Foglight 6.1.0 - User Guide


	TIP: The Run a Report menu is accessible from other locations on the browser interface. You can run a report from any dashboard you are viewing by selecting Run a Report from the Reports menu at the top right corner of that dashboard. In addition, you can select the same option by clicking Run a Report on the General tab of the action panel.

Select a template for your report. To make your selection easier:

•

Click the Templates by Module tab to sort the list of templates by the module (for example, Services) for which the templates were created or click the Templates by Role tab to sort the list of templates by the role (for example, Operator) with which the templates are associated.


	TIP: Use the Templates by Module tab to find a report that is included in a particular cartridge. Hover the cursor over a template name in the Description column of the Select a Template wizard page to view a description of the template in a tooltip.

•

Filter the list of templates by typing the first few letters of the template name or module in the Search field. You can also click the Search menu to perform an advanced or regular expression search.

•

Hover the cursor over the template name or click the description. A tooltip appears that describes the template and its inputs.

Click Next.

The wizard describes the report template and lists the required, and optional input parameters.

Leave the report input values as they are or tailor the report by specifying different input values.

To specify a value, click the Edit icon (

) next to the report input. The contents of the dialog box that appears vary depending on the input value that you are editing.

Click Next.

Type a unique name for the report in the Name field.

Choose the Output Format:

•

PDF is the default option.

•

Excel creates a report that you can open in Microsoft Excel.

•

XML creates a report in the XML format. Select this format if you want to import the data into other applications.


	NOTE: In certain cases, the XML output format contains more information than the other output formats. For example, the XML format can provide all the metric information for a given time range, whereas the Excel format only displays the current average value. This is because the Excel output is limited to what can be placed in a cell.

Optional—if you want Quest Foglight to send this report to specific individuals, type a comma-separated list of their email addresses.


	NOTE: Your Administrator must configure Foglight to direct outgoing mail through your mail server before you can use this functionality. Contact your Administrator for details.

Optional — Specify any of the following scheduling options for your report.


	NOTE: These scheduling options are not available to users who have the Operator role only. Contact your Administrator if you require this functionality.

Select the Schedule This Report check box to enable scheduling. The wizard will present scheduling options on the next page.

In the Retain field, type the number of instances of a scheduled report that you want Quest Foglight to keep. For example, if you type 3, Quest Foglight deletes the oldest instance of this report when it generates a fourth instance.

The Enable Scheduling check box is selected by default. When this option is selected, the scheduled report is automatically enabled when you click Next.

Clear this check box if you want to disable the scheduled report for now. If you do so, Quest Foglight does not run the report on the schedule until you enable the report manually.

Click Next.

A list of report schedules appears.

Select a schedule from the list or click the New Schedule icon to create your own schedule. If you choose to create your own schedule, select a schedule pattern type and specify the schedule time and expiration details. When you are finished, type a name for the schedule and a description.


	NOTE: To delete a schedule, contact your Administrator. Schedules are deleted in the Administration > Schedules > Manage Schedules dashboard. For more information, see the Administration and Configuration Guide.

Click Next.

The Report Summary appears.

Confirm that the report values are correct. If they are not correct, click Previous and make the appropriate changes. If they are correct, click Finish to generate the report.

The report is automatically generated and displayed in a browser window. The report is also listed in the Generated Reports View on the Manage Reports dashboard. See Managing Reports for information about using this dashboard.


	TIP: You can add parameterized input values to a report and change them at any time. For example, you can create a report to capture the memory utilization used by a specific host machine. By using a top parent node data element as the parameterized input value, you can later run this report on any host found under the parent node. For more information about working with parameterized input values, see Using Parameterized Input Values.

Viewing reports on changes in Rules, Alarms and Registry values

It is possible to generate a report identifying the changes of rules for each cartridge and core functionality from the previous to current version. There are several reports you can run to identify changes in rules, alarms, registry values and more.

To run a report listing changes:

On the navigation panel, click Reports.

Click Run a Report.

Search on “change” in the search field.

A list of report templates for various changes is listed.

Select the appropriate report from the list.

Configure the input parameters and report properties as required, using the report wizard.

Generate the report.

Online-Only Topics

Scheduling a Report

You can configure and schedule a report that you want Quest Foglight to generate at specified intervals.

The Report Manager role allows users to generate and schedule the reports for which they have role access. It is different from the Operator role in that users granted the Operator role can generate reports but cannot schedule them. With the Report Manager role, users cannot create new report templates through the Definitions editor or create reports using the drag and drop feature initiated from the action panel. The Advanced Operator role grants users access to all report functionality. You can schedule a report a number of ways.

•

Run a report right now—see Running a Report.

•

Schedule an existing report—see To schedule a generated report:.

•

Copy an existing scheduled report—see Copying and Editing a Scheduled Report.

For more details, see Managing Scheduled Reports.


	NOTE: Users with the Administrator role have the ability to remove unwanted scheduled reports created by other users. User’s who do not have the Administrator role, can only see reports that have their user role.

