WTInstallDir/common/apache/conf/ssl.crt/server.crt
8a. To use a certificate for testing, the certificate request file (.csr) can also be self-signed. From the openssl< prompt, execute the following:
x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt
9. Locate the http.conf.txt file in the WTInstallDir\common\apache\conf\ folder. Edit this file and change the following 2 entries:
->SSLCertificateFile conf/ssl.crt/snakeoil-rsa.crt
->SSLCertificateKeyFile conf/ssl.key/snakeoil-rsa.key
to reflect the proper location and file names for the certificate and key.
10. Save the httpd.conf.txt
11. Re-start the 'Webtrends User Interface' service.
Mircea Cantar
FAQ for Webtrends Customers: Webtrends Analytics Page View Licensing
FAQ for Webtrends Customers: Webtrends Analytics Page View Licensing
For Products:
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Webtrends Enterprise 7.x
Webtrends Professional 7.x
Webtrends Small Business 7.x
Last Modified: 2/27/2009
Introduction:
FAQ for Webtrends Customers: Webtrends Analytics Page View Licensing
Process:
Q. What is a page view and how is it counted?
A. "Page View" counted towards the Webtrends Page View license entitlement is defined as a web page rendered by a browser or browser equivalent that has been collected for analysis by Webtrends. This is independent of whether log files are being analyzed or SmartSource data files generated via inserted Java Script tags are being created/analyzed. If a customer uses both SmartSource and log files, Page Views will be counted in one or the other but not both.
Technically speaking, Webtrends collects 2 page view numbers: SmartSource collected page views (incremented as Webtrends processes SDC logs) and "Standard" web log collected page views (incremented as Webtrends processes non-SDC logs).
Each is compared against the Page View entitlement. If either one reaches the licensed limit, the limit is considered reached. The same page view will not count twice in situations where a customer is analyzing SmartSource logs and web server log files for the same site(s).
Q: What is a server call? How is it different from a page view?
A: Starting with the October 2008 release of Webtrends On Demand, the term "page views" is being changed to "server calls" to more accurately describe our ability to track visitor actions in formats such as Flash, Ajax and other web technologies. This change is purely one of terminology and will not affect any billing, licensing, or product functionality in any way. For the purposes of the rest of this FAQ, "server calls" should be considered equivalent to "page views". Please see KB 082767: Licensing Changes: Page Views to Server Calls for more details on this change.
Q. Which extensions will not be interpreted as a Page View?
A. .gif .jpg .bmp .png .wbmp .jpeg .css .js .dtd .asmx .ascx .ico
All other file extensions are considered Page Views.
Q. Does the Page View Model count streaming media severs?
A. Yes, streaming media logs are counted just like web server log files. Clips such as rm, wma, wmv, are the streaming version of Page Views.
Q. How does Webtrends count page views against a customer's page view entitlement?
A. "Page View" counted towards the Webtrends Page View license entitlement is defined as a web page rendered by a browser or browser equivalent that has been collected for analysis by Webtrends. Webtrends looks at the source of these page views and counts the page views against the license entitlement that is indicated in the Webtrends Analytics AdminConsole under Administration ' Licensing .
Q. What happens if a customer reaches their page view entitlement before the year period is complete?
A. The customer will receive a warning at 80%, 100% and 120%. At 120% report access and analysis will shut discontinue until licensing is resolved.
Add-ons can be purchased to increase the page view entitlement. Page views will continue to be counted from the usage to-date until the anniversary date, when usage against annual entitlement will reset to zero.
Q. How is a rollback treated, i.e. a customer analyzes the logs and then decides to add filters to the profile and reanalyze?
A. If log files are being analyzed and the same log file is processed at a later date by a different profile or by the same profile, the Page View will not be counted again. This is prior to applying any customer filters.
Q. What happens if a customer needs to reanalyze data? How does Webtrends recognize that the log files have already been analyzed?
A. If log files are being analyzed and the same log file is processed at a later date by a different profile or by the same profile, the Page View will not be counted again.
Q. Marketing sends out an HTML-mail containing objects (pages) served from the site, they send the email to 80,000 recipients per day, how does that affect the page view model?
A. If the pages are tagged with SmartSource or are logged to the servers as page views, they will be counted against the page view entitlement.
Q. Are Spiders, Bots and Monitoring tools counted against a customer's page view entitlement?
A. If a customer is analyzing log files, Spider, Bots, Monitoring tools or any other device that creates a page view will be counted.
In the case where a customer is analyzing log files and SmartSource files to analyze the same page views, Webtrends will look at both sources and count the larger page view count of the two.
Q. How are frames treated?
A. Multiple frames on one web page are counted as separate (multiple) Page Views, however, in the case of SmartSource this can be avoided by excluding the .js from the secondary frames if desired.
Q. What happens if the Webtrends reports show less page views that what the administration tool is tracking on a monthly basis. What is causing this discrepancy?
A. Most often this will be caused by a filter set on the customer's profile. As Webtrends Analytics counts page views pre-filter, this could cause a discrepancy. Also, if the site includes frames, the frame pages will be counted by Webtrends Analytics, although they may be filtered out of the reports.
In order to avoid these problems, the customer can use SmartSource, which is somewhat like an auto-filter, as only the pages of interest are tagged. Or they can run a script against the data source prior to analysis by Webtrends to filter out page view extensions, folders, etc., that are not of interest.
Q. Are page views counted for each profile that is pointing to that same data source?
A. If a customer has multiple profiles pointing to the same log file or SmartSource file, the page views are only counted once. A customer can analyze the same data in multiple profiles and the page views will only count once.
Q. What happens if a customer wants to bring in historical data into their Webtrends Analytics install?
A. Analysis of historical log files will count against the page view entitlement. Version 8.x and forward of Webtrends now counts the annual license page view count for the individual historic year and applies the account only to the year that the data was collected based on the time stamp in the log file itself.
This will enable customers to pull in historical data without it affecting their current year license page view count.
Q. If support resets a customers page views back to zero, does it reset the year term as well?
A. No the start date of the page view count will remain the same. This start date is based on the initial install date of Webtrends Analytics.
Mircea Cantar
Upgrading From Single Server to Distributed Architecture
Upgrading From Single Server to Distributed Architecture
Last Updated: 3/13/2009
For Products:
Webtrends Analytics 7.5x
Webtrends Analytics 8.0x
Webtrends Analytics 8.1x
Webtrends Analytics 8.5x
Situation:
Your analysis environment has grown, and you need to take your single Webtrends machine and add additional machines to handle more reporting, or additional features, and you want to upgrade to a distributed architecture.
Solution:
Upgrading from a single machine to a distributed architecture, first thing's first, make your backups.
Edit the analysis queue and cancel all currently running scheduled tasks.
Stop all services (Scheduler first, Database last)
Backup your entire \Webtrends\storage folder and sub-folders
What database are you using
MySQL? MSSQL?
MySQL is simply backing up the 2 following folders.
\Webtrends\common\database\mysql\data\wtmaster \Webtrends\common\database\mysql\data\wt_sched folders
To back up an MSSQL DB, see the MS documentation.
Then you need to set up permissions for your Webtrends services account (KB article 052070); and then share the storage folder to the network, so that the Webtrends services account can access it and make sure all the proper Security & Permissions are in place (KB Article 072596).
After this is taken care of, restart the server, (still standalone) starting with the database, Then change the storage locations to point to the shares, rather than the absolute paths that they are.
For example:
C:\Program Files\Webtrends\storage\config
Becomes:
\\ServerNameGoesHere\storage\reports
As soon as you click 'save' it will prompt to continue until all jobs have finished, or to cancel all tasks, even if none are in the queue. I usually recommend this option, as it will take care of the unseen system jobs. Log out and let the services shutdown and reboot. This may take some time. If the paths are the same, the system will simply be doing a copy/verify. If Webtrends looks and sees the new directory has nothing in it, or if you're creating a new data location, it will copy the data to that location at this time.
After that, you're up and running, in a distributed architecture, of one computer.
When you install on the 2nd machine, do not install the system DB, just the components you wish to use. Analysis Engine, GeoTrends, additional UI Servers, etc.
Mircea Cantar
How do I activate my Webtrends license from the command line using wtlicman?
How do I manually deactivate & reactivate license with or without an internet connection.
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Webtrends Enterprise 7.x
Webtrends Professional 7.x
Webtrends Small Business 7.x
Last modified: 2/12/2009
If your webtrends server has an internet connection, use the following steps:
1) Make a copy of all license keys listed in the licensing section of the user interface, & note which one is listed as "Base License". If you do not have access to the user interface, open a command prompt on the WT server, navigate to ...webtrends\common\lib and type:
wtlicman -s>c:\lic.txt (this just created a text file with all of your licensing information in c:\ named lic.txt)
2) Open a command prompt on the Webtrends server.
