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Windows install folders and file locations

You’ll receive two installers: NexalisAgent-[VERSION]-win-x64 (for example, NexalisAgent-1.1.6-win-x64) or NexalisAgent-[VERSION]-win-x86 (for example, NexalisAgent-1.1.6-win-x86) Run the installer that matches your system architecture (x64 or x86). In x64 the installer installs the agent, gRPC_kafka and connectors inside C:\Program Files\Nexalis\NexalisAgent. In x86 the installer installs the agent, gRPC_kafka and connectors inside C:\Program Files (x86)\Nexalis\NexalisAgent. For consistency, the data and logs are written inside %ProgramData%\Nexalis\NexalisAgent, usually C:\ProgramData\Nexalis\NexalisAgent. gRPC_kafka has its default directory at %ProgramData%\Nexalis\NexalisAgent\gRPC_kafka. Connectors have their default directory inside %ProgramData%\Nexalis\NexalisAgent\connectors\.
For example, the opcua_connector default directory is %ProgramData%\Nexalis\NexalisAgent\connectors\opcua_connector
This directory contains:
  • device_models — configurations
  • certs — configuration certificates.
The offline database is inside %ProgramData%\Nexalis\NexalisAgent\gRPC_kafka\persistent_buffer. It is created when gRPC_kafka is configured and running. You can find the latest NexalisAgentService logs in %ProgramData%\Nexalis\NexalisAgent\logs\nexalis_agent_service\NexalisAgentService.log. You can configure other logs connection for gRPC_kafka in their respective configurations. If not configured the default log location will be inside the connector data directory.
For example, the opcua connector logs will be by default inside %ProgramData%\Nexalis\NexalisAgent\connectors\opcua_connector

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NexalisAgent Windows commands

The installer adds NexalisAgent to your PATH. After running the installer, you can open a new Administrator PowerShell window (after a few seconds) and run 
NexalisAgent help

Usage: C:\Program Files\Nexalis\NexalisAgent\NexalisAgent.exe <command>
  help
      print this text
  version
      get current version v1.1.6
  service-install [ --no-autostart ]
      Create service (sc create) (Require Admin)
  service-reset
      Stop & delete the service (Require Admin)
  start
      Start the service (sc start) (Require Admin)
  restart
      restart the service (sc stop and sc start) (Require Admin)
  reload
      ask service to reload config.json
  stop
      Stop the service (sc stop) (Require Admin)
  authorize-opcda-clsid CLSID
      Authorize service for DCOM access for CLSID (Require Admin)
  gRPC_kafka-sasl-login USERNAME set KAFKA_SASL_USERNAME for admin and KAFKA_SASL_PASSWORD from standard input into service parameters (Require Admin)
See Errors section if you have an error.

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version command

Version shows the version of the installed agent. 
NexalisAgent version

NexalisAgent v1.1.6

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status command

Status allows you to query the current status of the agent/gRPC_kafka and all the connectors and to view the JSON configuration errors from config.json, connectors and gRPC_kafka. See Errors section if you have an error. 
NexalisAgent status

