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Enterprise Reporter 3.5 - Configuration Manager User Guide

Product Overview Configuring the Configuration Manager
Starting the Configuration Manager Finding answers and getting help Overview of Enterprise Reporter Communications and Credentials Required Using the Credential Manager Setting Up Your First Collection Computers (Nodes) Modifying Your Deployment Configuring Global Settings Customizing the Configuration Manager View
Understanding Discoveries Creating Discoveries
Step 1. Create the Discovery (Name) Step 2. Choose what to include in your discovery (Scopes) Step 2a. Choose scopes for your on-premises discoveries
Choosing your Active Directory Scopes Choosing your Computer Scopes Choosing Your Exchange Scopes Choosing Your File Storage Analysis Scopes Choosing Your Microsoft SQL Scopes Choosing Your NTFS Scopes Choosing Your Registry Scopes
Step 2b: Choose scopes for your cloud discoveries Step 3. Schedule your Discovery Step 4: Review the summary
Managing Discoveries Troubleshooting Issues with Enterprise Reporter Appendix: PowerShell cmdlets Appendix: Encryption Key Manager Appendix: Log Viewer

Server Service Credentials

Server service credentials are provided during the installation of the server. The following table outlines the use of the service account credentials, and how to properly configure your environment to ensure successful data collection:

 
Table 6. Server Service Credentials in Configuration Manager
From
To
Permission Details
Configuration

Enterprise Reporter Server

Enterprise Reporter Database

Must be in the local administrators group for the service to start properly.

Must be able to read and write to the database.

If the server is configured to use SQL authentication, the SQL credentials will be used to access the database, not the service account.

Configured automatically during installation.

If you change the service credentials for the Quest Enterprise Reporter Server service, you need to ensure that a SQL login exists for that account, and create one if none exists. The login must be added to the database roles.

For more information, see Configuring the Database and Security Groups in the Installation and Deployment Guide in the Technical Documentation.

For more information, see Configuring the Database and Security Groups.

 

Enterprise Reporter Server

Discovery Node

Must be in the local administrators group for the server service to fully function.

Must be in the group Reporter_Discovery_Nodes for the service to fully function.

Must be able to write to the Admin$ share to deploy the node.

Controls the actions of the node.

On the node host, grant the service account local administrator rights.

Changing the credentials used by the Enterprise Reporter Server

The credentials used to run the Quest Enterprise Reporter server service on the host computer are not stored in the Credential Manager. To change these credentials—either to a different account or to update the password—perform the following steps:

1
Open the Configuration Manager.
2
Stop any currently running discoveries. It is important to wait until all discoveries have finished cancelling to ensure data integrity.
For more information, see Canceling a Task or Discovery .
3
Disable all nodes in each cluster.
For more information, see Why Disable a Node? .
* 
CAUTION: At this point, you may want to inform your reporting users that they will lose connection to the Enterprise Reporter server and they may lose work if they have not saved their latest changes.
4
Close the Configuration Manager.
5
On the computer that hosts the server, use the Services console to stop the service.
6
Modify the properties of the Quest Enterprise Reporter Server service to use the new credentials.
See your Microsoft documentation for details.
7
Restart the service.
8
Open the Enterprise Reporter Encryption Key Manager and import the encryption key from the backup file. You must provide the user-supplied password that was used to create the backup file.
For more information, see Importing a key file .
9
Open the Configuration Manager and enable the nodes.
For more information, see Enabling a Node .
10
Restart any discoveries you canceled.
For more information, see Manually Running a Discovery .

Using the Credential Manager

Credentials are used in different places in Enterprise Reporter. For example, nodes and report schedules both use credentials. The Credential Manager is a central store for accounts and passwords used throughout the system. This makes it easy to keep passwords current, and allows you to enter the credential details once and access them repeatedly.

 
* 
NOTE: Cloud discoveries now support multi-factor authentication. The Microsoft 365 discovery credentials must be authenticated by Microsoft through the Credential Manager.
NOTE: Credentials added in the Report Manager are only available to the user who added them while accounts added in the Configuration Manager are available to all Configuration Manager users on the same Enterprise Reporter server.

Accounts are not verified when you add them and they must already exist to be used by Enterprise Reporter. For each account, you can add a description. This is useful for differentiating between similar accounts, such as similarly named service credentials, or your SQL Server default "sa" accounts. The combination of the account name and the description must be unique.