Online-Only Topics

Building a Custom Report Template

When you select the Build a Custom Report option on the Reports dashboard, the main page of the Create Report wizard appears.


	TIP: An alternate way to access the Create Report wizard is to click Reports > Create a New Report in the action panel.

Choose to base your report template on one of the following options:

•

Use all data: start with a blank report template and build a report by selecting discrete components from your database. See Creating a Report Based on All Data.

•

Start with a service: build a report template based on components of the service you select. See Creating a Report Based on a Service.

•

Create a report based on the current dashboard: use the data shown on the current dashboard to build a report template. You can also create a parameterized report template that can be populated with different data. See Creating a Report Based on the Current Dashboard.

•

Direct Copy: use the data shown on the current report to build a report template. See Copying a Report.

When you finish creating a report, you do not need to save it. It is automatically available under My Dashboards in the navigation panel and also appears as a template in the Generate Report and Schedule Report wizards.

Creating a Report Based on All Data

By basing your report on all data, you can construct a report template using any data that is available in Quest Foglight. Quest Foglight provides a blank report to which you can add any elements you want.

To create a report based on all data:

In the Create Report wizard, select Use all data.

Click Finish.

The Add View wizard appears. See Adding a View.

The new report template is also listed under Dashboards > My Dashboards in the navigation panel.

Adding a View

You add view elements to your report template or dashboard by selecting the data you from the tree and assigning it a view style.

Figure 66. Select data from the Input Data tree.

To add view elements:

Expand a node in the Input Data tree. For example, if you are creating a report and want to base it on host data, expand the tree to select a host.

Select an object from the Input Data list. The view styles and templates that are available are based on the object you selected.

By default, repetitive and complex properties are hidden from the Input Data list to make the selection of meaningful choices simpler. You can optionally select Show All to display all data objects.

To quickly identify the view style of the input data, refer to the icons.

•

Metric View. See Adding a Metric View.

•

Table View. See Adding a Table View.

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Property View. See Adding a Property View.

•

Pick a View Template. See Using an Existing Template.

Adding a Metric View

A metric view shows metrics associated with the selected data as a composite chart, gauge, table, and list. Use this type of view for data you want to display graphically.

Figure 67. A visual comparison between two memory metrics in one chart.

To add a metric view:

If you are creating a chart: select as many metrics as you want to include.


	TIP: Chart related metrics together to identify performance problems more easily.

If you are creating a gauge: select one metric.

If you are creating a list: select as many metrics as you want to include.

Select the view type from the Charts, Gauges, and Lists area.

Charts: graph metric data over time. The x axis represents time; the y axis represents the metric.

•

Plot: graphs metric data as a line.

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Area: graphs metric data as connected data points, filled below the points.

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Stacking Area: graphs metric data as connected data points, filled below the points and (in the case of multiple metrics) stacked.

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Bar: draws each data point as a bar.

•

High/Low: draws the maximum and minimum values as a series of bars, with an additional line that shows the average.

Gauges:

•

Metric Indicator: displays a metric as an oval with a number at its center.


	TIP: Use the metric indicator to highlight a fluctuating value.

•

Horizontal Bar: displays the current value of a metric as a horizontal bar (linear gauge).

•

Vertical Bar: displays the current value of a metric as a vertical bar (linear gauge).

•

Cylinder: displays the current value of a metric as a cylinder.


	TIP: The cylinder and the linear gauges give you the flexibility to present data in terms of a graduated scale. If you select a metric that is calculated as a percentage (for example, Available Paging Space), Quest Foglight draws the bar or cylinder partially filled. Use one of these components to display a current value relative to a maximum value.

•

Lists: metrics list or table

Select the following tabs for more options:

Preview tab: see the metric view based on your selections:

Common tab: specify a Title (name for the chart) and Height (select the Height check box to set the height for this chart). The default chart height is 300 pixels.

Metrics tab: choosing another label for a metric is helpful when you have many metrics and parents. The label appears in the legend when the chart contains metrics from more than one parent. The settings that you can change are:

Metric label: allows you to choose another label for the metric. Only available when editing a single chart.

Parent label: allows you to choose another label for the parent metric. This label appears in the title of a chart that contains metrics from a single parent. The parent label appears in the legend when the chart contains metrics from more than one parent. For example, see Grouping Metrics with Many Parent Hosts.

Options tab: controls how metrics are displayed in charts. For more information, see Options tab.

Select one of the following options:

If you want to make changes to the metric view: click Previous. You can navigate back to:

•

Select a different view style or input data. See Adding a View for instructions.

•

Select different metrics. See Step 1 for instructions.

•

Select a different metric view type. See Step 2 for instructions.

If you want to filter the data you selected based on rules: click Next. See Filtering a List for instructions.


	NOTE: The Next button is disabled if you did not select a list as the input data (for example, List of TopologyObjects).

