Basic search and beyond

You can search Paglo like any other search engine, using simple search terms like dell or phrases like running process. You can drill the results to get greater detail or more refined results. You can save the results to your Dashboard as tables, charts, and graphs. And you can share a search with the greater Paglo community, and more:

Basic search

The simplest search consists of a single term or phrase. To run a basic search:

Choose a single word or a phrase in quotes:

Type a single word in the Search field at the top of any page, such as eth0 or 2008. Or you can try it in the search box right here:

Type a phrase surrounded by double-quotes in the field, such as "system name" or "private key". Or you can try it in the search box right here:

Execute the search in a number of options:

Click the blue Search button.

On your keyboard, press the Tab key => Enter key.

On your keyboard, press the Space bar => Enter key.

The search results are displayed under the Search bar:

When you get the first set of results, you can drill down for greater detail, broaden the search for more data volume, narrow the search for more specific data, or in some other way tweak it to get better results. When you're satisfied with the results of the search, you can save the search to run again in the future, and share it so other Palgo users can benefit by using it. (Only your search syntax is shared, never your data.)

Refining searches

Here are some ways to refine a search — make it broader or narrower, drill-down for more data, change directions, change the view, and more:

Drill-down

You can arrive at a very specific result by drilling down in the results of a broad search, like this:

1. One-click search. On the home page, Your Search Index gives you an eagle-eye view of what's on your network. Click one of the categories to see the list of assets in that category. For example, click Directory Items to see all your users:

2. See all your users. An inventory of all the users on your network appears, with colored linked words. Click any linked word to find out more. The path automatically appears in the Search field at the top of the page, which tells you where this category of data is located. Click the Show Detail icon of a user to see one user's details:

3. See one user's details. The details of one user are displayed as an inverted tree. A simple PQL query now appears in the Search field at the top, which reveals the unique Node ID for this system: 161.

Also check out Search shortcuts, if you like using wildcards and boolean operators in your searches.

Opening a multi-line search box

To add lines to your search box:

Click the Search menu icon to display the options.
In the pull-down menu, click Multi-line Search Box.
After entering your search or query in the enlarged search box, you can tab over to the execute button without leaving the keyboard.

Searching with Node IDs

You can quickly get information about a specific node by calling it by its Node ID, a unique indentifying number that Paglo assigns to each node in the tree. You can find the ID of any specific node quickly by using a variation of this query:
SELECT /#id FROM /[path to node]/[name of node]

For example, to find the Node ID of each device on your network, use this:

Then find out everything about one of those devices by replacing 152321 with the Node ID of your own interface, like this:

Click-to-keep searches

You can run a broad search using plain English terms, refine it to find precisely what you want, and display the results in the form of a table, by clicking the relevant results that you want to keep.

1. Start with a word or phrase — In the Search field at the top of any page in your Paglo Web account, type a word or phrase such as software. A list of general links that contain the search term appears, such as in this screenshot:

2. Hone in — Click the drilldown icon to the right of any row to see what subcategories are possible. Notice that a query appears in the search field at the top of the page.

3. Choose table columns — Choose the columns for your table by clicking the gray node labels that are most important to you. This filters out data that is irrelevant. In this example, the name node label is the first column in the table.

4. Generate the table — When you have chosen all the columns you want, click
Create Table.

The results show a table with only one row.

5. Identify the target — Since you want to find all of the software, not just this one, you must broaden the search. At the very end of the query at the top of the page, delete the WHERE clause, and run the search again.

With the shortened query, the results now show all the software on the network.

6. Save it to a Dashboard — Click the Search menu button and choose Add to Dashboard to save this search to a dashboard for easy reference.

Result type searches

When you make a simple word or phrase search, a list of Result Types appears on the left-hand side of your main search results. This list provides an overview of the results, as well as another way to refine your search by drilling down into your data. Click a result type in Result Types to drill for more details, just like for click-to-keep searches.

So if you search for dell, Paglo returns Result Types that range from ARP Tables to Wireless Signals and everything in between. If what you really wanted was Installed Software, click Installed Software under Result Types to drill down to get exactly the result you need.

History searches

You can browse the history of a node using the Show History feature. This displays the history of items that do not have a numeric value, such as documents and alerts. You can see the contents of a document, such as a configuration or syslog file, and see different versions of it over time.

To show the history of a file:

Run the search to display the node you want to see the history of, such as dhcpd.conf.
In the search results, click the contents label to display the timeline.

On the timeline, click a date to view the contents of the file as it existed at that time.

You can click the navigation arrows to move the timeline forward or backward in time.

You can use Show History on ndoes that do not have a numeric value such as alerts, by running a simple query such as:
select * from /apps/com/my_company/alerts

Managing saved searches

Saving searches

You can save a search that you want to reuse, and share it with colleagues in your company, or with the Paglo IT community. You can also add saved searches to your Dashboard to monitor easily.

