Key Task: Assign the Data Source for a Widget to Analyze Machine Boot Components (Advanced)

Use the Data Source Boot Components to analyze the degrading performance of those Windows boot components whose boot time takes longer than 1 second. Thus, there are probably much more devices and their respective boot components (for example, drivers) across organization, but Aternity does not include all of them in this analysis.

For example, you can see on the graph below that for different components on Windows 10 the boot duration jumps. Now, you can continue analyzing OS and machines in other dashboards and find the issue and fix it.
Analyze the boot duration and improve the overall boot performance on problematic operating systems
Note

Windows Event Viewer will not log all boot times. Since Aternity collects data by querying Windows Event Log, not all boot times can be monitored by Aternity and presented in the analysis, but only those that appear in the Windows Event Viewer.

If you saved this dashboard for later viewing, it opens the main sheet (only) in view mode. To further customize (if you have permission), select Edit.

Tip

You can also view and analyze this data using the REST API MACHINE_BOOT_COMPONENTS. To read about dimensions and measures definitions, use the REST API documentation. (Learn more).

Procedure

  1. Step 1 Open a browser and sign in to Aternity.
  2. Step 2 Select Main Menu > Analyze > Create Your Own Dashboard.
    Select what kind of data you want to analyze
  3. Step 3 Select Boot Components data source.
  4. Step 4 Customize the dashboard by dragging measures and dimensions to the Columns and Rows bar, so that you can compare specific attributes.

    Add your own columns, design your own fields with custom calculations, and apply them to any of available attributes which you want to examine. For example, analyze the average duration of boot for components on different operating systems.

    Analyze boot duration of different components on different operating systems

    The components that are NOT shown on the graph, boot in less than one second.

  5. Step 5 Filter by Component or Category or else and then select which item to analyze.

    For example, analyze the average boot duration of User Group Policy Download category on windows 10 desktops.

    Select ONE category for analyzing. Do NOT mix different categories in the calculation of average times. This way you can properly analyze the performance of a specific process/driver across various components.

    Filter by Category and select what category to analyze

    For more information on the full editing capabilities of this dashboard, see http://www.tableau.com/learn/training. View the following training sections:

    • Visual Analytics

    • Calculations

    • Tableau Server

    • How To

    Tip

    If you receive a communication error 504, ensure that your dashboard does not list too many rows (like all your device names or usernames). You can narrow the scope of the data displayed by selecting Show Filter for that attribute and selecting the values to display. To further improve dashboard performance, select Aggregation Type > Hourly or Daily, and do not include Tableau's level of detail expressions.

  6. Step 6 You can limit the display of this dashboard using the menus at the right of the window.

    You can change the start time of the data displayed in the dashboard in the Timeframe menu in the top right corner of the screen. This menu impacts all tabs available in this view.

    You can access data in this dashboard (retention) going back up to 30 days. Learn more.

  7. Step 7 You can create a custom group for an attribute in any of the advanced Analyze dashboards, from data in Excel (like a CSV file).

    For example, you can create two custom groups to compare their measurements.

    Use CSV data to create a custom group
    1. a Copy the values you want for the group from a CSV file in Excel.

      For example, if you have a CSV file of device names from the device inventory API, choose the names you want as a group and copy them to the clipboard.

    2. b Display the attribute of your group in the dashboard by dragging it from the left pane to the top bar.

      For example, to display rows of hostnames in this dashboard, drag Client Device Name from the left pane to the Rows bar at the top.

      Drag the attribute to the top bar and show its filter
    3. c To display a filter of this value in the right pane of the dashboard, hover over the attribute, open its drop-down menu, and select Show Filter.
      Choose Show filter from the drop-down menu
    4. d To display only the values from your CSV file, change the filter in the right-hand bar by opening its drop-down menu and selecting Multiple values (custom list).

      This displays only several specific values in the dashboard.

      In this example, to display only the specific hostnames from your CSV file, in the right hand bar, select Client Device Name > Multiple values (custom list).

      Display only specific values in the dashboard
    5. e To display only the items from your CSV file, paste them into the filter field.
      Paste your data into the filter field
    6. f Create a group by selecting the group members, then in the pop-up select the group icon .
      Select items and create a group

      It creates a custom group as a new object in the left sidebar. You can now use it as part of your analysis like any other object.

    7. g To create a second custom group for comparison with your first group, select Clear List to clear the first group's data from the filter, and repeat the process.

      Paste a second set in the filter field to display them, select them in the dashboard, then group them.

      Clear the data from the filter
    8. h Clear the filter and now paste both lists into the filter so you can see all values from both groups in the dashboard.

      This displays all members of the groups in their respective groups so you can compare them side by side.

      View a comparison of two custom groups
  8. Step 8 It is possible to create multiple sheets (widgets) in the advanced custom dashboards.
    Instead of having many custom dashboards with a single section each, you can create a single dashboard with all sections you need. This allows more information to be provided within one dashboard displaying much more holistic view, as well as much stronger analytics by cross filtering between the sheets.
    Create multiple sheets in the same dashboard.
    For more information on how to open multiple dashboard sheets in Tableau, see the Tableau tutorial.

    Timeframe drop-down menu in the top right corner of the screen serves all widgets. Use it to set the required timeframe for each widget if necessary.

    Once you have created several widgets and then a dashboard that uses these widgets, save a new dashboard. Make sure to click Save while focusing on the dashboard (in the bottom of the screen there is a list of all open tabs). Note that if, by mistake, the focus is on a widget, the saved view will display this widget instead of dashboard. Click Edit to make changes.

    Focus on a new dashboard to save it
  9. Step 9 It is possible to create multiple tabs within a single dashboard where each tab presents a separate dashboard.

    Tell your story visually by using a sequence of tabs. For example: (a) a list of devices on which antivirus scan was successfully completed, (b) a list of devices on which it failed, (c) a list of viruses found across organization, (d) a trend of all scanning operations, etc.

    1. a Open an advanced dashboard.
    2. b Using the buttons in the bottom, create as many sheets as you want to display on the first dashboard.
      Add a worksheet or dashboard
    3. c Create the first dashboard and rename it.
      Add a new dashboard within an advanced one to create a multi-tabs dashboard
    4. d Using the buttons in the bottom, create as many sheets as you want to display on the second dashboard.
    5. e Create the second dashboard and rename it.
    6. f Repeat steps d & e as many times as you need.
    7. g Highlight a new dashboard to save it.
      Focus on a new dashboard to save it

      Once created and saved, Aternity will display it for you as a dashboard with multiple tabs next time you access it.

      Move from tab to tab within advanced dashboard to tell your story

      For more information on how to open multiple dashboard sheets in Tableau, see the Tableau tutorial.

  10. Step 10 (Optional) Export the dashboard data to Excel, Image or PDF file.
    1. a Select Download.
      For simple dashboards, at the bottom right of the screen. For advanced dashboards, on the top tool bar.
      Download a dashboard
      Note

      In Analyze dashboards, make sure you scroll down the dashboard until the end of the data. Otherwise, you might not see the Download button.

    2. b Select the required option depending on where you exporting the dashboard.

      • To download as Excel file, select Crosstab

      • To download as an image file, select Image

      • To download as PDF file, select PDF

      • To download as PowerPoint file, select PowerPoint

        Note

        Make sure you have data on a sheet. If the sheet is empty, the Crosstab menu is unavailable.

    3. c For PDF and PowerPoint only, define additional settings.
    4. d Select Download to start the process or Cancel to cancel.

      Open the file from your Downloads folder or from any other predefined destination for file downloads.