Sharing Dashboards with anyone - Open Access

What is Open Access?

The Open Access feature allows you to share your dashboards with anyone, even if they are not a licensed Dashboard Server user. It creates an Open Access version of the original dashboard that can be accessed via its own URL without the need to login. Open Access dashboards are perfect for embedding them in user portals like Sharepoint, pushing them to wall monitors or using them as high-level reports for managers.

Since there's no authentication needed, viewing Open Access dashboards does not consume Named User licenses which means you can share your dashboards with unlimited users.

Creating an Open Access version of your dashboard doesn't change anything about the original dashboard. The original version can still be accessed by logged in users.

How do Open Access dashboards work?

An Open Access dashboard is a less interactive version of the original dashboard.

For Dashboard Server v4: Less interactive means viewers of the dashboard can't hover to see graph figures and labels or click to drill down. The Open Access dashboard is server-rendered bitmap version of the original dashboard, that refreshes every time the original dashboard refreshes.

For Dashboard Server v5: Less interactive means viewers of the dashboard can hover to see graph figures and labels. If your dashboard contains links to external tools, for example linked rows in a grid, vierwers can click those links. If viewers click on SCOM Azure data to drill down to further data or to update the state of an alert they will have to log in.

You might like to watch this 2 minute introduction to Open Access:

What do I need to use Open Access?

Memory recommendations

Check the Server Spec and Sizing Guidelines (see Server Spec and Sizing) for information about memory recommendations for running Open Access.

Do I have to enable Open Access before I can use it?

Open Access is enabled by default during the installation of Dashboard Server.

If you skipped the enabling of Open Access during the install process, you can enable it yourself either automatically or manually. Enabling Open Access means giving the Dashboard Server application pool account read-only permissions in SCOM.

How to automatically enable Open Access by returning to the setup wizard

1. Browse to http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv[Version Number]/setup?stage=openaccess
   (where SquaredUpServer should be replaced by the name of the server where Dashboard Server is installed).
   For example for Dashboard Server v5 this would be http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv5/setup?stage=openaccess

2. Complete the Open Access step.

How to manually enable Open Access in SCOM

You need to give the Dashboard Server application pool account read-only permissions in SCOM:

• If Dashboard Server is installed on a Management Server, add NT AUTHORITY\Network Service to a Read Only SCOM role.
• If Dashboard Server is installed on a single dedicated server, add the server account (e.g. myserver$) to a Read Only SCOM role.

Note: The SCOM management console does not allow you to add computer or service accounts directly to a SCOM role. Instead you need to use Set-SCOMUserRole PowerShell cmdlet to add these users.

1. Open the Operations Manager Shell: Start > Microsoft System Center > Operations Manager Shell.

2. Run the following command in your SCOM powershell.

   Get-SCOMUserRole | select Name,Id | ft -auto

3. From the list output select your operations manager read-only group ID and save it as the following variable:

   $RG = 'Your Group ID'

4. From the above list select the name of your read-only group and save as the following variable.

   $mg = Get-SCOMManagementGroup

5. Run the following command, this will get the security role previously set:

   $role = $mg.Security.GetUserRole($RG)

6. You need to add your SquaredUp server to the security role. You can do this by running the following command:

   $role.Users.Add("<domain>\<server>$")

7. Finally run the update command to add this to the role:

   $role.Update()

Tip: Alternatively, you can first add the server account to an Active Directory security group and then add the security group to the SCOM role.

How to share a dashboard via Open Access

You can share dashboards and pinned perspectives (see Pinned Perspectives) with Open Access.

Who can share dashboards via Open Access?

That depends on where the original dashboard that you want to make available via Open Access is located:

• Globally viewable dashboards can only be shared by SCOM administrators

• A dashboard that is in a Team Folder (see Team Folders) can be shared by SCOM administrators and users with author or owner permissions on the Team Folder.
  Note: Remember that Open Access means that anyone who knows the URL can view the dashboard. The Team Folder permissions and restrictions do not apply to the Open Access version of the dashboard.

