Legacy Documentation for Statseeker version 5.5.3

Statseeker v5.5.4 contained changes which altered the options available for a number of Statseeker components. The following documents detail the state of those components in v5.5.3.

Index


Overview

Statseeker Reporting allows you to create reports targeting any data available to Statseeker, for all devices/interfaces on your network, and present that information in a tabular or graphical report. Once created, reports:

  • Are available from the Console report list
  • Can have access to them restricted via user permissions
  • May be included in a summary report
  • Can be scheduled to run and have the subsequent report emailed to a recipient list

Custom reporting differs from legacy/canned reports by allowing you to edit the contents, layout, and appearance of the report to best suit your requirements. Custom reports are also used to present data from installed Custom Data Type packages.

Custom reports can be exported in csv or pdf formats, and emailed, see Emailing and Scheduling Reports for details.

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Reporting Console

The Reports console can be accessed from the main navigator, providing access to the existing custom reports and the ability to create and edit reports. The console is broken into two sections:

  • Reports - a listing of the existing custom reports
  • Report Editor - editing and viewing of custom reports

The Reports Panel can be used in either View or Edit mode. In View mode, you can run existing reports, in Edit mode, you are able to create, edit, and view custom reports. The controls for switching between the two modes are offered at the top of the Reports panel.


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Viewing an Existing Custom Report

Existing custom reports can be run from either the Console or the Reports Panel.


Viewing Custom Reports from the Console

All existing custom reports are located at the bottom of the report list in the Console for the admin user only. To allow other users to access custom reports from the Console, you need to assign them to a group that the user has permission to access. To do this:

  • Select Administration Tool > User Profile/Grouping > Entities to a Group
  • Select a group that the user has access to from the Groups drop-down
  • Select Reports from the drop-down on the right

This will populate the far-right column with all reports on the Statseeker server.

  • Select the reports you want the user to access and click the >> button to move them to the Include column
Note: changes to a user's access to a report will require the Console page to be refreshed prior to becoming visible to the user.

To run a custom report from the Console:

  • Select groups/devices
  • Apply filters if required
  • Select the report

Note: Custom reports can be hidden from the Console by:

  • Opening the report in Edit mode
  • Unchecking Show in NIM Console?
  • Save the report

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Viewing Custom Reports from the Reports Panel

Custom reports can be run from within the Reports panel.

In View mode, simply select the report from the Reports panel.

In Edit mode:

  • Click View to view the report in the Reports panel
  • Mouse over the View button and select View In New Window to launch the report in a new window, leaving the report configuration open in the Report Editor panel.

Note: when viewing the report in the Reports panel, click Edit to return to editing the report.

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Interacting with Custom Reports

Custom reports feature a Time Selector in the header, allowing you modify the reporting period of any custom report being viewed. In addition to this, graphs can be moused over to view specific data point values and can be zoomed (via click-and-drag) to specific time and/or value ranges.


Time Selector

All custom reports feature a time selector in the report header. This selector functions as a timefilter, and can be used to dynamically alter the reporting period of the report while viewing it. When opening a report containing a time filter, the time selector defaults to this value. When opening a report that does not have a time filter configured, the time selector will default to Today.

  • Favorites - offers the current content of the time filter favorites list
  • Hours - a 24hr slider with 1-hour increments
  • Days - the selector contains 'today so far', plus the previous 7 days, with 1-day increments
  • Months - the selector contains 'this month so far', plus the previous 12 months, with 1 -month increments
  • Original Query - reset the report to the original/default time filter

By default, custom reports display the report timefilter in the header (this can be disabled in the report configuration). When using the time selector to modify the reporting period, the report header is updated to reflect your selection.

Also, when modifying the reporting period via the Time Selector, the Resolution (interval between plotted data points, and the size of aggregated data 'buckets') used in the report is automatically updated to best suit the updated scope of the report.

