AGRIS 24.0.0 System Requirements

1. Introduction

This document details the hardware and supporting software required for the Greenstone agribusiness management system, AGRIS Product Suite 24.0.0, including the AgroGuide™ and oneWeigh™ systems. This document contains subsections for each configuration supported by AGRIS 24.0.0.
For information regarding AGRIS on Microsoft SQL Server, please refer to the documentation here: AGRIS on Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL)
NOTE: AGRIS 24.0.0 is ONLY supported on the following operating systems:

• Windows Server® 2022 Standard.  NOTE:  For best results, we recommend installing a new instance of Windows Server 2022, as opposed to upgrading from a prior version of Windows Server.
• Windows Server® 2019 Standard
• Windows Server® 2016 Standard
• Windows® 11 Professional
• Windows® 10 Professional (32- and 64-bit) version 1607 or higher

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT UPGRADING:  The existing version of the AGRIS System must be version 10.1.0 or higher. No earlier versions of the software can be directly upgraded to this version.  If you are upgrading from a version prior to 10.1.0, you should first upgrade to version 19.3.0 and convert all datasets to version 19.3.0, then proceed with upgrading to this version of AGRIS.

1.1 Summary of Major System Requirements Changes - Added and Removed

The following table summarizes the major hardware (HW) and software (SW) requirements changes related to the maintenance and support of AGRIS 24.0.0 (compared to the previous version).

2. AGRIS 24.0.0 Standalone Application

This section describes the hardware and supporting software required for AGRIS in a standalone workstation operation. In this configuration, you install and start the AGRIS components and al l supporting software on a single workstation. All hardware and supporting software must be installed and operational before you install AGRIS.

2.1 Hardware Requirements

The following table lists the minimum and recommended hardware configuration required for AGRIS to operate in a stand-alone environment.

2.2 Supporting Software Requirements

The following table lists the supporting software required to operate AGRIS in a stand-alone environment.

*Loaded as part of the AGRIS installation.
**A software framework containing a library of coded solutions to common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework.

3. AGRIS Network Configuration

This section describes the hardware and supporting software required for AGRIS in a Local Area Network (LAN) environment.
In this configuration:

• Install and start all supporting software (for example, server components, database engine, datasets, and so on) on the database server.
• Install AGRIS on the client workstations.

All hardware and supporting software must be installed and operational before you install AGRIS.
NOTE: Contact Greenstone for information on Component Server(s) for individual database servers that exceed 200 users.

3.1 Database Server

Use the information in this section to identify the database server hardware requirements for the number of users, and the software required to support AGRIS in that environment.

3.1.1 Hardware Requirements

The following table lists the minimum hardware configuration required for AGRIS in a Microsoft Windows® network environment.

NOTE: RAM for the database is based on the size of concurrent data files in use.

3.1.2 Supporting Software Requirements

The following table lists the supporting software required to operate AGRIS in a Microsoft Windows® network environment.

*Loaded as part of the AGRIS installation.

**A software framework containing a library of coded solutions to common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework.

3.2 Client Workstations

Use the information in this section to identify the hardware needed to support your client workstations and the software required to run AGRIS.

3.2.1 Hardware Requirements

The following table lists the minimum hardware configuration required for AGRIS in a Microsoft Windows® network environment.

*When using AGRIS with MSSQL, the AGRIS client operations can consume on average 240-275 mb of RAM.   Based on operating system and usage RAM usage can be as high as 500MB for certain operations.  It is highly recommended to use clients with 4GB or greater when using AGRIS with MSSQL.  

3.2.2 Supporting Software Requirements

The following table lists the supporting software required to operate AGRIS in a Microsoft Windows® network environment.

*Loaded as part of the AGRIS installation.
**A software framework containing a library of coded solutions to common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework.

