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PST Flight Deck 9.1.2 - Administration Guide

Consoles

PST Flight Deck consoles are applications that run from the server or an Administrator, Architect, or Operator’s workstation. They permit the most control over a PST Flight Deck environment. There are two consoles available: The PST Flight Deck Administrator Console and the PST Flight Deck Management Console.

 

The PST Flight Deck Administrator Console (Admin Console) provides the most access to configure a PST Flight Deck environment. It is typically available on the Core server and is installed as an available feature by the Core installer. Access to the Admin Console is required during the initial install, setup, pilot, and ramp-up of your project, but is not typically required for the duration of your project. Alternatively, a project can be entirely managed from the Admin Console if desired.

 

The PST Flight Deck Management Console (Management Console) is intended to provide operators a client to use on their local workstations. The Management Console provides the options necessary to perform the daily operations of a PST Flight Deck migration without requiring access to a PST Flight Deck server. The primary difference between the two consoles is the Management Console does not have the option for the “Settings” menu as the Admin Console does.

 

With the exception of the above, both interfaces are the same. The remainder of this section will refer to both as the Console.

Navigation

In general, navigation within the Console is similar no matter where you are in the Console. The core of a Console has a Ribbon Panel, Navigation panel, and the body of the console, where the selected data is displayed.

 

The top of the Console contains several features and is seen below:

 

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Tag

Component

Description

1

File Options

Provides the ability to display general information, launch a help file, or exit the Console

2

Info

Provides information related to the product, version, and license

3

Ribbon

Provides options related to the visible or selected items within the interface. Changes depending on location and selection within the Console

The left side of the Console is used for navigation. The following is an example of the options available within the navigation pane of the console:

 

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Tag

Component

Description

1

Navigation Control

Collapses the navigation panel

2

Navigation sub-menus

Options that are exposed based on the navigation menu selected

3

Navigation sizing

Slider to permit you to resize the navigation pane

4

Navigation menus

Parent navigation options that expose contextual options for a given area

The navigation pane has menus at the bottom that act as parent containers for related options within. Selecting one of these menus will expose relevant sub-menus in the navigation pane above. The menus available are Manage, Reports, and Settings.

Managing Console Data

The Consoles have a powerful interface that permits the filtering of live data to return data you are seeking. Many areas of PST Flight Deck return a lot of data that can be too much to be useful without the ability to refine the results. The information below discusses several approaches to managing the data being returned within the grid of several options within the Console.

 

Columns

 

Additional data columns can be added to many of the grids in PST Flight Deck.

To access the additional columns of data:

1.Right-click on an existing column heading

2.Select “Column Chooser”

A list of available data columns will be shown. You can drag and drop from the list of columns on to the appropriate part of the user-list.

Sorting

The column headings can be clicked to change the sort order, a subsequent click on the same column heading will change the direction of the sort. Most columns support “drag and drop” functionality to change their position relative to the other data columns. This can make the data more presentable and readable. A data column can be removed if required by right-clicking on the column and choosing the “Remove this Column” option.

 

Filtering

 

It is possible to access the data filtering features in most of the Console’s grids in these ways:

1.Right click on the appropriate column heading and choose the option “Filter Editor”

2.Hover near the right hand corner of a column heading until the small filter icon becomes visible, and then click on it

3.By default, the filter entry row is displayed underneath the column headings. A value can be entered into any of the columns in this row and the data list will automatically be filtered according to your input.  Operations can be selected by clicking the small icon (filter hint).  This will show this popup:

 

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Simply click on the desired operator and it will be entered.

After a filter has been applied, an option to “Edit Filter” is presented in the lower right corner of a console. This can be selected to access the advanced editor for the currently applied filter, which will permit you to perform very complex queries to return specific data within a Console.

 

Grouping

 

The list of users can be grouped by one or more columns as follows:

1.Right click on an appropriate column heading and choose the option “Group By This Column”.

2.Right click on a column heading and choose the option “Show Group By Box”.

 

Searching

Filtering can be used to reduce the overall list, but sometimes it is necessary to search for data within a given column. You can search for particular data within a grid by right-clicking on a column heading and selecting the option “Show Find Panel.” Previously used searches can be selected from the dropdown list.