For example, let's say you have a custom graph with a reporting period of the previous 3 months, and a resolution of 15 minutes. If you updated the reporting period to the last 8 hours via the Time Selector, then the resolution would be updated to 1 minute, giving a granular view, far more suited to the current view of your data. Conversely, using the Time Selector to take a custom report looking at a single day's data out to the previous 6 months, might take the resolution from 1 minute out to 12 hours. Any slice of that 6 months history can still be viewed at 1-minute resolution when the reporting period is set accordingly.

If the report configuration contains a Timefilter, then that timefilter, and the resolution detailed in that timefilter, are applied when the report is run. If the Time Selector is be used to modify the report, then the Original Query option can be selected to return the report to its' default state.

This automated feature offers you granular, 1-minute interval, data when needed, and great performance when reporting on very long time periods.

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Interacting with Graphs

The graphs presented in custom reports are fully interactive allowing you to:

  • mouse over the graph to see values at that point

  • Click and drag horizontally/vertically on the graph to zoom, double click to return to default view



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Graphs displayed within Tabular Reports

Statseeker custom reports allow you to include thumbnail graphs within tabular reports as you would with any other data. When mousing over these graphs a pop-up is displayed presenting a more detailed view of the data.

In turn, these detailed views can be interacted with just like other custom reporting graphs i.e. you can mouse over the graph to display data pertaining to that point in the graph as well as zoom via click-and-drag.


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Creating a New Report

To create a new custom report:

  • Switch to Edit mode
  • Select New Report

This will open a blank report template in the Custom Report Editor panel.

Field Required Description
Report Name Must be unique and consist of only alpha-numeric, or the following characters -_.!~*()
Report Subtitle Any filters of the selected type/s used in the report will be detailed in the report header.
Report Structure
  • Tabular Data - tabular report
  • Graphed Data - graphical report
  • Embedded Reports - summary report consisting of multiple custom reports
Report Data Type The data type to report on, additional options are included with installed Custom Data Type packages. The value set here also determines which folder a newly created report will be saved to in both the Reports panel and the Console.
Refresh Interval How frequently to refresh the report data
Results Per Page Maximum results to display per page.

Overrides the Console Top N setting.
Show in NIM Console? Select to display the report in the Console. Enabled by default.

Note: the report will be grouped according to the Report Data Type, and located at the bottom of the Report List in the Console.
Show All? Select to include historical data for entities no longer being polled
Note:

  • the Report Data Type determines which folder a newly created report will be saved to in both the Reports panel and the Console
  • Once a report has been saved it can be manually relocated to another folder
  • Changing the Report Data Type after the initial save/creation will not relocate the report


  • Populate the Report Configuration fields as required

Once both Report Data Type and Report Structure have been selected the elements of the form relevant to those selections are displayed.

Filters Section

The filters section offers a range of filters to be applied to the available data prior to display. In addition to the time and group filters that are offered through the Console there are also filters specific to the Report Data Type.

  • Select a filter Type
  • Specify the required filter Criteria

  • Click Add, to confirm the filter

Confirming the filter will enable the option to specify additional filters.

Fields Section

The Fields section will be displayed when Report Structure is set to Tabular Data. This section is used to specify the columns of the report.


  • Select a field to display in the report by specifying an Attribute
  • Assign a Name to be used as the column header
  • Configure drill-down for the column values if desired
  • Click Add to confirm the field
Note: be sure to set an appropriate sort order to ensure that the important results are pushed to the top.


There are several available fields used to configure entries in the Field section. The fields displayed vary depending on the selections made during configuration, see the table below for details.

Field Required Description
Attribute The attribute to use for the field
Format Data manipulation options. Displayed when the Attribute is a time-series data metric.

