8 Reports

Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall provides a set of reports that you can generate and customize.

8.1 About the Reports in Audit Vault and Database Firewall

The Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall reports are automatically generated reports on collected audit and network event data from targets and from Database Firewall data.

You can save or schedule reports in either PDF or Excel format. You can also view reports online and interactively adjust the online report view by filtering data. You can save these interactive views to see them online later.

The reports are organized into various categories, such as activity reports, summary reports, compliance reports, assessment reports, alert reports, and user-defined reports. An alerts report allows you to view and respond to alerts. You can also create user-defined reports that focus on specific audit events or firewall data.

You can also produce Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), Payment Card Industry (PCI), Data Protection Act (DPA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) reports. To specify which of these reports are required for a target database, you can add the target to the appropriate group (such as the SOX group) from the Targets tab.

Auditors can view data and customize reports for targets to which they have been granted access by a super auditor. However, an auditor can also send a report to other auditors for attestation regardless of the access rights of the other auditors.

You can specify email recipients for scheduled reports once they are generated, as well as create email templates for report notifications.

Note:

Reports run faster if the audit data is in memory on the Audit Vault Server. If your Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall administrator has enabled Oracle Database In-Memory, you will see a date range in the top right corner of the Home tab. Reports for the specified date range run faster. See how to enable in memory at Enabling Oracle Database In-Memory for the Audit Vault Server.

8.2 Activity Reports

Activity reports capture information such as alerts or changes to stored procedures.

8.2.1 About the Activity Reports

Activity reports cover entitlement data, operating system correlation data, alerts, and other information.

You can access Activity Reports from the Reports tab by clicking Activity Reports. There are six groups of Activity Reports:

  • Activity Reports

  • Entitlement Reports

  • OS Correlation Reports

  • Database Firewall Reports

  • Stored Procedure Changes Reports (Stored Procedure Audit Reports if prior to AVDF 20.1)

  • DB Vault Activity

8.2.2 Activity Reports

Learn about activity reports.

Note:

The maximum limit for the ROW_LIMIT parameter is 20000. Use additional filters available to view specific audit events in the report.
8.2.2.1 About the Activity Reports

Any auditor can access the activity reports.

You can access Activity Reports from the Reports tab, and then by clicking Activity Reports tab in the left navigation menu. In the main page expand the Activity Reports section.

The default activity reports track general database access activities such as all activity, data access activities, user login/logout activities, and entitlements.

Note:

  • The Client Host (host name of the client) value is displayed in the reports only if the DNS is configured for the Audit Vault Server.
  • The Event Status value in the reports is displayed only if Database Response Monitoring is enabled for the respective monitoring point.
8.2.2.2 Activity Overview Report

The Activity Overview Report captures information about all monitored and audited events. It has been deprecated in AVDF 20.1.

The Activity Overview can be viewed from Saved Reports tab in the left navigation menu. The Activity Overview page provides a summary of all audited and monitored events.

Events appear based on their audit event time in descending order (newest record first). This report can be very large, but you can create a user defined version that filters specific audit data. By default, 15 audit records are displayed on each page.

If you suspect that the Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall data warehouse is not being refreshed with the latest audit data, then check the Activity Overview Report. If you find that the audit data that you want is not listed in this report, then ask your Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall administrator to check the server-side log files (alert and trace logs) for errors. If there are errors, then contact Oracle Support.

Note:

Apply filters based on date and time. Access the audit interactive reports. For example, Activity Overview report. Click on Actions, and then select Filter. Choose Row as the Filter Type.

In the Filter Expression field, enter the query as follows:

<event_time> BETWEEN ‘MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS PM/AM’ and ‘MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS PM/AM’

For example:

BZ BETWEEN ‘8/20/2018 2:30:50 PM’ and ‘8/20/2018 2:40:50 PM’

8.2.2.3 All Activity Report

The All Activity report displays details of all captured audit events for a specified period of time.

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.11, users can add filters in the UI interactive report and copy them to the alert condition.
  1. Navigate to the Activity Reports - All Activity page.
  2. Add a Target filter.
  3. Click on Create as alert policy.

Underneath the Condition field, users can choose either Copy condition from examples, Copy condition from alert policies, or Create condition using report.

8.2.2.4 All Activity by Privileged Users

The All Activity by Privileged Users report displays details of observed activity of privileged users targeting audit policy for a specified period of time.

8.2.2.5 Data Access Report

The Data Access report displays details of read access events.

For example: SELECT, read access to data events.

See Also:

Related Event Data Appendices for related data access audit events in a specific target type

8.2.2.6 Audit Policy Activity Report

The Audit Settings report (known as Audit Policy Activity report in Oracle AVDF 20.4 and later) is available under the Database Settings category.

It displays details of observed user activity targeting audit settings for a specified period of time.

8.2.2.7 Data Modification Report

The Data Modification report displays events that lead to data modification.

For example: DML activities (insert, update, and delete).

8.2.2.8 Data Modification Before-After Values Report

The Data Modification Before-After Values report displays before and after values of modified data in Oracle Database or Microsoft SQL Server.

Data for this report comes from the TRANSACTION LOG audit trails that are written by databases. An administrator must configure and start a TRANSACTION LOG audit trail for the target to be monitored. The location for the TRANSACTION LOG audit trail should be the Oracle Golden Gate Integrated Extract directory. See Transaction Log Audit Data Collection Reference for more information.

Starting with Oracle AVDF 20.10, the Data Modification Before-After Values report displays the key columns for an update operation, along with the modified column and its old and new values. The Primary Key-Value(s) column contains the values of the table's key columns. You can use these values to uniquely identify a modified record in the table. By default, key columns contain the values of the primary keys. If needed, you can configure any column as a key column in the Golden Gate parameter file.

You can filter the Data Modification Before-After Values report. To apply the filter on a Column Name, Before Value, and After Value, select Like as the Operator.

Note:

  • The Transaction Log collector can read the Golden Gate Integrated Extract files that contain the before and after records. Oracle GoldenGate must be configured to generate the Integrated Extract in the XML_AUDIT_VAULT XML format.
  • To check the change in a column value of a particular table, add filter on Target Object. The filter can be something like Target Object Equal to (=) table name and Column Name in the Column field. For example, if the Address column of the employee table is changed, the filter should be Target Object = EMPLOYEE and Column Name like %ADDRESS%.
  • The session information (Program Name, OS User Name, Client Host Name, OS Terminal, Process ID, Client ID) will always be empty for Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL target, because these targets do not provide the session information to the GoldenGate Extract.
  • The Command Text field will be populated by Transaction Log audit trail only for DDL operations but will always be empty for DML operations. You have to configure UNIFIED_AUDIT_TRAIL TABLE trail for Oracle target or sqlaudit DIRECTORY trail for Microsoft SQL Server target to get the Command Text for DML operations.
8.2.2.9 Database Schema Activity Report

The Database Schema report (known as Database Schema Activity report in Oracle AVDF 20.4 and later) is available under Database Settings category.

It displays information about changes in the database schema. For example: DDL commands (alter session).

8.2.2.10 Entitlement Activity Report

The Entitlements Report (known as Entitlement Activity report in Oracle AVDF 20.4 and later) is available under Entitlement Reports category.

It displays information about changes in grants of database privileges and roles. For example: DCL commands (GRANT access, revoke).

8.2.2.11 Failed Login Events Report

The Failed Login Events report displays information about failed authentication attempts.

8.2.2.12 Login and Logout Report

The Login and Logout report displays information about all successful login and logout events.

8.2.2.13 Startup and Shutdown Report

The Startup and Shutdown report displays details of observed targets startup and shutdown events for a specified period of time.

8.2.3 Entitlement Reports

The Entitlement Reports capture information such as a user's roles, object privileges, system privileges, and so on.

8.2.4 OS Correlation Reports

The OS Correlation Reports provide useful information about operating system related activities that users perform.

The Linux SU SUDO Transition report provides details of database events that are correlated with the Linux operating system user before su or sudo transition. It is specific to Oracle Database targets running on Linux. This report uses the OS and Database audit trails to correlate su and sudo activity on the Linux OS with Oracle Database audit events. This lets auditors see the original OS user in cases where this user runs a shell or executes a command as another user by using su or sudo.

For example, suppose the Linux OS user, user_01, logs in to a Linux terminal, and then performs su or sudo activity to another Linux user, user_02. Then user_01 connects as the Oracle Database user user_db locally and then remotely, and performs some database activities.The Linux SU SUDO Transition report displays the Oracle Database audit events with the additional columns OS User Transition, Transition Type, and Database Connection Type. These columns provide information about the correlation that occurred before the Oracle Database operations. For example:

Column Name Data

OS User Transition

user_01 > user_02

Transition Type

su (for a sudo operation, it would list sudo)

Database Connection Type

Local (for a remote database connection, it would be remote)

Database User Name

user_db

Similarly, the Linux SU SUDO Transition Report displays data for local and remote database connections and for SYS and non-SYS users.

In order to generate information for this report, you must have audit trails configured and running for both the Oracle Database and for the Linux OS on which the database runs. The Linux OS audit trail must be registered with a host name, and not an IP address. See Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall Administrator's Guide for instructions on how to configure audit trails in Oracle AVDF.

Be aware that if there is a slippage in Linux events, then the report does not show the correct correlation data.

Table 8-1 shows the currently available correlation reports.

