How do I create my own flow breakdowns?

Example custom flow breakdown

To create a chart using a custom breakdown

To create a simple breakdown from the UI using the Flow Data dashlet

You can define your own flow breakdowns with IFA Premium:

• create new custom data types, e.g. to track flows by location, department, customer.
• specify group members in terms of the available raw data types, e.g. UK, US, Dev, Sales, Customer A, Customer B.

Custom data types and groups are defined through a configuration file, entuity_home/etc/flowUserDefGroups.xml. You must create your own XML file and then install it to the Entuity server managing flow collection. 

Example custom flow breakdown:

In the following example, each user defined group is structured as a bean definition, with these properties:

• name, a unique name for each group definition. Duplicate names will result in an error.
• displayName, the textual description shown to user for the group.
• unmatchedName, an optional set name where it will be mapped to this name if any of the filter criteria is not met.
• unmatchedDisplayName, an optional set display name which is shown to the user for an unsatisfied match.
• userSets, a list of set definitions where matching need to be done. Each set in the list is structured as bean definition. The set has these properties:
  
  • name, a unique name for each set that is defined in a group. Duplicate names will result in an error.
  • displayName, a textual description shown to user for the set.
  • expression, an SQL type expression which flows must meet to be included in the set.

This sample configuration includes custom group definitions:

<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.0.xsd
http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-2.0.xsd">
<bean class="com.entuity.flows.UserDefinedGroup">
<property name="name" value="My_Apps" />
<property name="displayName" value="My Applications" />
<property name="unmatchedName" value="Not_Web" />
<property name="unmatchedDisplayName" value="Not Web" />
<property name="userSets">
<list>
<bean class="com.entuity.flows.UserDefinedSet">
<property name="name" value="Web_Requests" />
<property name="displayName" value="Web Requests" />
<property name="expression" value="dstPort in (80,443,8080)" />
</bean>
<bean class="com.entuity.flows.UserDefinedSet">
<property name="name" value="Web_Responses" />
<property name="displayName" value="Web Responses" />
<property name="expression" value="srcPort in (80,443,8080)" />
</bean>
</list>
</property>
</bean>
<bean class="com.entuity.flows.UserDefinedGroup">
<property name="name" value="IFS" />
<property name="displayName" value="All Interfaces" />
<property name="userSets">
<list>
<bean class="com.entuity.flows.UserDefinedSet">
<property name="name" value="IF_3" />
<property name="displayName" value="if 3" />
<property name="expression" value="ifIn eq 3 or ifOut eq 3" />
</bean>
<bean class="com.entuity.flows.UserDefinedSet">
<property name="name" value="IF_4" />
<property name="displayName" value="if 4" />
<property name="expression" value="ifIn eq 4 or ifOut eq 4" />
</bean>
<bean class="com.entuity.flows.UserDefinedSet">
<property name="name" value="IFS_OTHER" />
<property name="displayName" value="if not 3 or 4" />
<property name="expression" value="not (ifIn in (3, 4) or ifOut in (3, 4))" />
</bean>
</list>
</property>
</bean>
</beans>

To create a chart using a custom breakdown:

1. Ensure the data type and group is loaded onto the Entuity server that is collecting the flow data. Entuity requires that the new configuration is included to entuity_home/etc/flowUserDefGroups.xml.
2. Navigate to the Flow dashboard of the interface against which you wish to generate the chart. On the Flow Data chart, click the Overflow Menu and then Configure Chart. In the Configure Chart form, select the new breakdown from the Breakdown dropdown field and then click Save in the top right of the form. The chart will then be updated to reflect the new selected breakdown.

To create a simple flow breakdown from the UI using the Flow Data dashlet:

You can create a simple flow breakdown via the Entuity UI using the Flow Data dashlet.

1. The contents of the breakdown are specified in the Manage Breakdown section of the form:
   
   
   
   
2. Click the field to open the Manage Breakdowns form.
   
   
   
   
3. Click + to select your desired metrics and click Done to save your changes, otherwise click Cancel.
   
   
   
   The available metrics are as follows:
   • Interface
   • Interface In
   • Interface Out
   • Application
   • Source
   • Destination
   • Protocol
   • Host
   • Port
   • Port In
   • Port Out
   • QoS Class
   • IP Precedence
   • DSCP
   • Ingress/Egress
   • Application (Inside VXLAN)
   • Host (Inside VXLAN)
   • Source (Inside VXLAN)
   • Destination (Inside VXLAN)
   • Protocol (Inside VXLAN)
   • Port (Inside VXLAN)
   • VXLAN ID