3) Navigate to the following directory:
c:\program files\webtrends\common\lib
(The path above is the default installation path. You may have chosen a different install path to the webtrends folder)
4) Type the following command:
wtlicman -d
(this should deactivate your license key)
5) Now type the following command:
wtlicman -a -k xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
(xxxx represents the "base license" key from step 1)
6) To verify the license has been successfully activated type the following:
wtlicman -s
We have just manually deactivated & reactivated your license key.
If your webtrends server does not have an internet connection, follow the steps below.
1) Make a copy of all license keys listed in the licensing section of the user interface, & note which one is listed as "Base License". If you do not have access to the user interface, open a command prompt on the WT server, navigate to ...webtrends\common\lib and type:
wtlicman -s>c:\lic.txt (this creates a text file with all of your licensing information in c:\ named lic.txt)
2) Open a command prompt on the Webtrends server.
3) Navigate to the following directory:
c:\program files\webtrends\common\lib
(The path above is the default installation path. You may have chosen a different install path)
4) Type the following command:
wtlicman -d
5) After running the command listed in step 4 above if the product was not deactivated an HTML file named license.htm or <licensenumber>.htm will be created in the current directory (webtrends\common\lib).
6) Transfer this file to a computer that has internet access.
7) Open the file in Internet Explorer.
8) The file when opened connects to the NetIQ licensing servers and updates the activation key with your machine information (IP address, MAC address,
computer name).
9) You will be prompted to save a new file to your machine. This file should be named: licensechange.txt.
10) Verify that the txt file is larger than 0kb. If it is not, then download it again until the file is larger than 0kb
11) Transfer this file back to the same directory listed in step 3 above.
12) Now back in the command prompt we left open from steps 2 and 3 type:
wtlicman -D -f licensechange.txt
We have just manually deactivated your license. Now we must manually reactivate:
13) Still in the same command prompt and in the same directory (webtrends\common\lib) type the following command:
wtlicman -a -k xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
(xxxx represents the "base license" key from step 1)
14) Step 13 will generate a new HTML file named license.htm or <licensenumber>.htm will be created in the current directory (webtrends\common\lib). Use the creation date to verify you now have the newly created htm file and not the previous version.
15) Transfer this file to a computer that has internet access.
16) Open the file in Internet Explorer.
17) The file when opened connects to the NetIQ licensing servers and updates the activation key with your machine information (IP address, MAC address,
computer name).
18) You will be prompted to save a new file to your machine. This file should be named: licensechange.txt.
19) Verify that the txt file is larger than 0kb. If it is not, then download it again until the file is larger than 0kb
20) Transfer this file back to the same directory listed in step 3 above.
21) Now back in the command prompt we still have open and in the same directory type:
wtlicman -A -f licensechange.txt
22) To verify the license has been successfully activated type the following:
wtlicman -s
We have just manually reactivated your license key.
Mircea Cantar
Best practices for maintaining a WebTrends installation
Best practices for maintaining a WebTrends installation
Last Modified: 04/23/2009
Affected Environments
WebTrends Analytics 8.x
There are many files, folders, and database tables in WebTrends that grow to large sizes during normal operation. Usually WebTrends will clean up its temporary folders and files on its own, but there are situations in which this doesn't happen. Analysis failures, crashes, and unexpected system restarts are just a few of the situations that can result in left over data that doesn't get properly cleaned up. This document details what files are safe to delete, and what database tables can be safely truncated to clean up your WebTrends installation. Deleting files and database information is an inherently risky operation, and as such, you should always make a backup before attempting the steps below. If you have any questions about this information, please call technical support at 503-223-3023 for more information.
I. Log files and temporary file caches
The files in the following directories should not be removed while any of the WebTrends services are running, however they can be deleted once the services are stopped. In all cases, the directory structure must be maintained, but the files within them can be removed. Note that you may not have all of the folders below.
1.The following folders contain log files:
\WebTrends\storage\config\wtm_wtx\datfiles\statuslogs\
\WebTrends\logs\
\Webtrends\common\apache\logs\
\Webtrends\common\jakarta-tomcat\logs\
2. Any computer (including distributed nodes) that is running an analysis engine will have the following directories that can be cleaned out:
\WebTrends\modules\analysis\engine\8.x\wtm_wtx\datfiles\statuslogs\
\WebTrends\modules\analysis\engine\8.x\wtm_wtx\datfiles\databases\
\WebTrends\modules\analysis\engine\8.x\wtm_wtx\datfiles\ehost_logs\
\WebTrends\modules\analysis\engine\8.x\wtm_wtx\datfiles\reports\
3. The following directories contain cached files from compressed archives and FTP transfers:
\WebTrends\modules\analysis\engine\8.x\wtm_wtx\datfiles\ftp
\WebTrends\modules\analysis\engine\8.x\wtm_wtx\datfiles\zipcache
4. If you are running MySQL, you may have a large error log. Check for the following files, and if it is growing to over 10 or 20 M, you can delete it:
\Webtrends\common\database\mysql\data\*.err
II. Reducing backup storage
To reduce the size of the 'backup' files, simply reduce the retention time of the profile backups in the interface (Administration -> System Management -> Backup/Restore -> Options -> "Configuration Backups" and "Data Backups").
III. Database clean up
Several tables in the database can grow to unusual size and should be truncated when they grow large. To truncate a table, open a command line on the WebTrends server running MySQL and cd to the following directory:
\Webtrends\common\database\mysql\bin\
Type the following command:
mysql -u -p
When prompted, enter your MySQL password.
Change to the database that contains the table you want to truncate with one of the following commands:
use wtmaster
use wt_sched
To delete the contents of a table, use the following command:
delete * from ;
Below is a list of the tables that can be safely truncated under the database in which they can be found.
In wtmaster, truncate:
wt_analysissummary
wt_servicestatus
In wt_sched, truncate:
wt_analysistime
wt_eventstatus
wt_hostmetrichistory
wt_hoststatus
wt_taskstatus
wt_taskchronicle
Once you are finished truncating tables, run the following two commands:
mysqlcheck.exe -r --databases wt_sched -u Administrator -p
mysqlcheck.exe -r --databases wtmaster -u Administrator -p
Both should finish with "OK's" for all tables. If one of them displays something other than OK as it runs, run it a second time.
For MS SQL execute the following SQL statements in a front-end tool such as MS SQL Server Management Studio Express:
In wtmaster, truncate:
DELETE FROM wtmaster.dbo.wt_analysissummary;
DELETE FROM wtmaster.dbo.wt_servicestatus;
In wt_sched, truncate:
DELETE FROM wt_sched.dbo.wt_analysistime;
DELETE FROM wt_sched.dbo.wt_eventstatus;
DELETE FROM wt_sched.dbo.wt_hostmetrichistory;
DELETE FROM wt_sched.dbo.wt_hoststatus;
DELETE FROM wt_sched.dbo.wt_taskstatus;
DELETE FROM wt_sched.dbo.wt_taskchronicle;
Mircea Cantar
How do I clear web browser and Java cache?
How do I clear web browser and Java cache?
Description:
Cache works by saving pieces of web pages and Java content locally on the visitor's hard drive. This can dramatically speed up how fast web pages and Java render. On rare occasions, the cache stored can become corrupted and we'll need to erase it so that we can obtain a good copy the next time we visit the web page.
Here is how to delete both your web browser can Java cache.
If you use Internet Explorer 6 as your web browser:
- Close all running web browsers
- Go into the Control Panel
- Go into "Internet Options"
- Click on the "Delete Files" button under "Temporary Internet Files"
- Check the box for "All Offline Content" and click OK
If you use Internet Explorer 7 as your web browser:
- Close all running web browsers
- Go into the Control Pane
- Go into "Internet Options"
- Click on the "Delete" button under "Browsing History"
- Locate the "Temporary Internet Files" section and click the "Delete Files" button
- Click "Yes" on the prompt
If you use Firefox as your web browser:
- Open Firefox
- Click on Tools
- Select Options
- Click on the "Cache" tab
- Select "Clear Cache Now"
Java:
- Close all instances of Internet Explorer
- Go To Start > Settings > Control Panel
- Open the Control Panel Applet labeled "Java"
- Click the Settings Button listed under "Temporary Internet Files"
- Click on "Delete Files"
- Verify all check boxes are checked
- Click OK until you are out of the Applet.
