Reporting FAQ

Table of Contents
Click an item to jump directly to that question.

1. Are my reports in bits or bytes?
2. How do I change the time frame on my report?
3. How do I search for a specific user in reports?
4. How do I add additional information about traffic to a report?
5. Why do I not see all twenty-four hours' worth of sessions in my report?
6. How do I create a custom report?
7. How do I email reports to users?
8. Can I view a report in real time?
9. Can I add a report to my dashboard?

1. Are my reports in bits or bytes?

Reports in NG Firewall are in bytes. Depending on the data in the report, this can be bytes, kilobytes or megabytes and these values are calculated dynamically. The math for determining this is revealed by clicking on Settings at the upper right. This formula will vary depending on the report being viewed. To change this to bits, surround the existing formula with parentheses and add "*8" (without quotes) to the end. This will multiply all results by 8 and convert the output to bits.

If you'd like the data to report Kb/s or Mb/s, simply divide the function further by additional sets of '1024'. The screenshot below highlights one division by 1024, resulting in Kb/s. Note that we still need to change the Units value and Report Title to match the new metric.

2. How do I change the time frame on my report?

All reports on NG Firewall are generated with our default time frame of the most recent twenty-four hour period. You can change this time frame to any that you like, provided that your reports data retention will cover the date range you want. The time conditions are located at the top left of the report. Click on these and you can indicate both date and time.

3. How do I search for a specific user in reports?

To search for a specific user in a report, you will need to add conditions to the report. This is done by clicking on the Conditions: Add button in the top left corner of the report window. You can specify a user by "Username" if you are authenticating against a directory. Otherwise, you can use "Client" to specify the user's IP address. After entering the identifying value in the "Value" field, click the Add button. The report will then be regenerated with the specified conditions in place.

4. How do I add additional information about traffic to a report?

Most reports you view on NG Firewall will not show all the information about the session. You can reveal additional information about sessions by hovering your mouse above one of the column headers (such as Timestamp). An arrow pointing down will appear to the right of the column header. Click on that arrow and you will see a menu. Go to Columns and you will see a list of other columns you can reveal information for, such as Client Interface, Session ID, or even information specific to apps like Web Filter Category.

5. Why do I not see all twenty-four hours' worth of sessions in my report?

Although NG Firewall generates reports with a default time frame of 'today' (meaning time elapsed since midnight), you may not see all twenty-four hours' worth. That is because NG Firewall, by default, only shows the most recent 1000 events in a report. You can select between 100 and 50,000 events. This option is at the top right-hand corner of the report.

6. How do I create a custom report?

To create a custom report, you will need to alter the settings on the report and then save it as a new report. This is done by clicking on Settings at the upper-right corner of the report. Keep in mind some reports are read-only and while you can adjust the settings, you cannot save a read-only report as a custom report. Once saved, the custom report will appear in the category of reports that the original report is in (customized Web Filter reports appear under Web Filter, for example).

7. How do I email reports to users?

You can email graph, summary and pie chart reports. This can be done daily, weekly or monthly, provided you are retaining reports data for that length of time. To email reports, go to Apps > Reports (settings) > Reports Users. Click Add to create a new reports user. This user will be emailed reports as indicated by the Email Template settings. Click on that tab and click Add to create a new email template. You can indicate what reports will be sent by email and the frequency here.

8. Can I view a report in real time?

If you would like to view a report in real time, enable the Auto Refresh option located at the top right of the report.

9. Can I add a report to my dashboard?

You can add a report to the dashboard by clicking on the Add To Dashboard option at the top-right corner of the report.