If the view suits your needs as-is: click Finish to exit the wizard. See Working with Your Custom Report Template.

Adding a Table View

A table view displays the properties you select in a table. Use this type of view when you want to display multiple properties for a list of objects in tabular form. For example, a list of current alarms showing the alarm IDs, their duration, and the alarm messages.

To select properties and a view style for a table:

On the Add View wizard’s Select Add a Report View Element step, select the input data you want to use.

In the View Styles, click Table View and then Next.

On the Select Properties step, choose the properties you want to appear as columns in the table, such as metrics or object names. The specific properties from which you can choose vary depending on the input you selected.

Optional—select Show all to display all data objects.

Click Next.

The Configure Columns step appears. See Configuring Table Columns.

Configuring Table Columns

You can configure your table column headers, text alignment, and the renderer.

To configure the columns in your table:

Optional — Change the order of the columns using the arrows (

) or configure the columns in your table view:

•

Label: change the name of one or more of the columns.

•

Property: cannot be edited.

•

Alignment: choose to align the column to the left, center, or right.

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Renderer: choose how Quest Foglight displays the value. For example, show metric values as a sparkline or configure an object name to appear in bold.

Click Next.

The Table Preview step appears. See Previewing Your Table.

Previewing Your Table

The Table Preview page displays the results of your selections. You can make changes to the style, input data, column layout, or what filters are used in your table.

To update and preview your table:

If you want to make changes to the table: click Previous. You can navigate back to:

•

Select a different view style or input data. See Adding a View for instructions.

•

Select different properties to appear in the table view. See Step 1 for instructions.

•

Re-configure the table columns. See Step 1 for instructions.

If you want to filter the data you selected based on rules: click Next. See Filtering a List for instructions.

If the view suits your needs as-is: click Finish to exit the wizard. See Working with Your Custom Report Template.

Adding a Property View

A property view displays the properties you select either in a table (as sets of name-value pairs) or rendered together in a single label component. Use this type of view when you want to concisely display a set of properties for an object. For example, a concise label that displays a host’s name, custom text that you add, the CPU utilization on that host, and an icon indicating its state with regard to CPU utilization:

Figure 68. Example of a property view.


	TIP: When creating custom dashboards: create property view label components for objects in your environment and add them to a dashboard that has a geographical map or diagram as its background image and uses a fixed position layout. You can position the views at precise locations on the map or diagram to represent the monitored state of objects at those locations, for example, physical hosts located in your offices across the country. See Using a Map or Diagram as a Background Image and Adding a View Using the Drag and Drop Functionality for instructions.

To configure the property view:

On the Add View wizard’s Select Add a Report View Element step, select the input data you want to use.

In the View Styles, click Property View and then Next.

On the Select Properties step, choose the properties you want to list in your property table or label component. The specific properties from which you can choose vary depending on the input you selected.

Optional — Select Show all to display all data objects.

Select a property view style:

•

Select Name-Value List if you want the properties you select to be listed as name-value pairs in a simple two-column table. You can customize how Quest Foglight displays both the name (for example, to display a host name in bold text) and the value (for example, to display a metric value as a sparkline).

•

Select Property Renderer if you want the values of the properties you select to be rendered together in a single label component. You can add text between components and customize how Quest Foglight displays values.

Click Next.

Depending on your selection, the Configure Name-Value List or Configure Property Renderer step appears.

Optional — Provide a Title for the view.

Change the order of the rows (in a name-value table) or values (in a property renderer) using the arrows (

).When configuring a Property Renderer, ensure that you place the properties in the order you want them to appear; do this as a first step before you add text before, after, and between properties.

If you are creating a name-value list:

Configure how properties are listed in the table:

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Label: change the name of one or more of the properties.

•

Property: cannot be edited.

•

Renderer: choose how Quest Foglight displays the value. For example, show metric values as a sparkline or configure an object name to appear in bold.

If you are creating a property renderer:

Configure how the properties’ values are listed in the table:

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Preceding Text: type the text that you want to appear before the first property. For example, if your first component is the CPU utilization on a host, you could type “CPU utilization is”, so that the property renderer displays CPU utilization is <value>%.

•

Preceding Text Style: choose how Quest Foglight displays the text you add. For example, configure the text so that it appears in bold.

•

Following Text: type the text that you want to appear after a property. For example (continuing from the example above), if your first property is the CPU utilization on a host and your second property is the host name, you could type “on” as the text following the first property so that the property renderer displays CPU utilization is <value>% on <host name>.

•

Text Renderer: choose how Quest Foglight displays the text you add. For example, configure the text so that it appears in bold.

•

Property: cannot be edited.

•

Renderer: choose how Quest Foglight displays the value. For example, show metric values as a sparkline or configure an object name to appear in bold.

If you want to make changes to the view: click Previous. You can navigate back to:

•

Select a different view style or input data. See Adding a View for instructions.

•

Select different properties. See Step 1 for instructions.

•

Select a different property view style. See Step 5 for instructions.