Table 8-1 su/sudo Correlation Reports

Report Description

Linux SU SUDO Transition

Details of database events correlated with the Linux operating system user before su or sudo transition

8.2.5 Database Firewall Reports

The Database Firewall Reports contain data that is collected if a target is monitored by the Database Firewall (using a firewall policy).

Data displayed as part of the reports include:

  • Threat Severity
  • Target
  • User
  • OS User (Only in the Monitored Activity by OS User report)
  • Client Host
  • Client Program
  • Event
  • Object
  • Event Status
  • Event Time

Note:

  • The Client Host (host name of the client) value is displayed in the reports only if the DNS is configured for the Audit Vault Server.
  • The Event Status value in the reports is displayed only if Database Response Monitoring is enabled for the respective monitoring point.

Table 8-2 lists the Database Firewall reports.

Table 8-2 Database Firewall Reports

Report Name in Oracle AVDF 20.4 and Earlier Report Name in Oracle AVDF 20.5 and Later Description

Database Firewall Monitored Activity

Monitored Activity

SQL activity monitored by Database Firewall.

Blocked Statements

Blocked Activity

SQL activity blocked by Database Firewall.

Database Traffic Analysis by OS User

Monitored Activity by OS User

SQL activity monitored by Database Firewall grouped by OS user.

Invalid Statements

Invalid Activity

SQL activity not recognized by Database Firewall.

Warned Statements

Alert Activity

SQL activity marked as warning by Database Firewall.

8.2.6 Stored Procedure Changes

The Stored Procedure Changes auditing reports allow you to audit changes to stored procedures on target databases.

You can access Stored Procedure Changes reports from the Reports tab, and then by clicking Activity Reports in the left navigation menu. The Stored Procedure Changes reports is displayed in the list of reports on the main page.

Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall connects to the target database at scheduled intervals and discovers any changes or additions that have been made to stored procedures.

Table 8-3 lists the Stored Procedure Auditing reports.

Table 8-3 Stored Procedure Changes Report

Report Description

Created Stored Procedures

Creation history of stored procedures

Stored Procedure Modification History

Modifications of stored procedures

Deleted Stored Procedures

Deletion history of stored procedures

8.2.7 DB Vault Activity

If your Oracle Database targets have Database Vault enabled, then the Database Vault Activity report shows the details of Oracle Database Vault activity.

This report captures activities such as Database Vault events that capture policy or rule violations, unauthorized access attempts, and so on.

Oracle Database Vault may be enabled in an Oracle Database target to provide greater security by restricting access to sensitive areas of the database. For example, you can restrict administrative access to employee salaries, customer medical records, or other sensitive information.

You can check if Oracle Database Vault is enabled in a target by running the following SQL query in SQL*Plus:

SELECT PARAMETER, VALUE FROM V$OPTION WHERE PARAMETER = 'Oracle Database Vault';

Remember that the PARAMETER column value is case sensitive.

If Oracle Database Vault is enabled, the following output appears:

PARAMETER                     VALUE
----------------------------- -----------------------
Oracle Database Vault         TRUE

8.2.8 Alert Reports

The alert reports track critical and warning alerts.

Alert reports can be accessed from the Alerts tab, and then the Alerts tab in the left navigation menu.

Note:

Starting with 20.1 the alerts reports are accessed from the Alerts tab instead of from the Reports tab.

Alternatively, you can view the All Alerts report from the Reports tab and the Generated Reports tab on the left navigation menu. Enable the filter for the All Alerts report name above the table. Click the All Alerts name to download the report.

An alert is raised when data in audit records matches a predefined alert rule condition. Alerts are grouped by associated target, by event category, and by the severity level of the alert (either warning or critical).

There are two alert severities:

  • Critical Alerts - This report shows critical alerts that were raised by Audit Vault Server.
  • Warning Alerts - This report shows warning alerts that were raised by Audit Vault Server.

See Also:

8.3 Summary Reports

Learn about Summary Reports.

8.3.1 Trend Charts Report

The Trend Charts Report shows the event trends (total events) in the last n days.

Table 8-4 shows the available event trend reports.

Table 8-4 Trend Charts

Report Description

Event Trend

Trend of all events

Event Trend By Target

Trend of events by target

Event Trend By Client IP

Trend of events by client IP

Event Trend By OS User

Trend of events by OS user

8.3.2 Anomaly Reports

Anomaly reports show new and dormant user and client IP anomalies (total anomalies) in the last n days.

Anomaly reports don't require any configuration to display data in the reports.

Table 8-5 shows the available anomaly reports.

Table 8-5 Anomaly Reports

Report Description
New or Dormant User Activity Activity by newly created or dormant users
New or Dormant Client IP Activity Activity from newly seen or dormant client IP addresses

8.3.3 All Activity Reports

The All Activity Reports report shows summaries of client and operating system user activities, DDL and DML activities, and failed logins.

Table 8-6 shows the available summary reports.

Table 8-6 All Activity Reports

Report Description

Activity Summary by Client IP and OS User

Events grouped by user and client IP

Activity Summary by Target

Events grouped by target

DDL Activity Summary by Target

Schema changes grouped by target

DML Activity Summary by Target

Data modifications grouped by target

Failed Logins Summary by Target

Failed authentication attempts grouped by target

8.4 Compliance Reports

The Compliance Reports capture information to ensure that your system is meeting regulatory compliance standards.

8.4.1 About the Compliance Reports

The compliance reports help you meet regulations associated with credit card, financial, data protection, and health care related data.

They track activities that are typically required to meet standard compliance regulations, such as changes to the database structure or its objects, failed logins, administrator activities, system events, and user logins or logoffs.

The following compliance report categories are available:

  • Data Privacy Reports (GDPR)

  • Payment Card Industry (PCI)

  • UK Data Protection Act (DPA)

  • USA Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

  • USA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

  • USA Reports based on IRS Publication 1075

  • USA Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

To access the compliance reports, click the Reports tab, and then click on Compliance Reports tab in the left navigation menu.

8.4.2 Configuring Compliance Reports

To configure compliance reports, you need to associate one or more targets to the compliance category, such as Data Privacy Report (GDPR).

  1. Ensure that the appropriate entitlement data is available for the target.
  2. Log in to the Audit Vault Server console as an auditor.
  3. Click the Reports tab.
  4. Click Compliance Reports in the left navigation menu.
  5. Select a category from the Compliance Reports Category drop-down list.
    The list of reports on this page changes depending on which category you select.
  6. Click the Go button to associate targets with the selected compliance reports category.
  7. In the Modify Target Group dialog box, move the targets that you want to associate with the compliance category from the Available column to the Selected column.

    To select multiple targets, press and hold the Ctrl key as you click each target.

    To move the selected targets, click the Move (>) or Move All (>>) button.

    The following screen shot shows an example of the Modify Target Group dialog box. There are five total targets. One target has been moved to the Selected column and the Available column lists the remaining four targets.


    Modify Target Group dialog box

  8. Click Save.
  9. On the Compliance Reports page, select the category from the Compliance Reports Category drop-down list again.
  10. Schedule or generate the necessary reports.

8.4.3 Data Privacy Reports

Learn about the Data Privacy Reports.

8.4.3.1 About Data Privacy Reports

Data privacy is also known as information privacy or data protection.

It is concerned with the relationship between collection and dissemination of data and technology, the public perception, expectation of privacy, the legal regulation, and political issues surrounding that data. The details and implementation of data protection vary depending on the region, the context, the methods, and the extent to which it is regulated.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a regulation in European Union (EU) law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. It addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. GDPR is an overhaul of the existing European Commission data protection legislation. It harmonizes data privacy laws, aims to strengthen, and unify these laws for EU citizens. GDPR is about individuals having autonomy and control over their data. It primarily aims to give control back to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. It is important for organizations to protect information they possess about individuals to prevent others from accessing or misusing their personal information.

GDPR is applicable in case the following are based in the European Union:

  • Data controller

  • Data processor

  • Data subject or the person

  • Data recipient

  • Authority supervising and auditing data

  • An organization that collects data from EU residents

  • An organization that processes data on behalf of data controller like the service providers

  • An organization based outside the EU that collects or processes personal data of individuals located inside the EU

According to the European Commission, personal data is any information relating to an individual. This information can be private, professional, or public life of the individual. It includes, but is not limited to, a name, a home address, a photo, an email address, bank details, posts on social networking websites, medical information, or an IP address.

In order to comply with GDPR, the data controller must implement measures, which meet the principles of data protection by design, and data protection by default. It is the responsibility and the liability of the data controller to implement effective measures and to demonstrate the compliance of processing activities. This includes if the processing is performed by an external data processor on behalf of the controller.

GDPR considers encryption as one of the components in the security strategy, and mandates that organizations need to consider assessment, preventive, and detective controls based upon the sensitivity of the personal data in their possession.

Articles 30 and 33 of GDPR, mandate that organizations must maintain a record of its processing activities. This can only be achieved by constantly monitoring and auditing activities on personal data. This data can be used to timely notify authorities in case of a breach. In addition to mandating auditing and timely alerts, GDPR also requires that organizations must keep the audit records under their control. A centralized control of audit records prevents attackers or malicious users to cover the tracks of their suspicious activity by deleting the local audit records. There are four reports under Data Protection. They primarily focus on access to sensitive data by regular or privileged users and also privilege settings on objects.