Format Description
Graph Display an in-column graph of the metric
Total Total of the metric over the reporting period
Average Average of the metric over the reporting period
Minimum Minimum of the metric over the reporting period
Maximum Maximum of the metric over the reporting period
Median Median of the metric over the reporting period
95th Percentile 95th Percentile (95% of observed values lie below this point) of the metric over the reporting period
Standard Deviation The value of a single standard deviation for the metric
Start Time The start date-time for the specified reporting period for the metric
Count Number of polling points (non-null) in the specified reporting period for the metric
Anomaly Metric An integer [-100 to +100] indicating how anomalous the data in the reporting period is compared to the data history of the metric on that device/interface, and whether that data presents a higher (positive anomaly metric), or lower (negative anomaly metric) value than typically seen

Note: values between -85 and +85 are not considered statistically anomalous.
Anomaly Strength A positive integer [0 - 100] indicating how anomalous the data in the reporting period is compared to the data history of the metric on that device/interface

Note: values under 85 are not considered statistically anomalous.
Trend A range of options for displaying a trend related value for the metric

  • Daily Change: the average daily change in the metric over the reporting period
  • Strength: how closely does the trendline fit the data. A high strength means that the data points lie close to the trendline.
  • Prediction: specify a future date/time to see a predicted value for the metric based on the trendline
Forecast A range of options for displaying forecast data for the metric

  • Value: the forecast value for the metric as the specified date-time
  • Upper: the upper boundary for expected forecast data between now and the specified date-time
  • Lower: the lower boundary for expected forecast data between now and the specified date-time
  • Daily Change: average daily change in metric between now and the specified date-time
Name Column name
Graph Type Type of graph to be displayed in the report column. Available when Format = Graph
Graph Color Color of in-column graph. Available when Format = Graph
Time Filter Fav Time filter to be applied to in-field graph
Time Filter Query Time filter query to be used when Time Filter Fav has been set to Custom
Interval Interval to be used when collecting data for the field. Not available when Format = Graph.
Show Units? Toggle to show/hide units used for the field
Raw Values? Toggle to use raw or scaled granularity (e.g. present an interface Rx value in Bytes (raw) or GB/TB (scaled)
Precision Number of decimal places to display
Link Field To Target for a drill-down link
Report A report to link to with the drill-down
Filters Filters to pass with the linked drill-down target
URL URL to target with a drill-down
Order Report sort order
Direction Sort direction for that column

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Graphs Section

The Graphs section will be displayed when Report Structure is set to Graphed Data. This section is used to specify the graph to be displayed within the report. Multiple data series can be plotted on a single graph and the graph legend will automatically update to detail the various data sources.


  • Specify the Graph Type and Resolution and Color for representing the data
  • Select a data series to graph by specifying an Attribute
  • Specify the Sort Attribute and Sort Direction to be used when more than a single graph will be presented in the report
    • Note: it is important to use the Sort Attribute and Sort Direction to ensure that the most relevant data is pushed to the top.
  • Use the Link Graph To field to configure a drill-down, if that would be useful for the report
  • Use the various options provided (see table below for details) to specify the appearance of the graph to be displayed and click Add to confirm the configuration
Note: the clickable region for Link Graph To is restricted to the title/header region above each graph.
Field Required Description
Graph Type Type of graph to be displayed (line, bar, gauge, etc.)
Resolution Granularity of data to be displayed in the graph

Note: this property was moved to the timefilter configuration in v5.5.1. If a timefilter isn't set, the custom report auto-assigns an interval suitable to the scope of the reporting period being displayed. Updating the reporting period via the Time Selector within the report will update this auto-assigned interval to best suit the new reporting period.
Data Attribute The data to be graphed
Series Title Label to be applied to the data series and displayed in the legend
Color Color used to represent the graphed data
Show Trendline Display a trendline for this series. A trendline is a 'line of best fit' for all data points in the specified reporting period.
Show Trendline Bounds Display upper and lower bounds for the trendline, for this series
Trendline Unconstrained Allows trendlines to range outside of the minimum and maximum observed for the data series in the specified reporting period
Trendline Color Color used to represent the trendline
Show Forecast Data Display forecast data for this series

