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Email Scheduled Report of Remote Access Connections (Summary only)

Like a lot of you out there, we are dealing with Covid19 and the ramifications on the IT department.

I have been using Solarwinds for years but am struggling a bit with the web version of the reports.

I would like to email a summary report on our active Remote Access VPN connections to a group.  I have a PerfStack Analysis page saved (attached) that is perfect but I need to email it to a group every couple of hours through month end.

While the perfstack is pretty and nice, really all I need is a summary of VPN connections i.e.:

Current VPN Connections at 7:00am: 347

The built in "Remote Access Tunnel History" report is far too detailed and I cant figure out how to summarize on total active connections

I've seen a bunch of posts about reporting/monitoring but haven't seen anything on emailing.

  • Here's how to send your report every two hours:


    1. Create your Performance Analyst that shows the number of VPN Users or VPN Sessions. I built one that also included ASA CPU Load and Memory and I/O Bits per second.

    2. Set it to show the time frame you want. Last 2 Hours, Last Week, etc.

    3. Save it, but remember the name you give it--you'll need it in the next steps.

    4. You wrote down the name of your Performance Analyzer project, right? (Just testing!)

    5. Go to Reports > All Reports > Create New Report

    6. Put an appropriate name in the Header

    7. In the Content section Click Add Content

    8. On the left side, select Charts (because the Performance Analyzer graph is a chart)

    9. In the upper right, search for the name of the Performance Analyzer project you built and saved. Put a check in its Radio Button, then on the bottom of the page click Select and Continue.

    10. On the next page change the Header or add other content or modify the footer if needed.  Click Next.

    11. The Preview page shows up now. Click Next.


    12. To find this report quickly in the future, put a check in the box to make it one of "My Favorite Reports".

    Enter in a report description that includes your name, date of report creation, and the intent of the report.

    Reference any service tickets or requests associated with it.

    Put it into a special Report Category if that helps you find it in the future.

    Add comments as appropriate in the Comments box.

    Define a Report Limitation if not everyone should be allowed to access or see it.

    Click Next.


    13. You're now on the Schedule Report page. Click Schedule This Report to run it at regular intervals.


    14. If you already have a schedule that you can attach to it, which meets your needs (every 2 hours, for example), you can assign it here. If you don't have a schedule that matches your needs, click the Schedule Manager link on the right side and build a new schedule. To do so:


    15. Click Create New Schedule


    16. Name and describe it in the fields provided.


    17. Click Assign Report.   Find your newly created Performance Analyzer chart, select it, then click Assign Report(s) at the bottom right.


    18. Edit anything need in this page for the Schedule Properties, the click Next.


    19. Click Add Frequency, enter a Frequency Name. I called mine "Daily at 2-hour intervals".


    20. In the Execute window, set the times you want it to run. You may need to add multiple times manually, such as 12:00 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., etc. You only have to do this once and you'll be able to reference this schedule in any other report you want running that often.


    21. Click Starting On and select the start date & time.


    22. If you don't need an "Ending On" date, then click Add Frequency.


    23. Click Next


    24. Click Add Action


    25. Click Email


    26. Click Configure Action


    27. Name the action intuitively


    28. Enter in the recipient(s) e-mail address


    29. Set an intuitive Sender detail


    30. Click Message


    31. Enter intuitive subject


    32. Enter intuitive/helpful message. If you know SWQL you can click Insert Variable to make life simpler and more complete and fancy and automated.  


    33. Leave it set to HTML


    34. Decide if you want a printable version of the report and check that box or leave it empty


    35. Select what type of file you want. I recommend trying PDF first since it will display the Performance Analyst graph, and it will not be a "hot link" someone could click on and try to access.


    36. Select the SMTP server.


    37. Click Next.


    38. Review the Schedule Configuration Summary. Edit any thing that needs changing, then click Create Schedule.

    Sit back and wait for your new report to fire off. Once it's successful and looking the way you want, adjust the Action so it includes the users you want to receive the e-mail.

    Swift packets!

    Rick Schroeder

  • Great stuff, but can you export the Perfstack to Exl or CSV? I get "The CSV and Excel options are only available for custom table resources and Report Writer reports" and an error on the email Unable to retrieve url: myorionserver:80/.../Report.aspx using CSV type.Unable to retrieve url: myorionserver:80/.../Report.aspx using Excel type
  • It sounds like you might benefit from making exporting to Excel a Feature Request.  I'll vote for it if you do!

  • With the HTML option only checked here I was hoping to get an interactive perfstack in the message body of my email.  BUT I don't.  I get just this.  The PDF option isn't all that great either....  I can't believe how hard its become to get this data in report format.  I've opened 2 cases and been all over thwack with no luck

    shack_0-1588789804191.png