•

Re-configure the view. See Step 9 for instructions.

If the view suits your needs as-is: click Finish to exit the wizard. See Working with Your Custom Report Template.

Editing View Properties

To edit view properties:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, open the report you want to update.

On the toolbar, click Properties.

Alternatively, open the Action panel, General tab, and click Properties > Edit Basic Properties.

Type a unique name for the report in the Name field.

By default, if you do not select any relevant or allowed roles, the dashboard or report template is available to all roles.

You can select specific roles to control access to your dashboard. However, the interaction between relevant roles and allowed roles is complex. Consult your organization’s dashboard designer or Administrator for details.

Optional—set access to this report by clicking the edit icons (

) next to Relevant Role(s) and Allowed Role(s) and selecting the roles to control which users can access the report.

For report templates: for example, choose Advanced Operator as the Allowed Role to make your report template available to everyone with the Advanced Operator role; choose this role as the Relevant Role to cause it to appear in the list of reports associated with the Advanced Operator role.

For dashboards: for example, if you choose Operator for Relevant and Allowed Roles, Quest Foglight publishes your dashboard to all users with the Operator role.


	NOTE: To make a dashboard that you have created available to all users, choose Operator for both the Relevant Role and Allowed Role.

Optional — Click the edit icon

beside Background Image and select a background image to use in your custom report.

Optional — Enter a description of the report in the Context Help text box. This text appears in a tooltip when you hover over the report name in the navigation panel.

Select the Allow this view to be included in other views check box if you want this view to have a reportlet purpose.

Click OK.

Filtering a List

When you select a list as the input data for your view (for example, List of Topology Objects), You can filter the list before you finish creating the view.

You filter the input data so that only objects that match the conditions you specify appear in your view. For example, you can apply filters to:

•

Order the data for display (alphabetical, by severity, by CPU utilization).

•

Display the top n of anything (for example, the top 5 hosts by CPU utilization).

•

Show only the hosts that start with a certain string (for example, “banking” for all hosts that support your Banking application).

To specify a rule to filter the selected data:

Select the options for the rules you want to configure:

•

Order by:

Select this option if you want to order the objects in ascending or descending sequence based on the property you select. Select Limit to and specify a number if you want to limit the number of items included in the list.

•

Match the following rule:

Select this option and specify a condition.

The condition is based on a property that you select from the first menu. Depending on the type of property you choose (for example, a string such as an object name or a number such as a metric value), different options are available from the second menu; select an option based on the data that you want to include. Specify the value you want the rule to match in the box at the end of the rule. If the value is a string, clear or select the Case Insensitive check box depending on whether or not you want the rule to be case sensitive.

Add or remove rules using the plus-sign and minus-sign icons (

and


	NOTE: If you create multiple rules, you must choose whether the filter matches all rules or any of the rules. All corresponds to the AND condition; Any corresponds to the OR condition.

•

Select from n items:

Select items from the list to specify the specific instances against which you want the rules to run.

Click Finish. See Working with Your Custom Report Template.

Using an Existing Template

You can quickly add a view to your report or dashboard by using an existing view template.

To create a view based on a template:

Select a view template from the list.

By default, the show by role option is selected and the view templates are filtered based on your role (for example, Operator).


	NOTE: Any views that you create and share are listed under Universal.

Clear the show by role check box to show template views classified by module (for example, Alarms or Hosts).


	NOTE: Any views that you create and share, with this option selected, are listed under My Views.

Select the following tabs for more options:

Preview tab: see how the view looks based on your selections.

Common tab: specify a Title (name for the chart).

Click Finish. See Working with Your Custom Report Template.

Selecting a Question to Display Data in a Report

You can use a number of defined questions to place data onto your report. Quest Foglight provides a list of default questions to start from. For example, “What are the hosts with the least stable memory utilization?” By selecting this question, Quest Foglight searches for the hosts in your environment which meet this criteria, and adds that data to your report. Once done, you can run or schedule the report.

To add data to your report using a question:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, open a custom report.

The selected report appears in the display area.

In the report toolbar, click Properties.

The Edit View Properties dialog box appears.

Click the edit icon

for Related Domains.

The Select related domains dialog box opens.

Expand any of the related domains, select one or more of the related domain check boxes, and click OK.

Click OK to close the Edit View Properties dialog box.

From the toolbar, click Add view.

Select the input data from the related domain you specified in Step 4.

Select an input value, click Select a Question, and click Next.

Depending on the Related Domain you set in the Properties dialog box, the name of the category listed in the Select Question to add reportlet dialog box may vary. In the example below it displays the related domain we called Hosts.

Select the desired question to base your report on and click Finish.

Quest Foglight adds the data to the report.

Next you can run or schedule the report. See Running a Report. You can also create a scheduled version of a report that has been generated. For more information, see Managing Reports.

Creating a Report Based on a Service

You can build a your custom report template based on the elements that make up a service. For example, choose this option if you want to tailor your report to one of your critical services.

