Although Uptime Infrastructure Monitor has powerful reporting features, you may want to generate reports in a custom format with a specific set of user-defined data. Microsoft Reporting Services allows you to take data from an MS SQL Server DataStore and use that data to create a report that addresses your specific needs. 

Before you begin

This article assumes that you have installed Microsoft Reporting Services and its prerequisites: 

  • Internet Information Server (IIS) with ASP.NET
  • SQL Server
  • Visual Studio .NET

Please also refer to Running Uptime Infrastructure Monitor with an Oracle database.

Setting up a database connection

To set up a database connection

  1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, and then choose File > New > Project. The New Project window appears.
  2. In the Project Types tree, select the Business Intelligence Projects folder.
  3. In the Templates area, select the Report Project template.
  4. In the Name field, type a name for your report, and then click OK.
  5. Click the View / Solutions Explorer button to open the Solution Explorer window.
  6. Right-click Shared Data Sources, and then select Add New Data Source.
  7. In the Data Link Properties window, click the Provider tab.
  8. Double-click Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server, which opens the Data Link Properties window on the Connection tab.
  9. Type the name of the database server, and then use the user name and password combination needed to log in to the server.
  10. Click Test Connection to verify that you can establish a connection to the database.
  11. Choose the database from which you want to retrieve the data, and then click OK.

Configuring a report using Microsoft Reporting Services

To configure a report in Microsoft Reporting Services

  1. In Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, right-click Reports, and select Add New Report. The Report Wizard starts.
  2. Click Next.
  3. Select Shared data source, and then select the database from which you are retrieving data.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Enter the following query string:
    SELECT e.display_name AS 'Description',
AVG(p.cpu_usr + p.cpu_sys + p.cpu_wio) AS 'CPU Workload Average',(CONVERT(char(10),s.sample_time,102)) AS 'Date'
FROM performance_sample s, performance_aggregate p, entity e 
WHERE s.id = p.sample_id
AND e.entity_id = s.uptimehost_id 
AND s.sample_time > '2023.11.29'
AND s.sample_time < DATEADD(day,5,'2023.11.29')
GROUP BY (convert(char(10),s.sample_time,102)), e.display_name 
ORDER BY (convert(char(10),s.sample_time,102)), e.display_name;
    This example reports on the CPU workload average for all systems over the five day period from 2023-11-29 to 2023-12-03 (simply change the dates or the interval as required).
  6. Click Next after you change the range to suit your needs.
  7. Choose the Matrix option, and then click Next.

    The Design the Matrix window appears, which enables you to change the way in which data is arranged in the report.
  8. In this example:
    • Description is moved to the Rows field.
    • Date is moved to the Columns field.
    • CPU Workload Average is moved to the Details field.
  9. Click Next.
  10. In the Choose Matrix Style window, select Compact. The Design the Matrix window appears.
  11. Select to display all of the fields in the report, and then click Next.
  12. Click the Preview Report check box at the bottom of the page.
  13. Click Finish to generate a preview of the report.

Publishing a report to IIS

When you are satisfied with your report, you can publish it to IIS (Internet Information Server, a Web server that runs under Windows) by completing the following steps:

  1. In Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, access the Solutions Explorer to open Solution Explorer.
  2. Right-click the current project, and then select Properties.
  3. In the Properties window, change the value of TargetServerURL to the URL where Reporting Services is installed. For example, http://localhost/ReportServer.
  4. Click OK.
  5. In the Solutions Explorer, click Debug / Start to publish the report.
  6. After the report is published, your default Web browser automatically opens in the directory in which the report was published. Click the file name of the report to open it.
  7. You can also export the report from your web browser by selecting a format from the dropdown list, as shown below:

    Published reports may not render properly in web browsers other than Internet Explorer. If, for example, you have set your default browser to Firefox and the report does not open properly after you have published it, copy and paste the URL of the report into Internet Explorer. You can also view the report by navigating to the Report Manager URL in Internet Explorer. By default, the URL is http://localhost/Reports/Pages/Folder.aspx.