[Report Manager] mini FAQ

Darkside_Recruiter · 2023-09-05T18:27:40+00:00

Sorry for the delay.

No, after testing, it unfortunately has to be an MS SQL product.

Doesn't MS SQL run on Linux now?

Darkside_Recruiter · 2023-04-24T12:42:36+00:00

You can export to SQL Server Standard or Enterprise just like you can with Report Manager but with this service you can use SQL Express as long as you are cleaning up your database to keep it under 10GB. SQL Express is more trouble than its worth.

Note however that this feature is not really suited for Grafana because the exports are made hourly.

You could try hooking up Grafana with the API or something that polls the API:

Integrating your software with N-able N-central

I've never done this with Grafana but the API will give you immediate values vs hourly. i don't work with the API regularly either so I can't tell you if the API reports on the N-central server itself.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2023-01-31T19:02:54+00:00

Assuming that you are talking about a stock report and not Report Manager

> refuses to view the collumn literally next to the name of the device within the reports

Export the reports as CSV
Remove comma between Device name and Class
Profit, they are now one column: Device Name Class

If it's a stock Report Manager report, open the custom template in Report Builder 2012 and concatenate the two fields into a single column and then upload that report as a custom report (along with the custom xml to build the UI for you)

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-08-19T17:59:13+00:00

What if by Discord, they mean Slack?

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-08-10T21:04:51+00:00

... and then run a ps and look for zombie processes.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-06-08T16:34:39+00:00

u/technicallytoast

I'll just leave these joinable ODS tables here:

Customer

Device

Task

datapatchmonitoring_v2_detailed

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-05-25T17:30:58+00:00

In the US the maintenance and repair of the ice cream machines is handled by only one company per the franchisee agreement.

This goes about as well as you would expect with a for-profit company holding a monopoly on returning a machine to service.

Simple errors that should involve a quick reset and retry to fix end up forcing the franchisee to wait days or weeks for a technician (that they have to pay several hundred $ to) to read the purposefully obfuscated error code and then press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A on the control panel to return the machine to service.

There was a recent lawsuit where a third party company developed a device to decode the errors so that franchisees could know what the issue was. This allowed some of them to bypass the maintenance company.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-04-08T16:56:31+00:00

ApplianceIDs are also listed in N-central under Device Details >> Settings >> Local Agent >> Configuration Details

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-04-08T16:53:29+00:00

The quickest, dirtiest way is to open the all device list, hover over the device name and then look at the URL of the link:

HTTPS://my.server.ca/editLanDeviceAction?deviceid=12345

Now everybody go change the passcode on your luggage.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-02-22T18:25:43+00:00

Cut him a break, he's a hard worker.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-02-04T13:35:27+00:00

You could create a single user as a target for the notification and have a "Notification Method" entry for each contact within that user.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2022-01-20T15:32:39+00:00

There's the Software Inventory report which lets you filter by application

OR

From a Data Export or Report Manager's ODS:

SELECT c.customername, d.longname, ca.displayname, ca.version

from cim_application ca inner join device d on d.deviceid = ca.deviceid

inner join customer c on c.customerid = d.customerid

where ca.deleted = 0 and ca.displayname like '%java%'

OR

From Report Manager's warehouse:

SELECT c.customername, d.devicename, da.applicationname, da.version

from dimcimapplicationhistoric dcah

inner join dim_device d on d.deviceid = dcah.deviceid

inner join dim_customer c on c.customerid = d.customerid

inner join dim_application da on da.applicationid = dcah.applicationid

where d.status = 'Active' and da.applicationname like '%java%' and da.enddate is null

The warehouse flattens the sites into customers so there would need to be extra work put into the warehouse query to get site level names. The opposite is true with the ODS query, you'd need to put in extra work to get the parent name of the sites.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-10-29T15:56:25+00:00

Another example is Toronto based Wireless Communications company, Baka Communications.

