Before you configure AI Activate, confirm that the following prerequisites are in place. Some apply to your account as a whole, such as licensing and single sign-on. Others apply to each volume you connect, such as the appliance version and the volume's configuration. Confirm the per-volume prerequisites for every volume that you plan to use.
Account and entitlement
Your account must be licensed and enabled for AI Activate. Licensing is arranged with your Nasuni account team, not in the Portal. Contact your account team for more information.
Data location
AI Activate runs in the United States. When AI Activate activates your content and answers queries from your AI tool, that processing takes place in the United States, regardless of the region where your cloud storage is located. If your organization has data residency requirements, confirm that this meets them before you activate content, and contact your Nasuni account team with any questions.
Nasuni Edge Appliance (NEA) version
For any volume you connect to AI Activate, all Nasuni Edge Appliances (NEAs) must be running version 10.4.2 or later. This applies to the Volume Owner NEA and to any NEAs configured as remote connections.
Volume requirements
Each volume that you connect to AI Activate must meet all of the following requirements:
The Volume Owner NEA and any NEAs configured as remote connections run NEA 10.4.2 or later.
The volume is backed by object storage in AWS S3 or Azure Blob Storage.
The volume uses the CIFS (SMB) protocol only. Multiprotocol volumes, for example, a volume configured with both CIFS and NFS, are not supported.
The volume is configured as Shared, also shown as Remote Access Enabled, in the Nasuni Management Console (NMC).
Identity and single sign-on
AI Activate authenticates users through your identity provider by way of Nasuni Portal single sign-on (SSO). Two conditions are required:
Nasuni Portal SSO is configured, using Okta or Microsoft Entra ID. See the Nasuni Portal SSO configuration guide.
Your end users are permitted to use the Nasuni connection in Okta or Microsoft Entra ID. There are no AI Activate roles to configure. If a user can sign in to Nasuni Portal through SSO, then they can authenticate to AI Activate.
To confirm that SSO is configured correctly, visit https://portal.nasuni.com/account/ai_activate_ready/
Portal roles and permissions
Portal roles and permissions control who can access and manage AI Activate in the Portal. This is separate from end-user access to use AI Activate, which is governed by single sign-on, described above.
As the Nasuni administrator, you set up these permissions. In the Nasuni Portal Roles & Permissions section, edit a role and search for "AI Activate" in the Search Permissions box to find the AI Activate permissions, then configure the permissions as your organization requires. See Nasuni Portal User Guide for more information.
Object storage connectivity
AI Activate reaches your files over your object storage's public service endpoint, so your storage must be reachable that way and not restricted to a fixed set of IP addresses or a private network path. Confirm the connectivity and security settings on the object storage backing your volumes before you continue. See Confirming object storage access for how to check and interpret your configuration.
Bring your own AI tool
AI Activate connects to an MCP-compatible AI tool that you provide, such as Anthropic Claude, OpenAI ChatGPT, or Microsoft Copilot. Nasuni does not supply the AI tool.
Next
When your prerequisites are in place, review Cost and Data Responsibilities before you run your first inventory.