# Creating Custom Dashboards
## Overview
**Custom Dashboards** feature allows creation of multiple customized dashboards, generate reports and e-mail to users, and periodically generate reports on a scheduled basis, that can be either one time in future or on a recurring basis.
Key features include:
* **Custom Dashboards:** Web page with user selected widgets, custom metric widgets, with time range selection
* **Report:** PDF version of the dashboard export
* **E-Mail Report:** PDF report generated to any user with e-mail address
* **Scheduled Report:** Scheduled report can be of two types:
* **One-time:** Export the dashboard to PDF, store in my documents and email to users one time in future.
* **Recurring:** Export the dashboard to PDF, store in my documents and email to users on a recurring basis (Ex: Every 5th of the month, every 1st Monday of the month etc.)
These dashboards represent live data and time range filters allow viewing data for desired duration (ex: Week, Month etc.). All generated reports are also available in Documents section for later reference and archival purpose.
## Create Dashboard
**Step-1:** **Go to Custom Dashboards:** Open Top Left Navigation Menu and Navigate to *Administration > Manage Dashboards > Custom Dashboards*
**Step-2: Create Custom Dashboard.**
Click on + Add button to create a new dashboard
## Add Widgets to Dashboard
Select any widget/graph you would like to add to Custom Dashboard and click on top right
### Adding a Metric Trend Graph
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This Widget is now added to the Dashboard. **Repeat** the process to add any trend graph or tabular report to the Dashboard.
### Adding a Donut Chart
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### Adding a Tabular Report
Following example shows how to Add Critical Alarms tabular widget to Dashboard
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Click on the Donut chart slice and click on View Details
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Repeat the process for other tabular report widgets.
## Viewing Custom Dashboard
* Go to Top Left Navigation > Dashboards
* Launch desired Dashboard by clicking on Launch button
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Clicking on the desired dashboard will open the dashboard and show data for the widgets that were added to the dashboard. In this case, open ‘Core Switches Health’ Dashboard
## Adjusting Dashboard Layout
Dashboard Builder feature helps in changing the layout of the Dashboard to re-arrange widgets that are more relevant or meaningful to be at top/bottom or at one place.
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Before adjusting layout
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After adjusting layout
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To adjust layout:
* Navigate to ***Administration > Manage Dashboards > Custom Dashboards***
* Click on Dashboard name to Go to **Dashboard Builder** page
* Click on **Layout Settings > Select Fixed Layout**
* Change Size/Order of Widgets by dragging/re-sizing the widgets
## Creating New Composite Metric Graph
Composite metric graph is an advanced trend graph which consists of multiple trend lines, typically from multiple devices. This feature allows users to create graphs to address more complex scenarios. Few examples include:
* Availability trend graph of 5 core switches in one composite graph
* Interface-out utilization trend on 5 WAN circuits
* CPU utilization trend of 2x web servers, 2x app servers, 1x DB server
* More …
Note: Currently the feature limits adding up to 5 trend lines in composite graph
Following is an example of composite graph that shows Interface-out utilization of two switches
*Fig: Example of Memory / CPU Utilization for Two Switches*
To create Composite Metric
* Open **Dashboard Builder**
1. Click on **‘Create Metrics’**
1. Click on Select the Customer
1. Select desired **Assets.** In this example, we will select 3 switches from our Prod environment.
You can search for desired assets based on name or using filter criteria.
1. Select desired **Metrics.** In this example, we will select Availability metric
1. Select Components if any. In this case, simply skip Components as it is not applicable for Availability metric. However, if you selected CPU or Memory type of metric, you would see selection for Overall CPU, CPU-0, CPU-1 etc.
1. Provide a Name and Description to the metric and click Finish
1. New Composite Metric is Automatically added to the Custom Dashboard as well.
## Create Report from Dashboard
Report is a PDF version of Dashboard that contains data as per time range selection.
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## E-Mail Report
Report can be E-mailed to users registered within the system.
E-mail, along with report attachment will be sent to target recipient.
## Scheduling Report Creation
Report can be scheduled to be generated periodically.
* Go to Dashboard. Click on Top Menu > Export to PDF
* Set the desired schedule in Schedule Report
## Viewing Reports in Portal
* Go to Left Navigation > Documents – My Documents
* Locate the Dashboard and Download the Report
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