Note: requires a timefilter that ranges into the future. E.g. a timefilter of range= start_of_last_month to now +30d will display forecast data 30 days into the future.
Show Forecast Trendline Display a trendline for forecasted data for this series. A forecast trendline is a 'line of best fit' based on the previous 6 months data history.
Forecast Color Color used to represent the forecast data
Sort Attribute Attribute used to sort the display of graphed data (this attribute does not need to be displayed on the graph to be used as the sorting attribute)
Sort Direction Direction used to sort the graphs based on the Sort Attribute
Show Units? Toggle to display/hide units in the graph legend
Raw Values? Toggle to show raw/scaled values (e.g. present an interface Rx value in Bytes (raw) or GB/TB (scaled)
Precision Number of decimal places to be displayed when presenting values
Graph Size Specify the size of the graph (width x height) in pixels
Show X Gridlines Toggle to show/hide reference lines for values along the X axis
Show Y Gridlines Toggle to show/hide reference lines for values along the Y axis
Y Gridline Count Number of reference markers to display for values along the Y axis
Y Axis Range Set to restrict the Y axis to specific range
Show Legend Toggle to show/hide the legend
Interactive Toggle to enable/disable graph interactivity, see Interacting with Custom Reports for details
Logarithmic Scale Toggle to apply a logarithmic/linear scale to the y-axis
Calendar Toggle to display the reporting period on a single x axis or broken into calendar weeks
Link Graph To Target for a drill-down link:

Note: the drill-drown is attached to the graph header/title.
  • The Device Viewer - links through to the Device Viewer report for the selected device
  • A Related Report - links to a selected report and filters that report by the subject of the parent (e.g. if the parent report is a CPU report, then the link target will be filtered by the device and CPU of the parent; if the parent report is an interface report, then the link target will be filtered by the device and interface.)
  • Any Custom Report - link to a selected custom report, with the option to apply complex filtering
  • Any URL - link to any URL (internal\external) with optional filtering
Note: both the Any Custom Report, and Any URL link options allow you to configure additional filters to be passed with the link. These filters are advanced features, primarily intended for use by Statseeker support staff, to create specific, tailored workflows as needed. Please contact Customer Support for assistance with these filters.
Report A report to link to with the drill-down
Filters Filters to pass with the linked drill-down target
URL URL to target with a drill-down

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Embedded Reports Section

The Embedded Reports section will be displayed when Report Structure is set to Embedded Reports. This section is used to create a summary report featuring existing custom reports.


  • Select a report from the drop-down and click Add
  • Repeat the process as required to build the custom summary report

Once added, a report can be replaced or removed via the Edit and Delete buttons respectively.

Note: the Edit and Delete actions do not affect the selected report, only whether it is embedded in the summary report.

Running an embedded report will present all the attached reports sequentially, each report featuring its own scrollbar to manage pagination.


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Links Section

The Links section is an optional section allowing you to append customized links to the end of each row in a tabular report or to the bottom of each graph in a graphical report. By supplying these links, you can easily create a customized workflow for reviewing elements of your network or troubleshooting.

  • Provide a Title
  • Specify the Link target
  • Select an Appearance for the link


Field Required Description
Title Title to be used to reference the link (is also used when the link Style includes Text
Link To Target for the link

  • The Device Viewer - links through to the Device Viewer report for the selected device
  • A Related Report - links to a selected report and filters that report by the subject of the parent (e.g. if the parent report is a CPU report, then the link target will be filtered by the device and CPU of the parent; if the parent report is an interface report, then the link target will be filtered by the device and interface.)
  • Any Custom Report - link to a selected custom report, with the option to apply complex filtering
  • Any URL - link to any URL (internal\external) with optional filtering
Note: both the Any Custom Report, and Any URL link options allow you to configure additional filters to be passed with the link. These filters are advanced features, primarily intended for use by Statseeker support staff, to create specific, tailored workflows as needed. Please contact Customer Support for assistance with these filters.
Report A report to link to
Filters Filters to pass with the linked report
URL URL to target with the link
Appearance How the link should be represented in the report. Text, Button, and Text with Icon all use the value in the Title field as the string to display in association with the link.

