Customizing dashboards

To edit a dashboard

Select the Copy current Dashboard link from the Dashboard drop-down panel, or select an existing copy of the dashboard from the Dashboard list.

The copy of the dashboard displays an Edit link that enables you to add or remove sections and rename the dashboard, if needed.

Changes you make to the layout or content of a dashboard are immediately available to all users. The dashboard that you are viewing is saved in your session and is displayed the next time you log on.

To add, rename, or remove a channel to an editable dashboard 

1. Click the Edit link in the main page title.
2. On the channels selector panel, rename the dashboard by using the Dashboard Title field.
   The existing dashboard is renamed rather than being saved as a copy under a new name.
3. Click Commit to change the name.
4. Select or deselect a channel to add it to (or remove it from) the dashboard.

Changes that you make are immediate and are available to all other users.

Channels

Channels are small, self-contained pieces of content that are displayed on various pages throughout BMC Helix Discovery. For example, the “Infrastructure” page is composed of several channels, including the Infrastructure Summary channel and a channel displaying Virtualization and Partitioning General Reports. The Channels page enables you to edit existing channels and create new ones.

Dashboards, which are displayed on the home page, are made up of user-configurable sets of channels. You can see which dashboards are available by clicking the Available Dashboards icon in the dynamic toolbox on the Home page. To view a dashboard, select it from the displayed list.

There are a variety of types of content available for use in channels. For example, you can configure video content in addition to the standard BMC Helix Discovery reports. 

To view the channels page

To view the Channels page, From the main menu, click the Administration icon. The Administration page displays. From the Model section, click Channels.The page shows a list of channels.

• Name—Displays a channel name.
• Description—Displays a description for the channel.
• Content—Displays the summary of what the channel contains.
• Actions—Displays actions to be performed on the channel:
  • Preview—Click to view the content of the channel.
  • Edit—Click to edit the channel definition. This is only shown for channels which can be edited. For example, you cannot edit a built in chart.
  • Delete—Click to delete the channel definition. This is only shown for channels which you have created.

Adding a new channel

You can add the following types of channels using this page:

• Report Channel—A channel containing a list of charts and reports. See To add a report channel.
• Summary Channel—A channel containing node kind counts. See To add a summary channel.

To add a report channel 

You can add a report channel that contains standard BMC Helix Discovery reports. To do this:

1. From the Channels page, click Add Report Channel.
   The Add Report Channel page is displayed:
   
   The Add Report Channel page displays the following fields:
2. Select Apply to create the channel or Cancel to discard the changes and return to the channels page.

To add a summary channel 

You can add a summary channel that shows node counts for selected node kinds. To do this:

1. From the Channels page, click Add Summary Channel.
   The Add Summary Channel page displays the following fields:
2. Select Apply to create the channel or Cancel to discard the changes and return to the channels page.

Moving a channel

You can move a channel in the default view of an editable dashboard by dragging it to the new location.

1. Move the cursor over the header of the channel.
   The cursor changes to a four-pointed selector.
2. Drag the channel to a new location and drop it in the correct place.

The changes that you make are immediate and are available to all other users.