Advanced Reporting with Novell ZENworks Reporting Server: More than Asset Management
3 likes1,605 views
The document provides an overview of the Novell Zenworks Reporting Server, detailing its functionalities for creating predefined and custom reports related to asset and configuration management. Key features include an explanation of the reporting universe, predefined reports, and the use of a drag-and-drop SQL query generation technology. It emphasizes the server's ability to integrate various reporting features with the Zenworks configuration management suite while also discussing installation requirements and user rights.
Advanced Reporting with Novell ZENworks Reporting Server: More than Asset Management
- 1. Advanced Reporting with Novell ® ZENworks Reporting Server:® More than Asset Management Bruce McDowell Technical Services Consultant McDowell Consulting LLC/bruce@consultbruce.com Christina Chamberlain Technical Sales Specialist | Endpoint Management Novell Inc./cchamberlain@novell.com Brad Welch Sr. Solution Advisor SAP/brad.welch@sap.com
- 2. Presenting Today... • Bruce McDowell – Member of founding team for Tally Systems – Technical Sales Specialist and Product Manager for Novell ® – Consultant on asset and license management – Lead for redesign of ZENworks Reporting Server universe ® • Christina Chamberlain – Technical Sales Specialist for Novell ® – Consultant and Training Lead at Tally Systems • Brad Welch – Sr. Solutions Advisor for SAP BusinessObjects 2 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 3. Agenda • Overview of Novell ZENworks Reporting Server ® ® • Predefined Reports • The ZENworks Reporting Server Universe • Creating Custom Reports 3 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 4. Introduction Novell ZENworks Reporting Server is the new engine that ® ® drives predefined and custom reports for the Novell ZENworks 10 family. This session will provide an overview and tour of the Novell ZENworks Reporting Server universe — the foundation for creating reports for inventory, asset management, and other capabilities of Novell ZENworks Configuration Management. We'll cover how to lay out and filter reports, as well as some of the formatting features of the BusinessObjects Engine that powers the engine. 4 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 5. Overview
- 6. What is ZENworks Reporting Server? ® • ZENworks Reporting Server is the unified reporting engine for all products under the ZENworks Configuration Management umbrella • Currently includes: – Novell ZENworks Configuration Management ® – Novell ZENworks Patch Management ® – Novell ZENworks Asset Management ® • As new features are added to ZENworks Configuration Management, ZENworks Reporting Server will expand – Integrated endpoint security – Linux management 6 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 7. ZENworks Reporting in Transition ® • Some reporting remains available through the ZENworks Control Center – ZENworks Configuration Management > Inventory predefined and custom reports > Detailed Hardware/Software Inventory report – ZENworks Asset Management > Predefined reports prior to version 10.2 • Intent is to migrate predefined reports from ZENworks Control Center to ZENworks Reporting Server – No defined schedule for this migration 7 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 9. Predefined Reports • Built from the same elements of the Universe used to build custom reports • Various configuration options possible – Changes locked, simple output – User selected parameters – Template, any changes possible • Many predefined reports shipped with ZENworks ® Reporting Server • Your custom reports may be saved as predefined • May also be exported for sharing in another server 9 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 10. Cool Solutions ZRS Community 10 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 11. Demonstration of Predefined Reports • Predefined reports shipped with ZENworks Reporting ® Server • Predefined reports imported from Cool Solutions community 11 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 12. The ZENworks Reporting Server Universe ®
- 13. BusinessObjects Enterprise Engine • ZENworks Reporting Server is based on the SAP ® BusinessObjects Enterprise reporting engine • Separate installation from ZENworks Configuration Management – May be installed on a separate server – Installers available for Windows / Linux • Separate web-based interface for creating and running reports • Link from ZENworks Control Center • Opens new browser tab/window 13 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 14. What is a Universe? • The Universe defines the objects that are available to build custom and predefined reports • Removes the need for the end-user to understand the underlying database schema – Schema objects may be “moved around,” renamed, combined and even repeated in different places • Presents an opportunity to guide report creation based on the arrangement of elements – “Line of Sight” reporting: if you're in one area of the universe to create a report, you shouldn't have to hop around to other parts of the universe to find objects appropriate to your task 14 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 15. Elements of the