 

Saving a Layout

 

If you identify a filter that is useful for your migration it is possible to save it for later use. To store the customized grid click on “Save” in the “Layout” ribbon. Each saved layout can be given a unique name. Previously saved layouts can be retrieved by clicking on “Load” in the “Layout” ribbon bar. The current data list can be reset to the defaults by clicking on “Reset” in the “Layout” ribbon bar. Saved layouts can be retrieved and executed by selecting “Load” on the PST Flight Deck “Layout” ribbon and selecting the name assigned to the saved layout. You can also select “Overwrite” to save over a pre-existing layout or “Delete” to remove the saved layout.

 

Manage

The “Manage” menu is the most commonly accessed area during a migration. Most of the functionality required for an Operator to manage the PST Flight Deck migration can be found in this section. Options are grouped into sub-menus and are described below:

 

Sub-menu

Description

Progress

Provides high-level statistics and trends about the current status of a migration

Operations

Provides information of interest in the daily operation of a system including performance trends and current backlog information

Resources

Provides information about CPU, memory and disk performance

Users

Provides information and options to manage the end-users in the environment

Files

Provides information and options to manage the files discovered in the environment

Events

A filterable list of events produced within the PST Flight Deck environment during a migration

Owners

Permits ownership review and management during a migration

Schedule groups

Permits the scheduling of enabled batches

 

Hotkeys

Some key combinations have been included to assist in the navigation of the Manage section of the console. The areas affected are frequently navigated between during a migration project. Use of these hotkeys can enable quicker daily navigation.

 

Key combination

Description

ALT + U

Navigates to the last view of the Manage > User section

ALT + F

Navigates to the last view of the Manage > File section

ALT + O

Navigates to the last view of the Manage > Owners section

Additionally, there are shortcut keys associated with specific popup dialog boxes.

 

Progress

This view provides an overview of the project as a whole. The following are its features:

Feature

Description

User

Table showing statistics related to uses and their status within the migration

Project Statistics

Graphs showing the status and trends of files and users over the past days, weeks, or months

File

Table showing statistics related to discovered files and their status within the migration

 

Operations

A section designed to enable an Operator to quickly be able to tell the current health of a migration in a graphical display. The following are its features:

Feature

Description

Alerts

Drillable badges displaying the number of actions needed or unacknowledged events

Last 24 hour BITS activity

Shows hourly activity reported for files being centralized from the Agents to PST Flight Deck for the past 24 hours

Module Backlog

Drillable bar graph showing the size or count of data backlogged per PST Flight Deck module

Last 24 hour Ingest activity

Shows hourly ingest rates over the past 24 hours

BITS size last 14 days

Line graph showing daily rates of centralized data over the past two weeks

Ingest activity last 14 days

Line graph showing daily rates of ingestion over the past two weeks

 

Resources

This section permits centralized observation of resource consumption of servers running Modules within a specified location. The focus of this is to provide a point in time review of resource consumption and not a comprehensive performance monitor for the PST Flight Deck environment. Displayed is graphical output for CPU, RAM, and disk usage.

 

Users

This section of the Console is where most actions against users are taken. Assignment of user types, profiles, and priorities are all performed within this section. This sub-menu is where a lot of the migration monitoring and management takes place.

The grid returned under the “Users” sub-menu is comprised of two portions. Initially presented is a display of user information and general statistics about all the users in an AD environment. Each user who has discovered files can be expanded by clicking the plus sign (+) at the left of its row. The resultant sub-table has the same characteristics as the “Files” section and will be described in detail in a succeeding section of this guide. The ribbon and right-click options change depending on which section your selection is located.