Mircea Cantar
How Do I Get An Improved On-Site Search Terms Report?
How Do I Get An Improved On-Site Search Terms Report?
For Products:
WebTrends Analytics 8.5
WebTrends Analytics 8.5a
On-Site Search Terms Found and Not Found reports
Situation:
In visits where a visitor conducts multiple on-site searches, that return both found and not found result sets, the not found terms will also show up in the found report. This is due to several measures in the report that look across the whole visit.
Solution:
To work around this issue, Webtrends recommends creating a custom report that follows the guidelines detailed below. As an added benefit, this approach uses a set of new measures that will increase the insight you can get out of a single report. In the case where many of your "not found phrases" reside outside of the data available in the report, we recommend a second report that is specifically focused on the phrases not found.
Like most WebTrends reports, you will need to pass specific parameters at the time you return your search results. These are the same parameters that feed the existing reports. For details about these parameters, reference the WebTrends Query Parameters section in the Administrators Guide located in the Customer Center.
New Custom Report Instructions:
Revised On-Site Search Term Performance
Dimension = On-Site Search Phrase - Exclude activity without dimension data
Measure 1: On-Site Searches (Count)
Measure 2: On-Site Search Term Found (Count)
Measure 3: On-Site Search Term Not Found (Count)
Measure 4: Visits
Measure 5: Revenue (no sum) (Sum)
Measure 6: Average Revenue per Order - Revenue (no sum) (Average)
Measure 7: Units (no sum) (Sum)
Measure 8: Average Units - Units (no sum) (Average)
Measure 9: Orders (no sum) (Count)
On-Site Search Terms Not-Found
Dimension = On-Site Search Phrase - Exclude activity without dimension data
Measure 1 = On-Site Search Term Not-Found - count
Note: After you have completed setting up the reports, remember to apply them to the desired profiles and templates.
Mircea Cantar
What default ports does WebTrends use?
What default ports does WebTrends use?
For products:
WebTrends Analytics 8.x
WebTrends Analytics 7.x
Last modified:
03/25/2009
Introduction:
By default, WebTrends uses the following ports with services listed below:
WebTrends - Apache [7099]
WebTrends - Email Notification Service [25]
WebTrends - Geotrends [7199]
WebTrends - MySQL [3306]
WebTrends - Report Cache Server [7299]
WebTrends - Tomcat [8007 & 8009)]
If data sources are defined using FTP, then the following FTP ports will be used to access the data sources:
FTP [20 & 21]
For versions 8.5x and above, and earlier versions of the product MS SQL:
SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) [1433] (Note - WebTrends will not recognize any port other than the default.)
WebTrends Software/Product Updates - 80
WebTrends Licensing Updates - 443
Mircea Cantar
How do I accurately track revenue for my commerce site in WebTrends?
How do I accurately track revenue for my commerce site in WebTrends?
The minimum requirement for tracking revenue in WebTrends is to pass WT.tx_s on the hit you wish to record revenue for. While this will provide some preliminary reporting it can be improved.
One of the potential issues that can be associated with only passing WT.tx_s is duplicate orders. For instance, if a user refreshes a page that contains WT.tx_s an order will be logged for each refresh. This will cause an increase in the revenue being reported. The same behaviour can occur if a user saves the page WT.tx_s is on and opens it at a later date or if they bookmark the page and come back to it at a later time.
The accuracy of the revenue being reported is increased by passing the parameters below. The more of these parameters that are present, the better your accuracy is. All of these parameters work in concert to remove duplicate entries in the log files that can occur because of the above scenarios.
WT.pn_sku - Identifies the SKU of the product. Use semicolons to pass multiple SKUs for the order.
WT.tx_u - Defines the quantity of items purchased. If the order contains multiple products, pass a semicolon-delimited list of units.
WT.tx_s - Defines the total cost for each WT.pn_sku or individual item value. If the order contains multiple SKUs, pass a semicolon-delimited list of values for this parameter. However, do not pass a dollar sign ($) or comma(,) in the subtotal variable.
WT.tx_e - This parameter identifies the type of transaction. It is used as a qualifier in measure definitions, along with the WT.tx_u to determine which product to count for a measure. To track Product Views, Product Cart Adds, and Product Cart Removes, this parameter takes the value p (purchase), v (view), a (add), or r (remove) respectively. The Product Views measure, for example, is based on WT.tx_u and uses WT.tx_e=v as a qualifier.
WT.tx_i - The invoice number. This parameter identifies the invoice number for the purchase. The visitor history scripts use this value to protect against a visitor refreshing the page after a purchase is made. If WebTrends sees a hit with an invoice number then that hit is compared against the last three invoices. If it does not match the invoice then WebTrends considers it a new purchase.
WT.tx_id - The format is mm/dd/yy. A 4-digit year is also allowed: mm/dd/yyyy. The purchase invoice date. If the date of purchase is three days older than the date of the visit, then no purchase was made. If the purchase was less than three days, the WT.tx_i parameter is used to determine if the hit is a valid purchase. This parameter is used to prevent erroneous purchases. For example, a visitor makes a purchase. The purchase is accounted with an invoice date. The user saves a bookmark to the page. Five days later, the visitor goes to the bookmarked page. This causes another hit to be sent to WebTrends. However, the WT.tx_id parameter still contains the original purchase date. WebTrends sees that the date of the hit is several days after the date found in the WT.tx_id parameter and determines that this is not an actual purchase.
WT.tx_it - The format is hh:mm:ss where hh is in a 24-hour format (00 = midnight, 23 = 11pm). This parameter is the time of the invoice and helps determine when an invoiced purchase was made. This value is used along with WT.tx_id and WT.tx_i to determine if the purchase was a valid purchase or if this was a user refreshing the Web page after a purchase or returning to the page to check status. This parameter is used to prevent erroneous purchases.
An example of a URL passing all of these parameters is listed below.
http://www.zedesco.com/confirmation.html?WT.pn_sku=5461;6515;5466&WT.tx_u=5;1;3&WT.tx_s=5.00;1.00;3.00&WT.tx_e=p&WT.tx_i=656156&WT.tx_id=04/01/2006&WT.tx_it=15:51:36
SKU 5461 would have 5 units purchased for a total of $5.00.
SKU 6515 would have 1 unit purchases for $1.00.
SKU 5466 would have 3 units purchased for a total of $3.00.
The revenue associated with this order would be $9.00 for invoice number 656156 and would have been placed on April 1st 2006 at 3:51:36 PM. If this page was refreshed or viewed again it would not count an order because the date and time have already passed. This will show as one order in the per product sku where product skus are reported (in this case three orders), and one order for the campaign if a campaign is associated with the order.
Please note parameters that accept multiple values should not use the “;” separator for single values.
Mircea Cantar
How does WebTrends count licensed pageviews?
How does WebTrends count licensed pageviews?
For Products:
WebTrends 7
WebTrends Analytics 8
WebTrends Analytics 8.1
WebTrends Analytics 8.5
Last Modified: 2/23/2009
Situation:
You want to know how WebTrends counts licensed page views.
Solution:
Pageviews are counted on a per logfile analyzed basis.
A check sum is created for each log file to identify it uniquely. The pageviews in a log file are only counted once. No matter how many data sources or profiles point to the log file, nor how many times the file is analyzed, the pageviews are only counted against the license once, as long as the log files are static (i.e. the data in the file itself does not change).
WebTrends looks at each line in a log file and considers whether it should count against your license.
To find more information on your licensing, from a command prompt navigate to the webtrends\common\lib folder and enter the the following command:
wtlicman -s
This brings up the settings on your license. There is a line entitled "Nonpageview Extensions." These are the only file types that are NOT counted against your license; all other hits in the log are counted against your pageview license.
Your anniversary date is the date you installed the product and activated the license. Upon the first successful analysis of data from your anniversary month, a new count will begin for the current 12-month period ("anniversary year"), starting at 0. Once licensed pageviews are used, deleting profiles or data sources does not bring them back.
Mircea Cantar
Enabling debug mode for the Report Exporter installer
Enabling debug mode for the Report Exporter installer
For products:
WebTrends Analytics (All versions - Non-Vista installs only)
Last modified: 04/06/09
Introduction/Situation:
The WebTrends Report Exporter fails to install, possibly displaying some combination of error messages in either the Java console or a DOS prompt. You want to enable the installer debugging to try to generate further debug logs.
Process:
Currently, this option is only available when running the report exporter manually, and only on non-Vista operating systems.