3.3 AGRIS Terminal Server Configuration

This section identifies the hardware and supporting software required to run AGRIS on Windows Terminal Server. Terminal Server is required for clients with slower than 100Mb-connectivity. These servers are most commonly used in cases where remote locations require access to data that resides at the main site. In this configuration, install AGRIS components on the terminal server, and then install and start all other supporting software (for example, server components, database engine, datasets, and so on) on a separate network server.
Workstations access the client components on the terminal server using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client.
Install all hardware and supporting software before you install AGRIS.
Refer to the applicable server hardware requirements, detailed in section 3.1, Database Server, for the appropriate database server configuration (for example, server components, database engine, datasets, and so on).
Requirements for Terminal Server Clients
Use the specific installation requirements of the terminal server client software vendor. Clients should be members of the Active Directory® domain for optimal printer configuration in AGRIS.

3.3.3 Windows Server® 2016

Hardware Requirements
The following table lists the minimum hardware configuration required for AGRIS to operate in a terminal server environment.

*When using AGRIS with MSSQL, each AGRIS client instance (sysmenu.exe process) can consume on average 240-275 MB of RAM. Ensure there is enough server RAM available to handle this increased requirement.

Supporting Software Requirements
The following table lists the supporting software required to operate AGRIS in a terminal server environment.

*See section 5.4 for details on the Terminal Server Client printing environment

**A software framework containing a library of coded solutions to common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework.

3.3.4 Windows Server® 2019

Hardware Requirements
The following table lists the minimum hardware configuration required for AGRIS to operate in a terminal server environment.

*When using AGRIS with MSSQL, each AGRIS client instance (sysmenu.exe process) can consume on average 240-275 MB of RAM. Ensure there is enough server RAM available to handle this increased requirement.

Supporting Software Requirements
The following table lists the supporting software required to operate AGRIS in a terminal server environment.

*See section 5.4 for details on the Terminal Server Client printing environment

**A software framework containing a library of coded solutions to common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework.

3.3.4 Windows Server® 2022

Hardware Requirements
The following table lists the minimum hardware configuration required for AGRIS to operate in a terminal server environment.

*When using AGRIS with MSSQL, each AGRIS client instance (sysmenu.exe process) can consume on average 240-275 MB of RAM. Ensure there is enough server RAM available to handle this increased requirement.

Supporting Software Requirements
The following table lists the supporting software required to operate AGRIS in a terminal server environment.

*See section 5.4 for details on the Terminal Server Client printing environment

**A software framework containing a library of coded solutions to common programming problems and a virtual machine that manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework.

4. AGRIS Operating System / Database Support Matrix

The following table lists the combinations of operating systems and databases for AGRIS.
"Yes" indicates a supported configuration.
"No" indicates an unsupported configuration.

** Support of the AGRIS system on the PSQL v11 database engine ended July 1, 2016.

# Support of the AGRIS system on the PSQL v12 database engine ended July 1, 2019.  

% Support of the AGRIS system on the PSQL v13 database engine ended December 31st, 2022.

 See Actian's Product Support Lifecycle Policy for Zen (PSQL) document HERE.

** While this configuration was tested on earlier releases and changes in this release should not impact support of this configuration, no testing was done on this. If you have issues with this configuration, you may need to upgrade to a newer version or latest supported combination.

 *** Refer to Actian documentation here.  Actian lists version 14.20.012 for Windows 11 however our testing with AGRIS running version 14.11.023 was successful on Windows 11.

5. Printing

This section describes the printer capabilities necessary to print from AGRIS. Please consult with the printer manufacturer to determine if a specific model printer meets your printing requirements.

5.1 AGRIS Text Drivers

When using AGRIS text drivers with laser or inkjet printers, you should use the PCL print drivers for optimum results.

When deciding to use the AGRIS text drivers some print capabilities may not be supported when using multifunction devices (scanner/copier/fax/printer) laser printers.

5.2 Laser Printers

Greenstone recommends that laser printers use a Windows-native driver. Text-based printing features in AGRIS require a laser printer capable of printing at least 66 lines per page.

5.3 Dot-Matrix Printers

Greenstone recommends that all dot-matrix printers be of the 24-pin impact type and capable of running in Epson® emulation.
Graphical forms, graphical reports, and the AgroGuide™ system do not support printing to dot-matrix printers.