The home ribbon when “Users” is selected has options impacting the selected user (with one exception). These options and a description of their functionality are as follows:

Name

Section

Description

Refresh

Refresh

Refreshes data in the grid

Enable Users

Manage Users

Permits the ability to set migration and email priority assignments to enable users for email communication or migration

Actions

Manage Users

Contains a dropdown list of several available actions. The contents of the list are also available when right-clicking a selection in the grid

Reset User

Manage Users

Removes all database entries for files associated with the selected user or group of users

Assign Profile

Manage Users

Permits profile assignments to users for specialized settings

Request Client Log File

Manage Users

Queues a request delivered at the next agent polling period for a selected user to return the PST Flight Deck Migration Agent client logs to the server for review

Import Attributes

Manage Users

Allows importing of a specifically formatted text file, or XLSX, to assign values to fields for specific users

Edit Attributes

Manage Users

Allows manual assignment of “User Custom Field” values

User Log

Manage Users

Provides information regarding events, errors, and actions taken against the selected user through the duration of the project

Progress

Information

Provides Active Directory information about the selected user and the status of all PST files for that user by number, volume, and current progress

Inactive Users

Information

Provides the ability to identify users who have historically returned discovery results but have been inactive for a specified number of days

Add

Comments

Enabled Operator to create a new comment on a user or file depending on the selection

Show

Comments

Shows all comments associated with the selection

Close All Comments

Comments

Closes all comments associated with the selection

 

The “Action” menu has several options for selection. As with the home ribbon under the “Users” sub-menu, these options are related to the presently selected object in the grid, and changes depending on if that selection is one or many files or users. These options are also available when right-clicking on selection within the grid. The following is a list and description of the options available under the “Action” menu when a user is the selected object:

Action option

Description

Clear Postponement

During an interactive migration, permits a reset of a user’s request to postpone the migration of their files

Mark files for Migration

Operators option to migrate a user’s files

Mark files for Deletion

Operators option to delete a user’s files

Change User Type

Operators option to specify a non-default user type for an account

Manage User’s Files

Shows a filtered redirection to the owner management portion of the console showing the selected users files

Set Unauthorized for Migration

Marks a user not authorised for migration, even though they may be enabled

Watch/Stop processing

Flags or un-flags a user for watching

Show user’s workstations

Shows workstations that a given user has logged into

 

The type of user designated by the “Change User Type” option can dictate the way the features of the product affect a given user. Below is a list of available types and their description:

 

Type

Description

User Account

Default type assigned to all users

Service Account

Type to identify service accounts that may be discovering data erroneously

Admin Account

Type to identify accounts with elevated permissions that may be discovering data erroneously

Group Mailbox Account

Type to identify mailboxes belonging to a department or other group

Operator

Designated type for all PST Flight Deck Operators

Leaver

Designation for an account belonging to someone who has left the organization

Helpdesk

Designation for member of the help desk team

Not in AD

Designation for local accounts logged into workstations with a Migration Agent installed

Mac OS user

Designation for users running a version of Apple’s workstation operating system

Cloud

Designation for a user that is in Office 365 with an email address different from the one in Active Directory

 

Files

The “Files” section of the console is also very commonly accessed while managing a migration. Like the “Users” section, it provides a lot of functionality to determine status and granular details of a migration. Actions can be executed on specific files when appropriate. The options available in the “Files” sub-menu’s home ribbon are as follows:

 

Name

Section

Description

Refresh

Refresh

Refreshes the data in the grid

Actions

Manage PSTs

Contains a dropdown list of several available actions available to take about the selection in the grid

Reprocess Module

Manage PSTs

Opens a window to allow for removing and reprocessing modules for the selected file

Reset Upload

Manage PSTs

Removes upload status and queues eligible files to be uploaded

Import File Attributes

Manage PSTs

Allows importing of a specifically formatted text file, or XLSX, to assign values to fields for specific files

Migration Statistics

Information

Shows statistics for the ingestion of a PST file

Progress

Information

Shows the details for all modules run against a selected file

Show Discovery

Information

Shows information on instances of discovery for a selected file

Show Events

Information

Shows all events logged that are related to a file

User log

Information

Provides information regarding events, errors, and actions taken against the user associated with the selected file through the duration of the project

Add

Comments

Enables creation of a new comment on the selected file

Show

Comments

Shows all comments associated with the selection

Close All Comments

Comments

Closes all comments associated with the selection

Continue/Delete

Operations

Change status of selected file or files to ‘Deleting’ and removes applicable failed module