To enable debugging
1. Retrieve the WebTrends Report Exporter installer (docutil_installer.zip) from your WebTrends server. It is located in your WebTrends install folder under \storage\config\component\reportexporter\docutil_installer.zip. You can also download a copy by logging into WebTrends and going to Install Components > Accessories > WebTrends Client Components Installations and downloading the full client components package.
2. Extract the contents of the zip file to a folder. In that folder, find and edit the install.bat file.
3. Find the following text:
REM Run the program
%WT_JAVA% -classpath %WT_CLASSPATH% com.webtrends.docutil.installer.DocUtil_Installer %*
change it to read:
REM Run the program
%WT_JAVA% -classpath %WT_CLASSPATH% com.webtrends.docutil.installer.DocUtil_Installer %* -debug > debug.txt
4. Save your changes.
5. Run the install.bat file. A debug.txt file is created in the Report Exporter install folder.
If you want to simply run the installer in debug mode without creating text file, you can simply add -debug to the install string without the file redirection. Doing this will cause the installer to open a DOS prompt and display the debug messages inline with the installer while it runs. If you choose to do this, the DOS prompt will close when the installer finishes, however, you will be able to read the debug messages until you cancel out of the install process.
A sample debug file is attached to this document.
Mircea Cantar
How does WebTrends capture the connection type?
How does WebTrends capture the connection type?
For products:
WebTrends Analytics 8.x
WebTrends Enterprise 7.x
WebTrends Professional 7.x
WebTrends Small Business 7.x
Last modified:
07/26/2007
Introduction:
How does WebTrends capture the connection type?
Process:
By querying the connections setting that can be viewed on the connection tab under the browser options menu.
WT.ct=connectiontype
Valid values are lan, modem, and offline.
This parameter identifies the visitor’s connection type. An example of when to use this parameter would be to determine whether visitors can download media on your site that requires a high-bandwidth connection.
This parameter value can only be passed for visitors using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or higher.
Mircea Cantar
Upgrading WebTrends 7.x to WebTrends 8.x
Upgrading WebTrends 7.x to WebTrends 8.x
For Products:
WebTrends Analytics 8.0x
WebTrends Small Business 7.x
WebTrends Professional 7.x
WebTrends Enterprise 7.x
Last Modified: 10/4/2007
Intoduction:
Upgrading WebTrends 7.x to WebTrends 8.x
Process:
There are two basic types of WebTrends installations, stand-alone or distributed. If you have all of you WebTrends components on one computer, you have a stand-alone installation. If you have multiple components spread across multiple computers, you have a distributed installation. This document tells you how to upgrade your existing installation without losing any of your profile configurations or analyzed report data. Please follow the steps in the section below that applies to your installation.
To upgrade a WebTrends stand-alone installation from 7.x to 8.x
1. Download the install files for the latest version of WebTrends. You can find these files at FTP://ftp.webtrends.com/wrc//wt-windows.exe. The current version is:
FTP://ftp.webtrends.com/wrc/80d/wt-windows.exe
2. Stop all of the WebTrends services. (You can do this from the services control panel applet.) Be sure to stop any services from older copies of WebTrends Reporting Series or Log Analyzer as well.
3. Backup the \WebTrends\Storage folder, and the \WebTrends\common\database\mysql\data\wtmaster and wt_sched folders.
4. Start the WebTrends - MySQL service (or your MS SQL services if you are using MS SQL installed on your WebTrends server as your system database).
5. Run the wt-windows.exe file that you downloaded in step one.
6. Click Next through the various screens, and when the installation prompts asking if you want to import data from your old installation, say yes.
To upgrade a distributed installation using MySQL from 7.x to 8.x
1. Download the install files for the latest version of WebTrends to the primary computer in your distributed installation. You can find these files at FTP://ftp.webtrends.com/wrc//wt-windows.exe. The current version is:
FTP://ftp.webtrends.com/wrc/80d/wt-windows.exe
2. Stop all of the WebTrends services. (You can do this from the services control panel applet.) Be sure to stop any services from older copies of WebTrends Reporting Series or Log Analyzer as well.
3. Backup the \WebTrends\Storage folder, and the \WebTrends\common\database\mysql\data\wtmaster and wt_sched folders.
4. Start the WebTrends services.
5. Uninstall all distributed nodes except for the primary (running the database). You will install these again after the upgrade. There is no way around this. If you are using MS SQL as your system database, and it is installed on a computer other than your WebTrends primary, you must leave this component in place.
6. Stop the following services (if they exist):
WebTrends - Scheduler agent
WebTrends - User Interface
WebTrends - Express analysis engine
WebTrends - Express data mover
7. Run the wt-windows.exe file that you downloaded in step one.
8. Click Next through the various screens, when you get to the database information, verify that the path, port, username, and password for your system database are correct, and then click next.
9. When the installation prompts asking if you want to import data from your old installation, say yes.
Mircea Cantar
8.5 Pre-upgrade checklist
8.5 Pre-upgrade checklist
For Product/s:
WebTrends Analytics 8.5x
Further Information:
Attached document provides an upgrade checklist as well as best practices to consider when upgrading to MLA 8.5x
Supported Upgrade Paths to 8.5x:
8.0d -> 8.5x
8.1a -> 8.5x
Mircea Cantar
Setting UNC Share Folder permissions for the WebTrends service account
Situation:
You need to set up a UNC share with the appropriate permissions and security settings.
Solution:
Edit the Sharing and Security permissions for the UNC share folder.
To edit the Permissions:
1. Browse the Network and locate the desired folder.
2. Right Click on the Folder, and then click "Sharing and Security..."
3. On the Sharing tab, click Share This Folder and enter the desire share name.
4. Click Permissions.
5. If the WebTrends service account is not listed click Add.
6. If the Domain is not selected under "From This Location:", click Locations, and select the proper Domain.
7. Type the service account name in the "Enter the object names to select" textbox.
8. Click Check Names to verify the account name.
9. Click OK.
10. Select the account name in the Group or User names list. Check Full Contol under Allow in the Permissions listbox.
11. Click Apply > OK.
12. On the Security tab, if the WebTrends service account is not listed explicitly by name, click Add.
13. If the Domain is not selected under "From This Location:", click Locations, and select the proper Domain.
14. Type the service account name in the "Enter the object names to select" textbox, and then click Check Names to verify the account name.
15. Click OK.
16. Select the account name in the Group or User names list.
17. Check Full Contol under Allow in the Permissions listbox.
18. Click Apply > OK.
NOTE: For troubleshooting purposes we ask that you add the name of the service account to the Sharing and Security sections rather than just the Group that it belongs to.
Mircea Cantar
How do I exclude activity from common spiders and robots from my reports?
Affected Environments
· WebTrends Log Analyzer 8.X
· WebTrends Log Analyzer Advanced 8.X
· WebTrends Reporting Center 6.X
· WebTrends Reporting Service 6.X
Solution
To filter out activity by common spiders and robots from your report, you
first must create a browser filter, and then either enable the filter
globally or enable it on a per-profile basis. Note: WebTrends already has
a pre-defined browser filter for common robots and spiders, which you can
select during the filter creation process.
To create the filter, follow these steps:
1) From the AdminConsole, click *Filters* | *Hit Filters* | *Add*.
2) Select *Include* or *Exclude*, and click *Next*.
3) Give this filter a unique name. Select *Include/Exclude
activity based on* and place a check next to *Browser*. Click *Next*.
4) Click the drop-down menu, and under the *Robots & Spiders*
heading, select *Common Spiders & Robots*. The common spiders and robots
are listed in the subsequent field. If this list is not comprehensive
enough, you may add additional items by separating entries with a
space. Click *Next*.
5) Review the summary and once completed, click *Finish*. You
will then see the exclude filter you just created listed under *Hit
Filters*.
6) If you wish this filter to be applied to all profiles, place a
check next to *Global*.
The next report that is run will reflect this change. If you wish for
this filter to affect previous reports, it is necessary to re-analyze
the profile.
Mircea Cantar
How do I setup SDC manually?
How do I setup SDC manually?
Affected Environments
WebTrends Smart Source Data Collector
Solution
If there is an error when installing SDC, it may not create the web site for you. Below is the information needed to do this, should the need arise.
To install WebTrends SmartSource Data Collector on Microsoft IIS 6.0, carry
out the following steps:
1) Install the program as usual; however, at the end of the
installation note there is a message saying:
"Setup was unable to successfully configure the SDC ISAPI filter.
Select the OK button to complete the installation."
2) Open the IIS management console. Note, there is no WebTrends
SmartSource Data Collector (SDC) web site. It needs to be created
manually.
a) In the MMC, right click Web Sites, and choose New Web site.
b) Follow the New Web Site Wizard through the questions of web
site name, IP address, port (keep in mind that unless you change the
default web site, port 80 is already occupied), path (/Util/content), and permissions (read). This should
complete the wizard.