Accounts with multi-factor authentication enabled must be authenticated by Microsoft through the Credential Manager.

Credential passwords are encrypted with FIPS 140-2 compliant algorithms and an encryption key that has a user-supplied password. The encryption key is secured in the Windows Credential Manager (not to be confused with the Enterprise Reporter Credential Manager). The encryption key is used to encrypt all passwords that are used in Enterprise Reporter for collections and reporting. Additionally, Enterprise Reporter security groups and roles are used to validate who has access to the encryption key and the key cannot be retrieved without proper authorizations.

The Credential Manager will display a red key icon beside each account that requires a password.

See also:

•
Changing Passwords Using the Credential Manager
•
Changing Account Names Using the Credential Manager
To open the Credential Manager
•
On the Configuration page, go to Credential Manager and click Manage credentials.
- OR -
Click the ellipsis anywhere credentials are required.
To use a credential from the Credential Manager
1
Select the account from the list.
2
Click OK.
To add a credential for use in the system
1
Open the Credential Manager.
2
Click Add.
3
Type the account name.
You can enter any account that you want to use in Enterprise Reporter, including Windows accounts, SQL Server accounts, and Azure accounts.
 
* 
NOTE: If you are entering credentials in the Configuration Manager, remember that other users may have entered the same credential, so if necessary, verify that you are adding a unique account.
4
Type the password for the account.
5
Optionally, type a description.
The combination of the account name and the description must be unique.
6
Click OK.
To add a multi-factor authenticated credential
1
Open the Credential Manager.
2
Click Add.
3
Enter the account user name and password.
 
* 
NOTE: The combination of the account name and the description must be unique.
4
Optionally, enter a description.
5
Click Authenticate.
6
On the Microsoft Azure authentication screen, enter the account name.
7
Click Next.
 
* 
NOTE: When entering credentials in the Configuration Manager, verify that no other users have used the same credential and that the account you are adding is unique.
8
Enter the password for the account.
9
Click Sign In.
10
Enter the verification code sent to the account.
11
Click Verify.
The Credential Manager authenticates the account for discovery usage and changes the account information on any applicable discoveries.
A progress dialog box appears.
 
* 
NOTE: The Credential Manager displays a Last Authenticated On date, which indicates when the credential was authenticated through the Microsoft authentication process as a multi-factor authenticated credential. If there is no date, then the credential was not authenticated.
12
Verify that your changes were processed. If any errors occur, you will need to troubleshoot the issue and manually make any changes.
When you change the password for a Microsoft 365 Azure account, any Enterprise Reporter tenant applications that use that account must also be reconfigured. For more information, see To reconfigure application for a tenant .
 
To edit a credential
1
Open the Credential Manager.
2
Select an account.
3
Click Edit.
4
Optionally, modify the password by selecting Edit Password.
5
Make all changes.
6
Click OK.
7
When you change the password for a Microsoft 365 Azure account, any Enterprise Reporter tenant applications that use that account must also be reconfigured. For more information, see To reconfigure application for a tenant .
To edit a multi-factor authenticated credential
1
Open the Credential Manager.
2
Select an account.
3
Click Edit.
4
Modify the account.
5
Click Authenticate.
6
On the Microsoft Azure authentication screen, enter the account name.
7
Click Next.
 
* 
NOTE: When entering credentials in the Configuration Manager, verify that no other users have used the same credential and that the account you are adding is unique.
8
Enter the password for the account.
9
Click Sign In.
10
Enter the verification code sent to the account.
11
Click Verify.
The Credential Manager authenticates the account for discovery usage and changes the account information on any applicable discoveries.
A progress dialog box appears.
 
* 
NOTE: The Credential Manager displays a Last Authenticated On date, which indicates when the credential was authenticated through the Microsoft authentication process as a multi-factor authenticated credential. If there is no date, then the credential was not authenticated.
12
Verify that your changes were processed. If any errors occur, you will need to troubleshoot the issue and manually make any changes.
When you change the password for a Microsoft 365 Azure account, any Enterprise Reporter tenant applications that use that account must also be reconfigured. For more information, see To reconfigure application for a tenant .
 