8.4.3.2 Importing Sensitive Data Into Repository

Information about sensitive data is imported and stored in the Oracle AVDF repository.

You can import a data file in .csv and .xml format. These data files are sourced from Oracle Enterprise Manager and Oracle Database Security Assessment Tool by running data discovery job to search for sensitive data in specific Oracle Database targets.

Oracle Database Security Assessment Tool generates the file in .csv format and Oracle Enterprise Manager generates the file in .xml format. The data file extracted contains a list of sensitive columns that is imported into the repository. It is viewed in the Audit Vault Server GUI using Data Privacy Reports.

Note:

Oracle AVDF 20 supports Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control versions 13.4 and later.

See Also:

  1. Ensure you have the sensitive data report in .csv or .xml format by running data discovery job through Oracle Database Security Assessment Tool or Oracle Enterprise Manager respectively.
  2. Save the file in your local drive.
  3. Log in to the Audit Vault Server terminal as root user.
  4. Switch to oracle user, by running the following command:

    su - oracle

  5. Run the following commands to grant (or revoke) av_sensitive role to the admin user, or list of admin users.

    For Oracle AVDF 20.5 and Later

    Action Command

    To grant av_sensitive role to the admin user.

    /usr/local/dbfw/bin/av_sensitive_role.py grant <admin1> <admin2>

    To revoke av_sensitive role from the admin user.

    /usr/local/dbfw/bin/av_sensitive_role.py revoke <admin1> <admin2>

    For Oracle AVDF 20.4 and Earlier

    Action Command

    To grant av_sensitive role to the admin user.

    /usr/local/dbfw/bin/av_sensitive_role grant <admin1> <admin2>

    To revoke av_sensitive role from the admin user.

    /usr/local/dbfw/bin/av_sensitive_role revoke <admin1> <admin2>
  6. Log in to the Audit Vault Server console as admin user.
  7. Click on Targets tab. The Targets sub tab in the left navigation menu is selected by default. The main page lists the configured targets to which you have access. You can sort or filter the list of targets.
  8. Click the name of a specific target.

    The specific target page is displayed.

  9. Click Sensitive Objects button in the top right corner.
  10. Click Browse against the Import From (.xml / .csv) field. Choose the sensitive data file saved in your local drive.
  11. Click Upload.

    Result:

    A pop up message File loaded successfully is displayed on the screen. The recent target file upload information is displayed on the GUI. The previous one is overwritten.

  12. Click Save.

    Note:

    • In case the user does not have the required role to import the sensitive data, or if the uploaded file is in incorrect format, then appropriate error message is displayed.

    • The report contains sensitive data generated from the recent .csv or .xml file uploaded. The earlier imported sensitive data is overwritten and the history is not maintained.

8.4.3.3 Accessing Data Privacy Reports

After the sensitive data file is imported into the repository, you need to associate one or more targets with the data privacy reports before you can schedule or generate the reports.

Use the Audit Vault Server console to configure and view the data privacy reports.

  1. Associate at least one target with the data privacy reports.
    See Configuring Compliance Reports for instructions.
  2. Schedule or generate the data privacy reports.

You can view the following data privacy reports:

Report Description

Sensitive Data

Displays details about sensitive data like the schema name, target, column name, sensitive type, object, and sensitive objects set.

Access Rights to Sensitive Data

Displays details about users' access rights to sensitive data.

Use this report to view the privileges that are granted to users on sensitive data. See the example report that appears after this table.

The user may have one or more of the privileges that are listed in the Privileges column for the respective sensitive data. The user can have these privileges assigned directly or through roles that have been granted. Privileges that have been granted to sensitive data that is assigned to a role are displayed only when the role is assigned to any user. Privileges on sensitive data may be granted to the user group PUBLIC. In this case, the privilege is granted to all users. The privilege that's granted to PUBLIC is not visible in the report. The report contains only privileges on sensitive data that are granted as object privileges. System privileges are not displayed in the report.

Activity on Sensitive Data

Displays details about activity on sensitive data by all users.

Activity on Sensitive Data by Privileged Users

Displays details about activity on sensitive data by privileged users.

Example 8-1 Access Rights to Sensitive Data Report

Target Name : <Target Name 1>

Sensitive Object User Name Privileges
Table_1 User X DELETE,INSERT,SELECT,UPDATE
Table_2 User Y DELETE,INSERT,SELECT,UPDATE
Table_3 User Z DELETE,INSERT,SELECT,UPDATE
8.4.3.4 Implementation In Oracle Audit Vault And Database Firewall

Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall complies with data protection directives and regulations by offering special services.

These services include centralized auditing, monitoring, reporting, and alerting of anomalous activity on the database. It reports any access to sensitive data stored in the database.

The report relates to sensitive data, as identified and received from the sensitive data discovery processes. It contains information regarding activity on sensitive data by all users including privileged users.

Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall complies with data protection at source by centralizing control and administration. It stores and manages the data for processing in a centralized location. It monitors and sends timely alerts of suspicious behavior. It can centrally manage millions of audit records, or different types of security policies, by simplifying the administration related tasks. This is managed using Oracle Enterprise Manager that has a unified web based GUI.

Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall centrally collects and manages audit records. It monitors, alerts, reports, and blocks suspicious behavior.

Note:

Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall helps in complying with data privacy regulations such as GDPR.

8.5 Assessment Reports

The assessment reports capture security assessment data from Oracle Databases that are configured as targets in Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall (Oracle AVDF) 20.9 and later.

8.5.1 About Assessment Reports

Assessment reports provide information and recommendations that are helpful in securing your Oracle Database system.

These recommendations reflect best practices for database security and should be part of any strategy for Data Protection by Design and by Default. Technical controls alone are not sufficient for compliance. Passing all findings does not guarantee compliance.

Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall does not check all controls covered by the DISA STIG. Findings mapping to DISA STIG focus on technical controls. Process-related controls require manual evaluation.

The report provides a view of the current status. The results shown are provided for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for a thorough analysis or interpreted to contain any legal or regulatory advice or guidance.

You are solely responsible for your system and the data and information gathered during the production of this report. You are also solely responsible for the execution of software to produce this report and for the effect and results of the execution of any mitigating actions identified herein.

Oracle provides this analysis on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind and Oracle hereby disclaims all warranties and conditions whether express, implied, or statutory.

Note:

Assessment reports will be purged after 18 months from the time of data retrieval.

8.5.2 Setting a Baseline for Security Assessment Reports

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.10, you can view security assessment drift reports that compare the latest assessment to either the baseline or a previous assessment. The baseline is a user-designated security assessment report that represents a good security posture for your database(s).

  1. Click the Reports tab.
  2. Click Assessment Reports in the left navigation.
  3. Click on the Security Assessment Detailed Report.
  4. Select either all targets or a specific target from the Target drop down.
  5. Select a security assessment based on the time it was run from the assessed time drop down.
  6. Click Set As Baseline.

8.5.3 Viewing Assessment Reports

To access the assessment reports, click the Reports tab and then click Assessment Reports in the left navigation menu.

Select the type of report that you want to view. Within each report, you can drill down to detailed reports that list all targets and assessments that are filtered to meet the criteria for the report. From there, click the Report View icon to see the details for each finding.

You can also perform all standard Oracle AVDF report operations, such as scheduling reports, viewing previously generated reports, filtering, and downloading reports.

For descriptions of the severity levels, see Severity Levels.

For a list of the categories and assessments, see Categories and Assessments.

For details about using each report, see the following tables.

Assessment Reports

Report Name Usage
Security Assessment Summary by Target

Use this report to see the number of assessment within each severity for each target.

For example, for each target, it gives the number of assessments that are high risk, medium risk, and so on.

Click a target in the report to see the results of all assessments for that target, including assessments that passed.

You can also see if a target has not been assessed. In this case, click the target name link to go to the Schedule Retrieval Jobs page, where you can submit the security assessment retrieval job. See Retrieving Security Assessment Data for Oracle Database Targets.

Security Assessment Summary by Severity

Use this report to see the number of targets and assessments within each category for each severity.

For example, for the high risk severity level you can see the number of targets and the number of assessments within the User Accounts category.

Click a severity level in the report to see a detailed list of all targets and assessments that have that severity.

Security Assessment Summary by Category

Use this report to see the number of targets with assessments within each category and assessment description.

For example, for the User Accounts category you can see the number of targets with the Inactive Users assessment description.

Click the number in the Number of Targets column to see a detailed list of targets and findings for the corresponding assessment. The detailed list is automatically filtered to hide assessments that passed, but you can remove that filter to see all assessment findings.

Security Assessment Summary by Feature Utilization

Use this report to see the number of targets that are using each security feature within each category.

For example, 1 in the Unified Auditing feature of the Auditing category means that one target is using that feature.

You can also see the number of targets that don't use a security feature and the number of targets for which the feature isn't available.

Click the number in the Utilized, Not Utilized, or Not Available column to see a detailed list of targets that fit that description and the findings for the corresponding category of security features.

Security Assessment Detailed Report See all findings for all targets, categories, and severity risk levels. You can filter the list to show specific criteria.

Note:

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.10 only the first 32,767 characters will be shown in the Excel report.

Assessment Compliance Reports

These reports display the Security Assessment Detailed Report with filters applied for the selected compliance type.

Report Name Usage
Oracle Best Practices Security Assessment Report For all targets, see the results of all assessments that relate to Oracle best practices.
STIG Security Assessment Report

For all targets, see the results of all assessments that relate to Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) guidelines from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).