To build a report based on a service:

On the action panel, click Reports > Create a New Report.

In the Create report wizard, click Start with a service.

Click Next.

The Select a service page appears.

Optional — Select the Parameterize this report check box if you want to create a report that is designed to run with any service.

Optional — After you select Parameterize this report, select the Advanced checkbox to choose a data type for any of the services listed. This enables you to reduce the scope of the report to a particular data type.


	TIP: If you later decide to add more views or data elements to your custom report using the drag and drop functionality, see Using Parameterized Input Values.

From the table, select a service and then click Finish.

The Add View wizard appears. See Adding a View.

The new report template is also listed under Dashboards > My Dashboards in the navigation panel.

Creating a Report Based on the Current Dashboard

Creating a report based on the current dashboard (Other Actions > Reports > Create a New Report from the action panel) allows you to use live data from the current dashboard as the report inputs.

To create a custom report based on the current dashboard:

Select the dashboard you want to run a report on.

On the Action panel, click Other Actions > Reports > Create a New Report.

The Create Report wizard appears.In the Create report wizard, click Create a Report based on the current Dashboard.

Click Next.

The Select objects page appears.

Optional — Clear the Parameterize this report check box if you do not want to create a report designed to run with any object.

Optional — Select the objects in the table you want to include in your report.

Optional — When Parameterize this report is selected, click the Advanced checkbox to choose a data type for any of the services listed. This enables you to reduce the scope of the report to a particular data type.


	TIP: If you later decide to add more views or data elements to your custom report using the drag and drop functionality, see Using Parameterized Input Values.

From the table, select a service and then click Finish.

The Add View wizard appears. See Adding a View.

The new report template is listed under Dashboards > My Dashboards in the navigation panel. It is also available in the Reports menu, found at the top right corner of the selected dashboard. If you have shared and specified the relevant and allowed user roles access to this report, it is also listed in the Reports menu for those users with that role. For more information, see Working with Views .

Running a Report Based on a Dashboard

You can run a report on a selected dashboard at any time.

Once a user creates a report based on a dashboard (see Creating a Report Based on the Current Dashboard), this report is displayed in the Reports menu for all users who have the same user role.

To run a custom report on a dashboard:

Select a dashboard you have based a report on.

On the action panel, click Other Actions > Reports, and select your report.

In the image below, we have created a custom report based on the Agents dashboard called Custom Agents Report.

Alternatively, select the custom report in the Reports menu located on the right side of the time line of the selected dashboard.

The Run Report wizard appears.

Copying a Report

You can build on an existing report by copying the report.

To copy a report:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click on a custom report.

On the action panel, click Reports > Create a New Report.

In the Create Report wizard, click Direct Copy.

A copy of the report appears in the navigation panel.

Working with Your Custom Report Template

When you finish adding a view, it appears on the workspace for your custom report template.

Continue to add views by selecting Add view on the report workspace toolbar or by dragging and dropping data onto the workspace. See Adding a View and Adding a View Using the Drag and Drop Functionality for details. See Working with Views for information about options available for the views that you add.

From the report workspace, you can also add other elements (such as text, a header or footer, or a background image). See Adding Text, Customizing the Header or Footer, and Editing Properties for details.

Once you have added text and views, you can click and drag them to change their position in the template.

Click Run () to generate the report immediately. Alternatively, click General > Actions > Run this report. See Online-Only Topics for details.

Click Show Tutorial () to view a learning video on how to use parameters to manage your report. See Using Parameterized Input Values for details.


	TIP: If your custom report template uses parameterized inputs, you can change the input values from the action panel (General > Report Inputs).

Working with Views

Click one of the Options icon to perform one of the actions listed below.


	NOTE: The available options vary depending on whether or not you are working with a custom view, as well as whether the view is part of a custom dashboard or a custom report template.

•

Preview () the view. This option causes a pop-up window to appear. Use this option to see what your view looks like before generating a report.

•

Edit Properties (

) of the view. See Step 3 of Editing a View for details.

•

Remove () the view.

•

Share () the view. Share a view so that you can reuse it in other reports and custom dashboards that you create.

Before you click OK to share the view, you can also optionally set:

•

The Name of the view. Provide the view with a distinctive name that describes its purpose or contents.

•

Additional Purposes: Select one or more of the following check boxes if you want to make this view available for use in another view or dashboard:

Pagelet: Allows a user with advanced permissions (for example, the Administrator or Cartridge Developer role) to use this within another view.

Portlet: Makes the view available to you in different places, depending on whether it is parameterized, or you specified an input for it. If the view is parameterized, selecting this option displays it in the Universal list of templates that is available when you add a view to a report or dashboard. If you set an input for this view, it also appears under Views > My Views in the action panel; you can then drag and drop it onto one of your custom dashboards or reports.

Relevant Role(s): Allows you to define which user roles this dashboard is relevant. This Quest Foglight uses this information to choose which dashboards to show as top-level dashboards and home pages to a user based on their role.

