Reports

Accurate and reliable information is essential to making any business decision. This is as true in IT as in finance. Reporting plays a role in almost every area of IT. Management Suite automates many aspects of reporting. By scheduling reports, information can be delivered to a central Web server, or directly to a user's inbox. Reports can be produced in a variety of formats, i.e., spreadsheet, Adobe PDF, HTML links, Rich Text files, .CSV, or XML format.

The reporting tool can be used to generate a wide variety of specialized reports that provide critical information about the devices on your network. The reporting tool takes advantage of Management Suite inventory scanning utility, which collects and organizes hardware and software data, in order to produce useful, informative, and up-to-date reports. The reporting console is also used independently of Management Suite as a reporting tool for third party programs that are connected to a database.

Several types of reports are available:

• Standard (predefined) reports: Default reports that ship with Management Suite.
• Custom reports: Custom reports created through Jaspersoft iReport that enable defining a unique set of information to generate a report. You can also customize any of the standard reports.
• Ad-hoc reports: One-click reports available from various areas of Management Suite.
• Query-based reports: One-click reports based on a query. Right-clicking a query and clicking New report creates a report under Reporting > Auto generated based on the query and named after it.

Additionally, you can schedule reports so they run at an interval you specify and you can also e-mail reports directly to users.

Read this chapter to learn about:

Using the reporting console

The reporting console is a Java-based application that works independently of Management Suite and can be used with third party programs. The reporting console runs off a centralized program called Avocent Management Platform (AMP) to accommodate reporting needs for any organization. In conjunction with iReport from Jaspersoft, full customization is possible with all reports inside the reporting console.

To launch the reporting console from the Windows console

• Click Tools > Reporting / Monitoring > Reports.

To run the reporting console from a supported browser anywhere

• Use the following direct access URL. You'll need to replace <core name> with your core server name.
  
  https://<core name>:8443/console/console.html?root=reporting
  
  

The Reports section of the Reporting console is where the main body of reports is accessed. The Reports section is modeled after Windows Explorer on how the files are organized and accessed. It is organized into the following sections:

• Report Folders: (Left pane) Shows the reporting folder structure. Use this for navigation.
• Reports: (Middle pane) Shows reports in the selected folder.
• Actions: (Right pane) A toolbar that shows you what you can do with the current selection. Click an item that isn't dimmed to perform that action.

The standard reports that are included with Management Suite are filed under the Reporting > Management Suite folder. Auto-generated folders appear when you create a report from queries in Management Suite.

When running a report, you can choose from one of these formats:

• HTML: Standard HTML. You can often click on charting tools (such as pie charts) in HTML reports to get more detailed information about an item.
• PDF: Adobe PDF
• XLS: Microsoft Excel format
• CSV: Comma-separated value text file
• RTF: Rich-text format

NOTE: The PDF report format doesn't display double-byte characters correctly, such as Japanese. If you need a double-byte report in PDF format, choose an HTML format and generate a PDF from that using a third-party PDF generator.

If there's a default application associated with the selected file extension, the report opens in that application. If the file extension doesn't have a default association, you'll be prompted to save the file.

To run a report

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. In the Reports table, select a report to run.
3. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > Run.
4. When the Run report dialog opens, enter or edit the information.
5. Click the OK button.

To run a query-based report

1. From the Network view, right-click the query you want a report for and click New report.
2. A dialog appears saying the report was created. Click Yes so the reporting console launches.
3. In the reporting console's Report folders panel, click Reporting > Auto generated. Your new report appears in this list. Double-click it to run it.

You can also run reports on most Windows console tree view items that are groups or containers. These "view as" reports contain information about the item you generated the report from. For example, running a report from a group in the Network view shows a list of devices in that group.

To run a "view as" report from the Windows console

1. Right-click a tree item, such as a group in the Network view or My packages in the Distribution packages tool.
2. If there's a View as menu item, click it and click the report format you want. If there's no View as menu item, what you right-clicked doesn't support "View as" reports.

Importing and exporting reports

You can import and export reports. This is helpful if you want to share report templates with others. If you've deleted some default reports and later decide you want them back, you can also re-import them.

Reports are stored in plain-text XML files with a .jrxml file extension. You can find them in this folder:

• C:\Program Files\Avocent\Management Platform\reporting\definition\managementsuite

The folder and file names generally match the way they appear in the reporting console.

To export a report

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. In the Reports table, select a report to export.

3. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > Export.
4. When the window opens, go to the location where you want to export the report to and click Save.

To import a report in Internet Explorer

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder. Important: The reports must be in a folder under the Reporting folder. If needed create a new folder for the report.
2. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > New.
3. When the Report properties dialog opens, enter the information. Important: You must enter the path to the report file to add the new report.
4. Click the OK button.

Unlike Internet Explorer, Firefox doesn't support browsing for files with the standard file browser dialog. In Firefox, you'll instead need to open the .jrxml file you want in Notepad, copy the text to the clipboard, and paste it into the Report properties dialog's Report definition box.