Click the Report View icon to find references to the specific STIG guidelines.

Note:

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.10 only the first 32,767 characters will be shown in the Excel report.
CIS Security Assessment Report

For all targets, see the results of all assessments that relate to Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmark recommendations.

Click the Report View icon to find references to the specific CIS recommendations.

GDPR Security Assessment Report

For all targets, see the results of all assessments that relate to European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) guidelines.

Click the Report View icon to find references to the specific GDPR guidelines.

Note:

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.10 only the first 32,767 characters will be shown in the Excel report.

Assessment Drift Reports

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.10 these reports show how a selected assessment report differs from the baseline or from a previous assessment report.

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.11, users can monitor drift report details directly on the Audit Vault Server console Home page. If no baseline has been established, the graph will appear empty. Once a baseline is set, hovering over the drift graph will show additional information. Users can also click on the graph to access the complete report. To analyze findings based on security risk levels, it is essential to establish a baseline for the specified targets. This ensures accurate calculation of drift between the baseline and the latest data.

To compare the latest assessment to the baseline, select the baseline option and click Go.

To compare the latest assessment to a previous assessment, select the selected timeline option, type in an integer for how many days, weeks, months, or years prior the assessment was, select the appropriate unit of time, and click Go. The oldest security assessment from the designated amount of time will be used in the comparison.

   
Security Assessment Drift Summary by Target

Use this report to see how the drift, the number of risks added, modified, or removed, within each severity in the latest assessment changed from the baseline or a previous assessment for each target.

For example, for the Database1 target you could see that two risks were modified for the high risk severity and that three risks were added for the evaluate severity.

Click a target in the report to see a detailed comparison of the latest assessment to the baseline or a previous assessment.

From the detailed comparison report you can also see more details about the changes for each row by clicking the Single Row View icon on the left.

Security Assessment Drift Summary by Severity

Use this report to see how the drift, the number of risks added, modified, or removed within each category in the latest assessment changed for each severity from the baseline or a previous assessment.

For example, you can see that since the latest assessment one low risk assessment was added in the Auditing category.

Click a category in the report to see a detailed comparison of the latest assessment to the baseline or a previous assessment.

You can also see more details about the changes for each row by clicking the Single Row View icon on the left.

Security Assessment Drift Summary by Feature Utilization

Use this report to see how the number of targets that are using each security feature within each category changed in the latest assessment from the baseline or a previous assessment.

For example, 1(+1) in the Unified Auditing feature of the Auditing category means that one target is using that feature and that this has increased by one from the assessment you are comparing to. Similarly, 1(-1) would indicate that one target is using a feature but that this has decreased by one from the assessment you are comparing to.1(-) indicates that there was no change in the number of targets using that feature.

Click the number in the Utilized column to see a detailed list of the changes that fit that description and the findings for the corresponding category of security features.

Security Assessment Detailed Drift Report

See a comparison report how all findings in the latest assessment changed from the baseline or a previous assessment for all targets, categories, and severity risk levels. You can filter the list to show specific criteria.

You can also see more details about the changes for each row by clicking the Single Row View icon on the left.

8.5.4 Severity Levels

The assessment reports include the following severity levels:

  • High Risk: Needs immediate attention.
  • Medium Risk: Plan to address this in the short term.
  • Low Risk: Might be fixed during a scheduled downtime or bundled together with other maintenance activities.
  • Advisory: Improve security posture by enabling more security features and technology.
  • Evaluate: Needs manual analysis.
  • Pass: No risks found.

8.5.5 Categories and Assessments

The following table lists the categories and descriptions of all assessments that are performed.

Category Assessment Description
Auditing Audit Account Management Activities Displays whether the actions related to account management are audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit Administrative (SYS*) Users Displays whether the actions of the SYS user are audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit Database Management Activities Displays whether the actions related to database management are audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit Object Actions Displays information about the object access audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit Powerful Privileges Displays whether the use of powerful system privileges are audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit Privilege Management Displays whether the actions related to privilege management are audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit Records Displays information about audit trails.
Auditing Audit Roles with System Privileges Displays information about the privileges audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit SQL Statements Displays information about SQL statements audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit System Privileges Displays information about the privileges audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Audit User Logon / Logoff Displays whether database connections are audited by enabled audit policies.
Auditing Fine Grained Audit Displays whether fine-grained audit policies are enabled.
Auditing Unified Audit Policies Displays whether unified audit policies are enabled.
Authorization Control Database Vault Displays whether Oracle Database Vault is enabled.
Authorization Control Privilege Analysis Displays whether privilege analysis is enabled.
Database Configuration Access to Password File Displays whether the password file is configured correctly.
Database Configuration Database Backup Displays information about database backup records.
Database Configuration Database Links Displays information about database links.
Database Configuration Directory Objects Displays information about directory objects.
Database Configuration Disabled Constraints Displays information about disabled constraints.
Database Configuration External OS Authorization Displays whether roles granted to users are controlled by GRANT statements in the database or by the database server's operating system.
Database Configuration Inference of Table Data Displays whether data inference attacks are properly blocked.
Database Configuration Instance Name Check Displays whether the instance name contains the database version number.
Database Configuration Network Access Control Displays information about network access control lists (ACLs).
Database Configuration Network Communication Displays information about the initialization parameters for the local network listener.
Database Configuration Trace Files Displays information about the initialization parameters for trace files.
Database Configuration Triggers Displays information about logon triggers.
Database Configuration XML Database Access Control Displays information about XML Database access control lists (ACLs).
Encryption FIPS Mode for TDE and DBMS_CRYPTO Displays whether Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 mode is enabled for Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) and DBMS_CRYPTO.
Encryption Transparent Data Encryption Displays whether encryption of tablespace and column data is enabled.
Fine-Grained Access Control Data Redaction Displays whether data redaction policies are enabled.
Fine-Grained Access Control Label Security Displays whether Oracle Label Security is enabled.
Fine-Grained Access Control Real Application Security Displays whether Real Application Security (RAS) policies are enabled.
Fine-Grained Access Control Transparent Sensitive Data Protection (TSDP) Displays whether Transparent Sensitive Data Protection (TSDP) policies are enabled.
Fine-Grained Access Control Virtual Private Database Displays whether Virtual Private Database (VPD) policies are enabled.
Privileges and Roles Access Control Exemption Privileges Displays access control exemption privileges that are enforced.
Privileges and Roles Access to Audit Objects Displays access to audit objects granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Access to Password Verifier Tables Displays access to password verifier tables granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Account Management Privileges Displays account management privileges granted to users.
Privileges and Roles All Roles Displays all roles granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Audit Management Package Displays audit management tool access granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Audit Management Privileges Displays audit management privileges granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Broad Data Access Privileges Displays data access privileges granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Code Based Access Control Displays all program units granted code based access control (CBAC) roles.
Privileges and Roles Column Privileges Granted to PUBLIC Displays the column access privileges granted to all users.
Privileges and Roles Data Exfiltration Displays the user accounts that have been granted rights to access or copy any data from a client or server.
Privileges and Roles Database Management Privileges Displays database management privileges granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Java Permissions Displays the user accounts that have been granted privileges to execute Java classes within the database.
Privileges and Roles Role and Privilege Management Privileges Displays privilege management privileges granted to users.
Privileges and Roles Roles Granted to PUBLIC Displays the roles granted to all users.
Privileges and Roles System Privilege Grants Displays the system privileges granted to users.
Privileges and Roles System Privileges Granted to PUBLIC Displays the system privileges granted to all users.
Privileges and Roles User Impersonation Privilege Displays the user accounts that have been granted rights to impersonate other users.
Privileges and Roles Users with Administrative SYS* Privileges Displays the administrative privileges granted to user accounts.
Privileges and Roles Users with DBA Role Displays the user accounts that have been granted the DBA role.
Privileges and Roles Users with Powerful Roles Displays the user accounts that have been granted roles with maximum data access privileges.
Privileges and Roles Write Access to Restricted Objects Displays access to restricted objects granted to users.
User Accounts Account Locking after Failed Login Attempts Displays information about user profile failed login attempt enforcement.
User Accounts Case-Sensitive Passwords Displays whether case-sensitive passwords are enabled.
User Accounts Inactive Users Displays information about the user accounts that are not in use and also accounts that are not configured to be locked when inactive.
User Accounts Password Verification Functions Displays information about password verification functions enforcement.
User Accounts Password Verifiers Displays information about the user accounts with obsolete password verifiers.
User Accounts Sample Schemas Displays information about the user accounts that use sample schemas such as SCOTT, HR, OE, SH, PM, IX, ADAMS, BLAKE, CLARK, and BI.
User Accounts User Parameters Displays information about the user account initialization parameters.
User Accounts User Schemas in SYSTEM or SYSAUX Tablespace Displays information about the regular user accounts that use the reserved Oracle-supplied tablespaces.
User Accounts Users with Default Passwords Displays information about the user accounts with default passwords.
User Accounts Users with Expired Passwords Displays information about the user accounts with expired passwords.
User Accounts Users with Unlimited Concurrent Sessions Displays all users that have a profile resource limit for SESSIONS_PER_USER set to UNLIMITED. With SESSIONS_PER_USER = UNLIMITED users can have any number of concurrent sessions.
User Accounts Users with Unlimited Password Lifetime Displays information about user profile password expiration enforcement.

