Custom Reports › Set Up Custom Reports › Create a Custom Report

Create a Custom Report

Use the Custom Report wizard to create a Custom Report step by step. The wizard guides you to select many options, such as the specific items on which to report, the presentation views, the reporting period, and, optionally, a schedule for running the report automatically.

Follow these steps:

1. Select Custom Reporting from the NFA console menu.
2. Click Create New Report.

   The Custom Report wizard opens and shows the options ‘Create a new custom report" and ‘Copy an existing report.’

3. Click ‘Create a new custom report,’ then click Next.

   Note: Alternatively, you can select ‘Copy an existing report option’ and modify an existing report.

   The Select Interfaces page of the Custom Report wizard opens.

4. Click one of the following options to select interfaces or interface groups for the report:
   • Add Interface Filter: Select one or more individual interfaces from the Interface Index.
   • Add Interface Group Filter: Select one or more interface groups from the Interface Group Selection list.

   The selected interfaces are added to the interface list.

   See Also: Select Interfaces and Interface Groups

5. Accept the default value or set the Inclusion value for each interface or interface group: ‘Include’ sets the program to use report data from the interface or group. ‘Exclude’ sets the program to bypass data from the interface or group.
6. Click next when you have specified all the interfaces to use for report data.

   The Specify Filters & Rollup page opens.

7. (Optional) Specify the settings on the Specify Filters & Rollup page: Specify filters for gathering or excluding report data, then set the Inclusion value for each filter to Include or Exclude:
   • Add Protocol Filter: Select individual protocols from the Protocol Index.
   • Add Protocol Group Filter: Select protocol groups from the Protocol Group Index.
   • Add ToS Filter: Select individual ToS values from the ToS Index.
   • Add ToS Group Filter: Select ToS groups from the ToS Group Index.
   • Add Host Filter: Specify a host IP address and mask.
   • Add Conversation Filter: Identify the IP addresses and mask for each party in the conversation pair.

   See Also: Specify Custom Report Filters

8. Accept the default value or set the Inclusion value for each filter you specified:
   • Include: For each filter listed, use only the data of the listed type. For example, use data from the listed protocol group, but not from other protocol groups.
   • Exclude: For each filter listed, do not use the data of the listed type. For example, do not use data from the listed protocol group, but do use data from other protocol groups.
9. Select at least one type of summary data to make available for display in the report. Your selections make various report sections available in a later wizard page, but do not require you to include them. Select one or more check boxes in the Summary Types section:
   • Interface Summary: For example, view the volume of traffic for particular interfaces.
   • ToS Summary: For example, view the distribution of applications by type of service (ToS).
   • Protocol Summary: For example, view which applications are used by each business group.
   • Host Summary: For example, view the application activity or use levels for a server.
   • Conversation Summary: For example, view a list of the top conversations across interfaces for a particular protocol.
10. (Optional) Specify a mask for rolling up data by subnet, if you specified a host or conversation filter: Click the ‘Rollup data using this mask’ check box, then select a mask from the list.
11. Click Next when you have finished specifying options.

    The Configure Layout page opens.

12. (Optional) Add one or more report sections to the report page layout:
    • Select a value from the Summary Type list.

      Note: The list of available summary types is limited to the summary types you specified on the previous page.

    • Select a value from the Presentation list and the Measurements list (if you selected the presentation type as Table, Trend Chart, or Stacked Trend Chard).
    • Click Add.

    The new section is added at the end of the report.

13. (Optional) Delete one or more report sections from the report page layout by clicking the X icon next to the section name.
14. (Optional) Re-order the report sections in any of the following ways:
    • Drag and drop the section.
    • Click the Top icon to move the section to the beginning of the report.
    • Delete sections and add them again in the correct order.
15. Click Next when the report sections are listed correctly in the Added Reports list.

    The Specify Schedule page opens.

16. Select the type of reporting period from the Period list in the Specify Schedule page:
    • Duration: Limits the reporting period to an amount of time, ending at the time the report runs. Enter the number of time units in the Last box.

      Select a unit of time from the list (days, weeks, months, or years).

      You can set up a schedule for a Duration report or you can run the report on demand.

    • Start and end: Specify a Start date and End date either by using the calendar icons or by selecting hour and time values from the lists. Hour values are expressed in 24-hour format.
17. Enter the number of time units in the Resolution box. Select a value from the list for Start and End.

    A Start-and-End report runs on demand and cannot be set up to run on a schedule.

18. Accept the default setting or enter the number of time units in the Resolution box. Select a unit of time from the list (minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years).
19. (Optional) Select a time filter from the list, if your Administrator has created a time filter that is appropriate for your report.
20. (Optional) Select the Schedule check box and specify the following options:
    • Schedule: Select the type from the Schedule list (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly).
    • Daily: Select the day or days of the week, time of day, and time zone for report generation.
    • Weekly: Select the day of the week, time of day, and time zone for report generation.
    • Monthly: Select either the date or the week in the month and day of the week. Select the time of day, and time zone for report generation.
    • Quarterly: Select a month that ends the first reporting quarter, time of day, and time zone.
    • Yearly: Select a month that ends the first reporting year, time of day, and time zone.
21. (Optional) Enter the email addresses of all the report recipients in the format name@domain. Separate multiple addresses with a comma or semi-colon.

    The options in the Recurrence section are available only if you select ‘duration’ as the reporting period type.

    See Also: Define Custom Report Periods and Schedules

22. Click Next when the Specify Schedule page settings are complete.

    The Enter Name page opens.

23. Identify the report and its location, then click Next:
    • Folder: Accept the default folder or select a different folder to contain the new report.
    • Name: Give the new report a name, which appears in the Reports list.
    • Description: (Optional) Add a description to help identify the report. For example, use the description to identify scheduled reports and to indicate distinguishing features of Duration reports.

    The Summary & Submit page opens.

24. Review the information in the Report Definition Summary.
    • Save: Save the report definition and return to the Custom Reporting page.
    • Save and Queue Report: Queue the report to run and return to the Custom Reporting page.