To import a report in Firefox

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder. Important: The reports must be in a folder under the Reporting folder. If needed create a new folder for the report.
2. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > New.
3. When the Report properties dialog opens, enter the information. Important: For the Report definition, you must open the .jrxml file you want to import in a text editor, copy all of the text to the Windows clipboard, and paste the text into the Report definition box.
4. Click the OK button.

Scheduling reports

If there's a report you need regularly, you can schedule it to run ahead of time or during off-hours when the core database load may be lighter. You can view scheduled reports from the reporting console's Report history dialog or you can have the reporting console e-mail the report to e-mail addresses you specify. E-mailing reports requires an SMTP mail server.

Each time a scheduled report runs, the report uses the scope of the person who originally scheduled it.

To enter SMTP mail server information

1. In the Reports content panel, click the Actions panel > General heading > Report settings.
2. Enter the SMTP server information.
3. Click OK.

To schedule a report

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. In the Reports table, select a report to schedule.
3. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > Schedule.
4. When the Schedule report dialog opens, enter or edit the information.
5. Click the OK button.

To view the scheduled reports

1. In the Reports content panel, click the Actions panel > General heading > Scheduled reports.
2. When the Scheduled reports dialog opens, view the information in the table.
3. Click the OK button.

Viewing the report history

The report history is a log of all reports that have been run. You can filter the history by date range or by text in the report name. If you double-click a report in the history it will display that report again. Every time a report runs it generates a temporary file on the core server and a history log entry. Periodically you should delete entries in the report history. When you delete an entry, the associated temporary file gets deleted too.

To view the report history

• In the reporting console's Actions panel, click Report history.

To delete report history entries

1. In the Report history dialog, select the entries you want to delete. You can hold down Ctrl while clicking to select multiple entries, or you can click the first item in a range and then hold down Shift while you click the last item. This will select the whole range.
2. Click Delete.
3. Click Yes to delete the selected entries and their associated temporary files.

Working with the reports tree

In the reporting console, you can copy, cut, paste, and delete reports. You can also add, edit, and delete folders.

Working with reports

To copy a report

Copying a report is useful when you have a report that is similar to the report you need. You can copy the report, paste the report, and then modify the pasted report.

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. In the Reports table, select a report to copy.
3. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > Copy.

The report is copied to memory and is available to be pasted to another location. The Paste action is also enabled.

To cut a report

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. In the Reports table, select a report to cut.
3. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > Cut.

The report is removed from the report list, copied to memory, and is available to be pasted to another location.

To paste a report

Pasting a report is useful when you have a report is similar to the report you need. You can copy the similar report, paste the report, and then modify the pasted report.

1. Cut or copy a report.
2. Move to the report folder where you want to paste the report.
3. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > Paste.

The report is pasted to the report folder.

To delete report

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. In the Reports table, select a report to delete.
3. Click the Actions panel > Reports heading > Delete.
4. At the confirmation prompt, click Yes.

The report is deleted.

Working with report folders

To add a new folder

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. Click the Actions panel > Folders heading > New.
3. When the Folder properties dialog opens, enter the information.
4. Click the OK button.

The report folder is displayed in the Report folders content panel.

To edit a folder

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. Click the Actions panel > Folders heading > Edit.
3. When the Folder properties dialog opens, edit the information.
4. Click the OK button.

The report folder is updated in the Report folders content panel.

To delete a folder

1. In the Reports content panel, select a folder from the Report folders column.
2. Click the Actions panel > Folders heading > Delete.
3. At the warning prompt, click Yes to delete the folder, its sub folders and reports.

The folder is deleted from the Report folders content panel.

Managing reports for multiple cores

If you have multiple cores on your network, you don't have to manage reports separately on each core. You can pick a single core and configure the report to run against the core server you choose. The Run report dialog that appears when you double-click a report has a Connection list that you can use to choose which core server database the report runs against. You'll have to add a connection for each core server that you want to run reports on.

To add a connection to a core server that uses the default SQL database included with Management Suite

1. In the reporting console's Actions panel, click Manage connections.
2. Click New.
3. Enter a Connection name and Description.
4. For SQL databases, in the JDBC drivers list click com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.
5. In the Server address field, enter the remote core server address in the format of <core name>\ldmsdata.
6. In the Database (service) name field, enter ulddb.
7. In the Username field, enter sa.
8. In the Password field, enter the database password you provided during the core server installation.
9. Click Test to make sure the connection works.
10. Click OK. You can now select this connection when you run a report.

If the core server you're connecting to doesn't use the default database included with Management Suite, you'll need to change the field values to match your database installation.

To manage connections 

Important: Changing a report's default connection does not change any scheduled report's default connections.

1. In the Reports content panel, click the Actions panel > General heading > Manage connections.
2. When the Connections dialog opens, view the information in the table.
3. Click New, Edit, or Delete and complete the dialog that appears. When New or Edit is clicked, the dialog opens. Enter or edit the applicable information.
4. Click the OK button.

The connection is updated in the Connections dialog.

Creating and editing custom reports

All reports in the reporting console are created by Jaspersoft's iReport program. You can customize the report appearance, underlying SQL query statements, and so on by using iReport. For more information on using iReport with Management Suite reports, go to the LANDesk User Community's reporting portal at http://community.landesk.com/ldmsreports. The reporting portal also has additional reports you can download.