8.6 Customizing Reports

You can customize existing reports by using built-in tools to filter, group, and highlight data and define columns. These customized reports can be saved as new report formats and accessed from the Saved Reports tab. Saved custom formats of existing reports can only be viewed online as they can't be scheduled or printed in PDF format.

8.6.1 Filtering Data in a Report

You can filter the report to show data based on a search, a particular value, or an expression. Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.11, you can also filter the All Activity Report based on a Global Set, as well as filter Compliance GDPR Reports (including Sensitive Data, Access Rights to Sensitive Data, Activity on Sensitive Data, and Activity on Sensitive Data by Privileged Users) based on a Sensitive Objects Set.

You can control the display of data in a report to focus on a particular set of data. Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall automatically saves the report settings so that if you leave the page, the report settings are still in place when you return. Optionally, you can save the report as a custom report.

8.6.1.1 Filtering by Search

Learn about filtering rows and columns using the search bar.

You can use the Search bar to search for row data in one or all columns in the report (for example, all rows that contain the letters SYS, such as SYS and SYSTEM, in all columns).

To search for row data in one or all columns:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. If you want to focus the search on a specific column, in the Search bar, use the Search icon to select from the drop-down list of available columns.

    By default, the search applies to all columns.

  4. In the Search bar text area, enter all or part of the row text you want to search for.
  5. Click Go.
8.6.1.2 Filtering by a Data Value

Learn about filtering all the rows based on selected data in a column.

This filtering method lets you filter data in all rows based on a selected column (for example, all rows that contain SYS in the User column).

To filter all rows based on data from a selected column:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. Click the Actions menu, and select Filter.

    The Filter dialog box appears. The existing filter definitions for the current user session are shown below the Filter dialog box.

  4. For Filter Type, select Column.
  5. In the Column drop-down list, select the column on which you want to base the filter.

    You can select from columns that are displayed in the report or other columns.

  6. Select the Operator and Expression that you want to use, to further filter the data.
  7. Click Apply.

    The existing filter definitions for the current user session are shown above the report columns.

  8. To enable or disable the display of the filtered data, select its corresponding check box. To remove a filter, click its Remove Filter icon.
8.6.1.3 Filtering by an Expression

Learn about filtering data in rows using an expression.

This method lets you select all rows that meet a WHERE condition, such as all users who are not user SYS. You can create the expression for all columns, even those that are not shown in the current report.

To filter row data using an expression:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. From the Actions menu, select Filter.

    The Filter dialog box appears. The existing filter definitions for the current user session are shown below the Filter dialog box.

  4. For Filter Type, select Row.
  5. Enter a Name for the filter.
  6. Use the Columns, Function/Operators, and Filter Expression fields to build your filter expression:
    • Columns: Select the name(s) of the column(s) from the list to use them in the expression. When you select a column, its abbreviation appears in the Filter Expression field.

    • Functions/Operators: Select function(s) and/or operator(s) from the list to build your expression.

    • Filter Expression: If you have built an expression from the available columns, functions and operators, enter any parameters needed to complete your expression. If you type the expression, remember that it is case-sensitive. In most cases, use uppercase letters.

      For example: To view login failure events in the report, use the following filter condition:

      event_name IN (‘LOGIN’,’LOGON’) and event_Status = ‘FAILURE’

      As you build the expression, the Filter Expression field is populated with the expression.

  7. Click Apply.

    Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall filters the display of row data based on the expression you created, and adds the filter definition above the report columns.

  8. To enable or disable the display of the filtered data, select its corresponding check box. To remove a filter, click its Remove Filter icon.
8.6.1.4 Filtering by a Global Set in an All Activity Report

Learn about applying a Global Set filter on an All Activity Report.

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.11, this method filters relevant data to a selected Global Set in an All Activity Report. The user may choose one or more of the following Global Set types:
  • IP Address Set
  • OS User Set
  • Client Program Set
  • Database User Set
  • Privileged User Set
  • Sensitive Object Set

To apply a Global Set filter on an All Activity Report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab.
  3. Select the All Activity report.
  4. Click on Actions, then click Select Columns.
  5. Choose one or more of the Global Set based columns.
  6. Click Apply.
  7. Click on an added Global Set column heading to show filter values.
  8. Select one of the Global Set names to apply the filter.
8.6.1.5 Filtering on Sensitive Objects in Compliance GDPR Reports

Learn about filtering the content of a Compliance GDPR Report (including Sensitive Data, Access Rights to Sensitive Data, Activity on Sensitive Data, and Activity on Sensitive Data by Privileged Users) using a filter based on Sensitive Objects Set.

Starting in Oracle AVDF 20.11, users can filter the content of a Compliance GDPR Report using a filter based on Sensitive Objects Set.

To apply a Sensitive Objects Set filter on a Compliance GDPR Report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab.
  3. Click on the Compliance Reports tab.
  4. Select Sensitive Objects report
  5. Click on Actions, then click Select Columns.
  6. Click on Sensitive Objects Set column header.
  7. Choose the Sensitive Objects Set to apply the filter.
  8. Click Apply.

8.6.2 Formatting Data in a Report

Learn how to format data viewed in a report.

8.6.2.1 Sorting Row Data for All Columns

Learn to sort data in rows for all the columns.

To sort row data for all columns:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. From the Actions menu, select Format, then select Sort.

    The Sort dialog box appears.

  4. Enter the following information:
    • Column: For up to six columns, select the columns to sort. By default, the first sort column is Event Time, which is sorted in descending order.

    • Direction: Select either Ascending or Descending.

    • Null Sorting: Select the Null sorting rule for each column (Default, Nulls Always Last, or Nulls Always First). The default is to not sort nulls.

  5. Click Apply.
8.6.2.2 Highlighting Rows in a Report

Learn how to highlight rows in a report.

You can highlight specific rows in a report by assigning them colors. This enables anyone viewing the report to quickly find areas that are of particular interest.

To highlight rows in the report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. From the Actions menu, select Format, then Highlight.

    The Highlight dialog box appears.

  4. Enter the following information:
    • Name: Optionally enter a name for this highlight instance.

    • Sequence: Enter a sequence number to determine the order in which the highlight filter rules are to be applied when two or more highlight filter rules are in effect. The default value is 10.

    • Enabled: Select Yes to enable the highlight or select No to disable it.

    • Highlight Type: Select Row to highlight a row or select Cell to highlight a cell.

    • Background Color: Select a background color for the row or cell. Click a color to display color options, or click the colored icon to the right of the color selection field to display a color selection box from which to choose a different color. Alternatively, you can manually enter the HTML code for a color. Click outside of the color selection dialog once done.

    • Text Color: Select a text color for the row or cell using the same method you used for the background color. Click outside of the color selection dialog once done.

    • Highlight Condition: Edit the highlight filter rule expression by identifying the column, the operator, and the expression for each of the three fields in the highlight condition.

      • Column: Select any column name, including hidden columns.

      • Operator: Select an operator from a list of standard Oracle Database operators, such as =, !=, NOT IN, and BETWEEN.

      • Expression: Enter the comparison expression (without quotation marks) based on a known value for that column name to complete the filter expression.

        For example, entering the filter expression EVENT=SUPER USER LOGON filters for all values in the Event column that contain the value SUPER USER LOGON.

  5. Click Apply.
8.6.2.3 Creating a Chart from Report Data

Learn how to chart data in a report.

You can select from four chart styles to chart data in a report. After you create the chart, you can access it whenever you access the report.

To chart data in a report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. From the Actions menu, select Format, then Chart.

    The Chart dialog box appears.

  4. Enter the following information:
    • Chart Type: Select from one of the four chart styles: Bar, Line with Area, Pie, and Line.

    • Label: Select from the list of columns for this report. You can include hidden columns as well as displayed columns.

    • Value: Select from the list of columns for this report, including hidden columns. If you select Count from the Function list, then you do not need to select a value.

    • Function: Select an aggregate function (Sum, Average, Minimum, Maximum, or Count) on which to aggregate the data values.

    • Sort: Select ascending or descending sorting for values and labels.

    • Axis Title for Label: Enter a name for the axis title.

    • Axis Title for Value: Enter a name for the axis value.

    • Orientation: Choose Landscape or Portrait.
  5. Click Apply: Select vertical or horizontal.

    The chart appears, with the Edit Chart and View Report links under the search bar.

8.6.2.4 Adding Control Breaks to a Report

Learn to add control breaks to selected columns in a report.

You can create a break group based on selected columns. This pulls the column out of the report as a main record and groups all rows with the same value for the selected column under that main record. This is useful for filtering by multiple column values.

For example, you may have an Activity Overview report that displays several columns of data. If you want to see that data broken up by the Client IP Address and Target Name columns, you would add control breaks for those columns. The resulting report would have data broken up into smaller tables for each unique combination of Client IP Address and Target Name.

To add a control break in a column:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click on Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. From the Actions menu, select Format, then Control Break.
  4. Select the columns to which you want to add a control break.

    You can select up to six columns in the order that you want the data to be broken up. Selecting Enabled adds a control break; selecting Disabled removes the control break.

  5. Click Apply.
8.6.2.5 Using the Group By Feature to Format a Report

Learn to format a report using the Group By option.

The Group By dialog lets you group data by up to three columns in a report, and specify up to three functions to perform on any column, and display the resulting values as additional columns in the custom report.