3) Right click the new web site just created, and choose
Properties, followed by the ISAPI Filters* tab.
4) Add iislogserver.dll, located in directory, "/bin". Then, select Apply, and OK.
5) Restart IIS and it should work as usual. It is not sufficient
to stop and start the SDC web site, as the inetinfo process needs to be
restarted. You can do this by running IISReset from a command prompt, or
in the MMC, right click the Internet Information Services Manager | All
Tasks | Restart IIS.
Additional Configuration:
1) Click the Web Site tab.
2) Disable the HTTP Keep-Alives (HTTP Keep-Alives Enabled)
checkbox. This is highly recommended so that each request is discrete.
3) Disable the IIS Logging (Enable Logging) checkbox. This is
highly recommended because SDC does its own logging.
4) Click the Home Directory tab.
5) Disable Script source access, Write, Directory browsing, Log
visits, and Index this resource. Enable Read.
6) Remove unnecessary application settings. Click Remove.
7) Click the Documents tab.
8) Clear the default documents (Enable Default Document) checkbox.
9) Clear the footers (Enable Document Footer) checkbox.
10) Click Custom Errors tab.
11) Select all HTTP Errors and select Set to Default.
12) Click OK.
Add NETWORK SERVICE identity with the appropriate Permissions for the
following directories and files:
1) Log file directory (default is "\log") to
Allow: Write.
2) "\log" directory to Allow: Read, Write.
3) "\bin\identity" file to Allow: Read, Write.
4) "\bin\licdta" file to Allow: Read, Write.
Repeat the following for each directory and file from above:
1) Right click on directory or file, and choose Properties,
followed by the Security tab.
2) Add NETWORK SERVICE identity.
3) Clear all Deny checkboxes, set the appropriate Allow
checkboxes. Then select Apply, and OK.
*Important:* By default, the newly created SDC web site is configured to use
the Default Application Pool. Make sure that the maximum number of worker
processes for the Default Application Pool is set to 1.
Please do not make changes to production web servers without consulting the
server Administrator.
Mircea Cantar
Can WebTrends Analytics be installed on VMWare?
Can WebTrends Analytics be installed on VMWare?
Affected Environments:
WebTrends Analytics 8.x
WebTrends Enterprise 7.x
WebTrends Professional 7.x
WebTrends Small Business 7.x
Solution:
Requirements:
• Instance must meet minimum system requirements.
Guidelines:
WebTrends provides support and troubleshooting for WebTrends on the VMWare instance as though it is a non-VMWare instance. Any questions or issues that arise specifically with VMWare itself cannot be addressed by WebTrends support, other than verifying the appropriate resources to run WebTrends have been allocated to the instance that WebTrends is running on.
If an issue comes up with running WebTrends software on a VMWare instance, WebTrends addresses these as follows:
· If WebTrends cannot reproduce the situation on a non-VMware instance:
o If VMWare is the actual cause of a situation, the only solution will be to go to a non-VMWare environment.
o OR
o There may be other applications within the VMWare that conflicts with WebTrends in. If so:
- WebTrends will require the customer to turn off all other VMWare instances and installed running apps on the machine to determine if they’re the cause. If deemed the cause, the customer will need to take on the task of moving the other applications to a new machine or turning them off.
For tuning information on VMWare, go to the following address - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi_performance_tuning.pdf
Note: VMWare is the only currently supported virtual configuration. Others such as Microsoft Virtual Server are not currently supported at this time.
Mircea Cantar
How to track RSS feeds and RIA?
How to track RSS feeds and RIA?
Supported product versions:
WebTrends Analytics 8.x with SmartSource Data Collector
Solution:
When tracking an RSS feed, there are basically 3 events that we can track.
1. Tracking the feed itself, that is, how many times the feed went out an aggregator. We can get this by standard log file analysis from whatever server distributes the feeds. Simply edit the link that goes out to your content, (something like blah/blah2/feed.aspx?param1=foo¶m2=bar) and look for them in the logs. This may or may not be a useful statistic for you as it's going to cost a lot of page views, and it only tells you how many times the aggregators grabbed the feed from your server, not how many times it was viewed or clicked on.
2. Tracking article views. To do this you'll need a functioning SDC server. What we do here is simply insert a dcs.gif request of some type in the article description that goes out. When the article description is viewed in a tool that allows java, you can actually use the whole tag itself, in other viewers you may have to just accept using a hard coded dcs.gif request similar to the noscript portion of a standard tag (you'll loose the visitor tracking benefits of the SDC tag since we're not setting any cookies then, but you'll at least log a hit). Some viewers don't even allow images to load, so in that case we've got no way to track the article view.
3. Tracking article clickthroughs from the viewer to the article page. To do this, simply tag the target page with an SDC tag, and include whatever parameters you want in the link from the article description to the target page (for example, WT.rss=rss). You can then use whatever parameter based reporting you want in WebTrends to track this.
We can also use dcsmultitrack code to bind on-click events within the article description to track clickthroughs of different links and distinguish views from the aggregator from someone who bookmarks the link from their end browser.
****************************************
Clarification of terms used in the reports:
RSS Subscription
Definition: The number of new subscriptions for the selected time period.
Data Collection: This data should be collected using a DcsMultiTrack event. For example, if you have a RSS feed link or "add to Google Reader" link, these links should be tagged to fire a subscription event when a visitor clicks on them.
Technical limitations: This will not capture subscription that occur when the user is offsite (e.g., entering the RSS feed in an aggregator directly).
RSS Article Requests
Definition: Article Clickthrough (i.e., a user clicks through to a full article based on an RSS feed entry)
Data Collection: A parameter should be appended to all article links to collect data, similar to a campaign ID.
Technical limitations: This value is not captured in the visitor history table; it is only available for the relevant visit. For RSS feeds that are automatically generated based on onsite content, the developer will probably need to create code to dynamically add the parameter to just the RSS feed links. For system like SharePoint, that are hard to code for, this may be difficult.
Feed Reads
Option A:
Definition: A request for the feed (i.e., a feed request [hit] is sent to the server)
Data Collection: Ideally, this parameter would be sent via a server side request to the data collector when a request is made.
Technical limitations: This value is not a true value of the number of request. People using stand alone aggregators will be counted once every time a request is made for the feed (this setting is usually controlled by the user and/or aggregator). However, for users using online readers like Google Reader, Yahoo, Bloglines, etc... the feed requests will be consolidated into one request that may occur only a few times a day. Based on the single requests from the online readers, the data will be distributed to the readers. This method is only helpful for capturing data at the feed level. Individual RSS article entries can not be tracked using this method.
Option B:
Definition: A user views the feed or a feed entry
Data Collection: Ideally, an image would be embedded in the RSS post that would send data to the data collector when a user views the feed.
Technical limitations: This will not capture users using aggregators that do not display images. Google Reader would count, but iGoogle homepage would not. A decision would need to be made on where the image would be embedded. Would it be embedded in every post? (driving up reads, but allowing us to populate feed reads for individual posts) or would it only be embedded sporadically (in one post a day for feeds that) to get a general idea of overall traffic at the feed level. Again, this may be difficult for developers to add these images just to the RSS feed if the content is being populated automatically based on onsite content.
Media Type
Definition: The method of delivering multimedia content (audio, video). This could be an audio file, a video stream, an online movie or any other audio/visual presentation that merges new and old media. This report should not be used for Flash or Silverlight applications that do not serve media; the RIA reports are for tracking general online applications.
Data Collection: For Flash and Silverlight, content can be sent via dcsMultitrack requests. For other formats (Real Audio, Windows video, MP3) direct dcsMultiTrack calls should be made.
Technical limitations: The out of the box reports only include "events" which may different based on the content and our ability to track the content. For technologies where we can measure milestone (Flash, Silverlight), we will still probably want to make additional custom reports to track the amount of the clip watched. Other formats will still be limited to the onClick.
Clip Name
Definition: The name of the multimedia content (MP3 title, streaming media feed name).
Data Collection: Same as Media Type.
Technical limitations: Same as Media Type.
RIA Application
Definition: The name of the Rich Internet Application (RIA) (usually an AJAX, Silverlight or Flash). For example, a website may have a Coupon application, where users can view and print coupons. That might be referred to as "Coupon Application".
Data Collection: Use whatever method is standard for that application type.
Technical limitations: Requires developer to tag application.
RIA Feature
Definition: The feature of an application that a user interacts with. In our coupon example, that would be "printing" or "viewing" coupons. The feature will usually be an action verb (print, view, bookmark, search).
Data Collection: Same as RIA Application.
Technical limitations: Same as RIA Application.
RIA Content
Definition: The content interacted with. In our coupon example this would be the specific coupon a user viewed or printed (e.g., 50% off all DVD players).
Data Collection: Same as RIA Application.
Technical limitations: Same as RIA Application.
Mircea Cantar
What are regular expressions?
What are regular expressions?
Affected Environments
· WebTrends Analytics 8.x
· WebTrends 7.5
Solution
Regular expressions provide a powerful means for matching patterns of
characters. Regular expressions (REs) are understood by a number of commands including ed, ex, sed, awk, grep, egrep, expr and even vi.
Refer to the following sections of this article to learn more about Regular Expressions and how to use them with your WebTrends product.
· Building Regular Expressions
· Comparing Regular Expressions with Wildcards
· Matching Order Rules
· Regular Expression Syntax
*Building Regular Expressions* (Examples)
Most regular expressions you will ever need to use are very simple, often
consisting of a few basic elements.
*Example 1:*
If you wanted to match all of the values that begin with "couch," your regular expression would be as follows:
^couch
*Example 2: *
If you wanted to match all the values that end with Â"couch,Â" your regular expression would be as follows:
couch$
*Example 3: *
In some cases, you may have an either/or situation. In this case you would use the pipe symbol (|) to combine two regular expressions.
For example, couch|chair would match a value containing either couch or (|) chair, i.e. blue_chair, chair_55, big_couch_55, etc.
*Example 4:*
In this example, you are trying to match three months of your product news. You might use the following regular expression to define a qualifying page URL that contains any product news HTML pages from January, February or March:
/product/news/(jan|feb|mar)/.+\.htm
Literally, this reads:
Match any item (most likely a URL), containing the following:
/product/news/ , followed by either jan, feb, or mar , followed by / and one
or more of any character (.+), followed by .htm.
This would return the following URLs:
/product/news/jan/chair.htm
/product/news/feb/mirror.htm
/product/news/mar/couch.htm
/product/news/jan/table.htm
/product/news/jan/table.html
*but not:*
/product/news/jan/chair.asp
/product/news/jan/chair.gif
/product/news/jan/.htm
/product/news/apr/chair.htm
*Example 5:*
In this example, we want to match all URLs that indicate that an individual product in the furniture category has been registered. We would use the following regular expression to define our qualifying page URL: ^/product/furniture/.+/register.htm
Literally, this reads:
Match all URLs that begin with /product/furniture/, followed by one or more occurrences of any character, followed by /register.htm.
The following URLs would be matched:
/product/furniture/couch/register.htm
/product/furniture/chair/register.htm
/product/furniture/couch/register.htm
/product/furniture/bedroom/armoire/register.htm
*but not*
/product/furniture/index.htm
* Comparing Regular Expressions with Wildcards*
Refer to the table below to see how you might use a wildcard or regular
expression to .accomplish the same thing.
*Wildcard (*) * *Regular *Meaning*
Expression*
*chair* chair contains chair
*chair chair$ ends with chair
chair* ^chair begins with chair
chair (no wildcard) ^chair$ is exactly chair
*Matching Order Rules*
There are several rules involved with how regular expression matching
occurs:
1) The first match found takes priority over other matches found if there are two matching input strings.
2) The left-most match takes priority in a list of concatenated expressions.
3) The matches found using *, +, and ? are considered longest first.
4) Nested constructs are evaluated from the outside in.
See attached document for a list of regular expressions.
Mircea Cantar
What log file formats are supported by WebTrends v7.x and v8.x?
What log file formats are supported by WebTrends v7.x and v8.x?
Affected Environments
· WebTrends 7 Enterprise
· WebTrends 7 Professional
· WebTrends 7 Small Business
· WebTrends 7 Basic
Analytics 8.x
Solution
Supported Web Log File Formats:
· Apache Common Log File Format
· Apache Extended Log File Format
· Apache Extended with Cookies Log File Format
· Best Internet Log File Format
· CERN Log File Format
· Emwac Log File Format
· IBM Internet Connection Secure Server Log File Format
· Lotus Domino Log File Format (no longer supported as of V8.x)
· Market Focus Log File Format
· MCI Log Format
· Microsoft Extended Log File Format v3.0 (Microsoft IIS -
produced using WebTrends Plug-in)
· Microsoft IIS International Date Log File Format
· Microsoft IIS 4.0 (W3C Extended Log File Format)
· Microsoft IIS 5.0 (W3C Extended Log File Format)
· Microsoft IIS 6.0 (W3C Extended Log File Format)
· NCSA Combined (Extended) Log File Format
· NCSA Common Log File Format
· NCSA Common Multi Home Log File Format
· Netscape Enterprise Server Log File Format
· Netscape FastTrack Log File Format
· Netscape IPlanet Log File Format
· Open Market Log File Format
· Oracle Log File Format
· Purveyor Extended Log File Format
· Purveyor Multi-Home Log File Format
· Spry Log File Format
· WebLogic Common Log File Format
· WebLogic Extended Log File Format
· WebSphere Log File Format
· WebSite Combined Multi-Home Log File Format
· WebSite Common Multi-Home Log File Format
Supported Streaming Media Server Formats:
· Microsoft Netshow v3.0 Log File Format
· Microsoft Windows Media Server v4.1 Log File Format
· QuickTime Streaming Media Server 2.0 Access Log File Format
· Real Audio Log File Format
· RealNetworks Basic Server Plus G2 Log File Format
· RealServer 5.01 Log File Format
Mircea Cantar
Custom dates vs. canned ranges
Custom dates vs. canned ranges
For products:
Webtrends Analytics v8.x
Webtrends Enterprise 7.x
Webtrends Professional 7.x
Webtrends Small Business 7.x
Situation:
When viewing a custom date range instead of a canned range, visitor counts are much higher than expected.
Solution:
This is because the visitor counts cannot be calculated in real time when generating the report.
Here is an example:
From 05/18/2005 to 06/19/2005:
Visitors : 467
Visitors Who Visited Once : 109
Visitors Who Visited More Than Once : 358
Average Visits per Visitor : 5.39
Visits 2,519
From 05/18/2005 to 06/17/2005:
Visitors : 612
Visitors Who Visited Once : 191
Visitors Who Visited More Than Once : 421
Average Visits per Visitor : 4.11
Visits 2,516
Visitor statistics are not always going to be accurate using custom date ranges.
If a visitor comes to your site on Monday, and again on Tuesday, he is going to be counted as a separate visitor if we look at each of those days individually. However, if we look at those two days together, he would be considered a single visitor.
The database tables are compiled into five separate time "buckets" that are used for reporting. They are:
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
Yearly.
When looking at a report for a given day, all of the information for that day has been aggregated. This means, if a visitor comes to the site, leaves, and comes back again, we have only counted them as a single visitor (assuming the unique identifier for that visitor remains the same).
The next time span up from that is a week. So, if we look at a weekly report, and if the example visitor has been to the site on Monday and Tuesday, this report will have aggregated that data so that they appear only as a single visitor.
There is not a two, three, four, five, or six day time bucket. If we look at a report using a custom date range so we only get data for Monday and Tuesday, there is no single table covering both of those days. When the request is made for this report, the only option for compiling the report is to sum the numbers. That means in the weekly report, the visitor will only show as a single visitor, but the custom two-day report will show two separate visitors.
The only way to do this differently would be to try and aggregate the numbers on the fly when the custom date range was selected. However, this would literally require a complete reanalysis of the data for that time period. Unfortunately, that just isn't practical.
What this all means is that the date range chosen requires Webtrends to make a choice on which buckets it is going to use to fulfill the report request. It will take the largest buckets it can through the given time period. In this case, a start date has been chosen that begins in the middle of a week; a Wednesday, to be precise. The fact that this is not the beginning of a month, and in the middle of a week, means only daily buckets can be used up until the end of that week.
So, the following days will not be aggregated:
5/18/2005
5/19/2005
5/20/2005
5/21/2005
In the first example, the next four weeks can be taken together, and so we will be able to use the entire weekly buckets through 6/18/2005, plus the final daily bucket of 6/19/2005. However, in the second example, the fourth week (and a day) have been truncated, so now only the next three weekly buckets can be used, and the remaining six days require the use of the daily buckets.