Repair

Operations

Changes status of selected file or files to ‘File corrupt’ and removes applicable failed module

Continue/Unblock

Operations

Removed ‘Ingestion blocked’ or “Partial extraction’ status on selected files

Reingest

Operations

Queues a file or its contents to be copied from the configured ‘re-ingestion’ location to the configured ‘upload location’ and sets the file to be reprocessed

Continue/Migration

Operations

Changes status of the selected file or files to ‘Migrating’ and removes applicable failed module

Skip Module

Operations

Forces the current module to be skipped and permits a file to move on to the next phase of the workflow

The “Action” menu has several options for selection. These options are also available when right-clicking on a file within the grid. The following is a list and description of the options available:

 

Action option

Description

Show User

Changes console navigation to the Users section filtered by the user associated with the selection

Change Owner

Launches a window to specify the owner of selected file or files

Change Status

Launches a window to change the migration status of selected file or files

Request Client Log File

Queues a request to be delivered at the next agent polling period of a specific user to return the PST Flight Deck client lots to the server for review

Reset Agent

Queues a request delivered at the next agent polling period for the agent to be exited and launched again

Disconnect File

Removes the selected file from the users PST profile resulting in the file being disconnected from Outlook when next launched

Scan Content

Flags a file for the Content Scanner to review

Show Workstation Files

Change console navigation to a filtered ‘owners’ section showing all files located on the same machine as the selections original location

Collect Orphaned

Permits users to receive a request to secure and transfer a PST file for centralization

Report Module Stats

Redirects view to Reports > PostProcess Stats with filter for the selected PSTFileEntryID

Remove File Entry

Removes record of the selected file from the database

Re-Ingest

Re-ingest a file

Watch/Stop Watching

Flags or un-flags a file for watching

Watched items

 

The Watched items section shows all files and users that have been flagged for watching.  This provides a consolidate view of key items.  The home ribbon for this sub-menu and each action menu changes depending what is selected, a user or a file.  The ribbons and action menu options are the same as their respective.

 

Events

 

The Events section shows all unacknowledged events that have occurred on the system since deployed. The default view of the Events grid shows the Type, Source, Event details, a count of the occurrences of the events, the level of severity of the event, and the last logged time for the event. The home ribbon for this sub-menu has the following options:

 

Name

Description

Refresh

Refreshes the data appearing in the grid with the latest information from the system database

Acknowledge

Marks the selected event as acknowledged resulting in its removal from the view upon refresh

Search

Permits searching events using values in specified fields

Add

Enables creation of a new comment on a selected event

Show

Show all comments associated with the selection

Close All Comments

Closes all comments for the selected event(s)

 

Owners

Managing owners is a critical part of a successful migration. The Owners section shows the results of our owner identification efforts; including owner conflicts, warning levels, all ownership related metadata, the probability that ownership has been identified, who a presently is the owner of a file, and who PST Flight Deck thinks should be the owner.

In some migrations, a lot of effort is required in the Owners section to ensure the data discovered is going where it is expected to go. Upon discovery, ownership management can begin and drastically reduce the level of effort required towards the middle and end of a migration. Owner management can also be delayed until later in the migration. If file ownership is not addressed early in the project, the files could be blocked from ingestion due to not meeting the minimum ownership probability threshold.

 

The options on the home ribbon for the Owners sub-menu are as follows:

 

Name

Description

Refresh

Refreshes the data

Recalculate Ownership

Calculates ownership probability and conflict warning of the selection

Accept Suggest User

Assigns ownership of the selection to the user suggested

Clear Operator Override

Removes Operator assigned ownership of the selection

Set Owner

Produces window to assign ownership of the selection from a list of users

Import Owners

Option to import specifically formatted CSV file to make ownership decisions

Unblock

Enables file where ingestion has been blocked, to proceed

Mark for Deletion

Change status of selection to ‘Deleting’ status

Add

Enables creation of a new comment on a selected file

Show

Shows all comments associated with the selection

Close All Comments

Close all comments for the selected files(s)

Details

Shows key pieces of information for a specific file

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