For example, suppose you want to create a custom report to show the number of events of a certain status (for example SUCCESS or FAILURE) for each target and client IP address combination. Using Group By, you can create a custom report to group unique targets together in the first column, client IP addresses for each target together in the second column, and display Event Status in the third column. You then specify a function to count distinct values in the Event Status column for each target and client IP address combination.

The resulting custom report will contain four columns: Target, Client IP, Event Status, and the final column will show the results of the function, for example, the number of events with SUCCESS status for that target and IP address.

To use the Group By feature:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.

  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.

  3. From the Actions menu, select Format, then Group By.

    The Group By dialog is displayed.

  4. In the Group By Column field, from the first drop-down list, select a data column for grouping data in column 1 of your custom report.

    For example, if you select Target Name, column 1 of your report will have targets grouped together. Optionally, select data groupings for columns 2 and 3 of your report.

  5. Optionally, in the Functions field, specify up to three functions to operate on specific data columns. For example, Count Distinct.

  6. Under Column, select any data column in the default report.

  7. Optionally, under Label enter a column heading for the new column created by the result of this function.

  8. Optionally, under Format Mask select the format of the data in the new column created by the result of this function.

  9. Optionally, select the Sum check box if you want to add a Sum row to the bottom of your custom report to add the values in the new column.

  10. Click Apply.

8.6.3 Hiding or Showing Columns in a Report

Learn to hide or show columns in reports.

When you hide or show columns in a report, you still can perform operations on hidden columns, such as filtering data based on a column that you have hidden.

To hide or show columns in a report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. From the Actions menu, click Select Columns.

    The Select Columns dialog field appears.

  4. Move column names under the Do Not Display or Display in Report boxes:
    • Select the column names to move and then click the left or right arrow between the column name boxes.

    • Move all columns left or right by using the >> and << buttons.

    • Use the top button (the arrows in a circle) to reset the columns to their original locations in the two boxes.

  5. To set the order of displayed columns, in the Display in Report box, select the column name, then click the up or down arrow on the right side of the box to reorder the column's position in the list.
  6. Click Apply.

8.6.4 Customized Reports

8.6.4.1 Saving your Customized Reports

Learn how to save customized reports.

When you customize a built-in report with your specified filters and display settings, you can save this customized report. Such reports are listed in the Saved Reports tab in the Reports tab. The saved reports cannot be printed in PDF format, and therefore must be viewed online.

When you save a custom report, you can save it under a specific category that you select or create as you save the report. You can also make the custom report private or share it with other users as a public report.

To create and save a custom report starting from a built-in report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. Filter and design the display as needed.
  4. From the Actions menu, select Save Report.
  5. Enter the following information in the Save Report dialog box:
    • Name: Enter a name for the report.

    • Description: Enter a brief description of the report.

    • Public: Select this check box to make the report accessible to all users.

  6. Click Apply.

    The custom report is listed on the Saved Reports tab.

8.6.4.2 Accessing Your Saved Custom Reports

Learn how to access saved custom reports.

To access a saved custom report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab.
  3. Click Saved Reports tab in the left navigation menu.

    The Saved Reports page appears.

  4. In the Name column, select the link for the specific report.

    The report page is displayed. From here, you can:

    • Click the saved report name above the filter to edit it.
    • Click a filter to modify it. Alternately, you can click on Actions menu, and then click on Filter.
    • Remove a filter by clicking the Remove Filter icon (an "X")
    • Enable or disable a control break by selecting or deselecting its check box
    • Remove a control break by clicking the Remove Breaks icon (an "x")

    Note:

    Saved reports can't be scheduled.

8.6.5 Creating and Scheduling a Custom Report

Learn how to create and schedule a custom report.

While a customized view of an existing report can be accessed from the Saved Reports tab, a custom report can be created and scheduled from the PDF/XLS Reports tab (Report Templates tab starting in Oracle AVDF release 20.8). Scheduling a custom report is not available by default. Follow these steps to schedule a custom report:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab.
  3. Click PDF/XLS Reports tab (Report Templates tab starting in Oracle AVDF release 20.8) in the left navigation menu.
  4. In the Built-in Reports section, click the icons under Download Report Template and Download Report Definition columns.
  5. Save the files to your local machine.
  6. Modify the template and definition similar to any custom report.
  7. Click Upload button.
  8. Choose the template file and definition file in the dialog.
  9. Optionally enter the Description.
  10. Click Save.
  11. The newly uploaded report template and definition is visible in the PDF/XLS Reports section (Report Templates section starting in Oracle AVDF release 20.8).
  12. Click the icon under Schedule Report column.
  13. Configure the report schedule details.
  14. After the report is generated, it is accessible in the Generated Reports tab.
  15. The report can be downloaded.

8.6.6 Resetting the Report Display Values to Their Default Settings

Learn how to reset display of values in reports.

You can reset the report display values to their original default settings.

To reset the display settings to their defaults:

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab, and then access the report that you want.
  3. From the Actions menu, select Reset.

    The Reset dialog appears with the following message:

    Restore report to the default settings.

  4. Click Apply.

8.7 Creating Non-Interactive Report Templates

You can create, modify, and use existing PDF or XLS report templates.

Prerequisites

  • BI Publisher Desktop is installed on Microsoft Windows host.

    BI Publisher can be downloaded from Oracle Technical Resources.

  • User is able to log in to Audit Vault Server through console.

  • Information pertaining to the AVSYS schema holding audit data is available.

8.7.1 Creating Non-Interactive Report Template

You can create a new non-interactive or PDF/ XLS report, using an existing RTF or an XML report.

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server console as auditor.
  2. Click Reports tab and then click on PDF/XLS Reports tab (Report Templates tab starting with Oracle AVDF release 20.8) in the left navigation menu.
    Result:

    The page displays all the configured reports in two sections PDF/XLS Reports (Report Templates starting with Oracle AVDF release 20.8) and Built-in Reports.

  3. Click on the icon against any of the existing reports under the Download Report Template column.
  4. Save the report to your local drive with a new name.
  5. To preview changes in the RTF file requires sample data. Write a new Report SQL Query referring to the existing SQL in sample report XML file.
  6. The above SQL Query output is generated from SQL Developer and is exported into XML format. It is not compatible with RTF files. To generate data in RTF required XML format, use the DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML () function. This is a built in function of Oracle Database.
  7. To generate XML data, use the SQL query string as a parameter to dbms_xmlgen.getxml() function.
    Result:

    It returns XML data as output.

    The below SQL example is for reference only.

    SELECT DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML (‘YOUR REPORT SQL QUERY WITH PARAMETERS’) xml_data FROM dual;

    Example:

    SELECT DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML('SELECT TO_CHAR(event_time, ''DS TS'') AS event_time, 
    event_name, 
    target_object, 
    event_status, 
    user_name,
    client_ip,
    client_program,
    secured_target_name, 
    COUNT(*) OVER () AS totalrowcount,
    COUNT(secured_target_name) OVER(PARTITION BY secured_target_name) AS securerowcount 
    FROM avsys.event_log elog 
    WHERE ROWNUM <= 3000
    AND ( event_time BETWEEN ''19-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' AND ''20-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' )
    AND secured_target_id IN(SELECT secured_target_id FROM avsys.secured_target   
                            WHERE ( 
                                    (secured_target_name_vc=UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'') 
                                      OR 
                                      secured_target_name_vc LIKE UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5''||''_DELETED%'')
                                    ) 
                                      OR
                                      UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'')=''ALL''
                                  )
                                )
    ORDER BY secured_target_name, elog.event_time') xml 
    from dual;
    

    Note:

    To generate SQL query string, use additional single quote inside this function for character identifier as escape character.

    For example:

    1. For DS TS date and timestamp formatting, apply single quote (') as escape character.

    2. For event_time timestamp parameter provide value as ''19-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM''.

      Note:

      Insert two single quotation marks for defining parameters.

    3. For database_name parameter provide value as ''MSSQL_ST''.

    4. Numeric values can be provided as is. Provide value for ROW_LIMIT parameter as 3000 or 20000 (any numerical value). Similarly make changes to other strings and parameters in the SQL query using single quotes.

  8. Copy the query output from SQL Developer tool (or any other tool).
  9. Paste it into notepad and save this file as XML.
  10. There is another option to use SPOOL command to generate XML file. See Generating XML Data File Using SPOOL Command for complete information. Load the generated XML file.
  11. Open the RTF template or sample report downloaded earlier using Microsoft Word.
  12. Click on BI Publisher tab on the top right corner.
  13. Click on Load XML and navigate to the generated XML and load it.
    Result:

    The following message is displayed:

    Data loaded successfully.

  14. Make the necessary changes to the report.
  15. If the file is in RTF format, then continue with the next step. Else, skip the remaining steps as they are relevant only for RTF files. Use Microsoft Word to edit the RTF file.
  16. Change the existing report name.
  17. Change report parameters like REPORT PERIOD, RUN BY, and REPORT RECORD LIMIT if required.
  18. Change the report parameter label if required.

    For example:

    Change the label RUN BY, you can change it directly to RUN BY USER.

  19. Change the report parameter value if required. This is the SQL query column name.

    For example:

    To change the TIME_FROM value double click on TIME_FROM. Or right click on it to access BI Publisher, then select Properties, and Advanced tab. To change <?TIME_FROM?> to data XML column name and the XML tag name for this column is TIME1, so your tag will be <?TIME1?>.