5.4 Terminal Server Client Printing

Greenstone recommends that you disable client auto-printer creation. Printer setup, known as System Printers 1, 2 and 3 in a Terminal Server environment, is inconsistent when using automatically created printers that contain a session number.
To manually connect printers, access them from within RDP.
For optimal printer performance, ensure your client workstations are members of the Active Directory domain.
Please consult the printer manufacturer documentation for printer model compatibility with Terminal Services. You also can refer to the knowledgebase article "Printing and Windows Terminal Server" HERE.

6. Special Considerations

This section provides information regarding environments where additional business management packages from Greenstone and others are part of your application landscape.

6.1 AgroGuide™ Agronomy Management System

When running AgroGuide with graphic intensive application components (maps, images, and so on) in a WAN environment, an ICA client connected to a Citrix Server retrieves images faster than an RDP client connected to a Terminal Server.
In a LAN environment, ICA and RDP connections retrieve images at the same rates.
The AgroGuide System requires:

• • A laser or inkjet printer.
  • A DVD Drive to load Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Reference (TIGER) data (field maps) for use in the AgroGuide system. Field maps are loaded and installed on all AgroGuide system computers.
  • 1.0GB minimum free disk space per color image file (per County).
  • 250MB minimum free disk space per monochrome image file (per County).
  • A Color Depth setting of 24-bit or higher for displaying field maps.

6.2 binSight™ Bin Management System

Please refer to the binSight System Requirements document for a list of supported operating systems and further compatibility information.
The binSight system server application must reside on a separate machine from:

• • Connect2™ AIP application
  • Fuel Connect™ AIP
  • Store Manager™ ES AIP

6.3 Connect2™ Interface

The Connect2 Interface extended option requires a live connection to the internet. Connect2 interface AIP application must reside on a separate machine from:

• • binSight system server
  • Fuel Connect system AIP
  • Store Manager ES system AIP

6.4 Fuel Connect™ System

Fuel Connect does not run on Windows Server 2008® or later operating systems. Please refer to the Requirements section of the Fuel Connect Readme document for a list of supported operating systems and further compatibility information.
The Fuel Connect System AIP application must reside on a separate machine from:

• • binSight system server
  • Connect2 system AIP
  • Store Manager ES system AIP

6.5 oneWeigh™

Please refer to the applicable Standalone Application system requirements, detailed in section the Standalone Application, for the appropriate configuration information.

6.6 RetailWise™ Point-of-Sale System

The RetailWise Point-of-Sale system and integration platform has not been tested nor supported for AGRIS 10.0.0 or higher versions.  Please contact your account manager or agris.support@culturatech.com or 800-366-2474 to discuss your upgrade migration plan to the Store Manager ES™ Point-of-Sale System.

6.7 Other Software

Use of Adobe® Portable Document Format™ (PDF) capabilities in AGRIS requires installation of a PDF reader.
Use of Microsoft Excel® capabilities in AGRIS requires installation of Excel.
Use of HTML document capabilities in AGRIS requires installation of a browser such as Chrome or Microsoft Edge®.

6.8 Bar Code Scanner

Based on customer feedback, the recommended bar code scanner for use with AGRIS is the Motorola LS4278.

6.9 Printing the Help-About Report on Windows® 10 32-bit

Printing the AGRIS Help-About report on Windows® 10 32-bit requires enabling the Windows® NTVDM feature. Printing the Help-About report in AGRIS may prompt to install this feature. You can also install this feature with these steps:

• • Open Control Panel, then Programs and Features
  • Click the Turn Windows Features on or off link
  • Expand Legacy Components then checkmark NTVDM
  • Click OK to run the installation

6.10 Configuring the File Close Delay setting for Actian Zen v15™

For AGRIS version 24.0.0, using Actian Zen v15™ requires the “File Close Delay” setting to be set to zero. This needs to be set on any machines running the Server or Workgroup version of Actian Zen v15™. The AGRIS installation will automatically set this to zero.  If you need to set this value manually, follow these steps:

1. open Zen Control Center on the machine where Zen 15 Server or Workgroup is installed
2. under Engines, click on the machine
3. click on Configure Local Engine
4. click on Performance tuning
5. set the File Close Delay textbox to a zero: 0
6. click Apply
7. click OK
8. close Control Center
9. reboot the machine

Screenshot of the File Close Delay setting set to zero:

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