4.6 Using Print Auditing

When auditing is enabled for a Printer Agent, a log file is created indicating who printed how many pages to which printer on a given date. The log file is in a comma-separated format (.csv). The data from this log file can be viewed from the Health Monitor or downloaded into a spreadsheet.

Figure 4-1 Auditing Page

From the Internal Auditing page you can complete the following tasks:

4.6.1 Enabling Auditing

You can use either Novell iManager or the NDPS Manager Health Monitor to enable auditing.

Using Novell iManager to Enable Auditing

You need to enable auditing for each printer you want to audit.

  1. In Novell iManager, click iPrint > Enable Auditing.

  2. Select the printers you want to enable auditing for by clicking the check box in the Auditing column. Click the check box at the top of the column to enable auditing for all printers in the list.

Using the Health Monitor to Enable Auditing

You need to enable auditing for each printer you want to audit.

  1. On the NDPS Manager Health Monitor main page, click the printer you want to enable auditing for.

  2. Click Configuration Options.

  3. Click the Enable Auditing check box.

4.6.2 Viewing Auditing Information

You can generate an audit report that shows all print jobs or you can filter the report based on a user or a printer or both.

  1. In Novell Remote Manager, click NDPS Manager Health Monitor > Advanced NDPS Manager Information > Auditing.

  2. Click Generate Report.

    If there is more than one audit log, click Generate Report for the audit log you want to view.

  3. (Optional) Filter the search by using the Limit Search by User and Limit Search by Printer filters.

    Auditing Search Page

  4. Click Generate Report to view the report.

    Only 250 print jobs are listed at a time. To view more print jobs in the report, click Next.

    Auditing Report

    The following table describes what is displayed in the report.

    Table 4-1 Report Summary Information

    Field

    Description

    NDPS Manager

    The NDPS Print Manager that the information is from.

    Audit Log

    The audit log filename that was used to create the report.

    Selected User

    Any user filter criteria that were used to create the report.

    Selected Printer

    Any printer filter criteria that were used to create the report.

    Number of Jobs

    The number of jobs submitted by the indicated users and printers.

    The following table describes what is displayed in the body of the report.

    Table 4-2 Report Fields

    Field

    Description

    Job Owner

    The owner of the print job.

    Printer

    The printer the print job was sent to.

    Time Submitted

    The time the print job was submitted to the printer.

    Time Completed

    The time the print job was printed on the printer.

    Completion Status

    The completion status of the submitted print job.

    Completed, Cancelled by User, Cancelled by Operator, or Other, which indicates that the job was aborted by the system.

    Page Count

    The number of pages printed.

    Job Size

    The size of the print job in bytes.

    Job Name

    The print job filename that was submitted and the type of print client that submitted the print job.

4.6.3 Managing Audit Logs

You can manage your audit logs by using the displayed buttons on the Auditing Management page. When audit logs are no longer needed, you can manually delete them. To automatically save and create new logs, see Section 4.6.4, Configuring Automatic Log Rotation.

The active audit log file (audit.csv) logs data for all printers that have been enabled for auditing. You can generate a report from this file or you can move the data to a saved file using Start New Audit Log. You cannot download the audit.csv file. To download a file, it must be saved as a separate audit log. When you move the data to a saved audit log using the Start New Audit Log button, the log file is named auditxxx.csv, where xxx is the next sequential number of the log. After a log file is saved, you can download the file to your workstation and import it into a spreadsheet program.

4.6.4 Configuring Automatic Log Rotation

Audit Log Rotation automatically creates a new log when certain criteria is met.

  1. In the Print Manager Health Monitor, click Advanced iPrint Manager Information > Auditing > Configure Log Rotation.

  2. Select Enable Audit Log Rotation.

  3. Enter the number of logs to keep.

    When the number of logs to keep is reached, the oldest log is deleted when the next log is created. When setting this number, take in to account the criteria you are using to create a new log file. If you want a years worth of logs, set the number of audit logs to keep to 12 and the select the By Date and By Month options.

  4. Choose the criteria used for log rotation:

    By Job Count: Enter the maximum number of print jobs that a audit log can contain before a new log is created.

    By Date: Select when you want the audit logs to rotate.

    • Day: The log rotates each day at midnight.

    • Week: The log rotates each Sunday. If the Print Manager is not loaded on Sunday, the log is rotated the next time the Print Manager starts.

    • Month: The log rotates at midnight on the first day of the month.

    NOTE:If you select Day or Week, ensure that the Maximum Number of Audit Logs to Keep entry is large enough so that logs are not rotated before you need the data.

    By File Size: Specify the maximum file size in kilobytes before a new log is created. The maximum file size is 4 gigabytes.

4.6.5 Downloading an Audit Report

  1. On the NDPS Manager Health Monitor main page, click Advanced NDPS Manager Information > Auditing.

  2. Right-click the name of the audit log you want to download, then click Save Target As.

  3. Follow the prompts and save the file to your desired location.

When the file is downloaded, you can open the report in a spreadsheet application to sort, view, and format the data to meet your needs.