How to share a dashboard via Open Access

1. Go to the dashboard or pinned perspective you want to create an Open Access URL for.

   Note: If you want to create an Open Access URL for a pinned perspective, you need to be on the pinned perspective, not a general perspective that is not pinned. You can make sure you are on the pinned perspective by clicking on the name of the pinned perspective on the navigation bar. If you are on a perspective that is not pinned, you'll see a message that this perspective needs to be pinned first.

2. Make sure the dashboard or pinned perspective is already published. If it is still a draft, publish it first.

3. Click on the share this dashboard button. If you can't see the button, check if you are still in edit mode since this button is only visible when you are not in edit mode.

   

4. You'll see the following sharing options:

Sharing options

Normal

The sharing option Normal creates a link to the normal dashboard or perspective, meaning as a fully interactive version. Accessing the dashboard or perspective requires authentication with a Dashboard Server user license. The link is based on the dashboard's or perspective's ID and does not change when the dashboard or perspective is renamed. Normal: Just the URL based on the ID. Full-screen:The URL based on the ID, but with ?display=fullscreen appended. This will hide the navigation bar. Embed: The URL based on the ID, but with ?display=embed appended which will hide the navigation bar and page title. If the URL already uses a ? then you will need to append & first, for example, &?display=embed

Open Access

The Open Access feature allows you to share your dashboards with anyone, even if they are not a licensed Dashboard Server user. It creates an Open Access version of the original dashboard that can be accessed via its own URL without the need to login. Open Access dashboards are perfect for embedding them in user portals like Sharepoint, pushing them to wall monitors or using them as high-level reports for managers. Since there's no authentication needed, viewing Open Access dashboards does not consume Named User licenses which means you can share your dashboards with unlimited users. Creating an Open Access version of your dashboard doesn't change anything about the original dashboard. The original version can still be accessed by logged in users. How do Open Access dashboards work? An Open Access dashboard is a less interactive version of the original dashboard. For Dashboard Server v4: Less interactive means viewers of the dashboard can't hover to see graph figures and labels or click to drill down. The Open Access dashboard is server-rendered bitmap version of the original dashboard, that refreshes every time the original dashboard refreshes. For Dashboard Server v5: Less interactive means viewers of the dashboard can hover to see graph figures and labels. If your dashboard contains links to external tools, for example linked rows in a grid, vierwers can click those links. If viewers click on SCOM Azure data to drill down to further data or to update the state of an alert they will have to log in. If you don't see the Open Access option, you don't have permission to manage Open Access or your Dashboard Server product license doesn't include Open Access.

5. In the Open Access section toggle the enable open access button to on.

   

6. You will see the message 'Preparing your Open Access dashboard, please wait' and a thumbnail of the dashboard itself:

   

7. Click preview to view the dashboard in Open Access mode.

   

   The dashboard is given an Open Access URL and enabled for Open Access. You can now give the URL to anyone you want to be able to access the dashboard.

After a dashboard is updated the changes are shown on the Open Access dashboard when it next refreshes, usually in 60 seconds. On Dashboard Server v4 this may take up to 20 minutes.

How to stop sharing a dashboard via Open Access

1. Browse to the right-hand menu ☰ > system > Open Access

2. Dashboards which are enabled for Open Access are listed and you can click remove to stop a dashboard being available in Open Access mode.

Tip: If you stop a dashboard being available in Open Access mode and later re-enable it then the dashboard will be given the same Open Access URL that it had previously.

Settings for Open Access dashboards

Open Access Navigation Bar

The Open Access navigation bar is a different navigation bar than the one you see within Dashboard Server, it is a navigation bar that is visible when users open an Open Access dashboard.

It is you choice if you want to make the navigation bar visible or not, but if you're using it, it will be visible on all Open Access dashboards.

To make the navigation bar visible, you just have to add at least one dashboard to the Open Access navigation bar in the system settings. Once you did this, the Open Access navigation bar it will be visible at the top of the screen on all Open Access dashboards.

Remember that the navigation bar is a global setting that affects all Open Access dashboards, including the ones that are not added to the navigation bar. This means anyone who has access to any Open Access dashboard will be able to see and access the Open Access dashboards that have been added to the navigation bar.

How to add a dashboard to the Open Access navigation bar

1. Browse to the right-hand menu ☰ > system > Open Access

2. In the Navigation Bar section click on the plus button:

   

3. Start typing the name of the dashboard you wish to add to the Open Access navigation bar. Dashboard Server will return all dashboards matching the text you have typed.

   Select the dashboard you're looking for and it will be added to the Open Access navigation bar. If the dashboard was not already enabled for Open Access mode it will be enabled and the message 'Preparing your Open Access dashboard, please wait' will be shown.

4. To create a folder on the Open Access navigation bar, type a name that does not match a dashboard and a folder will be created. You can then drag dashboards into the folder.

   

What is the default page on the Open Access navigation bar?

When you are using the Open Access navigation bar, you get a "default" Open Access page, which is the first dashboard on the Open Access navigation bar (the order of the dashboards on the navigation bar can be changed from the right-hand menu ☰ > system > Open Access.).

You can give users the link to the default Open Access page instead of giving them links to individual dashboards, and they can navigate to all other dashboards on the navigation bar from there. The link has the format
http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv[Version Number]/openaccess/
where SquaredUpServer is the server where Dashboard Server is installed. For example http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpv5/openaccess/

You can also access the default Open Access page by clicking on the SquaredUp logo on the left side of the Open Access navigation bar.

Help for error messages when using the Open Access navigation bar

Error loading dashboard - No Open Access dashboards were found

You may see this message when viewing the open access navigation bar if all the dashboards that were on the open access navigation have had Open Access disabled or are removed from the Open Access navigation bar.

Error loading dashboard - This Open Access ID is expired or relates to a page which no longer exists

You may see this message when viewing an Open Access URL for a dashboard that was previously enabled for Open Access but has since had Open Access disabled.

Open Access Dark and Light Theme

Open Access dashboards in SCOM Edition default to light theme.

You can decide if you want Open Access dashboards to be viewed in dark theme or light theme. This is a global setting which controls the theme for all Open Access dashboards and all users who navigate to any of the Open Access URLs will be affected by this setting.

1. Go to the top right-hand menu ☰ system > Open Access.

2. Toggle the  dark theme button to on or off.

   When the dark theme button is set to off, all Open Access dashboards are viewed in light theme. When it is set to on, all Open Access dashboards are viewed dark theme.

Note: The Open Access theme setting is different to the individual user personalization theme setting (see Theme Personalization).

Timeframe settings for Open Access dashboards

The timeframe of a tile defines the period of time data is returned for, for example "show me data for the last 24 hours".

There are two aspects that influence the timeframe of a tile:

• The timeframe configuration in the tile.

  How is the timeframe in tiles configured?

  How a tile's timeframe is configured depends on the type of tile:

  • Some tiles, like the Azure Log Analytics tile, have a panel in the tile's configuration where you can set the timeframe. How the timeframe is configured is described in the individual tile's article.

  • Other tiles, like the Splunk tile, don't have a dedicated timeframe panel but you can specify a timeframe in the query or script the tile uses to return data. How to use timeframe in the tile's query or script is described in the individual tile's article.

  • Other tiles, like the Image tile, don't use any timeframe since the data for those tiles doesn't need a timeframe.

• The current page timeframe of the dashboard or perspective you are looking at. This only affects tiles that use the page timeframe in their configuration.

  What is the page timeframe?

  The page timeframe is the timeframe setting a dashboard or perspective is currently using. When a user changes the page timeframe, all tiles that use the page timeframe will adapt to the new timeframe. Tiles that don't use the dynamic page timeframe aren't affected and won't change.

  

How to change the timeframe for Open Access dashboards

Since users can't change the temporary page timeframe on Open Access dashboards you have to change the default page timeframe to change the timeframe for tiles that use the page timeframe.

The default page timeframe affects two areas:

• Within Dashboard Server, it decides which timeframe a dashboard or perspective uses when a user goes to the dashboard or perspective. Tiles that use the page timeframe according to their settings (not a fixed, specific timeframe) will use the default page timeframe every time the dashboard or perspective is opened. Users can change the page timeframe temporarily while they are on the dashboard or perspective, but their setting will only last until they leave the page. Their setting will only affect their view of the dashboard or perspective, not other users' views.

• On Open Access dashboards, tiles that use the page timeframe according to their settings always use the default page timeframe.

Settings for the default page timeframe

Since Dashboard Server 5.3 you can change the default page timeframe for dashboards. Changing the default page timeframe of a dashboard will affect this individual dashboard and it's Open Access representation. The default page timeframe for perspectives can't be changed individually, they always use the system-wide default page timeframe. Pinned perspectives are treated as dashboards, which means you can change their default page timeframe settings.

Note: The system-wide default page timeframe is "last 12 hours" for any Dashboard Server installation, but you can change this setting since Dashboard Server 5.3. This will affect all dashboards (including Open Access dashboards) that don't have an individual default page timeframe setting. Perspectives always use the system-wide default page timeframe since their timeframe can't be changed individually.

How to change the default page timeframe for a single dashboard or pinned perspective

Note: If you are sharing the dashboard or pinned perspective via Open Access, these changes will also affect the Open Access dashboard.

Note: You can't change the individual default page timeframe of a perspective.

1. Go to the dashboard or pinned perspective you want to change the individual default page timeframe for.

2. On the dashboard, click the edit button

   

3. Click the settings button.

   

4. Choose the new default timeframe under Default timeframe.

5. Click on the publish button to make the changes go live.

   The dashboard will now by default use the page timeframe you chose. Users can still temporary change the page timeframe while looking at the dashboard.

   Tip: If you want to undo the individual page timeframe setting to let the dashboard use the system-wide default timeframe again, you need to switch to the JSON view of the dashboard and delete the parameter that defines the dashboard's page timeframe (for example "timeframe": "last7days").

How to change the system-wide default page timeframe for all dashboards and perspectives

Note: This setting affects all dashboards and perspectives (including Open Access dashboards and pinned perspectives on Open Access).

1. On the SquaredUp server, run Notepad as administrator (Start, Run, type notepad, and then right-click and select Run as administrator).

2. In your Dashboard Server folder, go to \User\Configuration and find the extensionpacks.json file.

   Where to find the Dashboard Server folder

   Name of the Dashboard Server folder

   The name of the Dashboard Server folder is SquaredUpv followed by the product version number.

   Location of the Dashboard Server folder

   The default location for the Dashboard Server folder is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv[Version Number], but a custom location may have been chosen during the installation.
   For example, for Dashboard Server v5 the default folder location is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv5 and for v4 C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv4

3. Open the extensionpacks.json file and add the property default-timeframe with the value for your new default page timeframe for all your dashboards and perspectives.

   Example for a default timeframe of 24 hours:

   Copy

   {
       "default-timeframe": "last24hours"
   }

   Possible values for the default-timeframe property:

   last1hour, last12hours, last24hours, last7days, last30days, last3months,last6months, last12months,all

4. Save the json file.

5. Recycle the Dashboard Server application pool.

Refresh interval settings for Open Access dashboards

By default Open Access dashboards use the same refresh rate as normal dashboards, refreshing every 60 seconds, and the last updated time can be seen at the bottom right of the Open Access dashboard. If required, Open Access dashboards can be given a different the refresh rate.

2. On the SquaredUp server, run Notepad as administrator (Start, Run, type notepad, and then right-click and select Run as administrator).

3. With Notepad in administrator mode, open the openaccess.json file from the following path in the Dashboard Server folder:

   ...\User\Configuration\openaccess.json

   Where to find the Dashboard Server folder

   Name of the Dashboard Server folder

   The name of the Dashboard Server folder is SquaredUpv followed by the product version number.

