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Online Mode

Online Mode extracts data from your MSM server and uploads it to the cloud platform in real-time. This is the recommended mode when you have a stable internet connection.

When to Use Online Mode

Use Online Mode when:

  • ✅ You have a stable internet connection
  • ✅ You want real-time data upload
  • ✅ You need immediate data availability in the cloud platform
  • ✅ You have reliable access to the MSM server

How Online Mode Works

  1. Connects to your MSM server via SSH
  2. Extracts telemetry data from the database
  3. Immediately uploads data to the cloud platform
  4. Processes data in batches for efficiency

Using Online Mode

Step 1: Select Online Mode

In the application interface, select "Online Mode" from the mode selection.

Online Mode - Initial Screen

Step 2: Set Date Range

Configure the extraction period:

Online Mode - Date Configuration

  1. Start Date & Time: The beginning of your data range
  2. End Date & Time: The end of your data range

Choosing Date Ranges

  • For initial extraction: Start with a small date range (e.g., 1 day) to verify everything works
  • For regular extractions: Use the last extraction time as your start date
  • For historical data: Process in chunks of 7-30 days to avoid timeouts

Choosing Date Ranges

  • The server keeps track of all the information sent, if a day has already been uploaded within your date range, the server will tell the Data Collector to avoid fetching it from the MSM.
  • This means that, for certain date ranges, you may experience less uploaded days than the currently selected ones, and that is fine by design.

Step 3: Configuration

Before starting the extraction, you need to configure the connection settings to your MSM server. The application provides two collapsible configuration panels in the sidebar.

SSH Configuration

Click to expand the SSH Configuration panel and enter your MSM server details:

  • Host: The IP address or hostname of your MSM server
  • Port: SSH port (default: 22)
  • User: SSH username for authentication
  • Password: SSH password for authentication

SSH Authentication

The application currently supports password-based SSH authentication only.

Database Configuration

Click to expand the Database Configuration panel and enter your PostgreSQL database details:

  • Host: Database host (typically localhost when accessed via SSH tunnel)
  • Port: PostgreSQL port (default: 5432)
  • User: Database username
  • Password: Database password
  • Database: Database name (default: msmdb)
  • Table: Table containing telemetry data (default: brief_controller_telemetry)
  • Timestamp Column: Column name for timestamps (default: msm_timestamp)

Default Values

The default values are pre-configured, they should be valid for all implementations.

Validation

After entering your configuration:

  1. Click the "Test Configuration" button
  2. The application will:
    • Test the SSH connection to your MSM server
    • Auto-detect the MSM hostname
    • Test the database connection via SSH tunnel
    • Validate that the specified table and columns exist
  3. Wait for the validation to complete (typically 10-15 seconds)
  4. Look for the "✅ Configuration valid" message

Start Button Disabled

The Start button will remain disabled until the configuration is successfully validated. You must complete validation before you can begin extraction.

Connection Cleanup

After validation completes, the application takes a few seconds to properly close test connections before enabling the Start button. This ensures no lingering connections interfere with the actual extraction.

Process History

After validation completes, all uploads that were done for the current computer will be shown on the Process History section.

Step 4: Start Extraction

  1. Click the "Start Online Extraction" button
  2. Monitor the progress in real-time

Step 5: Monitor Progress

The interface displays:

  • Records Processed: Total records extracted
  • Current Batch: Current batch being processed
  • Upload Status: Success/failure of uploads
  • Errors: Any issues encountered

Online Mode - Progress

Online Mode - Extraction Complete

Process Management

Understanding Process Restrictions

One Process Per MSM

CRITICAL: Only ONE active process can exist for each MSM at any given time. This is enforced by the system to prevent:

  • Data duplication and conflicts
  • Resource contention on the MSM server
  • Overlapping extraction ranges
  • Inconsistent state in the cloud platform

If you attempt to start a new extraction while a process is still running, stopped, or in a non-completed state, you must either:

  1. Wait for the current process to complete
  2. Restart the existing process (continues from where it left off)
  3. Abort the existing process (permanently cancels it)

Process States

Each process can be in one of the following states:

State Icon Description Actions Available
Running 🔵 Blue Extraction is actively processing Stop
Stopped 🟡 Yellow User stopped the process mid-extraction Restart, Abort
Completed 🟢 Green All partitions successfully processed None (view only)
Failed 🟡 Yellow Process encountered an error Restart, Abort
Aborted 🔴 Red Process was permanently cancelled None (view only)

Managing Stopped Processes

When you stop an extraction (using the Stop button), the process enters a STOPPED state:

Online Mode - Stopped Process

You have two options:

Option 1: Restart Process

Click "Restart Process" to continue the extraction from where it stopped:

  • Preserves all progress made so far
  • Skips partitions that were already completed
  • Continues with remaining partitions
  • Uses the same date range as the original process
  • Maintains the same process ID

Recommended for Interrupted Extractions

If an extraction was interrupted due to network issues, accidental stop, or other temporary problems, Restart is the best option to resume without losing progress.

Option 2: Abort Process

Click "Abort Process" to permanently cancel the process:

  • Marks the process as ABORTED (cannot be restarted)
  • Frees up the MSM to start a new extraction
  • All uploaded data remains in the cloud platform
  • Incomplete partitions will need to be re-extracted in a new process

Use Abort Sparingly

Only abort a process if:

  • You want to completely abandon this extraction
  • You need to start a different date range
  • The process is stuck and cannot be restarted

Warning: Aborting loses all progress tracking. You'll need to start fresh with a new extraction.

Process History

The Process History panel shows all past and current processes for the connected MSM:

  • Automatically updates when processes are created, stopped, or completed
  • Shows process status, date range, and completion percentage
  • Displays creation and completion timestamps
  • Provides activity logs for each process
  • Available actions depend on process state

Viewing Process Details

Click on any process in the history to expand it and view:

  • Detailed activity log
  • Partition completion status
  • Creation and finish timestamps
  • Available actions (Restart/Abort buttons)

Best Practices

Do

  • Keep the application window open
  • Monitor progress regularly
  • Note any error messages
  • Wait for "Extraction Complete" message

Don't

  • Close the application window during extraction
  • Start another extraction for the same MSM simultaneously
  • Force close the application (use Stop button instead)

After Extraction

Success

When extraction completes successfully:

  • You'll see "Extraction Complete" message
  • All data has been uploaded to the Cloud Solution, and will start becoming available in the coming minutes.
  • Check the logs for detailed statistics

Resuming Incomplete Extraction

If an extraction was interrupted:

  1. Note the last successfully processed timestamp from logs
  2. Start a new extraction with that timestamp as the start date
  3. This prevents duplicate data

Troubleshooting Online Mode

Connection Lost During Extraction

If you lose connection:

  • The application will show connection errors
  • Note the last successful batch
  • Stop the extraction and retry from that point

Slow Performance

If extraction is very slow:

  • Check your network connection speed
  • Consider using Offline Mode instead

Authentication Errors

If you see authentication failures:

  • Check with your administrator that your account is active
  • Ensure you have network access to the MSM server

Upload Failures

If uploads fail repeatedly:

  • Check your internet connection
  • Check with your administrator about the Cloud Solution status
  • Consider switching to Offline Mode