Auditor Help: Baseline Reports

Note: Baseline Comparisons are available in the Auditor Professional version of Ecora software. They are not available in Ecora Auditor Lite and Ecora Auditor Basic. If you are interested in the Ecora Auditor Professional, please contact a sales representative.

Ecora understands that it is important to standardize the configurations on your network; for security, performance, troubleshooting, and efficient management. Baseline Comparison reports allows you to quickly locate any deviations from whatever standard you define.

The following instructions assume the Wizard interface. If you have disabled the Wizards, scroll down for Standard interface instructions.

Warning: None of the reports can provide a thorough analysis if you do not document ALL systems in your infrastructure. A security-oriented report, for example, will necessarily have "blind spots" where systems that are not documented may have vulnerabilities.

Note: Only systems that are present in System Management appear in baseline selection. If a system does not appear, verify that at least one data collection has occurred for that system.

To create a Baseline Comparison Report using the Wizard interface:

1. Run the Ecora software.
2. Click on the Baseline button.
3. From the list of Report Types, select the report that best suits your needs.
4. Click Next >.
5. In the Baseline Object area, choose to Collect a new data set or Use an existing data set.
6. Use the tree in the Baseline Object pane to locate and select your baseline or "Gold Standard" object/data.
   Tip: You can "drill down" to specific systems or attributes and use the radio buttons to select specific systems or attributes.
7. Click Next >.
8. In the Comparison Objects area, choose to Collect a new data set or Use an existing data set.
9. Use the tree in the Comparison Objects pane to locate and select data/objects you want to compare against your baseline or "Gold Standard" object.
   Tip: You can "drill down" to specific systems or attributes and use the radio buttons to select specific systems or attributes.
10. Click Next >.
11. Make the selections appropriate to the module:
    • Active Directory
    • Check Point
    • Cisco
    • Cisco PIX
    • Citrix
    • DB2
    • Domino
    • Exchange
    • IIS
    • MS-SQL
    • Novell NetWare
    • Oracle
    • Windows
    • Unix
    • VMware
12. If prompted to verify the Option Editor, make changes and/or click OK.
    Note: In the Exchange module, you MUST change any server names listed as "Change Me" in the editor to proceed.
13. If prompted, accept the time estimate and click OK.
14. Click No when prompted to save to a file for scheduling (or click Yes, name the selection set, and see the Scheduling instructions).
15. After the report has been generated, leave the checkbox selected to View Report Now (or deselect it to return to the interface).
16. Click Finish.
17. Browse the split-screen HTML change report using the directory tree to see the deviations in each section (for details, see Report Use & Format).

To create a Baseline Comparison Report using the Standard interface:

1. Run the Ecora software.
2. Choose Reports... Baseline... or click on the Baseline button.
3. If prompted, verify or change the preparer settings and click OK.
4. Choose whether to Collect New Data or Use Existing Data in the Choose a Baseline Object area.
5. Choose to Select By Object Type, Data Set, or Context.
6. Locate and choose the baseline object or dataset in the left pane.
   Tip: You can "drill down" to specific systems or attributes and use the radio buttons to select the system or attribute to be the baseline.
7. Choose whether to Collect New Data or Use Existing Data in the Choose Comparison Objects area.
8. Locate and choose the comparison object(s) or data sets in the right pane.
   Tip: You can "drill down" to specific systems or attributes and use the check boxes to select the system or attribute to be compared.
9. Accept or enter data set name to Save Data To and the location in which to save the data using the Browse... button.
   Note: You are limited to the subdirectories you create WITHIN the default storage directory.
10. Choose whether to use an existing selection set (list of systems) or choose the systems interactively.
11. Accept or enter report name Save Report To and the location in which to save the resulting report using the Browse... button.
12. Verify or change the Report Type. (See Customizing Reports if you wish to edit a report.)
13. Click OK.
14. If you chose to collect new, set the location in which to save the data and whether you would like to use an existing selection set (list of systems) or choose the systems interactively.
    -OR-
    If you chose to use existing, select the data set.
15. Click OK.
16. If you chose to collect new data and choose the systems interactively, make the selections appropriate to the module:
    • Active Directory
    • Check Point
    • Cisco
    • Cisco PIX
    • Citrix
    • DB2
    • Domino
    • Exchange
    • IIS
    • MS-SQL
    • Novell NetWare
    • Oracle
    • Windows
    • Unix
    • VMWare
17. If prompted, accept the time estimate and click OK.
18. Click No when prompted to save to a file for scheduling (or click Yes, name the selection set, and see the Scheduling instructions).
19. Click OK.
20. Browse the split-screen HTML baseline report using the directory tree to see the deviations in each section (for details, see Report Use & Format).

Baseline Suggestions

During the baseline process data collection, you will be prompted by the Options Editor. Ecora suggests the following adjustments in the option editor in the following modules: