How to Use Report Wizard
With the built-in Report Wizard of AD Reports, you have the capability to modify any existing report or customize it and save it as a new custom report. Simply right-click on the report from the report tree and choose the Customize... option to begin the customization process.
For reports that have been loaded, you have the option to select the same item from the grid's pop-up menu.
Alternatively, you can also select the same item from the toolbar.
The Report Wizard (Customize Report) window has up to eight pages: Dates, List, Search Root, LDAP Filter, Attributes, Membership, Apply to Other Reports and Reset Settings.
Dates New in 7.6
Reports that take a number of days or a date range — Inactive Users for 30 days, Users Created between… — have a Dates page, listed and opened first. Change the number of days, or the From and To dates, alongside the columns and the filter; the report title at the top of the window follows as you change them.
The quick date box on the report tree works as before, and both follow the same rules: a range cannot end before it starts, the number of days can be anything from 1 to 36,500, and when a value is refused the reason is shown on screen.
List New in 7.6.3
A custom report of users, computers, groups or contacts has a List page, headed Report List: “This report lists only the objects its list names, up to 5,000.” Change the names or what they are matched on (Match by), paste or Import... a new list, or add a list to a custom report that has none — the same box as in Report on a List. Clear the box and the report lists everything its search finds again. A report limited to a list opens on this page, unless it has dates.
A list of more than 5,000 names is not saved: the List page comes forward and says so. After a run, Not in This Report on the ribbon says which names the report does not hold, and why.
Search Root Settings
In this page, you can select the search root, which represents the starting container for the search process of the selected report. The search root is set to the selected domain by default.
Underneath the Search Root tree, you can select from the available search scopes: Subtree, Base, or One Level. The default selection is Subtree.
Within this page, you can also set a limit on the maximum number of objects to be loaded.
LDAP Filter Settings
In this page you can craft your custom LDAP filter query and incorporate it into your report. You also have the option to save your LDAP query for future use in other reports, or include your own custom LDAP filters in text format.
To utilize the built-in LDAP filter builder, ensure that the Use LDAP filter checkbox is checked.
- Click on the small plus sign next to the condition group to add a filter condition line.
- This line comprises three components: the attribute name, the condition, and the value.
- To modify it, click on the attribute name and select the desired attribute from the list.
- Clicking on the condition will present a list of available conditions specific to the selected attribute.
- Enter the value in the corresponding text box. Your filter will be automatically converted into the LDAP filter string.
You can add multiple condition lines as needed. To include another condition group, click on the condition group name (e.g., "And" or "Or") and select it from the list.
To use your own personal custom LDAP filter, check Custom LDAP Filter checkbox and input or paste your LDAP filter accordingly. The filter toolbar
offers additional functionality such as Saving, Loading, Clearing and Formatting your LDAP filter.
See the Complete Query New in 7.6
The page shows the complete query the report will run — the report's own conditions and
dates as well as your filter — and updates as you change anything. Click Copy to paste it
elsewhere. Where a report cannot do its work in the query alone, it says so underneath: the Last Logon
reports (Inactive Users, Active Users, Never Logged On and their Computer equivalents) read the last logon from
every selected domain controller and apply your number of days to the result, because that value is not shared
between controllers. Their Last Logon Timestamp counterparts put the date in the query.
For a report limited to a list, the query shows — and Copy copies — the list shortened to two names and
how many more, e.g. (|(sAMAccountName=jsmith)(sAMAccountName=akhan) ... and 298 more), with a line
saying “This report is limited to the 300 names in its list, matched on account name.”
New in 7.6.3
A report saved with a hand-typed filter opens with that filter, and the report on screen, its scheduled runs and Audit profiles always use the same one. Date conditions cover the whole day you pick, and conditions such as “created this month” always mean the current month.
Attributes Settings
Within this page, you have the ability to choose which LDAP attributes to load for your reports.
You have the option to choose any attribute from the Predefined list of attributes (selected by default) or switch to the All Attributes list to select any Active Directory attributes. By clicking the Right Arrow button, the selected attributes will be moved to the Selected Attributes list on the right. You can also rearrange the order by clicking the Up and Down arrows.
The Predefined Attributes list includes commonly used attributes, whereas the AD Attributes list contains all other LDAP attributes specific to the selected report category.
If you want to start fresh, you can click the Reset to Default button to reload the list with preselected attributes.
Rename Columns and Spot Slow Attributes New in 7.6
- Both lists show Caption, LDAP Name and Not replicated columns, and the Selected list also shows Source; each list has its own search box.
- Double-click a Caption in the Selected list to type the heading you want that column to show. The attribute behind it is unchanged, so nothing else about the report is affected. Double-click any other cell to remove the attribute.
- Not replicated marks Last Logon, Bad Password Time, Bad Password Count, When Changed and Logon Count. A report that includes one of them scans every selected domain controller and takes longer — see Run a report with not-replicated attributes.
- Drag attributes between the lists, or drag a row up or down in the Selected list to reorder the columns. The divider between the lists can be dragged to give one side more room.
Membership Settings
Within this page, you can include Group Members or User Memberships in your report. By default, this option is disabled. To activate it, check the Load Group Members checkbox (or Load User Membership for User reports).
Group Members Settings
User Membership Settings
You can specify whether to load only direct members or include nested membership. For Group Members, you can also choose to include nested group names, primary group membership, and translate foreign security principals to NT Account names.
You can determine whether to load only distinguished names or select specific member attributes. If you opt for Select Membership Attributes, you can choose the columns/attributes to load for your membership report.
Saving Report
Multiple options are available for saving your report.
Apply to Other Reports Improved in 7.6
Once you have finished making modifications, the Apply to Other Reports page copies the settings you check — attributes, LDAP filter, search root and scope, membership — to every predefined report of the same type (e.g., user, group, etc.). Check Include custom reports to update your custom reports of that type as well: a custom report always keeps its own name, title, dates and domains, and one saved for All Domains is updated everywhere it exists. The confirmation tells you how many predefined and how many custom reports are about to change. The domain choice — Apply to Current Domain Only (the default) or Apply to All Domains — applies to predefined reports. Then click Apply.
The save button names the domains it saves for:
- Save for This Domain — the settings are this domain's own and are saved for this domain only. The arrow offers Save for Current Domain and All Domains.
- Save for All Domains — this domain uses the report's shared All Domains settings, so saving updates them for every domain that uses them. The arrow offers Save for Current Domain Only, which gives this domain its own settings and leaves the All Domains settings, and every other domain, exactly as they are.
- Save & Close — File System (NTFS) reports, which have no domain.
The report is saved and reloaded with the updated settings. See Save Reports for All Domains for how shared settings work.
Apply without closing New in 7.6 — Apply, beside the save button, saves your changes and runs the report behind the window, which stays open so you can adjust and apply again. Close afterwards keeps everything you applied.
Reset Settings restores this report, or every predefined report of its type, to the settings it shipped with. Reset All never changes a custom report.
An alternative option is to save your report as a Custom report by clicking Save as Custom. In the pop-up window, provide a new report title and click Save.
You can also save this custom report for all domains by selecting Save this report for All domains. The report will be reloaded and saved under the Custom reports tab.
When you run your report, the current report settings will be displayed in the "Selected Report Settings" window.