{
    "status": true,
    "gRPCKafkaStatus": {
        "connector": {
            "name": "gRPC_kafka",
            "deviceModel": "",
            "communicationAddress": "",
            "siteName": "",
            "deviceID": ""
        },
        "running": true,
        "enabled": true,
        "startedAt": "2026-02-04T19:22:25Z",
        "nbRestart": 0
    },
    "connectorsStatus": [
        {
            "connector": {
                "name": "modbus_connector",
                "deviceModel": "./device_models/solar_inverter/SolarInverterSimulator/SolarInverterSimulator.json",
                "communicationAddress": "127.0.0.1:5023",
                "siteName": "SITE_modbus_2",
                "deviceID": "4"
            },
            "running": false,
            "enabled": true,
            "startedAt": "2026-02-04T19:22:45Z",
            "endedAt": "2026-02-04T19:22:45Z",
            "nbRestart": 0,
            "lastExitCode": 127
        },
        {
            "connector": {
                "name": "modbus_connector",
                "deviceModel": "./device_models/solar_inverter/SunSpec-PICS-SMA-SBx.x-1SP-US-401_102/SunSpec-PICS-SMA-SBx.x-1SP-US-401_102.json",
                "communicationAddress": "127.0.0.1:5021",
                "siteName": "SITE_modbus_1",
                "deviceID": "2"
            },
            "running": false,
            "enabled": true,
            "startedAt": "2026-02-04T19:22:45Z",
            "endedAt": "2026-02-04T19:22:45Z",
            "nbRestart": 2,
            "lastExitCode": 127
        },
        {
            "connector": {
                "name": "dnp3_connector",
                "deviceModel": "./device_models/cyclic-1.json",
                "communicationAddress": "127.0.0.1:5025",
                "siteName": "SITE_dnp3_1",
                "deviceID": "6"
            },
            "running": true,
            "enabled": true,
            "startedAt": "2026-02-04T19:22:25Z",
            "nbRestart": 0
        }
    ]
}

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start, stop, restart command

NexalisAgent start

NexalisAgent stop

NexalisAgent restart
In Windows, these commands start, stop, and restart the NexalisAgent Windows service. The Windows service runs the executable nexalis_agent_service\NexalisAgentService (from Program Files).
A JSON status is printed. The status field indicates whether the operation was successful.

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reload command

NexalisAgent reload
Sends a reload request to NexalisAgentService. The service compares the new config.json with the running configuration and applies only the necessary changes. It does the same for all device models used in config.json and the gRPC_kafka JSON config. This allows you to not restart everything when changing just a configuration. However the reload command does not check credentials or certificates or connections for changes. For Example:
  • adding, removing or changing configuration inside config.json will start,stop or restart the appropriate connector.
  • changing JSON content of a device_model will trigger restart for that specific connector.
  • changing opcua credentials in the device model, will trigger restart of the connector.
  • changing gRPC_kafka credentials or any environment variables will not trigger restart.
  • changing connector specific files like certificates will not trigger restart of the connector.
A JSON status is printed. The status field indicates whether the operation was successful.
When a configuration is invalid, you will see the error in the error fields. 
{
 "status": false,
 "errornum": 1,
 "errorMessage": "connectors/modbus_connector/device_models/SolarInverterSimulator.json: [json.exception.parse_error.101] parse error at line 1, column 2: syntax error while parsing value - invalid literal; last read: '[#'",
 "connector": {
  "name": "modbus_connector",
  "deviceModel": "./device_models/solar_inverter/SolarInverterSimulator/SolarInverterSimulator.json",
  "communicationAddress": "127.0.0.1:5022",
  "siteName": "SITE_modbus_2",
  "deviceID": "3"
 }
}

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gRPC_kafka-sasl-login command

You can update the gRPC_kafka credentials with this command. Enter the password and then press Enter to set the password. 
NexalisAgent gRPC_kafka-sasl-login myusername
Alternatively, you can set credentials inside the service parameters in the Registry Editor. NexalisAgentService reads the 2 service parameters.
  • KAFKA_SASL_USERNAME
  • KAFKA_SASL_PASSWORD

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authorize-opcda-clsid command

opcda32_connector and opcda64_connector require service permission to access DCOM and to communicate with the configured interface. You can run 
NexalisAgent authorize-opcda-clsid CLSID
You must replace CLSID with the OPC DA DCOM CLSID you used to connect.

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service-reset command

This command is run by the Windows uninstaller. It uninstalls the service. Preferably it should be stopped first. The service will not be restarted automatically 
NexalisAgent service-reset

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service-install [ —no-autostart ]

This command is run by the Windows installer. You do not have to run manually. It configure the service and it’s permissions. Running this command enables the service to be automatically started at boot, except if —no-autostart is set. 
NexalisAgent service-install