To alter an account to be multi-factor authentication enabled
1
Open the Credential Manager.
2
Select the account to authenticate.
3
Click Authenticate.
4
On the Microsoft Azure authentication screen, enter the account name.
5
Click Next.
 
* 
NOTE: When entering credentials in the Configuration Manager, verify that no other users have used the same credential and that the account you are adding is unique.
6
Enter the password for the account.
7
Click Sign In.
8
Enter the verification code sent to the account.
9
Click Verify.
The Credential Manager authenticates the account for discovery usage and changes the account information on any applicable discoveries.
A progress dialog box appears.
 
* 
NOTE: The Credential Manager displays a Last Authenticated On date, which indicates when the credential was authenticated through the Microsoft authentication process as a multi-factor authenticated credential. If there is no date, then the credential was not authenticated.
10
Verify that your changes were processed. If any errors occur, you must troubleshoot the issue and manually make any changes.
When you change the password for a Microsoft 365 Azure account, any Enterprise Reporter tenant applications that use that account must also be reconfigured. For more information, see To reconfigure application for a tenant .
 
To delete a credential
1
Open the Credential Manager.
2
Select an account from the list.
You can only delete accounts that are not currently in use.
3
Click Delete.
4
Click OK.

Changing Passwords Using the Credential Manager

When passwords are changed in Active Directory and Azure Active Directory, they must be updated everywhere they are in use in Enterprise Reporter. It is possible that the account could be locked if you do not make this change. The Credential Manager makes this easy by providing a central store for accounts. You can change the password and it is updated in all nodes, schedules, discoveries, and so on.

* 
NOTE: You can modify credentials from anywhere you can access the Credential Manager. Be aware when you make a change to a credential, it is applied throughout your deployment, not just in your current context.

If you modify credentials that are used by a discovery node, the node service must be restarted before the changes take effect. Enterprise Reporter will attempt to restart the node. However, if the restart fails, you may need to manually start the service on the computer that hosts the node. If there are jobs currently running on the node, they will be cancelled. To prevent this, either change the credentials during a down time, or cancel the discoveries yourself and restart them once the change takes effect.

Credential passwords are encrypted with FIPS 140-2 compliant algorithms and an encryption key that has a user-supplied password. For further information on creation and management of the Enterprise Reporter encryption key, see Appendix: Encryption Key Manager .

The Credential Manager will display a red key icon beside each account that requires a password.

To change the password on an account
1
On the Configuration page, click Manage credentials.
It is recommended that you make these changes while no discoveries are running (or waiting to be run) before changing the password.
2
Select the account, and click Edit.
3
Select Edit Password.
4
Modify the password and click OK.
A progress dialog box appears.
 
* 
NOTE: The Credential Manager displays a Last Authenticated On date, which indicates when the credential was authenticated through the Microsoft authentication process as a multi-factor authenticated credential. If there is no date, then the credential was not authenticated.
5
Verify that your changes were processed. If any errors occur, you will need to troubleshoot the issue and manually make any changes.
When changing the password on an Microsoft 365 Azure account, any Enterprise Reporter tenant applications using that account must also be reconfigured. For more information, see To reconfigure application for a tenant .
To change the password on a multi-factor authenticated account
1
On the Configuration page, click Manage credentials.
It is recommended that you make these changes while no discoveries are running or waiting to be run before changing the password.
2
Select the account and click Edit.
3
Select Edit Password.
4
Modify the password.
5
Click Authenticate.
6
On the Microsoft Azure authentication screen, enter the account name.
7
Click Next.
 
* 
NOTE: When entering credentials in the Configuration Manager, verify that no other users have used the same credential and that the account you are adding is unique.
8
Enter the password for the account.
9
Click Sign In.
10
Enter the verification code sent to the account.
11
Click Verify.
The Credential Manager authenticates the account for discovery usage and changes the account information on any applicable discoveries.
A progress dialog box appears.
 
* 
NOTE: The Credential Manager displays a Last Authenticated On date, which indicates when the credential was authenticated through the Microsoft authentication process as a multi-factor authenticated credential. If there is no date, then the credential was not authenticated.
12
Verify that your changes were processed. If any errors occur, you will need to troubleshoot the issue and manually make any changes.
When changing the password on an Microsoft 365 Azure account, any Enterprise Reporter tenant applications using that account must also be reconfigured. For more information, see To reconfigure application for a tenant .
 
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