Lesson 11: Presentation Reports

Learn what presentation reports are, and how to generate reports from report templates, and how to create custom reports.

Presentation reports offer a view into the Internet activity data stored in the Log Database. Pre-defined charts and tabular reports, called templates, make it easy to generate a consistent presentation of data on a particular topic, such as the categories that have been blocked the most during a particular time frame.

In networks that use delegated administration, Super Administrators control who has access to these features.

Exercise 1: Generate a pre-defined report

  1. In the Forcepoint Web Security module of the Forcepoint Security Manager, go to the Main > Reporting > Presentation Reports page.
  2. In the Report Catalog tree, expand the Internet Activity heading, and select the Top Sites Visited report.

    Immediately after installation, only pre-defined reports and templates appear in the tree. If the software has been in use for some time, the tree may also include:

    • Favorite reports (marked with a star)
    • Custom reports
  3. Click Run at the top or bottom of the list.
  4. Fill out the Run Report page as follows:
    Field Description
    Start date End date Leave the default dates, which define a report covering the current day’s activities.
    Output format Select HTML to display the finished report in the browser window.
    Top N Leave the default setting of 10. (This reports on the top 10 sites.)
  5. Deselect Schedule the report to run in the background. The report will be generated in a pop-up window in the foreground.
    Tip: It is usually most efficient to run reports in the background. You can opt to receive email notification when the report is complete, and use the Presentation Reports > Review Reports page to access the report.
  6. Click Run.

    The report will display in the content pane.

Exercise 2: Create a custom report and edit its filter

  1. On the Presentation Reports page, expand the Internet Activity node in the Report Catalog, then select the Top Sites Visited report.
  2. Click Save As.
  3. On the Save As New Report page, change the Report catalog name to New Top 5 Sites Visited.
  4. Click Save and Edit to display the Edit Report page, where you can customize the elements of the report.
  5. Accept the default (all items reported), and click Next to move through the Clients, Categories, and Protocols tabs.

    When generating future reports, you can use these tabs to fine-tune the content of the report.

  6. On the Actions tab, expand the Permitted node in the tree and mark all of the permitted actions, then click the right arrow (>) to move them to the Selected list. When you are finished, click Next.

    This limits the report to only URLs that clients were able to access, omitting blocked sites.

  7. On the Options tab, change the Show only top setting to 5 to have the report show only the top 5 sites visited. Then, click Next.
  8. On the Confirm tab, select Save and run, and then click Finish.
  9. On the Run Report page, set the Output format to HTML, deselect Schedule the report to run in the background, and then click Run.

    Your web protection software gathers the appropriate records from the Log Database, and displays the report in the content pane.

    The changes you made in the report filter are saved with the new report, and the new report name is listed in the Report Catalog on the Presentation Reports page. Any time you choose this report to run, it uses the filter you defined. You can also edit the filter later.

Exercise 3: Configure distribution for scheduled reports

Basic configuration is needed before you can schedule reports for email distribution. If these settings have already been configured, skip to Exercise 4.

If these settings are not configured and you are a Super Administrator, you can update your settings. Otherwise, ask a Super Administrator to perform the configuration before you continue with Exercise 4.

  1. Go to the Settings > Reporting > Preferences page.
  2. Enter the Email address from which reports should be sent.
  3. Enter the IP address or name of the email server that will distribute scheduled reports to their email recipients in the SMTP server IP or name field.
  4. Click Save Now to implement the changes.

Exercise 4: Schedule reports to run periodically

  1. Go to the Main > Reporting > Presentation Reports page.
  2. Click Scheduler in the toolbar at the top of the page.
  3. Use the Schedule Report tab to set the following options. Then, click Next.
    • Job name: Test
    • Recurrence Pattern: Daily
    • Schedule time: 10 minutes from your current system time
    • Schedule Period: End after 2 occurrences
  4. On the Select Reports tab, select the New Top 5 Sites Visited report and click the right arrow (>) to move it to the Selected list. Click Next.
  5. On the Date Range tab, select Relative Dates from the drop-down list, and then select Last 2 and Day(s). Click Next.
  6. On the Output tab, set the following:
    • File format: PDF
    • Recipient email addresses (Cc): enter your own email address
  7. Click Save Job to save and implement the schedule.

    Starting in 10 minutes, your web protection software gathers the appropriate records from the Log Database, and creates the report as a PDF file. It then sends you the PDF file via email. The report will be generated twice: today and tomorrow.