Software/Hotfix Dashboard
In large environments where multiple users install/uninstall/update various software and apply hotfixes on multiple systems, it is important for administrators to have answers for the following queries to ensure security and authenticity of the software utilized in their environment:
How many software are installed/uninstalled/updated?
Is hotfix applied on the correct system?
Are all the software authentic?
Is any of the software outdated?
Is any of the critical software uninstalled from the critical components?
Is non-business related software installed on any of the managed components?
When exactly the software are installed/uninstalled/updated?
To easily track software installations/uninstallations on the managed components and find out the accurate answers for the above said queries, administrators can use the Software/Hotfix dashboard. By closely observing the dashboard, administrators can determine legitimacy of the software, ensure availability of critical software and safety of components, etc.
To access the Software/Hotfix dashboard, click the 
icon available in the Configuration tab. Then, select the Dashboard option from the Software/Hotfix drop-down menu in the Inventory tile. To generate the dashboard do the following:
This page appears when you follow the menu sequence: Configuration -> Inventory -> Software/Hotfix -> Dashboard. Now, select a criteria for analysis from the View By list box.
Using this dashboard, you can view the trends of software installations and hotfixes performed on one/more managed components in the target environment, or those that are part of a zone, service or segment. The options provided by the View By list box are discussed hereunder:
Component:Select this option to choose the component(s) from across all the managed components in the environment.
Zone: To generate a report for one/more components that are included in a zone, pick the Zone option. A Zone drop-down list will then appear, from which you would have to select the zone to which the components of interest to you belong. A Sub zone flag also appears. Indicate whether the components present within the sub-zones of the chosen zone are also to be to be considered for report generation, by setting the Sub zone flag to Yes.
Segment: If you want to generate a report for one/more chosen components that be y long to a segment, select the Segment option from View By list box, and then pick the Segment from the drop-down list that appears.
Service:If you want to generate a report for one/more components involved in the delivery of a service, select the Service option from View By, and then pick the required Service from the drop-down list that appears.
By default, Software is chosen from the Software/Hotfix list indicating that this dashboard will be generated for the software installation and updates by default. If you wish to generate this dashboard for hotfix updates, then choose Hotfix from this list.
The operating systems on which the managed components are running will be listed in the Operating system list. By default, All option is chosen from this list. If you wish to generate this dashboard for a chosen operating system, then you can choose that particular operating system alone and proceed with other specifications needed for generating the dashboard.
Choose a Component Type for which the dashboard is to be generated. By default, All option is chosen from this list. If you wish to generate this dashboard for a chosen component type, then you can choose that particular component type alone.
Then, specify the Timeline for generating the dashboard. You can either provide a fixed time line such as 1 hour, 2 days, etc., or select the Any option from the list to provide a From and To date/time for report generation.
Finally, click the Submit button to generate the dashboard. A page showing software installations/uninstallations will then appear.
From this page, you can figure out the following:
The first section in the generated dashboard displays a doughnut chart that reveals the distribution of all managed components in the target environment based on operating system - from this doughnut chart, you can easily determine how many components are running a particular operating system. This section also displays doughnut charts that reveal the distribution of all software installations and uninstallations in the target environment.
The second section shows a bar graph that helps you to determine top-10 software installations performed during the chosen time period.
The third section shows a bar graph that helps you to determine top-10 software uninstallations performed during the chosen time period.
The Most recent software installation details section displays a list of software installations that are recently performed in the target environment.
To clear all the filter options that you have selected, click the Clear Filter Data button in this section.
Using this section, you can identify the name of component type and component, the operating system on which the component is operating, the name and version of software that is installed recently, the date on which the installation was performed, and the time stamp at which the information about the software installation was reported to the eG manager. By default, this section lists the details on all the software installations performed on all managed components in the target environment. In some circumstances, you may want to know about software installations performed on critical component types/components/operating systems. In such cases, you can use the Filter option given in this section to filter the details based on a particular component type/component/operating system/software/software version of your interest. Dragging the Filter slider to right side will enable the filter icons in all columns of the table. Using these icons, you can easily filter and view the details of your choice without having to scroll down. In addition, you can also sort the filter results using Sort Ascending and Sort Descending options provided along with the filter icon.
Note:
For every user registered with the eG Enterprise system, the administrator can indicate the maximum timeline for which that user can generate a dashboard. Once the maximum timeline is set for a user, then, whenever that user logs into eG Reporter and attempts to generate a report, the Timeline list box in the report page will display options according to the maximum timeline setting of that user. For instance, if a user can generate a report for a maximum period of 3 days only, then 3 days will be the highest option displayed in the Timeline list - i.e., 3 days will be the last option in the fixed Timeline list. Similarly, if the user chooses the Any option from the Timeline list and proceeds to provide a start date and end date for dashboard generation using the From and To and Hr and Mins specifications, eG Enterprise will first check if the user's Timeline specification conforms to his/her maximum timeline setting. If not, report generation will fail. For instance, for a user who is allowed to generate reports spanning over a maximum period of 3 days only, the difference between the From and To dates should never be over 3 days. If it is, then, upon clicking the Run Report button a message box will appear, prompting the user to change the From and To specification.