To save a search:

Click the Search menu icon to display the save parameters.
Provide the parameters as follows:

Share with colleagues — Check the box to share the search and your data with people in your own company.
Share with community — Check the box to share the search parameters only with the greater community, who will run these search parameters against their own data.
Save it just for me — Check the box to save the search for your eyes only.
Name — Type a name to identify this search.
Description — Type a brief description to help you remember this search.
Category — Choose or add a category to make it easier to find again.

Click Save Search to finish saving the search.

Sharing with colleagues

If you develop a search that could be useful to others, you can publish it to be used in your workplace (or even in the greater Paglo community).

When you share a saved search with your colleagues, they get access to your saved search record. Any changes you make to the search are available immediately to your colleagues. Likewise, if you delete the search, it is deleted for your colleagues as well.

To share a saved search with colleagues in your company:

After running a useful search, click the Search menu button to display the save parameters.
In the Save Current Search dialog box, click the Share with colleagues checkbox to share the search with specific individuals in your own company.
Click Save Search to finish saving the search.

Publishing to the Paglo community

If you develop a search that could be useful to others, you can publish it to be used in the greater Paglo community (as well as by your own colleagues). It is important to note that only the search itself is published, not your data results. Others will run your search parameters against their own data.

When you share a saved search with the Paglo community, other Paglo users see a community copy of your saved search. If you make changes to the search later, you can opt to share the changes or not. If you opt to share your edits, the community copy is updated. However, if you delete your search, the community copy is not deleted. If other Paglo users want to edit your search, they must save the community copy to their own account and modify that.

To share a saved search with Paglo users outside your company:

After running a useful search, click the Search menu button to display the save parameters.
In the Save Current Search dialog box, click the Share with community checkbox to share the search with the greater Paglo community.
Click Save Search to finish saving the search.

Saving as table, chart, or graph

After you run a search, you can convert the results to a table. Now you can easily monitor it over time, pop the data into a report, or even add it to your Dashboard so you can check status at a glance.

To display your search results as a table, list, or chart:

Run the search.
In the upper right corner of the results screen, click the Table button.
Choose from the following format options:

List
Table
Chart

For more details, see Creating charts and graphs.

Posting to Dashboard

The results of your search can be saved to your Dashboard. Then when you open the Dashboard, the results of the search will reside in one continually self-updating pane of the Dashboard, like a virtual NOC.

Saving as Web link

You can bookmark, or save the results of your search as a Web link so you can re-run the search at any time from your browser. When you have a search that you like, use Make Web Link to get an HTML Web link to it.

To save your search results as a Web link:

Run the search and refine it until it gets the results you want.
Click the Search menu button to display the save parameters.
In the pop-up menu, click Make Web Link.

Finding useful searches

You may find that you don't need to create that many searches yourself. You can use community searches to take advantage of what your fellow Paglo users have developed.

To find a list of all saved Searches:

In your Paglo Web account, click the Search right arrow, and select Show All Searches:
You will find searches from the Paglo community and from your own company, plus a search history that includes every search you ever saved, as well as your 20 most recent searches.

There is more than one way to find a useful saved search:

Finding saved searches

To find a search that you previously saved:

Choose one of the following options:

Click the Search menu button to display the options, click View Saved Searches.
In the left-hand bar, click the Search right arrow, and then click Show All Searches.

On the Manage Searches page, make sure that the checkboxes are checked for the type of search that you want (Saved Searches, Company Searches, Community Searches, and Search History).
Scroll down for the search you want. Click the search to run it.
The query appears in the Search field, with the results below.

Finding recent searches

To find a list of your last 20 searches, even if you didn't save them:

Choose one of the following options:

Click the Search menu button to display the options, click Recent Searches, and select the search from the drop-down list.
In the left-hand bar, click the Search right arrow, and then click Show All Searches.

On the Manage Searches page, make sure that the Search History checkbox is checked.
Scroll under Search History, and click the search you want.
The query appears in the Search field, with the results below.

Finding company searches

To find a search that was shared from your company:

Choose one of the following options:

Click the Search menu button to display the options, and in the pull-down menu, click View saved Searches.
In the left-hand bar, click the Search right arrow, and then click Show All Searches.

On the Manage Searches page, make sure that the Company Searches checkbox is checked.
Scroll under Company Searches, and click the search you want.
The query appears in the Search field, with the results below.

Finding community searches

To find a search that was shared from the Paglo community:

Choose one of the following options:

Click the Search menu button to display the options, and in the pull-down menu, click View saved Searches.
In the left-hand bar, click the Search right arrow, and then click Show All Searches.

On the Manage Searches page, make sure that the Community Searches checkbox is checked.
Scroll under Community Searches, and click the search you want.
The query appears in the Search field, with the results below.

Editing saved searches

To edit a search that you previously saved:

Open your list of saved searches.
On the Manage Searches page, select the search you want to modify.
Click the Edit icon to display the Save Current Search dialog box.
Make the changes, and then click Save Search.

Deleting saved searches

To delete a search that you previously saved:

Open your list of saved searches.
On the Manage Searches page, select the search you want to delete.
Click the Delete icon.
In the confirmation dialog, click OK.

How do I find out more?