Allowed Role(s): Allows you to define the permissions of the dashboard, specifying which user roles can access or load the dashboard. Users without the assigned Allowed Roles are unable to access or load the dashboard, even if the user has a matching relevant role.

With appropriate Relevant Roles and Assigned Roles set, Foglight can improve the user experience by only showing dashboards that are both relevant and permitted for the logged in user.

Adding a View Using the Drag and Drop Functionality

Add views to you custom report template or dashboard by dragging data objects onto the workspace from the list in the Data tab. If the data object you drag and drop supports two or more view types (for example, a host), a list appears from which you can select a create a metric view, a table view, a properties view, or select a view template. See Adding a Metric View, Adding a Table View, Adding a Property View, and Using an Existing Template for details.


	TIP: Search nodes in the data tree to find the data object you are looking for more easily. Click the magnifier icon () to make the search popup appear. Switch to an advanced search by clicking the gear icon ().You can also start an advanced search from this popup. See Filtering a List for information about using the Order by and Match the following rule advanced search options.This functionality is available for any node that represents a list of objects (for example, All Hosts).

You can also drag and drop views from the Views tab. This tab lists all of the default Quest Foglight views to which you have access. It also lists any non-parameterized custom views that you create and share. By default, views are organized by module (for example, Hosts, or the cartridge in which the view is included); if you select show by role, they are organized based on your roles. Drag and drop views to quickly add information to your report.


	NOTE: Custom views are listed under My Views when the views are organized by module and under Universal when the views are organized by role.

Adding Text

You can add text to a custom report template or dashboard, for example, a description of the views it includes or the types of problems it might highlight.

To add text to the custom report or dashboard:

If you are customizing a report template: click Add text in the toolbar (

) or drag Drag into report to add text... to the workspace from General > Actions in the action panel.

If you are customizing a dashboard: click General > Actions > Add text... in the action panel or drag Drag into portal to add text... to the workspace from General > Actions in the action panel.

The Entering User Text dialog box appears.

Choose the text Style (for example, Emphasized) in which you want the text to appear.

Type the text you want to appear.

If you want to add a background image to the text, click the edit icon (

) next to Background Image to open the Select an Image dialog. Follow Step a and Step b in Customizing the Header or Footer.

Click OK.

Adding a Title Page to Your Report

You can add a title page to your report.

To add a title page:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards > My Dashboards, and open a report you have created.

Click Show title page.

The button is renamed Hide title page.

The Title Page field appears under the toolbar. By default, the name of the report, Quest Foglight, and the current date are displayed.

On the title page field, click the preview icon to review the content.

To change the content on the title page, click on the report, and then click the edit icon. The Customize Title Page dialog box appears.

Click in any of the Left, Center, or Right fields to view the options.

Click the add icon to add an option or text to a field.

If you want to add images to the report title page, click the add icon to the left of Add Image to open the Select an Image dialog box.

Enter the URL where the image can be found, navigate to the image in the Available Images tree (if you previously uploaded an image), or click Upload image to add an image to a directory for your user account.

Click OK.

The image appears in the Customize Title Page dialog box, with an edit dialog box below it.

From the edit dialog box, you can remove the image, replace the image, maintain the original size of the image by selecting the Auto Size check box, or change the size by setting the width, height, and unit. By default the Maintain Aspect Ratio option is set.

Click Apply to save the changes.

Customizing the Header or Footer

You can add a custom header or footer to your report.

To customize your report header or footer:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, open a report you have created.

The Header and Footer fields are displayed under the toolbar. By default, the header shows the current time range on the right-hand side of the page. The footer shows the page number in the center and the current time on the right.

In the Header field, click the edit icon.

The Customizer Header dialog box appears.

The default height of a header is 18 points. To change the height, clear the Height check box, and set a new height value and unit.

Click in any of the Left, Center, or Right fields to view the options.

Click the add icon to add an option or text to a field.

If you want to add images to the report, click the add icon to the left of Add Image to open the Select an Image dialog box. You can add an image either on the right or left side of the header.

Click OK.

The image appears in the Customize Header dialog box. Below the image is an edit dialog box.

Click Apply to save the changes.

In the Footer field, click the edit icon.

Repeat Step 3 through Step 7.

To preview your header or footer:

•

Click the preview icon.

A dialog box displays a preview.

Adding a Table of Contents

You can add a table of contents to your report.

To add a table of contents to your report:

On the navigation panel, under My Dashboards, open a report you have created. If you do not have an existing report already created, see Building a Custom Report.

In the toolbar of the report, click Show Table of Contents.

The table of contents is displayed at the top of the report.

The text on the button changes to Hide Table of Contents.

To remove the Table of Contents:

•

Click Hide Table of Contents.

To view the Table of Contents in your report:

On the navigation panel, under Homes, click Reports.

Click Manage Reports.

In the Generate Reports table, select the report you created using a Table of Contents.

