Use the Hosts dashboard

The Hosts dashboard gives you a high-level view of all of the hosts in your Content Pack for Unix Dashboards and Reports deployment. The dashboard displays hosts in either a list or overview format and allows you to drill down into the specifics of host health and operation. The dashboard also offers the option of heat maps, where data value ranges are represented as colors.

Perform the following steps to open the Hosts dashboard:

1. In Splunk Web, open ITSI or IT Essentials Work.
2. From the navigation bar, choose Dashboards > Dashboards.
3. Open the Hosts - Unix dashboard. The App name is DA-ITSI-CP-unix-dashboards.

Dashboard views

The Hosts dashboard displays information in two distinct views. The type of data you see depends on which dashboard view you choose:

View	Description
List view	Populate the dashboard using Category and Group fields. Shows a list view that can be sorted by column header(s).
Node view	Populate the dashboard using Category and Group fields. Shows host squares that each represent a single host. This view provides the option to use heatmaps and the ability to choose the size of the displayed host squares.

List view

In list view, the Hosts dashboard displays a real-time list of hosts, groups, and CPU, memory, I/O, and disk performance metrics, as defined by your selections in the host Category and Group fields at the top of the dashboard. You can control which hosts display in the list view just by changing the host Category and Group fields.

The list view provides information in columns. You can sort each column in ascending or descending order by clicking on the column's header. You can sort multiple columns by clicking the alt or option key while also selecting column headers.

Node view

In node view, the Hosts dashboard displays a matrix of hosts, as defined by your selections in the host Category and Group fields at the top of the dashboard. If you select more than one group, the dashboard separates hosts by group.

Each host square represents a single host. You can click on the host square to see specific performance metrics for that host in an unobstructed side panel.

Apply heat maps

You can apply a heat map to the currently displayed category and group(s) of hosts. Click the Heatmap drop-down menu at the top of the dashboard in node view to choose a heat map. Choose CPU, Memory, I/O, or Disk.

The Content Pack for Unix Dashboards and Reports updates the host view control panel to include color swatches which represent ranges of the performance metric for the selected heat map. The view also updates the host squares in the dashboard in real-time to include heat map colors.

Host information cards

You can get more information about a single host in a host group while in node view. Perform the following steps to view a host information card:

Information displayed on host information cards does not update in real time. It represents a snapshot of the host's state when the card was opened. To see side-by-side comparisons of hosts in real time, use list view rather than node view.

1. Use the Category and Group menu in the host view control panel to choose the group that the host is in.
2. Use your mouse to hover over the host squares. The resulting tool tip shows you the host name in the square underneath your mouse pointer.
3. When you've found the host you want to get information on, click once on the square that host represents.
4. The content pack opens a "host information card" for the selected host on the far right side of the screen. This host information card displays specifications such as number of CPUs, amount of RAM and disk, current system status and history, and the status of the top five processes on the host, based on CPU usage.
5. (Optional) Hover over the sparklines on the middle right side of the card to see individual metrics that the content pack has recently collected for the host.
6. (Optional) Sort the process status information in the host information card in ascending or descending order by clicking the CPU, USER, pctCPU, pctMEM, and cpuTIME column headers.

Pin a host information card

The pin in the upper right corner of a loaded host information card allows you to keep this card available on your screen for comparison with other hosts. To pin a host information card, click on the pin. The content pack highlights the pin, and the information card remains on your dashboard even if you select another host.

You can only pin a host information card after it has finished loading its data.

To unpin a host information card, click on the pin again. The content pack removes the highlight from the pin.

Compare performance metrics on hosts

You can compare detailed performance metrics for any number of hosts in real time. To use the comparison feature, perform the following steps:

1. Pin the host information card. You must wait until all information on the host information card is updated before you can pin it and click on another host.
2. Repeat this process to add up to four additional hosts. The content pack overlays these hosts on top of hosts that you have already pinned.
3. After you have chosen the hosts you want to compare, click Compare above the host information card.
4. The content pack displays the host information cards of all of the pinned hosts side-by-side.

To exit out of this comparison view, click anywhere outside of the displayed cards. To remove pins from all pinned host information cards, click Unpin all.

Host dashboard control panel

The host dashboard control panel lets you determine what the Hosts dashboard displays. The control panel has the following options:

Some options are limited to Node view and are not available in List view.

Control panel option name	Available in which view(s)	Description
View	List and Node	Lets you toggle between node and list views.
Category menu	List and Node	Lets you choose a category of host groups, as you defined them when you configured the Content Pack for Unix Dashboards and Reports.
Group menu	List and Node	Lets you choose one or more groups in the selected category.
Heatmap	Node only	Determines the heatmap that shows when the Hosts dashboard is in node view.
Size	Node only	Allows you to change the size of the host squares on the dashboard.
Number of hosts shown	Node only	Tells you how many hosts in the specific host category and group(s) that the Hosts dashboard currently shows.
Show more / fewer / all	Node only	Control how many hosts display in the Hosts dashboard.
Unpin all / compare	Node only	Allows you to compare a number of hosts at the same time. The Unpin all button removes pins from any hosts that you have pinned, and the Compare button updates the Hosts dashboard to display detailed performance metrics on hosts that you have pinned.

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Clear customized display information

To clear any customizations you have made to the Hosts dashboard, click the Clear button in the top right corner of the dashboard.