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Foglight for Databases 7.3.0 - User Guide

Getting Started Viewing, Acknowledging, and Clearing Alarms Viewing, Creating, and Managing Alarm Templates Monitoring Your Domains Monitoring Your Services Monitoring Your Hosts Reporting on Your Enterprise

Online-Only Topics

You can quickly generate a report based on a template using the Create Report wizard. You can download the report immediately or use the Manage Reports dashboard to download it later.

You can use the Report feature to identify changes in rules, alarms and registry values in the current release compared to previous releases or a specific date. For more information, see Viewing reports on changes in Rules, Alarms and Registry values .

1
On the navigation panel, under Homes, click Reports.
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Click Run a Report.
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.
4
Click Next.
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.
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Click Next.
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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.
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Optional—if you want Quest Foglight to send this report to specific individuals, type a comma-separated list of their email addresses.
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Optional — Specify any of the following scheduling options for your report.
a
Select the Schedule This Report check box to enable scheduling. The wizard will present scheduling options on the next page.
b
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.
c
The Enable Scheduling check box is selected by default. When this option is selected, the scheduled report is automatically enabled when you click Next.
d
Click Next.
e
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.
f
Click Next.
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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.

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.

2
Click Run a Report.

 

Online-Only Topics

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.

For more details, see Managing Scheduled Reports.

 

Online-Only Topics

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

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.

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.

2
Click Finish.
The new report template is also listed under Dashboards > My Dashboards in the navigation panel.

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

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.

1
If you are creating a chart: select as many metrics as you want to include.
If you are creating a gauge: select one metric.
If you are creating a list: select as many metrics as you want to include.
Charts: graph metric data over time. The x axis represents time; the y axis represents the metric.
Plot: graphs metric data as a line.
Area: graphs metric data as connected data points, filled below the points.
Stacking Area: graphs metric data as connected data points, filled below the points and (in the case of multiple metrics) stacked.
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.
Metric Indicator: displays a metric as an oval with a number at its center.
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.
Lists: metrics list or table
a
Preview tab: see the metric view based on your selections:
b
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.
c
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.
d
Options tab: controls how metrics are displayed in charts. For more information, see Options tab.
If you want to make changes to the metric view: click Previous. You can navigate back to:

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.

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On the Add View wizard’s Select Add a Report View Element step, select the input data you want to use.
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In the View Styles, click Table View and then Next.
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Optional—select Show all to display all data objects.
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Click Next.

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

1
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.
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.
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Click Next.
The Table Preview step appears. See 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.

1
If you want to make changes to the table: click Previous. You can navigate back to:

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:

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On the Add View wizard’s Select Add a Report View Element step, select the input data you want to use.
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In the View Styles, click Property View and then Next.
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Optional — Select Show all to display all data objects.
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.
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Click Next.
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Optional — Provide a Title for the view.
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.
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.
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If you want to make changes to the view: click Previous. You can navigate back to:
2
Alternatively, open the Action panel, General tab, and click Properties > Edit Basic Properties.
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.
5
Optional — Click the edit icon beside Background Image and select a background image to use in your custom report.
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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.
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Select the Allow this view to be included in other views check box if you want this view to have a reportlet purpose.
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Click OK.

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:

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

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

By default, the show by role option is selected and the view templates are filtered based on your role (for example, Operator).
Clear the show by role check box to show template views classified by module (for example, Alarms or Hosts).
a
Preview tab: see how the view looks based on your selections.
b
Common tab: specify a Title (name for the chart).

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.

1
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, open a custom report.
The Edit View Properties dialog box appears.
3
Click the edit icon for Related Domains.
The Select related domains dialog box opens.
5
Click OK to close the Edit View Properties dialog box.
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Select an input value, click Select a Question, and click Next.

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.

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.

1
On the action panel, click Reports > Create a New Report.
2
3
Click Next.
4
Optional — Select the Parameterize this report check box if you want to create a report that is designed to run with any service.
5
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.
The new report template is also listed under Dashboards > My Dashboards in the navigation panel.

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.

2
On the Action panel, click Other Actions > Reports > Create a New Report.
3
The Create Report wizard appears.In the Create report wizard, click Create a Report based on the current Dashboard.
4
Click Next.
5
Optional — Clear the Parameterize this report check box if you do not want to create a report designed to run with any object.
6
Optional — Select the objects in the table you want to include in your report.
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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.
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 .

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.

2
On the action panel, click Other Actions > Reports, and select your report.

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

2
On the action panel, click Reports > Create a New Report.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

1
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.
2
Choose the text Style (for example, Emphasized) in which you want the text to appear.
5

You can add a title page to your report.

2
Click Show title page.
5
Click in any of the Left, Center, or Right fields to view the options.
b
8
Click Apply to save the changes.

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

3
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.
4
Click in any of the Left, Center, or Right fields to view the options.
6
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.
b
7
Click Apply to save the changes.
9

You can add a table of contents to your report.

1
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.
2
In the toolbar of the report, click Show Table of Contents.
Click Hide Table of Contents.
1
On the navigation panel, under Homes, click Reports.
2
Click Manage Reports.

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.

1
Click General > Actions > Properties > Edit basic properties in the action panel or (for report templates) click Properties in the toolbar ().
2
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.
3
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.
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.
7
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.
8
Optional—change the Page orientation. The default is portrait.
9
Click OK to save your changes.

You can quickly run a report at any time.

Alternatively, open the action panel and click Other Actions > Reports > Run a Report.
b
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.
c
Optional—click the edit icon beside Background Image and select a background image to use in your custom report.
d
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.
e
Select the Allow this view to be included in other views check box if you want this view to have a reportlet purpose.
f
Optional—change the Page orientation. The default is portrait.
g
4
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 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

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.

TIP: Visit http://eDocs.quest.com to watch our learning videos. See introduction to Managing Agents.
On the navigation panel, under Homes, click Agents.

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.

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:

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.

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.

1
Click the Health History bar for the appropriate host from one of the following dashboards:

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

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

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.

1
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Agents.
2
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.
A unique Name for the service.
Optional — Add a Short Description and Description.
5
Click Create.

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

1
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Agents.
6
Optional — Click the Add icon and select the source services and the target services you want to visualize as a relationship and then click Create.
7
Optional — Select the domain to add.
8
Click Finish.
1
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, click Agents.
4
Click Confirm.
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