Portal Library

The Library section of Kentik Detect is covered in the following topics:

• About the Library
• Library Page
• Library List
• Library Options Tab
• Library Display Area

Note: For a quick guide to using the Library, see Using the Library.

The Library in the Kentik Detect portal provides a single, comprehensive framework within which to view and manage (create, edit, categorize, etc.) several different ways of viewing your organization’s network traffic data:

• Dashboard: A page with one or more panels that each display a single view of traffic data (graph, table, or gauge); see Dashboards. Dashboards may be user-created or Kentik-provided (see Kentik-provided Views).
• Saved view: A page with a single view based on a collection of settings saved by the user in Data Explorer; see Saved Views. The underlying query settings can’t be adjusted from the view presented in the Library, but you can load a saved view into Data Explorer for access to the full control set. Saved views are user-created.
• Report: A page with a single view that addresses a specific use case and provides a curated set of controls for fine-tuning by individual users. A report can be loaded into Data Explorer to adjust the underlying query with the full control set. Reports are Kentik-provided.
  Note: Reports are coming soon, but will not be included in the initial launch of the Library.

The Library does not replace Data Explorer as a tool for deep ad hoc analytics on network traffic, but rather makes it easier for customers to find their most-used visualizations. When used to view reports, the Library will enable users to quickly adjust key parameters without digging deeply into all aspects of the settings behind each view.

Note: You can search for dashboards, saved views, and reports using Universal Search in the portal navbar.

Kentik will provide preset dashboards and reports, which may be created either for all Kentik customers or specifically for an individual organization (request via support@kentik.com). Kentik is developing a variety of such presets addressing a range of use cases for various types of organizations (service providers, web enterprises, etc.).

Kentik-provided views that are deemed particularly noteworthy may be designated by Kentik as “Featured,” in which case their icon in the Library list will include an checkmark within an orange disc, as shown in the image at right. Featured views will rise to the top of the list of views in each category (see View Categories).

The Library page is accessed directly from the portal navbar. The page is divided into the following main functional areas:

• Sidebar: A multi-function area at left (outlined in red in the image at right) that contains the following tabs:
  - Library tab: Contains a categorized list of dashboards, reports, and saved views; see Library List.
  - Options tab: Contains the sidebar controls available to fine-tune an individual dashboard or report; see Library Options Tab.
• Display area: The main area of the page (outlined in green in the image) where the visualizations and tables of an individual dashboard, report, or saved view are displayed. See Library Display Area.

The Library tab, which is the default state of the Library sidebar, primarily contains a categorized list of views (dashboards, reports, and saved views). The tab is covered in the following topics:

• Library Tab UI
• Library List Structure
• List Item Context Menu

The general UI elements described in the following topics enable user control over the Library.

The following general controls live at the top of the Library tab:

• Library button: Shows the Library tab of the sidebar.
• Options button (shown only when the currently selected list item is a dashboard or report): Shows the Options tab of the sidebar (see Library Options Tab).
• Expand/Collapse control: A direction icon (« or ») that toggles the sidebar between expanded and collapsed state. When the sidebar is collapsed it becomes a thin vertical strip along the left edge of the page and the display area includes the remainder of the page. To expand the sidebar, click in the strip.
• New Dashboard: Click to open the Add Dashboard dialog (see Dashboard Dialogs).
• New Saved View: Click to navigate to Data Explorer, where you configure the view that you’d like to save and then open the Add Saved View dialog to save it (see Saving a View).

The following special categories of views are pinned permanently to the top of the Library list:

• Favorites (shown only when you have designated one or more views as favorites): A list of the views (dashboards, reports, and saved views) that you have designated as favorites, either via the List Item Context Menu or by clicking the star at the right of the view title in the display area. Click to toggle the list between expanded and collapsed.
• Recently Viewed: A list of the views that you have most-recently opened, either directly from the Library sidebar or via Dashboard Navigation. Click to toggle the list between expanded and collapsed. When the list is expanded the Clear Recently Viewed button will be visible at the bottom of the list; click to clear the list.

Below the general controls and special folders, the Library tab is divided into several sections containing available views (dashboards, reports, or saved views). A given view is assigned to a given section of the list based on the following factors:

• Origin: Kentik-provided or user-created.
• Visibility: Private (visible to you only) or shared with all users in your organization.

The following sections are each represented with a heading row and may be collapsed or expanded with the button at the right of that row:

• Kentik-provided views: Views (dashboards, saved views, and reports) created by Kentik (see Kentik-provided Views). The heading for this section is “Kentik.”
• Private views: Views that you have made for your own personal use and not shared with others in your organization. The heading for this section is your user name.
• Shared views: Views that you or others in your organization have created for use by everyone in the organization. the heading for this section is your company name.

Within each section, a view may be grouped into a folder that represents a category. Categories are defined by Kentik and can be assigned to a view when the view is created or edited. If there is one or more view in your list that has been assigned to the same category, then those views will be grouped under that category.

