64
OS)
4. Delete the 'OPC Foundation' folder
5. Browse to C:\Program Files\Common Files (on x86 OS)
6. Delete the 'OPC Foundation' folder
7. Uninstall Perception Desktop & Server
8. Re-install Perception Server
9. Re-install Perception Desktop

Unable to restore Kelman This occurs if FILESTREAM is not enabled for the
database in SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server instance.

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 Appendix D NERC-CIP Compliance

The following events are recorded in an audit log to assist organizations with NERC-CIP
compliance:

• Adding nodes.
• Deleting nodes.
• Add/delete references (drag-and-drop nodes).
• Import events.
• Export events.
• Import export mapping changes (add, update and delete events).
• Server start stop events.
• Workflow configuration in transformer properties (adding, updating and
removing).
• Uploading workflow events on the server and deleting workflow events.
• Uploading wallboards.
• Save the wallboard configuration event, such as when moving a node position
on the wallboard.
• Write events for the configuration changes.
• Device setup event when launching setup.
• Login, logout events.
• Perception Server Configuration Tool changes.

Audit data is recorded in the following files:

➢ Audit-Server.log — contains audit data maintained by Perception Server.

➢ Audit-ServerConfiguration.log — contains audit data on the Perception Server

Configuration Tool.

The log files can be found at this location:

C:\ProgramData\GE_Energy\Perception\Logs
Contact details & Copyright statement

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 Contact & Copyright Details

GE
Grid Solutions Limited (UK)
Lissue Industrial Estate East
Lissue Road, Lisburn
Northern Ireland
BT28 2LU
Tel: +44 (0) 2892 622915
Fax: +44 (0) 2892 622202
GEGridSolutions.com

Customer Service Centre

(24 hours a day, 365 days a year):
T 1-800-361-3652 (United States and Canada)
T +1 514-420-7460 (worldwide)
[email protected]

GE, the GE monogram, Kelman, TRANSFIX, TransConnect and Perception are

trademarks of the General Electric Company.

Windows and Windows XP are either registered trademarks or trademarks of

Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

GE reserves the right to make changes to specifications of products described at

any time without notice and without obligation to notify any person of such
changes.

Copyright, General Electric Company, 2018. All Rights Reserved.

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