Hello,

I am new to Everest and spent a few hours reading posts in this forum. I would like to start auditing my network domain for software changes.

I placed a line into the AD users logon script that launches EVEREST Professional at Windows startup (works fine).

I currently create CSV reports (no SQL database) manually once a week. I analyze and compare those CSV reports using Audit Manager and Change Manager (seems to work fine as well).

I have +/- 70 networked PCs to audit weekly (of course some laptops are not always in the network).

I would like to automatically run a weekly report on all clients and be informed (through email) of i.e. software changes.

What would be the best practice to automate EVEREST at this point ?

Thank you ...

Cannathon

EVEREST doesn't feature automatization in its Change Manager module.


Regards,
Fiery

Hi Fiery,

Thank you for your answer.

I understand Everest does not feature automatization in its Change Manager module.
But is there a way though to automate CSV report creation (once a week) ?

Regards,
Cannathon

You can add a new command-line into your NT domain central users logon script to launch EVEREST automatically on all your client computers at logon. You can specify report schedule in EVEREST / main menu / File / Preferences / Report / Schedule.


Regards,
Fiery

Hey Fiery,

That's my Active Directory GPO (group policy object) script:
everest\everest.exe /R \\Server_files\LD1\EverestReports\$DATE\$HOSTNAME /CSV /AUDIT /SW /ACCEPTBG /SAFE /SILENT

Does it look good to you ?

THX

Cannathon

Hey Fiery,

My GPO script seems to work, 3 clients already logged into the domain and I can see the CSV file in \\Server_files\LD1\EverestReports\$DATE\$HOSTNAME.

So now, each time a client logs into the domain, Everest will start automatically and a software CSV report will be created at logon.

I also set "File - parameters - report - report file - outpout folder" to \\Server_files\LD1\EverestReports\$DATE\$HOSTNAME.
And I set "File - parameters - report - schedule" to "once a week".
So in addition to my logon script creating a logon report, I will have each client running Everest creating an extra report once a week.

Is that right ? If yes, how would I define the type (CSV, Software) of report that should be created once a week ?

Basically what I am trying to achieve is automated "software CSV" report creation at each logon AND once a week (because some clients will login only once a month).

I appreciate your help.

Thanks,
Cannathon

In the case you set the Report Schedule option to "Once a week", then even though EVEREST will be started at each logon, only one report will be created each week. You can use the /CSV command-line option to create CSV reports.

Once a week actually means "once in every 7 days", so when some of your clients only log in once a month, in their case a report will always be created at logon (since the "elapsed days since last reporting" will always exceed 7).

Let me know if you still find this confusing

Thank you for your answer.

I already use /CSV parameter in my logon script parameters, this works fine.

The only thing I am still a bit confused about is wheter I have to set anything in "report file - output folder" and "report file - file name" if everything (i.e. /CSV) is already in the command-line logon script parameters.
Hope you understand what I mean.

Having 1 report in every 7 days is fine! ;o)
But what if a client keeps logged for let's say 18 days whithout logging off. Will I get 2 reports for this period ?

Thank you,
Cannathon

It's always best to use the command-line to control all report creation parameters. So you should specify /CSV and /R <folder\filename> in your command-line, and only configure report schedule in the Preferences.


In such cases no report will be created for 18 days, so it could be an issue. On such systems you can still add a new (standard Windows) Scheduled Task to start EVEREST e.g. once a week.


Regards,
Fiery

Thank you for your answer Fiery.

Your answers and a second read of Everest help (I read it a first time without any experience) makes me feel really confident with the Everest now. Great tool, great work, thanks !

So at this time Everest does not provide scheduled report creation once Everest is already launched. Users need to logon again or I need to schedule a Windows task to have Everest launched again.

Is "scheduled report creation" within a running Everest session something which Everest will provide in the futures ?

Thanks,
Cannathon

Exactly.


Maybe But I can't promise that at this time.

Hi All, - just purchsed Everest Corp to be able to inventorize our laptops for both h/w and s/w changes. So this thread is very apt for me too. My employer uses WORKGROUP so no AD or central policies (we are small company) and I suspect that people may Hibernate and never logoff/on.

Reading this thread it looks like Everest won't run a scheduled task by itself (true?). Can I suggest that this be added soon? It seems such a simple feature to be missing, when Everest does sooo much more with ease!

How about having a schedule screen, similar to most backup programs,, to run and email reports automatically? If the laptop is off line it should send the email next time it is connected. Or is this already in the product???

Thanks guys,