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Publishing your reports

By default, a report is only available for download from the Reporting > Monitoring Business Intelligence > Report view page. If you want to share a copy of your report (e.g. by email or on another server), use a publication rule. Publication rules allow a report to be sent out to specific users every time the corresponding job finishes running. This applies to all types of output (PDF, CSV...).

Publication modes​

Publication modeDescription
CIFSReports are copied to a remote file share using the CIFS/SMB protocol
FTPReports are copied to a remote server using the FTP protocol
LocalReports are copied to a local directory (on the MBI server)
SFTPReports are copied to a remote server using the SFTP protocol
SMTPReports are sent in an email

Global rules and custom rules​

  • Rules marked as Global in their configuration are applied automatically every time any job is executed. Bear in mind that they apply to all jobs.
  • Global rules do not appear amongst the options on the Publication tab of jobs, as they are applied every time anyway.
  • The Default global publication rule is a SFTP rule which copies the reports from MBI to the central server. This rule can be edited but not deleted.
  • Reports to which you apply custom rules (i.e., user-created rules) will be published every time they are generated, based on the job's schedule.

Creating a publication rule​

To create a publication rule, go to Reporting > Monitoring Business Intelligence > Publication rules and select the Publication protocol you want. Once you have selected the protocol, other fields appear.

FieldPossible valueDescription
NameCIFS rule nameA name to identify the rule. Choose something meaningful.
Publication protocolCIFSIn ths case, CIFS.
GlobalNoDefines whether the rule will be applied to all jobs. If set to No, the rule will be a custom rule applied only to the selected jobs.
DescriptionThe description of the rule appears only in the list of publication rules.
Publish log fileYesWhether to include the publishing step in the cbis.DATE.log log files.
HostThe address of the server where you want to publish the reports. The centreonBI user must be able to access it over the network.
DomainThe domain for authentication purposes.
UserThe username for authentication.
PasswordThe password for authentication.
Password confirmConfirmation of the password for authentication.
Root directory\server\shareThe path to the parent directory where the reports will be copied. The directory must already exist and the centreonBI user must be able to access it over the network.
Subdirectory@DAY@Subdirectory path, can include dynamic variables like @DAY@. Use if you want to organize your reports.

Using a publication rule​

To make sure a copy of your report is published every time the job is executed, you can either:

  • mark the rule as global (no extra configuration is necessary as all global rules are executed every time a job is run - bear in mind that global rules apply to all the jobs executed by the platform).
  • in the job you want, select the desired custom rule on the Publication tab of the Reporting > Monitoring Business Intelligence > Jobs page.

Please note that the data included in the report depends on the rights on resources of the user who creates the job. It is the responsibility of the user creating the job to make sure that the resources included in the report are authorized for the users with which they want to share the report.

How the Default publication rule works​

The default SFTP rule is the one that transfers the generated reports to your central server.

Prerequisites: key exchange​

  1. On the central server, a system user called centreonBI has been created. Define a password for this user for future SSH communications between the two servers:
passwd centreonBI
  1. On the MBI server, generate SSH keys for the service user called centreonBI" in order to avoid using the password when CBIS copies the generated reports onto the central server:
su - centreonBI
ssh-keygen
  Enter file in which to save the key (/home/centreonBI/.ssh/id_rsa):
  > Created directory '/usr/local/centreon-bi/.ssh'.
  > Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): empty
  > Enter same passphrase again:
  > Your identification has been saved in /home/centreonBI/.ssh/id_rsa.

The passphrase must be empty.

  1. Transfer the key to the central server. The centreonBI user must be configured with a password on the monitoring server:
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub centreonBI@\{MONITORING_IP_ADDRESS\}
  1. Test the SSH connection from the reporting server:
ssh centreonBI@\{MONITORING_IP_ADDRESS\}

You should be able to connect without entering any password.

Configuration for the Default publication rule​

If for some reason the Default rule stops working and you're no longer getting reports in your central server, check that it is configured as follows (click the Test button to validate the configuration):

FieldValue
NameDefault
Publication protocolSFTP
GlobalYes
DescriptionDefault publication rule
HostCentral server IP address
Port22
Authentication typeUser/Key
UsercentreonBI
Path to the SSH key/home/centreonBI/.ssh/id_rsa
Passphrase for SSH keyleave empty
Confirm passphrasesame as above
Root directory/var/lib/centreon/centreon-bi-server/archives
Subdirectory@JOBNAME@