All of the data from each of these buckets is being summed. Going back to the first example, the visitors are added up in the following manner:
5/18 + 5/19 + 5/20 + 5/21 + Week22 + Week23 + Week24 + Week 25 + 6/19
In the second example, they would be added like this:
5/18 + 5/19 + 5/20 + 5/21 + Week22 + Week23 + Week24 + 6/12 + 6/13 + 6/14 + 6/15 + 6/16 + 6/17
Remove a complete week of aggregated visits and change them to be summed, and a higher number is going to be reported nearly every time. The only way it wouldn't is if all of the visitors only visited the site once and never came back again.
Notice that the “Visits” count does go down? This is because a visit can be considered separate from a visitor. The visit is only the time that the visitor was on the site, so summing this number makes a lot more sense. The exception to this is a visit that spans two given time periods. A visitor whose visit spans two days, or the split between two weeks, will have the visit counted twice. However, this is not common enough to throw the numbers off as much as the visitor counts.
In the mean-time, visitor counts using custom date ranges will often produce unexpected results. For accurate visit counts, the regular date ranges need to be used.
Mircea Cantar
How do I troubleshoot events that do not enter the queue?
Affected Environments:
Webtrends Analytics 8.0
Webtrends Enterprise 7.x
Webtrends Professional 7.x
Webtrends Small Business 7.x
Solution:
Step 1 - Make sure the Scheduler is enabled.
1. Log in to the Webtrends Administration console.
2. Click Administration > System Management > Hosts.
3. Click the blue link that reads "Scheduler".
4. If this is a stand-alone install or a distributed install master running the scheduler, make sure that both "Enable the Scheduler on this host " and "Enable the Scheduler agent on this host" are checked.
If this is a distributed install analysis node, make sure that only the "Enable the Scheduler agent on this host" is checked.
Step 2 - Restarting all Services:
1. Stop all Webtrends services.
2. Start all Webtrends services
3. Try analyzing a profile.
Step 3 - Deleting .lock files:
1. Cancel all events from the UI.
2. Navigate to <Webtrends>\modules\analysis directory
3. Remove any file with .LOCK extension.
4. Restart the Webtrends - Scheduler Agent service.
5. Try analyzing a profile.
Step 4 - Agent.conf possible corruption:
1. Navigate to <Webtrends>\modules\agent
2. Verify that there is data in the agent.conf file by opening with Notepad.
3. If agent.conf does not contain any data, locate the file agent.bak. Delete the existing BLANK agent.conf file. Rename the file agent.bak to agent.conf
4. Try analyzing a profile.
Step 5 - Repairing Database:
1. Perform the steps - How do I repair damaged MySQL databases?
2. Try analyzing a profile.
Step 6 - Truncate Scheduler Database:
1. Open a command prompt
2. Within the command prompt navigate to:
<Webtrends>\common\database\mysql\bin
3. Access the database by typing:
mysql -u <username> -p <select the enter key> You're prompted for password and once typed, hit <Enter> (this is the login to connect to MySQL, not the UI)
4. Once you're in use the following command:
use wt_sched
Truncate TABLE wt_taskqueue;
5. You will see a message: "0 records affected".
6. Type "exit" to get out of the MySQL prompt.
7. Restart the "Webtrends - MySQL" and "Webtrends - Scheduler Agent" services.
8. Try analyzing a profile.
Step 7 - Clear the WT_Environment table in the wt_sched database
1. Open a command prompt
2. Within the command prompt navigate to:
<Webtrends>\common\database\mysql\bin
3. Access the database by typing:
mysql -u <username> -p <select the enter key> You're prompted for password and once typed, hit <Enter> (this is the login to connect to MySQL, not the UI)
4. Once you're in use the following command:
use wt_sched
delete from WT_Environment;
5. You will see a message: "Query OK, 2 rows affected".
6. Type "exit" to get out of the MySQL prompt.
7. Restart the "Webtrends - MySQL" and "Webtrends - Scheduler Agent" services.
8. Try analyzing a profile.
Preventative Measures:
Do you have any anti-virus software running?
- If so, either disable OR configure the anti-virus to exclude the Webtrends directory from being scanned.
Is the "Indexing Service" enabled on the computer where Webtrends is installed?
- If so we will need to disable the service.
Make sure that no other applications are installed/running on the WebTrends machine. Any other processes running on the same machine will require WebTrends to compete for resources which will end up slowing the analysis process and could lead to database corruption.
Mircea Cantar
How do I directly access report content by manipulating a URL?
Affected Environments:
Webtrends Analytics v8.x
Webtrends Enterprise v7.x
Webtrends Professional v7.x
Webtrends Small Business v7.x
Solution:
Many Webtrends administrators prefer to provide end users with a methodology to directly access reports via URL parameters or hyperlinks,
rather than have them log in. This process is called DRA (Direct Report Access). The following information describes the URL syntax required
to generate that report access using DRA. The URL to generate report access is as follows:
http://_host_:_port_/wrc/bin/OnDemandWRCReport/_profile_?_queryparameters_ Variables recognized for a DRA
URL: host - default:
localhost or port - default port: 7099
profile - Target profile name (i.e. ob8BMsziAW5.wlp)
query parameters - See below for available query parameters Parameters recognized for a DRA URL:
Query Parameter:
username - This is the username that is used to login to Webtrends and must have access to the specific profile.
password - This is the Webtrends password used in conjunction with the username. Note that the password is not going to be encrypted and will be passed as plain text.
report -Specifies the report that you want to view by default. For example, if you want to see the Pages report you would pass: "report=yPsr734n7l5" in the URL string. To retrieve the value for a particular report select the report you want to view and click the help button on the toolbar (upper right) and select "Show DRA Parameters".
dra - This option gives the user the ability to hide the calendar and table of contents when the value passed is 0. For example: dra=0 startdate - Indicates what date you want the report to start on.
Format 1: Day: YYYY.mMM.dDD Week: YYYY.wWW Month: YYY.mMM Quarter: YYYY.qQQ Year: YYYY.y YYYY Example: 2003.m12.d14
Format 2: Day: YYYY.mMM.dDD
enddate - Indicates what date you want the report to end on. Use this format when creating a non-standard period. Format: Day: YYYY.mMM.dDD
comparison
startdate - Indicates what date you want the report to compare.
Format 1: Day: YYYY.mMM.dDD Week: YYYY.wWW Month: YYY.mMM Quarter: YYYY.qQQ Year: YYYY.y YYYY Use any one of these formats when creating
standard period comparison.
Format 2: Day: YYYY.mMM.dDD Use this format when creating non-standard period comparison.
*Examples*
1) The following URL is based on a normal login through the user interface when opening a profile report:
http://localhost:7099/wrc/bin/OnDemandWRCReport/PCAnvSzdQQ5.wlp;jsessionid=3E3B378FBD48E354D9F363AB1AB223A2?new=1
2) The following URL opens the same report as above, but is using the direct access URL with username and password parameters:
http://localhost:7099/wrc/bin/OnDemandWRCReport/PCAnvSzdQQ5.wlp?username=admin&password=password
3) The following URL uses the DRA parameter value:
http://localhost:7099/wrc/bin/OnDemandWRCReport/PCAnvSzdQQ5.wlp?username=admin&password=password&dra=0
4) The following URL uses the report parameter value for the Pages report (yPsr734n7l5):
http://localhost:7099/wrc/bin/OnDemandWRCReport/PCAnvSzdQQ5.wlp?username=admin&password=password&report=yPsr734n7l5
5) The following example URL uses the StartDate and EndDate parameters:
http://localhost:7099/wrc/bin/OnDemandWRCReport/zedbig.wlp?username=admin&password=admin&startdate=2003.m12.d21&enddate=2003.m12.d23&report=yPsr734n7l5
Mircea Cantar
What is a referring URL or referrer?
· WebTrends Analysis Suite 7.0x
· WebTrends Log Analyzer 7.0x
· WebTrends Log Analyzer 8.X
· WebTrends Log Analyzer Advanced 8.X
· WebTrends Reporting Center 5.0x
· WebTrends Reporting Center 6.X
· WebTrends Reporting Service 6.X
· WebTrends Enterprise 7.0
· WebTrends Professional 7.0
· WebTrends Small Business 7.0
Solution
Referring URLs are those URLs from which a unique user arrives at your Web
site.
To meet the definition of a referring URL:
· The URL must be one from which a user first arrived at your
site; the very one that led to the start of a new visitor session (or
visit).
· The URL must contain a hypertext link to your site.
· The visitor must have clicked on that hypertext link to arrive
at your Web site.
WebTrends looks for a unique combination of elements and events as it seeks
out, identifies, and records referring URLs. To understand how the process
works, you must first understand what those elements are and how they relate
to one another.