To start the process of saving the report, click View.

The Table of Contents, listing all of the report’s elements, is displayed on the first page of the report.

Editing Properties

You can change some or all of the properties for a custom report template or dashboard, such as the name, whether it can be included in another report or view, or the text that appears for it in the help tooltip.

To edit properties:

Click General > Actions > Properties > Edit basic properties in the action panel or (for report templates) click Properties in the toolbar (

The Edit View Properties dialog box appears.

Type a unique name for the report in the Name field. Since custom reports are listed under My Dashboards in the navigation panel, choose a name that indicates that this is a report.


	TIP: You can also change the name of the report by clicking on it in the main view.

For dashboards: select an Auto Refresh Rate option to refresh the dashboard at regular intervals (or not at all). The default rate is 300 seconds. You can also specify a custom rate (in seconds) or choose for the dashboard to never refresh.

By default, if you do not select any Relevant or Allowed Roles, the dashboard or report template is available to all roles.

You can select specific roles to control access to your dashboard. However, the interaction between Relevant Roles and allowed roles is complex. Consult your organization’s dashboard designer or Administrator for details.

Optional—set access to this report by clicking the edit icons (

) next to Relevant Role(s) and Allowed Role(s) and selecting the roles to control which users can access the report.

For report templates: for example, choose Advanced Operator as the Allowed Role to make your report template available to everyone with the Advanced Operator Role; choose this role as the Relevant Role to cause it to appear in the list of reports associated with the Advanced Operator Role.

For dashboards: for example, if you choose Operator for both, Quest Foglight publishes your dashboard to all users with the Operator Role.


	IMPORTANT: To make a dashboard that you have created available to all users, choose Operator for both the Relevant Role and Allowed Role.

Enter a description of the report in the Help box. This text appears in a tooltip when you hover the cursor over the report name in the navigation panel. It also appears as the report description in the Generate Report and Schedule Report wizards.

If you want to add a background image to the report, click the edit icon (

) next to Background Image to open the Select an Image dialog. Follow Step a and Step b in Customizing the Header or Footer.

For dashboards: if you want to configure the dashboard so that it can be included in other views, select the Allow this view to be included in another views check box. This causes the dashboard to be considered a portlet. See Working with Views for more information about portlets.

For report templates: if you want to configure the report so it can be included in another report, select the Allow this report to be included in another report check box. If you select this option, the report is added to the list of views that are available to you when adding a view using the Add View wizard or the drag and drop functionality.

Optional—change the Page orientation. The default is portrait.

Click OK to save your changes.

Run a Report

You can quickly run a report at any time.

To run a report:

Open the report and click Run.

Alternatively, open the action panel and click Other Actions > Reports > Run a Report.

The Run Report wizard appears.

Set the input parameters to base the report on and click Next.

Set the properties for the report.

Type a unique name for the report in the Name field.

Optional—set the roles for your report. By default, if you do not select any relevant or allowed roles, the dashboard or report template is available to all roles.

Optional—click the edit icon

beside Background Image and select a background image to use in your custom report.

You can enter a description of the report in the Context Help text box. This text appears in a tooltip when you hover over the report name in the navigation panel.

Select the Allow this view to be included in other views check box if you want this view to have a reportlet purpose.

Optional—change the Page orientation. The default is portrait.

Click OK.

The Report Summary appears.

Confirm if the report values are correct. If they are not, click Previous and make the appropriate changes. If they are correct, click Finish to generate your report.

A message window, in the top left corner of the dashboard, notifies you when the report generation has completed. The report is also listed in the Generated Reports View on the Manage Reports dashboard. See Managing Reports for information about using this dashboard.

Viewing Report Video Tutorials

A number of videos are available from the toolbar of a custom report. Use these videos to learn how to run and schedule a report, create a custom report, manage your reports and how to customize input values.

Select a video from the Video Tutorial menu to launch the video in a separate browser window.

Online-Only Topics

Investigating Problems with Agents

The Agents on All Hosts dashboard lists the agents that are available for each host. It is useful for monitoring from the perspective of hosts and agents. If you want to look at agents and the hosts where they are running, you will find this the most helpful dashboard.

You can also create a filter to display only certain groups of hosts. See Monitoring Remote System Agents for more information.


	NOTE: The Agents on All Hosts dashboard is similar to the Monitored Hosts dashboard except that you can use the Monitored Hosts dashboard to view agents for one host at a time. For more information on the Monitored Hosts dashboard see Viewing Details about a Single Host.


	TIP: Visit http://eDocs.quest.com to watch our learning videos. See introduction to Managing Agents.

To start monitoring agents:

•

On the navigation panel, under Homes, click Agents.

Figure 73. The Agents on All Hosts dashboard opens.

The Monitored Hosts and Agents and the Outstanding Alarms views are displayed. The type of information contained in each column is described in the following table.


	TIP: Hover over a column to cause a dwell with more detailed information to appear.