  20. To change existing chart double click on it and change VALUES, AGGREEGATION, LABELS, TYPE, and STYLE parameters. In case the chart is not required, then delete it.
  21. Change data table labels in the report if required. If the data table columns are different, the change the label and values as mentioned in earlier steps. To add additional columns, right click on the table, select Insert, and then select Insert columns to the Right. Similarly the columns can be merged and deleted.
  22. Change report header name if required.
  23. Choose to display target level count and level count.
  24. Retain the Time Zone and Date in footer section as they are common to all the reports.
  25. Click on the PDF or Excel icon in the tab to verify the changes.
  26. In case all the changes meet the requirements, then save the RTF file.

    Note:

    In the generated PDF report, data for parameters is not be displayed in header section. The parameters data is sourced from application runtime.

  27. This RTF report file can be uploaded along with XML report file for verification.
  28. Create the XML file.

    The following are the different tags in XML report file:

    1. Parameter: Add or change input report parameters in this tag if new report parameters are different.

    2. DATA: Contains the following tags or headers:

      • Column 1: Data Tag

      • Column 2: Description

      • AUDIT_SUBREPORT: Displays parameter values on RTF files in the header section. These change as per the new report parameters.

      • Time zone: Displays time zone information and is common for all the reports. This need not be changed.

      • TLQR: Contains report SQL and column mappings which should map with RTF column values. In this section, you need to paste your new report SQL query and column alias name mapping in XML column and values tags.

  29. This XML report file can be uploaded along with the RTF file generated earlier.

    Note:

    RTF and XML file names must be same.

  30. Navigate to the uploaded reports section in Audit Vault Server console and click Upload.
  31. Provide updated RTF and unchanged report definition taken from earlier steps.
  32. Verify the report in the Generated Report section under the Reports tab of the Audit Vault application.
  33. In case the report is not generated, then check the status of the report in Settings tab, and then select Jobs in the left navigation menu.

8.7.2 Modifying Non-Interactive Report Template

You can modify or make cosmetic changes to Audit Vault reports.

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server console as auditor.
  2. Click Reports tab.
    Result:

    The page displays the following reports in multiple sections:

    • Activity Reports
      • Summary
      • Data Access & Modification
      • Login & Logout Events
      • Database Settings
    • Entitlement Reports
    • OS Correlation Reports
    • Database Firewall Reports
    • Stored Procedure Changes
    • DB Vault Activity
  3. Click PDF/XLS sub tab in the left navigation menu.
  4. Click the download icon under Download Report Template and Download Report Definition file for the specific report.
  5. Previewing changes in the RTF file format, requires sample data. Copy the query data from the XML file which is similar to the following. Select the text mentioned below:
    to_char(event_time, 'DS TS') as event_time
    	client_ip,
    	user_name,
    	osuser_name,
    	client_program,
    	secured_target_name,
    	error_code,
    	error_message,
    	decode
    	{
    		audit_trail_id,
    		null, 'Network',
    		'Audit Trail'
    	}	as event_source
    from
    	avsys.event.log
    
  6. The query output generated from SQL Developer and exported into XML format is not compatible with RTF files.
  7. To generate XML data, use the dbms_xmlgen.getxml() function. This is a built in function of Oracle Database.
  8. Pass SQL query string as a parameter to dbms_xmlgen.getxml() function.
    Result:

    It returns XML data with sample output mentioned below.

    SELECT DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML('SELECT TO_CHAR(event_time, ''DS TS'') AS event_time, 
    event_name, 
    target_object, 
    event_status, 
    user_name,
    client_ip,
    client_program,
    secured_target_name, 
    COUNT(*) OVER () AS totalrowcount,
    COUNT(secured_target_name) OVER(PARTITION BY secured_target_name) AS securerowcount 
    FROM avsys.event_log elog 
    WHERE ROWNUM <= 3000
    AND ( event_time BETWEEN ''19-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' AND ''20-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' )
    AND secured_target_id IN(SELECT secured_target_id FROM avsys.secured_target   
                            WHERE ( 
                                    (secured_target_name_vc=UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'') 
                                      OR 
                                      secured_target_name_vc LIKE UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5''||''_DELETED%'')
                                    ) 
                                      OR
    
                                      UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'')=''ALL''
                                  )
                                )
    ORDER BY secured_target_name, elog.event_time') xml 
    from dual;
    

    Note:

    To generate SQL query string, use additional single quote inside this function for character identifier as escape character.

    For example:

    1. For ''DS TS'' date and timestamp formatting, apply single quote (') as escape character.

    2. For event_time timestamp parameter provide value as ''19-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM''.

      Note:

      Insert two single quotation marks for defining parameters.

    3. For database_name parameter provide value as ''MSSQL_ST''.

  9. The above SQL query generates data in XML format, which can be uploaded in BI publisher template (RTF).
  10. Copy the query output from SQL Developer tool (or any other tool).
  11. Paste it into notepad and save this file as XML.

    Note:

    There is another option to use SPOOL command to generate XML file. See Generating XML Data File Using SPOOL Command for complete information. Load the generated XML file.

8.7.3 Generating XML Data File Using SPOOL Command

You generate XML from SQL*Plus using the SPOOL command.

  1. Take the SQL query used to generate data in XML format.

    For example:

    SELECT DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML('SELECT TO_CHAR(event_time, ''DS TS'') AS event_time,
    event_name,
    target_object,
    event_status,
    user_name,
    client_ip,
    client_program,
    secured_target_name,
    COUNT(*) OVER () AS totalrowcount,
    COUNT(secured_target_name) OVER(PARTITION BY secured_target_name) AS securerowcount
    FROM avsys.event_log elog
    WHERE ROWNUM <= 3000
    AND ( event_time BETWEEN ''19-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' AND ''20-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' )
    AND secured_target_id IN(SELECT secured_target_id FROM avsys.secured_target
                            WHERE (
                                    (secured_target_name_vc=UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'')
                                      OR
                                      secured_target_name_vc LIKE UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5''||''_DELETED%'')
                                    ) OR
                                      UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'')=''ALL''
                                  )
                                )
    ORDER BY secured_target_name, elog.event_time') xml
    from dual;
  2. Unlock the avsys user on the Audit Vault Server Database:
    ssh support@<AuditVaultServer_IP>
    su root
    su dvaccountmgr
    sqlplus /
    alter user avsys identified by <password> account unlock;
    exit;
  3. Connect to the avsys user on the Audit Vault Server Database:
    ssh support@<AuditVaultServer_IP>
    su root
    su oracle
    sqlplus avsys
    <password>
  4. Run the command:

    spool <path of the xml file>/<name of the xml file>.xml

  5. Run the SQL query from the earlier step.
  6. Run the following command to turn off generating the XML data file further:

    spool off

  7. Check the XML file generated in the location defined earlier. Remove unwanted strings and retain only the data.
  8. Save it.
  9. Open the RTF template downloaded earlier.
  10. Click on BI Publisher tab on the top right corner.
  11. Click on Load XML.
  12. Navigate to the location of the generated XML file.
  13. Load it.
    Result:

    The following message is displayed:

    Data loaded successfully.

  14. Make the necessary changes.
  15. To verify the change, click on the PDF or Excel icon in the tab.
  16. If all the changes are complete as expected, save the RTF file.

    Note:

    In the generated PDF report, data for parameters is not displayed in the Header. These parameters and data is captured during application runtime.

  17. Navigate to the uploaded reports section in Audit Vault Server console and click Upload.

    Note:

    RTF and XML file names must be same.

  18. Provide updated RTF and unchanged report definition taken from earlier steps.
  19. Verify the report on the server.

8.7.4 Generating Reports Using RTF And XML Sample Templates

You can generate reports using RTF and XML sample templates.

  1. Use the existing XML and RTF report files.
  2. Save them with a new report name.
  3. To preview changes to the RTF file, sample data is required. Write a new Report SQL Query.
  4. The above SQL Query output is generated from SQL Developer and is exported into XML format. It is not compatible with RTF files. To generate data in required RTF XML format, use the DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML () function. This is a built in function of Oracle Database.
  5. Provide SQL query string as a parameter to dbms_xmlgen.getxml() function. Execute:

    SELECT DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML (‘YOUR REPORT SQL QUERY WITH PARAMETERS’) xml_data

    FROM dual;

    Result:

    It returns the following example XML data as output:

    SELECT DBMS_XMLGEN.GETXML('SELECT TO_CHAR(event_time, ''DS TS'') AS event_time, 
    event_name, 
    target_object, 
    event_status, 
    user_name,
    client_ip,
    client_program,
    secured_target_name, 
    COUNT(*) OVER () AS totalrowcount,
    COUNT(secured_target_name) OVER(PARTITION BY secured_target_name) AS securerowcount 
    FROM avsys.event_log elog 
    WHERE ROWNUM <= 3000
    AND ( event_time BETWEEN ''19-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' AND ''20-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM'' )
    AND secured_target_id IN(SELECT secured_target_id FROM avsys.secured_target   
                            WHERE ( 
                                    (secured_target_name_vc=UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'') 
                                      OR 
                                      secured_target_name_vc LIKE UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5''||''_DELETED%'')
                                    ) 
                                      OR
                                      UPPER(''MSSQLKVM5'')=''ALL''
    
                                  )
                                )
    ORDER BY secured_target_name, elog.event_time') xml 
    from dual;
    

    Note:

    To generate SQL query string, use additional single quote inside this function for character identifier as escape character.