· A unique user is a visitor who can be identified by IP address
or cookie, who can therefore be distinguished from other visitors in the
same log file as different or unique. It is the IP address or cookie
(not people themselves) that WebTrends uses to make that distinction.
· Unique Users (plural) represent the total number who visit your
site during the reporting period.
· A visitor session (or visit) is the range of all activity to
your site by a single unique visitor. By default, a visitor session ends
after 30 minutes of inactivity. A new visitor session begins whenever
WebTrends identifies a new or returning IP address or cookie.
· A referring URL is the URL given credit as that from which users
arrived at your site and began a new visitor session.
Now that you understand the terminology, we can talk about the process
WebTrends follows to identify referring URLs.
· WebTrends sessionizes the data in the log file and arranges them
into an order that allows the program to evaluate visitor data more
easily..
· During analysis, WebTrends drills down through the lines in the
sessionized log file, one event at a time, and identifies the event that
began each visitor session.
· If the event contains referral information, the URL posted in
the referral field gets credit as the referring URL.
· If the event does not contain referral information, WebTrends
gives credit to no referrer.
· WebTrends will count one referring URL (or no referrer) per
visitor session. No more. No less.
You may ask how a page from your Web site will ever get recognized as the
referring URL. There are at least two possibilities:
· A New Visitor Session Starts While a Visitor is at Your Site
Take a fictitious unique user. His name is Bill. Bill is surfing your
site, page after page after page. The phone rings. He steps away from
the computer. He comes back 40 minutes later and continues surfing your
site. What happens?
· Same IP addresses (or cookie); separate visitor sessions.
· When Bill makes his first demand on your web server to
deliver content, the Web server sees his IP address for the first
time. It identifies Bill as a unique user and begins a new visitor
session. The URL Bill just came from gets credit as the referring
URL (if it meets the three conditions at the top of this article).
· Bill then surfed from page to page (same visitor session).
· When Bill stepped away from the computer, and stayed away
for more than 30 minutes, that visitor session ended (30 minutes of
inactivity terminates the visitor session).
· When Bill came back to the computer 40 minutes after
stepping away, the very next demand he placed on the Web server
started a new visitor session. The URL he just came from (a URL on
your site) gets credit as the referring URL (if it meets the
conditions at the top of this article).
· IP Address Changes While User is Surfing Your Web Site.
We will continue to use Bill as the example. If his dynamically-assigned
IP address changes while he is surfing your web site, a new visitor
session will begin as soon as he places his next demand on the Web
server (the old one will te.rminate after 30 minutes of inactivity).
· The URL he just came from (a URL on your site) gets credit as
the referring URL (if it meets the conditions at the top of this
article).
You have a Busy Web Site
· Each demand placed on a Web server to deliver content is
considered a hit (or event). The Web server records each hit as a
separate event, and displays those events as separate lines in the log
file.
· On a busy Web site, the Web server delivers content almost
continuously - several times a second. When more than one event takes
place at the same time, the Web sever stamps each of those events with
the same exact date and time (to the second).
· When WebTrends parses the log file, it has to decide for itself
which of those events happened first. WebTrends does that during the
synchronization process. The event identified as the first of the
visitor session is the one that WebTrends looks at for evidence of
referral information.
· If that event contains reference in the referral field to a page
from your Web site, then that page (your page) gets credit as the
referring URL.
· The busier your Web site, the more often that may happen.
You may also want to know under what circumstances the referral field may be
empty; and why, therefore, WebTrends will record a no referrer. Some of the
reasons behind why that may happen appear below:
· The user (whose activity created the event) came to your Web
site by way of a bookmark.
· The user typed the URL directly into the address box in his or
her web browser.
· The user configured the Web browser to see your page as the
default start page.
· The user came to your Web site after clicking a hypertext link
in e-mail.
· The event that started the visitor session was a hit to
something other than a page, such as an image.
· The user came to your Web site by way of a java-script-based
redirect.
For example, if one site is redirecting to another site by using a
pop-up window (using any number of java script commands), the hit on
your Web server will record no referral information and WebTrends will
record a "no referrer.
Mircea Cantar
Customize page titles in WebTrends reports
How to customize page titles in WebTrends reports?
Solution - Title Parameter
The Title parameter, WT.ti, supports a single page title per page.
WT.ti
WT.ti=Title
The HTML title of the associated web content. If this parameter is found in parameter list, the value is used in the reports. When present, no other page title lookups are performed. The maximum length for Title is 1024 bytes. WT.ti always overrides other methods of page title lookup. In a case where two different pages (both having WT.ti) end up being rebuilt to the same URL (via URL Rebuilding), the last page seen wins.
Meta tag example:
<META NAME="WT.ti" CONTENT="Your_page_title">
Note:
If the page header information can not be modified, you can put the WT.ti meta statement anywhere in the html, as long as it is above the javascript tag/reference.
Mircea Cantar
Setting Permissions for the Webtrends service account
Setting Permissions for the Webtrends service account
For products:
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Webtrends Enterprise 7.x
Webtrends Professional 7.x
Webtrends Small Business 7.x
Last modified: 10/6/2009
Situation:
The Scheduler Agent service must run as a domain user if log files are located on another server across a domain or if the permissions on the "Webtrends - Scheduler Agent" service account are not configured properly.
Solution:
Edit the local security policies of both the Webtrends machine, and the computer hosting the log files.
To edit the Local Security Policies:
1. Click Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.
2. Expand the tree for Local Policies and select the User Rights Assignment folder.
3. All rights should then be listed. We need to add the domain account that you're using to the following:
Log on locally (Allow logon locally in Windows 2003 systems)
Log on as a service
Act as part of the operating system (this option is not given to any account by default).
NOTE: The user must be a member of the Administrators group for the services to properly interact with the operating system. The Report Cache Server component relies on the local administrators group and the service will fail to start if the domain user is not a member of that group.
4. Right click the entries above and then click Properties.
5. Click Add user.
6. In the text box, type the account that you want to add, and then click Check names. This should verify the account that you typed and probably change the way you typed it.
7. Click OK.
8. Repeat this process for the other two policies listed in step 3 on both the Webtrends computer, and the computer hosting the log files.
Make sure that the Webtrends services (except for MySQL, for versions 8.0x, 8.1x and 7.x) are all using the domain account to run.
To configure the Webtrends services:
1. Click Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Administrative Tools > Services.
2. Right click the "Webtrends - Scheduler Agent" service and select properties.
3. Click the Log On tab.
4. Click This account, and then click Browse.
5. In the text box, type the account that you want to add, and then click Check names. This should verify the account that you typed and probably change the way you typed it.
6. Click OK.
7. Enter the password for the account, confirm it, and then click OK.
8. Restart the "Webtrends - Scheduler Agent" service.
9. You can repeat the above steps for all Webtrends services EXCEPT the Webtrends - MySQL service. Leave this service running as Local System.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have Webtrends setup in a distributed architecture these steps must be duplicated on each one of the machines that has the scheduler agent installed.
Explicitly add the account that we used above to the Administrators group on the computer running Webtrends. This is required even if the account is a domain administrator account. The Report Cache Server component relies on the local administrators group and the service will fail to start if the domain user is not a member of that group.
To add the domain account to the administrators group:
1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative tools > Computer Management.
2. Expand Local Users and Groups, and then click Groups.
3. Right-click Administrators, and then click Add to group.
4. Click Add.
5. In the text box, type the name of the user account , and then click Check names. This should verify the account that you typed
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK.
Mircea Cantar
Webtrends 8.7d pre-upgrade checklist and best practices
Webtrends 8.7d pre-upgrade checklist and best practices
For products:
Webtrends Analytics 8.5x
Webtrends Analytics 8.7x
Last modified: 10/08/2009
Introduction:
The attached document provides an upgrade checklist and covers best practices to consider when upgrading to Webtrends 8.7d
There is only one supported upgrade path to 8.7d:
8.5a > 8.7d
Mircea Cantar
Will Microsoft patches affect my Webtrends installation?
Will Microsoft patches affect my Webtrends installation?
For products:
Webtrends Analytics 9.2
Webtrends Analytics 8.x
Introduction:
Each Webtrends release is tested with certain operating systems at the time of its release. Microsoft patches developed after a product release may not have gone through the QA cycle and their impact on a Webtrends installation are uncertain.
Prior to applying any new patches we recommend performing a backup before rolling the patches into a production environment. New patches should be thoroughly tested in a development environment before implementing them in a production environment.
The only option here is to upgrade to more recent version such as 8.7d or which includes newer patches.
Mircea Cantar
Web development
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