   Location of the Dashboard Server folder

   The default location for the Dashboard Server folder is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv[Version Number], but a custom location may have been chosen during the installation.
   For example, for Dashboard Server v5 the default folder location is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv5 and for v4 C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv4

2. If openaccess.json is blank or only contains {} then replace it with the following, specifying the value you require in seconds:

   Copy

   {
       "oa-refresh-interval": 120
   }

3. If openaccess.json already contains settings, then you will need to add a comma at the end of the previous line to look something like this:

   Copy

   {
       "oa-theme": "darktheme",
       "oa-refresh-interval": 120
   }

4. Save the file.

5. In IIS recycle the Dashboard Server application pool for the setting to take effect.

   If you are unable to access Dashboard Server ("Server Error in '/SquaredUpvx' Application", "Dashboard Server cannot start due to an error" or "Startup failed for 'Configuration'") after editing openaccess.json then there is an error in the file. Correct openaccess.json and recycle the Dashboard Server application pool again.

FAQs

What should I consider when designing a dashboard for Open Access on Dashboard Server v5?

• Users of Open Access dashboards can hover to see graph figures and labels, but will be presented with a logon box if they click to drill down for more information.
• SCOM On-Demand tasks (see How to use the SCOM Task tile) cannot be run on Open Access dashboards, because Open Access is unauthenticated, so you will see the error MISSING_SCOM_PERMISSION.
  

What should I consider when designing a dashboard for Open Access on Dashboard Server v4?

• As Open Access users will not be able to hover or drill down for more information you may wish to design your dashboards slightly differently with Open Access in mind. For example, you should consider adding a key to a performance line graph.

• Web Content tiles (iframes) are not officially supported with Open Access, because in many cases they do not work:

  • Slow webpages will show as blank in Open Access.
  • Webpages requiring authentication will not work on an Open Access page because Open Access does not use any authentication.
  • Open Access displays the Web Content tile using a built in browser, that may support different features from your client browser.
• SCOM On-Demand tasks (see How to use the SCOM Task tile) cannot be run on Open Access dashboards, because Open Access is unauthenticated, so you will see the error MISSING_SCOM_PERMISSION.
  

If I share a dashboard within a Team Folder as Open Access will it still be controlled by the Team Folder permissions?

No. If you share a dashboard within a Team Folder (see Team Folders) as Open Access by enabling Open Access URL, this dashboard will potentially be viewable by all users, and viewing will not controlled by the Team Folder permissions.

Troubleshooting Open Access

Before you read through the troubleshooting articles, here are some tips for fixing common Open Access issues:

1. Many issues can be resolved by disabling and re-enabling Open Access for a dashboard (see How to stop sharing a dashboard via Open Access and How to share a dashboard via Open Access).

   This will ensure that the Dashboard Serverapplication pool account has read-only permissions in SCOM.

2. On Dashboard Server v5:

   Re-generate the Open Access dashboard experiencing problems via the generate option.

   How to re-generate an Open Access dashboard

   If one particular dashboard is experiencing issues with Open Access we recommend you rerun the generate option for that dashboard.

   To do this in Dashboard Server click the top right-hand menu ☰ system > open access then click the generate link next to that particular Open Access dashboard.

   

   Alternatively, from the dashboard itself you can disable Open Access and re-enable it, by toggling from on to off to on again, which will also run the regenerate option.

   

   

   

   You will see the message 'Preparing your Open Access dashboard, please wait':

   

3. On Dashboard Server v4:

   Check the loopback URL.

For more information see Troubleshooting Open Access (v5) or Troubleshooting Open Access (v4)

Webinars

This webinar gives you an in-depth explanation about how Open Access works on v4, from how to share dashboards to the underlying architecture:

The webinar below (32 mins) covers building and sharing Dashboard Server dashboards for use on wall monitors, or embedding into other portals (such as SharePoint, Intranet, ITSM or other monitoring tools):