Views are assigned to categories when they are created or edited:

• Assign a dashboard to a category with the Category field in the Add Dashboard or Dashboard Properties dialog (see About Dashboard Dialogs).
• Assign a saved view to a category with the Category field in the Add Saved View or Saved View Properties dialog (see Saved View Dialogs).

When you hover over any view item in the Library list, the item is highlighted and a menu icon appears at the right of the item. Click the icon to pop up a menu with information about and options for the item:

• Name: The name of the view.
• Description: An optional description of the view.
• Open: Displays the view (visualization and tables) in the Display area:
  - If the item is a dashboard or preset view, the sidebar will switch to the Options tab, which will show the item’s controls.
  - If the item is a saved view, the sidebar will remain on the Library tab.
• Edit (shown for dashboards and saved views depending on user’s Edit and Remove Permissions):
  - For dashboards, opens the dashboard in edit mode in the Library display area (see Edit Mode Controls).
  - For saved views, opens the view in Data Explorer, where it can be modified and saved.
• Properties (shown for dashboards and saved views depending on user’s edit and remove permissions):
  - For dashboards, opens the Dashboard Properties dialog (see About Dashboard Dialogs).
  - For saved views, opens the Saved View Properties dialog (see Saved View Dialogs).
• Add to Favorites (shown only if item is not already a favorite): Adds the view to the Favorites folder at the top of the Library tab (see Library Special Folders).
• Remove from Favorites (shown only if item is already a favorite): Removes the view from the Favorites folder at the top of the Library tab.
• Clone: Duplicates the view. The new view will appear in the Library list with “Copy” appended to the name.
• Remove (shown for dashboards and saved views depending on user’s edit and remove permissions): Deletes the view from your organization’s collection of views.

The following conditions determine whether a given user will see buttons on the item context menu allowing a given view to be modified or removed:

• If you’re an admin user you’ll be able to modify or remove...
  - your own private dashboards and saved views;
  - dashboards and saved views that any user in your organization has shared company wide.
• If you’re a member user you’ll be able to modify or remove...
  - your own private dashboards and saved views;
  - dashboards and saved views that you have shared company wide.
• Only Kentik can modify or remove Kentik-provided dashboards, saved views, and reports.

The Options tab of the Library sidebar is used by dashboards and reports. The controls in this tab are covered in the following topics:

• Library Options for Dashboards
• Library Options for Reports

Note: The Options tab is not shown when the current view is a saved view.

When you click on a dashboard in the Library list, the dashboard is displayed in the display area and the sidebar changes to the Options tab. The controls in the tab will be the standard Time, Filtering, and Devices panes that are described in Dashboard Sidebar Controls.

A report is a Kentik-provided page with a single view that addresses a specific use case and provides a curated set of controls for fine-tuning by individual users. The controls provided in reports vary depending on factors including the use case and the intended user.

Note: Reports are coming soon, but will not be included in the initial launch of the Library.

The first time you navigate to the Library in a given portal session the content of the display area is a landing page with the following parts:

• Configure Data Sources: Quick access to portal pages where you can register or edit hardware devices (routers and switches), servers and hosts (kprobe software agents), and cloud resources (VPCs on AWS or GCP).
• Featured Content: Kentik-provided preset dashboards, saved views, and reports.
• Resources: Links for helpful KB articles, blogs, videos, solution briefs, etc..
• Product Updates: Links to specific entries in our Product Update blog.

Once you’ve chosen a view, from the landing page or the sidebar, the content and UI of the library display area depend on the current view:

• If the current view is a dashboard, the display area will show the dashboard, and the controls, content, panels, and behavior will be as described in Dashboard Panel Display.
• If the current view is a saved view, the display area will show the visualization and table of that view, and the controls, content, and behavior will be similar to the chart display area in Data Explorer (see Explorer Chart Display) but with the controls described in Saved View Display Controls.

The following indicators are found at the upper left of the display area:

• Category: If a category has been assigned in the properties of the saved view (see View Categories) then it will be displayed above the name.
• Visibility: Preset, private, or shared (see Saved View Visibility).
• Name: The name of the saved view.
• Favorites: A button (star icon) that toggles the saved view between being or not being shown in the Favorites folder at the top of the sidebar.
• Description: The description, if any, applied to the saved view in the view’s properties.

The following controls are found at the upper right of the display area:

• Open in Data Explorer: Opens the saved view in Data Explorer for exploration and modification.
• Options menu:
  - Add to Dashboard: Opens a dialog allowing the current Data Explorer settings to be displayed as a panel on the dashboard. See Add View to Dashboard.
  - Export: Exports the information represented by the display area’s graphic to a file, either a graphic image or table data. See Export Chart or Table.
  - View SQL: A nested menu used to go to the Query Editor, where the SQL Query field will be populated with the query for this panel.
  Note: This menu item is now deprecated. For additional information, contact Kentik support.
  - Show API Call: Provides access to the query API dialogs (see Show API Call), which contain cURL and JSON that can be used to return the current content of the display area from the Kentik Query API. The code in the dialogs can be copied and pasted to enable programmatic access to Kentik Detect.
  - Share View: Provides access to the Share View dialog (see Share Explorer View), which contains a URL for the current view in the data display area that can be copied and shared.