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Previewing and Saving the Report

At any point during creating or editing a report you can preview or save the current state of the report or branch a report by saving a copy. The actions to do this are located at the top of the Custom Report Editor panel and only apply to the currently open custom report.

These actions and their uses are described in the table below.

Action Description
Save Saves the current report under the specified Report Name
Save a Copy Saves the current report and renames it by appending Copy n (where n is an incremented number) to existing value of the Report Name field. This copy is then opened in the editor.
View Allows you to preview the report in Custom Report Editor panel but does not save any of the changes made in the current session. To return to editing the report and continue editing or to save the changes made, click Edit in the Reports panel.
View in New Window Allows you to preview the report in a new window, keeping the report open in edit mode. No changes have been saved.
Delete Delete the current report. You will be prompted to confirm the action prior to the report being deleted.
Reset Returns the report to the last saved state, or, for a previously unsaved report, to a blank state. This action is applied immediately, no confirmation is sought.
Assign Opens a modal allowing you to copy the report, in its last saved state, to another user's Reports panel. This does not affect report visibility from within the Console, see Viewing Custom Reports from the Console for more on this.

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Managing Custom Reports & Folders

Depending on your needs, you may have many custom reports and Statseeker gives you the tools you will need to manage that collection. From the Reports panel, you can rename, organize, and distribute custom reports as needed.


Renaming Custom Reports

To rename a custom report:

  • Select the report in the Reports panel
  • Click Edit
  • Edit the Report Name field
  • Click Save

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Report Folders

The Reports panel allows you to create folders to organize your custom report collection. These folders work just like a regular file system and are unique to a user. To create a new folder:

  • Click Edit in the Reports panel
  • Click the New Folder action at the top of the Reports panel

    • The Custom Report Folders panel will be displayed, containing a form for creating a new folder.

  • Specify a Folder Name and click Add Folder

    • The new folder will be added to the directory tree in the Reports panel. To relocate the folder within the directory tree:

  • Click and drag the folder to the new location
    • Note: when relocating a folder, all sub-folders and reports will be moved with the folder you are relocating.

    Folders can also be renamed by:

  • Selecting the folder and clicking Edit
  • Use the Rename Folder prompt in the Custom Report Folders panel to enter a new name and click Rename Folder

When creating a report, the Report Data Type not only determines the content options for the report, but also which folder a newly created report will be saved to in both the Reports panel and the Console. Once a report has been saved, it can be manually relocated to another folder, but changing the Report Data Type after the initial save/creation will not automatically relocate the report - this auto-categorization only occurs on the initial save of a newly created report.

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Making a Report Visible to Another User

One of the actions available when editing a report is Assign. This can be used to manage the visibility of the report for other Statseeker users.

Note: this only affects report visibility from within the Reports panel and has no impact on report visibility from within the Console. See Viewing Custom Reports from the Console for more.

Likewise, unassigning a custom report from a user will only hide the report, for that user, within the Reports panel. If the user's group configurations allow the report to be displayed within the Console, then these will need to be updated to prevent the report from being displayed within the Console.

To assign a report:

  • Select the report and click Edit
  • From the actions provided at the top of the Report Editor select Assign

    • This will display the Assign to Users modal.

  • Use the associated checkboxes to set the visibility of the report for the various users
  • Specify a folder to contain the report in the other user's Reports panel
  • Click Save
Note: when assigning a folder to contain the report:

  • If a folder with that folder name exists, then the report will be placed inside the existing folder
  • If no folder exists with that name, then a new folder will be created
  • If no folder name is specified, then a new folder named Assigned Reports will be created to house the report
  • The creation of folders to house the copied report only occurs for other users, not the user assigning the report

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Deleting a Custom Report

To delete a custom report:

  • Select the report and click Edit
  • Click Delete and confirm the action when prompted
Note:

  • If the creator/owner of the report deletes the report, then it is deleted for all users. If the report has been assigned to other users and one of those users deletes the report then it is only removed from their account and remains visible for all other users.

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