Run and Schedule Saved Searches

Commander maintains a large number of public searches for users. These public searches include built-in searches that are provided with Commander. In addition, all searches saved by Admin Portal users become available as Public Searches for all other Admin Portal users.

Any searches that you create and save in the Admin Portal will appear under the "My Searches" area for you. For other Admin Portal users, they'll appear under the "Public Searches" area.

In the Service Portal, users can't see searches saved by Admin Portal users. All searches saved by Service Portal users are always private.

Costing notes

• Cost values for saved searches are saved in your preferred currency. If you change your currency preference, cost values for pre-existing saved searches will be updated to the new currency preference. However, scheduled saved searches will continue to display the currency they were originally configured in after you change the currency preference.
• Saved searches that were scheduled before upgrading to version 8.7 won't have parameters set for multicurrency, so after upgrading, the currency settings will default to USD.
• If you email a saved search, the currency of any displayed costs depends on the preferences of the recipients. If all recipients have the same currency preference, that will be the currency in the email. If recipients have different currency preferences, the global default currency will be used.

Run saved searches

1. Select the search from the list of saved searches.
2. Click View Results.

   The results appear under the Results tab.

Edit saved searches

If you want to add additional criteria to a saved search, such as a new property to filter by, you can edit the original search query instead of creating a new one. The original saved search is overwritten.

When you edit a saved search, the search results will revert back to the default column selection. For example, if you added a column that was previously hidden, you will have to add it again.

1. Select the search from the list of saved searches.
2. Click View Query.
3. Make your changes.
4. Click Search.
5. Review the search results, then select and sort the columns that you want to display.

   For more information, see Customize columns in search results.

6. Click Save Search.
7. Enter the same name as the original saved search, then click OK.
8. To confirm your changes, click OK.

Rename saved searches

1. Right-click a saved search from the list and click Rename.
2. In the Rename Search dialog, enter a new name for the search.
3. Click OK.

Delete Saved Searches

You can't delete a saved search that has been scheduled. You must delete the scheduled task first.

1. Select the search from the list, and click Delete
2. Click Delete.
3. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Customize columns in search results

You can add, remove, sort, and move columns in search results and save that configuration in your list of saved searches.

When the search results are displayed, click the title of the column you want to sort on. Click again to reverse the order.

To make the sorted column the first column in your search results, right-click anywhere on the table, select Pick Columns, select the column name and click Move Up until the column is at the top of the list. Click OK and your results now appear with that column in the first position.

Now you can save your search, and the next time you view it, the results are sorted the way you want.

For more information, see Search Cloud Data.

Schedule saved searches

You can schedule saved searches to run on a custom schedule.

1. Do either of the following:
• If you're starting from the Saved Searches page, select the search from the list, and click Schedule.

  The Configure Scheduled Task wizard displays.

• If you're starting from the Scheduled Tasks page, click Add. Then in the Configure Scheduled Task dialog, on the Task page, select Saved Search and click Next.
2. On the Notification page, select a saved search if required.

   If you started from the Saved Searches page, this option isn't available because you've already selected the saved search.

3. In the Email Report section, complete the email details as required.

   Separate multiple email addresses with semi-colons.

4. Select the required email options. You can select any of the following:
   • Include a link to a generated report about the scheduled save search.

     By default, the link included in the email will provide Admin Portal users with direct access to the generated Scheduled Saved Search Report. However, if user authentication for reports is enabled (see Require user authentication to view linked reports), Admin Portal users must provide their user name and password to authenticate, and if they have valid user accounts, the saved search owner and users with Superuser or Enterprise Admin roles may view the report.

   • Embed an HTML version of the search in the email.
   • Display the search parameters in the email.
   • Attach a CSV version of the search to the email.

   If you've implemented the Cost Adjustments feature to apply markups and discounts to your costs, a search created in the Admin Portal will still contain original costs, not adjusted costs, but a search created in the Service Portal will contain adjusted costs. This is true whether the email recipient of the search is an administrator or a Service Portal user. For more information, see Markups and Discounts page.

5. Click Next.
6. On the Results Details page, indicate whether you want aggregate results to be displayed for any results and where to display them.

   For example, if you search for the daily average VM disk usage, you might want to add a row to display the average for all VMs returned by the search.

7. Click Next.
8. On the Scheduling page:
• To have scheduling take effect immediately, select Enabled.
• You can edit the scheduled task at any time to enable or disable it.
• To schedule the frequency and the time for the task, select when you want the task to occur: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Weekdays. You can also specify that the task be performed only Once (in which case the task will be removed from the Scheduled Tasks list after it has been run).
• If you selected a Weekly or Monthly frequency, select the day of the week or the month.

  If you select 31 for Day of Month for a Monthly frequency, Commander automatically adjusts the day to reflect the last day of any given month. The same adjustment is made if you select 29 or 30 for February.

9. Click Next.
10. On the Summary page, review the details and click Finish.

    The scheduled task appears in the list of scheduled tasks.