Create dynamic SysTrack groups by using SQL‑based templates or custom queries to automatically include systems that share characteristics such as software usage, operating system, or IP range.
Video Transcript
SysTrack Visualizer and other analytical tools such as SysTrack Prevent show a big‑picture view of the entire IT landscape. For example, the Enterprise Visualizer shows performance for the entire organization. What might be helpful is to compare the overall health of just one group of machines with the rest of the organization. If the group of systems has a unique feature in common, such as location, computer model, operating system, or application usage, you can create a dynamic group by using a SQL command that will update the list of systems in the group.
On the Groups page in the Configure tool, click the plus sign to create a new group. By default, the new group will be visible in the visualizers as well as in Prevent and App Vision. Create a dynamic group called Accounting Department.
Dynamic groups use SQL commands to automatically add systems that meet certain criteria. If you are a SQL expert, you can simply type your SQL string into the window. For those who are not SQL experts, the Configure tool has several group templates that will help write the SQL for you. The only SQL you would need to know for these is that the percent symbol is your wildcard.
There are several ways to create a dynamic group that includes a certain group of systems. Employees in the accounting department use a software package called Quicken. We could take advantage of this and select the Software Package Use template, then enter the name of the application in the parameter box. This is looking for an exact match, and you can test using the Test SQL button. If part of the application name is left off, such as Quicken instead of Quicken Pro, the test will return zero results. Use your wildcard, which is the percent sign, to account for such discrepancies. Software package names are visible in the Software Package observation in the Visualizer.
You can also include multiple applications in the query by using the pipe delimiter.
If the machines share a unique IP address chain or subnet, IP address is an effective way to create groups based on location. You can define a range of IP addresses by using the wildcard or percent sign—for example, 10.10.32.% might include all the virtual machines.
Perhaps the accounting department is the only department that has been upgraded to Windows 11. Therefore, we can choose the Operating System template and add the parameters in the field above.
If you want to make sure you have it right, click the Test SQL button to see a preview of your results. As mentioned earlier, the parameters field is looking for an exact match, so if you put in “Microsoft Windows 11,” the SQL query will return zero results. However, if you add the wildcard or percent sign to the end, then the SQL query will return everything that starts with Microsoft Windows 11, such as Pro, Enterprise, or Home. To verify the exact name of the operating system, you can see them in the Hardware observation of the desktop or server visualizers.
There are several other templates for creating groups. Click each one for a description.
You can also create custom SQL or combined strings by typing directly in the box.
Anything that SysTrack collects can be used to create a group, so feel free to reach out to your Lakeside Customer Success team for assistance with custom SQL queries for creating groups.
Once you’ve got the right machines in the group, click Create.