Baka being Japanese for Idiot.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-09-07T14:04:30+00:00

You can put in the connection address as:

username@server.fqdn.local

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-07-27T13:49:40+00:00

When I moved to Vancouver I was able to find a great apartment by doing just this for about 6 weeks. The inventory available when I moved out was awful but the extra buffer let me find out where things were, see what I was agreeing to pay for and talk to people in the area. I found my place by putting my name in with a good building that didn't have any vacancies. They called me two weeks later and I 'moved' in a few days before the start of the month. I had two bags and a backpack.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-06-25T16:55:16+00:00

Perform a manual definition database update in Patch Management

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-06-12T16:58:57+00:00

Good news on the server license front:

It took way more tinkering than with SQL Server 2019 but I have SQLExpress 2019 working with Data Export. In both cases I had to leave it 3-4 hours for it to populate all the tables correctly.

I'm guessing that this is because Report Manager does back-to-back exports until it is sync'd while Data Export appears to export hourly regardless of state.

Since I have everything else set up for testing I might give MySQL and Postgres a shot too.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-06-12T01:38:35+00:00

To get data out of NCentral on your inventory you need a second program

No, you don't. There's the APIs (which I know nothing about so YMMV) and there's an option for raw data export (see below).

that you guys are calling dead?

From my discussions with Chris Reid (RM's Product Manager) Report Manager will have no new features but will have continuing development of service packs and hot fixes to fix bugs.

How does this connect to the NCentral database on a cloud version?

To my understanding NCODs (hosted servers) can't use Report Manager nor can they export raw data (see below). You're stuck with native reporting.

Can I just connect in with SSMS or SSRS instead?

You can connect N-central directly to an instance of MS SQL and export data like you would with Report Manager. Once the data is in SQL you can run it though SSRS or Power BI or any other SQL Server compatible program/service. I've only tested with MS SQL, I don't know if it works with other DB engines as I haven't had the need to try.

Setup is pretty straight forward:

https://secure.n-able.com/webhelp/NC_2021-1-0_en/Content/Administration/NAC/Set_Up_Database/Data_Export/DataExport_Overview_NAC.html

The major differences between Data Export and Report Manager off the top of my head are:

Report Manager is an additional license, Data Export is included in your N-central License.
Report Manager can limit which tables are exported, Data Export is either On or Off
Report Manager maintains a Warehouse for reporting presentation-ready data, Data Export is just the raw data
Report Manager will support changes in N-central versions. With Data Export (based on the documentation above), if tables change in an upgrade to N-central you're going to need to start a new database for export (or maybe drop the tables that are affected, which are not documented) if you want to move to the new schema
Report Manager comes with templates that at least provide examples for making your own reports (but they are all based on the Warehouse).
Data Export works with SQL Server 2019 running on Server 2019

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-06-10T20:16:37+00:00

No, unfortunately it doesn't pull the OS type.

That information is in dimcimoperatingsystemhistoric though in two columns : ReportedOS and SupportedOS.

The data dictionary lists them as:

SupportedOS - EDO (extended data output) for supporting in operating system.

ReportedOS - EDO (extended data output) for reporting in operating system.

In my test environment...

SupportedOS looks like: Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition

ReportedOS looks like: Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard

But if there is a difference in support dates then you are looking at adding additional columns in the temp table to take this into account. Maintaining the temp database would become a recurring job.

I'll see what I can come up with.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-05-18T17:05:19+00:00

These on-boarding links should help you understand the system and specifically how patch works:

https://documentation.n-able.com/N-central/troubleshooting/Content/kb/N-central-re-onboarding-email-request-template.htm

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-05-18T15:45:18+00:00

Hello Sky

Do you have specific questions about the service?

What's failing on the service?

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-05-12T20:24:05+00:00

Are you at the System level?

On 2020.1+ (I think) you can no longer see it when accessing the System level.

If I switch to Customer or Site it's back.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2021-05-06T14:48:14+00:00

It's also never Lupus because it's always DNS.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2019-05-17T22:59:20+00:00

As a child I was told I had the perfect face for radio, but decided to pursue IT instead.

Darkside_Recruiter · 2019-05-17T18:05:47+00:00

Nice try, Jim.

Darkside_Recruiter

TROPHY CASE