Custom report templates v10.5

Custom report templates let you design, execute, and manage diagnostic reports that query data from your monitored servers or from PEM's own management database. You can define reports using SQL queries or batch/shell scripts organized into sections, with results displayed as tables or text values.

Report types

By target

Custom report templates fall into two categories based on what they query:

• PEM reports query PEM's own management database. Use these to report on PEM monitoring data, agent status, alert history, and configuration. PEM reports require the pem_admin or pem_super_admin role and the target server to be bound to a PEM agent version 10.5 or later.
• Non-PEM reports query a monitored server's database directly. Use these for workload analysis, object-level inspection, or application-specific diagnostics. Non-PEM reports require the target server to be bound to a PEM agent version 10.4 or later.

By origin

• System-defined templates are built into PEM and available to any user who can access report templates. You can't modify or delete system-defined templates.
• Custom templates are created and managed by users with the pem_manage_report_templates role or higher.

Prerequisites

To execute scripts or SQL queries via custom report templates:

• The target server must be bound to a PEM agent (version 10.4 or later).
• For shell/batch scripts, the agent must have the necessary permissions to execute commands on the host operating system.

Managing report templates

To access the management interface, navigate to Management > Reports > Manage Report Templates.

Creating a custom report template

The top-level container defined by a unique title and functional description.

• Select Create New Report.
• Title: Enter a unique name for the report (required).
• Description: Provide an explanation of the report's purpose (optional).

Defining the report structure

Custom report templates use a hierarchical structure to organize data:

• Report: The top-level container; contains one or more Sections.
• Section: A logical grouping within a report; contains one or more Items.
• Item: The individual unit of execution.

Item definitions: Each item within a section is defined by the following attributes.

The Format attribute determines how item results are presented:

Section types

Each section in a report is either simple or iterative:

• Simple sections run a fixed set of items against one target. Use these for standard diagnostic queries where the scope is known in advance.
• Iterative sections include a group query that returns a list of targets. For each row returned by the group query, the section's items run once. Use iterative sections when you need to repeat the same queries across a dynamic set of databases, schemas, or objects. Iterative sections require the target server to be bound to a PEM agent version 10.5 or later.

For example, an iterative section with a group query that returns all databases on a server runs each item once per database — useful for cross-database comparisons.

Executing a report

There are two ways to run a report:

Right-click on a server:

1. In the PEM browser tree, select the target server. It must be bound to a PEM agent version 10.4 or later.
2. Right-click the server and select Run Report.
3. Select the desired report template from the dropdown.
4. For selected reports, select the target database.
5. Select Run. PEM triggers an agent job to execute the report.

Using a scheduled job:

1. In the PEM browser tree, expand the agent node, then right-click Jobs and select Create Job.
2. In the job dialog, go to the Steps tab and select + to add a step.
3. Set Type to Report, then select the report template, target server, and database.
4. Configure the schedule and select Save.

Generating non-PEM reports requires the pem_manage_report_templates role or higher. Generating PEM reports requires pem_admin or pem_super_admin.

Viewing execution history

To monitor the status of triggered reports and audit historical data, navigate to Management > Reports > Report Execution History.

The execution history provides a centralized audit trail of all custom report template activity. To locate specific records, apply the following filters:

• Server Name: Filter by the specific target server where the report was executed.
• Agent Name: Filter by the PEM agent responsible for processing the execution.
• Status: Filter by execution states (for example, Success, Partially Successful, Failed, In Progress, or Unknown).
• Time Range: Define a specific temporal window to isolate recent or historical data.

Viewing report results

To access the detailed output of a report, select any execution record within the Report Execution History dashboard.

Result organization: Results are structured according to the original template hierarchy. Data is partitioned into Sections, with each section containing its respective Items.

Data presentation layers: Results are rendered based on the Format attribute set in the report template — either as an interactive Table grid or a Text scalar value.

Handling errors: If an item within a report fails to execute, the system captures and displays the specific error message returned by the SQL engine or shell environment directly within the item's result block. This ensures that even in a Partially Successful report, you can identify and troubleshoot individual point failures.

Exporting results: For external reporting or further data processing, you can download the executed report in the following formats:

• HTML: A formatted document for easy sharing and browser-based review.
• JSON: A structured data file optimized for integration with automated workflows or third-party tools.

Importing and exporting reports

PEM allows for the migration and backup of report templates via standardized JSON files.

Exporting report templates To back up or share your report configurations:

• Navigate to Management > Reports > Manage Report Templates.
• Select one or more templates from the list.
• Select Export to download the selected configurations as a JSON file.

Importing report templates To bulk-add templates to a new or existing PEM instance:

• Open the Manage Report Templates interface.
• Select the Import button.
• Upload a valid JSON file containing report template definitions.

Understanding status definitions

The Report execution history tab tracks the lifecycle of each report job. The following table defines the possible states for a custom report template:

Limiting SQL row counts

To optimize performance and prevent excessive memory consumption on the PEM server, custom report templates enforce a limit on the number of rows returned by SQL queries.

This limit is managed globally via the Server Configuration dashboard, where administrators can modify the value to accommodate larger data sets.

Roles and permissions

PEM uses four roles to control access to report templates and results.

pem_view_reports — Read-only access to report execution history:

• View system-defined and custom non-PEM reports.

Can't generate reports, create, edit, view, or delete report templates.

pem_manage_report_templates — Includes all pem_view_reports permissions, plus:

• Create and edit custom non-PEM report templates.
• Generate non-PEM reports.
• Delete own non-PEM report results.

Can't create or edit PEM report templates, or view report execution history for PEM reports.

pem_admin — Includes all pem_manage_report_templates permissions, plus:

• Create and edit custom PEM report templates.
• Generate PEM reports.
• View your own PEM report execution history.

Can't view other users' PEM report results.

pem_super_admin — Includes all pem_admin permissions, plus:

• View all users' PEM report results.
• Delete any user's report results.

System-defined templates can't be modified or deleted by any user or role.

Permissions quick reference

Templates

Reports