Configuring a Remote Data Processor on Windows Servers

Requirements: The Remote Data Processor is a Java-based application. To run on Windows, please install Java. The latest Java Runtime Package can be downloaded from the Java Download site. The Java installation package should correspond to your Windows operating system (32-bit or 64-bit).

This article assumes you have created a Remote Data Processor profile in Metric Insights, as described in Configuring a Remote Data Collector/Processor.


Recommend specs for host Windows server:

  • 4 cores / 16G memory
  • 100G disk where RDP will be installed
  • Windows Server 2016+ (64-bit)

1. Open ports on Windows RDP host machine

Before installing Data Processor on the Remote Machine, make sure you have all the necessary ports opened to establish connectivity between the MI server and the RDP. 


On the MI server, the components involved are data-processor (listening on port 2550) and seed (listening on port 2551). On the RDP side, remote data-processor uses one of the following ports:

To open the ports on the Windows RDP host machine:

1.1. In Windows Start Menu start typing Firewall, open Windows Firewall with Advanced Security app
Another way to access the Windows Firewall app is through the Control Panel:
  1. In the Start Menu, start typing Control Panel, open this panel
  2. Within the System and Security section, find and open Windows Firewall
  3. Select Advanced Settings
1.2. Select Incoming Rules on the left panel
1.3. On the right panel that appears within Actions section, select "New Rule"
1.4. Configure a rule to allow traffic over TCP port 2551 from external sources

1.5. Save the new rule

2. Access Admin > Collection & Storage > Remote Data Processors

On the Windows Server where you plan to install the Data Processor, access your Metric Insight application from a web browser. Go to Admin > Collection & Storage > Remote Data Processors.

3. Select the Data Processor profile

The Remote Data Processors section lists all your Remote Data Collector profiles along with the Last Heartbeat Time (displays the last successful connection time of the RDP to the Metric Insights application).

4. Download the Data Processor (data-processor) ZIP file

Access the editor of the RDP you want to install on your Windows server. Make sure that the Hostname parameter value matches the Windows server IP to install RDP on and click [Download ZIP file] button. While downloading the ZIP file, you might get a warning message that the file can be harmful for your computer. Skip this warning and proceed with downloading.

5. Extract the ZIP file contents and launch the Data Processor installer

Within the directory where the ZIP file content was extracted, open \data-processor directory and run the installer.bat script as an administrator

To perform this action you need to work as an Admin User on the Windows Machine where Remote Data Processor is to be installed or contact your System Administrator to proceed with the installation.

Select installation folder or leave the default, then press "Install" button.

6. Start the Data Processor Windows Service

Navigate to the Windows Services list and start the Metric Insights Data Processor Daemon service or run bin\Start Metric Insights.bat file 

7. Troubleshooting your Remote Data Processor

7.1. Check if Remote Data Processor is active

The list of Remote Data Processors helps to define whether the Data Processor profile is active and the connection was established:

  • If your Remote Data Processor is active, it will be shown in default black and the column Last Heartbeat Time will have a value equal to the time you started RDP Daemon Service plus up to 2 minutes.
  • If your Remote Data Processor is not active, it will be displayed in red. The column Last Heartbeat Time will have a value with the last time it successfully connected (if have ever been before) or be empty if never connected.

7.2. Restart the Remote Data Processor service

On the Windows machine where Data Processor was installed access Services. In the list of services find Metric Insights Data Processor Daemon service >> Start or Restart the service.

7.3. Check if MI and Remote Data Processor servers have opened connectivity

Make sure the Metric Insights server can access the RDP server using the following ports:

7.3.1. Check server access on Windows

On Windows machine where Remote Data Processor is installed open Command Prompt (from Windows Start Menu type cmd or commant prompt) and try the following commands (replace 1.1.1.1 with the private IP address of your MI server):

ping 1.1.1.1
telnet 1.1.1.1 2551

If you have an orchestrated environment, check port 32551 using telnet

7.3.2. Check server access on Linux

Connect to your MI app linux server, in Command Line execute 

ping 0.0.0.0
telnet 0.0.0.0 2551

Replace 0.0.0.0 with the RDP Windows server private IP address.

If there are any errors on connection attempt contact your System Administrator to open access to the relevant server.

7.4. Verify Java is installed on Windows machine

7.4.1. Check the Java version

On Windows RDP machine in the Command prompt execute

java -version

You should see the installed Java version in the output.

7.4.2. Verify JAVA_HOME environment variable is set

Open Windows Settings, search for Environmental Variables, in the Properties pop-up click the Environmental Variables button to open the list of Environmental Variables. 

You need to be logged in as Admin User to edit the Environmental Variables.

Check if JAVA_HOME variable is specified with the correct path to the directory where Java is installed.

7.5. Check the system recources on Windows machine

If Windows service could never start up or stops within a few minutes check if you have enough CPU and Memory on the Remote Data Processor Server so the Remote Data Processor serice doesn't consume too much system resources.

If you still encounter any problems please contact [email protected] for further investigation.

If Windows service could never start or stops in a couple of minutes, check whether there is enough CPU and Memory on the Remote Data Processor Windows machine so the Data Processor Daemon service doesn't consume too much system recources.

If you encounter any other problems establishing connectivity with Remote Data Processor please contact [email protected] for further investigation.