Drilldowns for the Agents on All Hosts View

Table 16. Drilldowns for the Agents on All Hosts View:

Select

To display

Agent or host

A popup that provides a summary of the agent/host, service, or application. This summary includes the number of alarms by severity, health status, and related links.

This is a common view in Quest Foglight. For a description of the host summary popup, see the topic: Online-Only Topics.

Type

Lists the type of agent. For example, WindowsAgent, or UnixAgent.

Health icon

Links to:

•

health of all alarm sources

•

health of current alarm source

•

all outstanding alarms for that alarm source

Alarm icon

A list of alarms for components that are being monitored. This is a common view in Quest Foglight. For information about working with alarms, see Viewing, Acknowledging, and Clearing Alarms.

Health History

A popup that focuses on the state history of a host condition such as fatal. Click on the colored segment that corresponds to the severity state to get information about the alarms contributing to this particular time interval. For more information, see Viewing an Agent’s Health History.

State

A popup that allows Administrators to activate or deactivate the agent as well as start and stop data collection.

Health State

Alarms for the host or agent selected in the Monitored Hosts and Agents view. This is a common view in Quest Foglight. For information about working with alarms, see Viewing, Acknowledging, and Clearing Alarms.

You can filter the hosts by clicking Agent Filter in the Action panel to open the Agent Filter dialog box.

Viewing an Agent’s Health History

The health history represents the state history of a host condition for specific periods of time, over the time period of the dashboard. You can click on any “state period” in the health history bar to drill-down on a list of the specific alarms that are associated with the host during that time period. This is useful in situations where the host condition frequently changes and a colorful health history bar is shown. By selecting a colored segment on the health history bar, you can get a closer look at what particular alarms are indicating a non-normal state severity.

To view the Health History:

Click the Health History bar for the appropriate host from one of the following dashboards:

•

From the Agents on all Hosts dashboard (on the navigation panel, under Homes, click Agents)

•

From the Hosts dashboard (on the navigation panel, under Homes, click Hosts

)


	NOTE: By default, the Health History column in the Hosts dashboard is hidden. To view it, click the Show/Hide icon . In the Show columns popup that appears, select Health History and then click Apply.

Click a colored segment that corresponds to a severity state (that is, a non-normal state) to view alarms contributing to that state for the selected time period.

Figure 74. For example, to drill down to the alarms responsible for a critical state, click an orange segment.

A list of alarms that are associated with the host during the selected time period opens.

Click

to close the popup of the alarm list.

To zoom in on the selected state severity in the Health History popup, select and drag the area on the time axis.

Figure 75. Select and drag the area to zoom in.

The chart zooms in on the selected time range.

Use the update options in the zoom menu (top left corner of the chart) to update the view with the zoomed-in time range:

•

Previous zoom icon (

)—returns to the previous time range.

•

Reset zoom icon (

)—resets the chart to its initial state.

•

Update page with zoomed time range icon (

)—freezes the time with the zoomed-in range.

Monitoring Remote System Agents

You can group remote system agents to monitor Linux and Windows hosts using the Agents on All Hosts dashboard.

Viewing a Group of Monitored Agents

Use the Agents on All Hosts dashboard if you are interested in viewing a set of hosts rather than viewing the actual service.

Adding a Group of Monitored Agents

When you create a group of agents or hosts to monitor, you are actually creating a global service which is a single service that can be reused in multiple places. For example, if you have a service that monitors legacy systems that are used in many places, you can define a single global service called LegacyService, then re-use it wherever you need it.

To add a global service group:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Agents.

Optional — On the Agents on all Hosts dashboard, use the filter at the top of the dashboard to search for a specific hosts or agents. The hosts found will be added to your group.

Figure 76. The Search filter.

At the top of the table for the Monitored Hosts and Agents view, click

the Add icon.

The Create Simple Global Service dialog box opens.

Type the following information:

•

A unique Name for the service.

•

Optional — Add a Short Description and Description.

Click Create.

The newly created service appears in the list.

Editing a Group of Monitored Agents

Editing a group of monitored agents takes you to the Service Builder dashboard.


	NOTE: You can only edit user-created groups of agents or hosts.

To edit a group of monitored agents:

On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Agents.

At the top of the table for the Monitored Hosts and Agents view, select the group you want to edit from the drop-down list.

At the top of the table for the Monitored Hosts and Agents view, click

the edit icon.

The Service Builder dashboard appears with the selected group.

In the Edit column for a selected hosts, click

the edit icon.

The Edit Service Wizard appears.

Make changes to the properties you want to edit and click Next.

Figure 77. The Advanced Service Visualization page appears.

This page provides a graphical representation of relationships between services added to the current service.


	NOTE: You need to add at least two services to the current service in order to configure a relationship. Once a relationship between two services is configured, the system disables that particular combination in order to prevent possible duplicates.If you need to add a service to your current service, see Creating a Service Contained by Another Service 148. Once done, see Editing a Service 151.