Universe Classes and subclasses – Creates a hierarchy Dimensions – Static data objects Details – Data subordinate to dimensions Measures – Calculated data Filters – Filtered data 15 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 16. The Zenworks Reporting Server ® Universe • Six current main classes of data – Discovered Devices: data from discovery tasks – Inventory: hardware/software data returned by periodic inventory scans – ZENworks System: information about the ZENworks installation *** – Bundles and Policies *** – Patch Management *** – Asset Management • Enhancements in the more recent shipments are significant *** All reporting in ZRS for these areas 16 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 17. Drag-and-Drop SQL Query Generation Patented Technology Need to report on monitors, by size, and when they were made? 17 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 18. Drag-and-Drop SQL Query Generation Patented Technology (cont.) Need to report on monitors, by size, and when they were made? SELECT Product1.Manufacturer , ' ' , Product1.Product , ' ' , Product1.Model), Monitor1.DiagonalSize, Monitor1.YearManufactured, COUNT((Monitor1.ComponentOID)) FROM NC_Monitor Monitor1 RIGHT OUTER JOIN NC_Component Component1 ON (Monitor1.ComponentOID=Component1.Compon entOID) RIGHT OUTER JOIN NC_Product Product1 ON (Product1.ProductOID= Component1.ProductAlias) WHERE ( Component1.WorkstationOID IS NOT NULL) 18 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 19. Demonstration of Custom Reporting • Creating custom reports Laying out fields Filtering Formatting 19 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 20. Configuration
- 21. Installation Options • Requirements – Primary Server on Windows 2003 SP1 or SUSE ® Linux Enterprise Server 10 – 3 GB RAM, 5.6 GB free disk space – Ports 3306, 6400, 6410, and 6420 • As part of initial install • Manual install – GUI: setup.exe -b – Command line (requires DVD or ISO): ZENworks_installation_pathnovellzenworksbin – novell-zenworks-configure.bat -c InstallBOE 21 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 22. User Rights • Execute/Publish – limited rights – Schedule documents – Manage historical report instances • Create/Delete – comprehensive rights – Includes Execute/Publish rights – Create, modify or delete documents and folders – Predefined Reports folder – schedule, view, and manage document instances only • ZENworks Configuration Management Administrator default ® rights – Execute/Publish on Predefined Reports folder – Create/Delete on Custom Reports folder 22 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 23. Assigning Rights to Users • Select user – Add | Reporting Rights – Select folders or reports to assign rights to – Select reporting rights > Create/Delete > Execute/Publish 23 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 24. Synchronize! • Configurations Tab > Reporting Services > Folder Sync Schedule 24 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 25. Tips and Tricks
- 26. Preferences My initial view is... – Custom Reports or Predefined Reports folder My default navigation view is... – Set on the folder When I close my browser window... – Set to Always log me off InfoView 26 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 27. Resources • ZENworks Configuration Management ® – System Reporting Reference – www.novell.com/documentation/zcm10 • Novell Cool Solutions ZENworks Reporting Server ® Community – http://www.novell.com/communities/coolsolutions/zrslibrary • BusinessObjects Enterprise – support.businessobjects.com/documentation/product_guides – Business Objects XI Release 2 > Business Objects Enterprise > InfoView User's Guide • BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Training 27 © Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
- 29. Unpublished Work of Novell, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This work is an unpublished work and contains confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information of Novell, Inc. Access to this work is restricted to Novell employees who have a need to know to perform tasks within the scope of their assignments. No part of this work may be practiced, performed, copied, distributed, revised, modified, translated, abridged, condensed, expanded, collected, or adapted without the prior written consent of Novell, Inc. Any use or exploitation of this work without authorization could subject the perpetrator to criminal and civil liability. General Disclaimer This document is not to be construed as a promise by any participating company to develop, deliver, or market a product. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. Novell, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents of this document, and specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. The development, release, and timing of features or functionality described for Novell products remains at the sole discretion of Novell. Further, Novell, Inc. reserves the right to revise this document and to make changes to its content, at any time, without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or changes. All Novell marks referenced in this presentation are trademarks or registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.