Getting started as administrator

This online help assumes Xtraction has already been installed on a server and is up and running. For installation or upgrade instructions, see the Install & Upgrade Guide.

1.Open a web browser (Chrome is recommended) and enter the Xtraction application URL. Typically, the default URL is: http://[SERVER]/Xtraction/ (where [SERVER] is the name of the server where Xtraction is installed).

2.For Windows authentication: If you're already authenticated to the domain, you shouldn't have to re-enter your credentials. But, if prompted, enter your Windows user ID and password.

For Local authentication: You must initially enter the defaults of admin for username and password for password. Note that local authentication enables you to always have access to an analyst license to do administrative functions even if all available Xtraction licenses are in use by others.

With either authentication method, the first user to log in will have administrator and enterprise designer privileges.

When logging out, the best way is to use the Logout option at the bottom of the window to release your license for others to use. You can also log out by closing the web browser, but your license may not be immediately released in this case.

Initial tasks

Once authenticated, you're presented with the Xtraction web-based interface. The Xtraction administrator is responsible for setting up the following basics before allowing others to use the product:

•Change the admin password: After installation, the first user to log in will have administrator privileges regardless of Windows or Local authentication. If Xtraction was configured to use Local authentication, you should change the default username and password combination for the administrator account immediately. To do so, click the Profile > Change Password link at the bottom of the Xtraction application window. For Local authentication, usernames are not case sensitive but passwords are.

•Create public folders: It's helpful to create an initial set of public folders for users with the roles of designer and enterprise designer so that they can organize dashboards in a structured way. How the dashboards are organized may vary from installation to installation.

One approach is to have top-level folders for each organizational unit, with subfolders for different types of dashboards—for example Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Annual. For details, see Managing user groups and folder security.

•Set up users: If the Auto Create option was enabled in the Xtraction Settings application during installation, an account is created automatically the first time any user accesses Xtraction. However, you many want to take a more organized approach—wait until after installation to manually set up all initial accounts and assign user roles before allowing others access to Xtraction. For details, see Setting up user accounts.

•Create data-source filters via discovery: You can use the Filter Builder to run a discovery process that inspects your data-source installation data and creates an initial set of filters for the most-used values. You can augment the process by reviewing the filters and adding any that weren't created by default. Access the Filter Builder tool from the Administration > Filter Builder link at the bottom of the Xtraction application window. For details, see Creating an initial set of filters.

Ongoing tasks

Ongoing, the role of administrator involves the following tasks:

•Setting up user accounts, which involves managing user profiles and privileges. For details. see Setting up user accounts.

•Managing user groups, which are collections of users with a common need for access to the same Xtraction resources. Groups enable you to efficiently manage access to the folders of dashboards, documents, and filters. For details, see Managing user groups and folder security.

•Defining data policies, which you can use to impose restrictions on user access to data. For details, see Restricting user access to data.

•Managing variables, which includes creating and assigning variables to users in order to filter dashboard or document content. Variables are based on a value in a user's profile, rather than a fixed value, enabling you to design content that's reusable for multiple users. For details, see Setting up variables to filter content.

•Configuring global display settings (time zones, colors, and so on) that are used in displayed content. For details, see Settings and ongoing maintenance.

•Reloading the installed data model file or license file when conditions change. The data model file (DataModel.DAT) contains the definition of the target databases against which Xtraction is configured to report. A valid license file is required for Xtraction to operate. For details, see Reloading the data model and license files.

You'll mainly interact with the product through the Administration menus, where you can complete the tasks listed above. You can access these menus from the Administration link at the bottom of the Xtraction application window.


Viewing or logging off current users

Administrators can view users currently logged into Xtraction and can log off users from the current users list if necessary.

1.At bottom of the application window, click the Administration > User Administration link.

2.With the Current Users tab open, click the Refresh icon to ensure that you see the current set of users.

At the bottom of the dialog, you can see the number of licensed and registered users for your installation. Licensed users refers to the number of users that can be logged into Xtraction at one time, as defined by your installation's current license file. Total Registered users refers to the number of users defined in the Xtraction user database that are active as opposed to inactive.

When a user logs off, a delay of up to one minute may occur before the current users list updates.

1.At bottom of the application window, click the Administration > User Administration link.

2.With the Current Users tab open, right-click a user and select Log Off. Xtraction will automatically log off that user with a message indicating that this was an administrator log off.