    For example:

    1. For ''DS TS'' date and timestamp formatting, apply single quote (') as escape character.

    2. For event_time timestamp parameter provide value as ''19-DEC-13 09.35.02.570000000 AM''.

      Note:

      Insert two single quotation marks for defining parameters.

    3. For database_name parameter provide value as ''MSSQL_ST''.

    4. Numeric values can be provided as is. Provide value for ROW_LIMIT parameter as 3000 or 20000 (any numerical value).

    5. Apply additional single quote (') for string and date parameters, if they are present in SQL query.

  6. Copy the query output from SQL Developer tool (or any other tool).
  7. Paste it into notepad and save this file as XML.
  8. There is another option to use SPOOL command to generate XML file. See Generating XML Data File Using SPOOL Command for complete information. Load the XML data file.
    Result:

    The following message is displayed:

    Data loaded successfully.

  9. Make the changes to the RTF file as required. Change the report header name.
  10. Change the report parameters like Label and Values if required.

    For example:

    To change the label use option like RUN BY.

  11. To change the TIME value double click on one of the TIME fields. Or right click on it to access BI Publisher, then select Properties, and then Advanced tab. In the Advanced tab, add column reference value in <?ColumnName?> format. This column name is a reference of SQL Query output column name.
  12. To change the Report Chart go to BI Publisher tab, and click on CHART. Add chart as per your requirement by providing uploaded XML data as parameters.
  13. In the Report Data Table, go to BI Publisher tab, and click on TABLE WIZARD. Select the columns to be displayed in the table.
  14. Change the report header of the second page.
  15. In the target group level and total, choose aggregation at target level and total count at report level. Execute:

    count(*) over () as totalrowcount,

    count(secured_target_name) over(partition by secured_target_name) as securerowcount

  16. Keep same columns alias so that they can be referred in the report.
  17. Retain the Time Zone and Date in footer section as they are common to all the reports.
  18. Click on the PDF or Excel icon in the tab to verify the changes.
  19. In case all the changes meet the requirements, then save the RTF file.

    Note:

    In the generated PDF report, data for parameters is not be displayed in header section. The parameters data is sourced from application runtime.

  20. This RTF report file can be uploaded along with XML report file for verification.
  21. Create report XML using an existing template. Follow and use the comments existing in the template and modify accordingly. This is the report XML which is used to upload along with RTF file generated earlier.
  22. Log in to the Audit Vault Server console as auditor.
  23. Click Reports tab.
  24. Click PDF/XLS Reports tab (Report Templates tab starting with Oracle AVDF release 20.8) in the left navigation menu.
  25. Click Upload button in the top right corner.

    The Upload Custom Report dialog is displayed. Click the fields to choose the file saved in your local machine.

    Note:

    The RTF and XML file names must be same.

  26. Optionally enter the Description and click Save.
  27. Verify the report in the Generated Reports tab.
  28. In case the report is not generated, then check the status in the Settings tab, and then select the Jobs tab in the left navigation menu.

8.8 Creating and Uploading Your Own Custom Reports

You can add your own custom reports by using Oracle BI Publisher, or another report authoring tool from a third party.

You will need a report definition file (XML format) and a report template (RTF format), which you can download from Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall. This section describes how to download these files from an existing Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall report and use them for your own report. The audit event appendices in this guide contain data that may help you in creating your own reports.
  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server console as an auditor.

  2. Click on Reports tab.

  3. Click PDF/XLS Reports tab (Report Templates tab starting with Oracle AVDF release 20.8) in the left navigation menu.

    The PDF/XLS Reports (or Report Templates) page is displayed. It lists previously uploaded custom reports. The built-in reports are listed under the Built-in Reports section.

  4. Find a built-in report to use as a starting point for your new custom report.

  5. Click the Download Report Template icon and save the RTF file.

  6. Click the Download Report Definition icon and save the XML file.

  7. Customize the report definition and template files using either Oracle BI Publisher or another tool, as necessary.

  8. Click Upload button located in the top right corner.

    The Upload Custom Report dialog is displayed.

  9. In the Report Template file field, enter the name or browse for your customized report template (RTF) file.

  10. In the Report Definition file field, enter the name or browse for your customized report definition (XML) file.

  11. Optionally enter the Description.
  12. Click Save.

    The new report is listed under PDF/XLS Reports tab (Report Templates tab starting with Oracle AVDF release 20.8).

8.9 Scheduling and Generating PDF or XLS Reports

Auditors can schedule and generate PDF or XLS reports.

8.9.1 About Scheduling and Creating PDF or XLS Reports

Auditors can schedule reports to be sent to other users in PDF or XLS format.

You can run the report immediately, or you can create or select a schedule to run the report at a later time. You can specify a list of users who receive notifications of the report, or who need to attest to the report.

Note:

To schedule a saved interactive report, refer to Creating and Scheduling a Custom Report.

See Also:

The timestamp shown in scheduled reports is based on the Timezone Offset setting specified by the administrator in the Audit Vault Server. See Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall Administrator's Guide for more information.

8.9.2 Creating a Report Schedule

When you create a report schedule, you can add filters such as a limit to the number of rows generated.

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab.
  3. Find the report you want to schedule, and click on the icon under Schedule.
  4. In the page displayed, under the Schedule Report section, select the Report Format. You can choose PDF or XLS.

    You can optionally change the Report Name. The Category Name field is already filled in and cannot be changed.

  5. In the Report Filters section, enter or select:
    • Target - This appears if applicable to the report.

    • Row Limit - The maximum limit for this parameter (ROW_LIMIT) is 999999.

    • Event Time

  6. In the Schedule section, select how you want to schedule the report:
    • Immediately - Runs the report immediately.
    • Specify Schedule - Specify the time and date the report will begin to run and the repeat frequency.
    • Select Schedule - Select an existing schedule for the report by selecting a Schema where the schedule is stored, and the name of the Schedule from the drop-down lists.

      Note:

      These options only appears if a database administrator creates these schedules in the embedded Oracle Database using the DBMS_SCHEDULER PL/SQL package. The Schema list displays schemas that contain DBMS_SCHEDULER schedules. The Schedule list displays all the DBMS_SCHEDULER schedules in that schema. By default, the Schema drop-down list contains the SYS schema, which owns the DBMS_SCHEDULER package.
  7. In the Retention Policy section, if necessary, click on the edit icon to change the default archiving policy, and then click on the check mark.

    The archiving (or retention) policy is created by an Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall administrator, and determines how long the generated PDF or XLS report is retained in the Audit Vault Server before it is archived. If you do not select one, the default retention policy will be used (12 months retention online and 12 months in archives before purging).

  8. In the Notification section, optionally select users to notify about this report:
    • For the Send field, select either URL to send an email with a link to the report, or Attachment to send an email with the report attached as an XLS or PDF file.

    • From the Template drop-down list, select a report notification template.

    • From the Distribution List drop-down list, if applicable, select a distribution list.

    • If you want to send the report to additional recipients, enter their email addresses in the To e-mail and Cc fields. Enter full email addresses separated by commas.

    • Click Add to List.

  9. Under Attestation section, select one or more auditors who should attest to the report.

    Optionally, you can set the order in which the auditors are listed in the Attestation area.

  10. Click on the Schedule button at the top right corner of the page.

    The PDF or XLS is stored in the database, and the report appears in the Report Schedules tab under the main Reports tab.

    You can check the Jobs tab under Settings tab to see the status of report generation.

    Note:

    Avoid triggering or scheduling concurrent long running reports at the same time, as they may be left in a hung state forever. The reports must be scheduled with staggered intervals in between. For example, a gap of 5, 10, or 20 minutes.

8.9.3 Viewing or Modifying Report Schedules

An auditor can view and modify scheduled reports.

To view or modify report schedules, navigate to the Reports tab, and then click on Report Schedules on the left navigation.

See Also:

Creating a Report Schedule for details on report schedule fields.

8.9.4 Downloading Generated Reports in PDF or XLS Format

When scheduled reports are generated you can download them to your computer in PDF or XLS format.

The format in which you can download the report depends on the format you selected in your report schedule. You can also notify other users by sending a link to the report, or attaching the report in an email. You can download an unscheduled report in HTML or CSV format, while browsing it online.
  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click on the Reports tab.
  3. Click on Generated Reports tab in the left navigation menu.

    A list of generated reports appear.

  4. From here, you can do the following:
    • To see a list of pending reports, click Show Pending Reports.

    • To save the report to your computer, click on the report name, and then save the file.

    • To notify another user of the report, select the check box against the specific report, and then click Notify.

    • To attest and annotate the report, click the Details icon in the second column.

8.9.5 Notifying Users About Generated PDF or XML Reports

You can send notifications to other users or distribution lists about a scheduled and generated report.

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click on the Reports tab.
  3. Click on the Generated Reports tab in the left navigation menu.

    A list of generated reports appear.

  4. Select the check box for the specific report and then click the Notify button.
  5. In the Notification section, perform the following:
    • For the Send field, select either URL to send an email with a link to the report, or Attachment to send an email with the report attached as an XLS or PDF file.

    • From the Template drop-down list, select a report notification template.

    • From the Distribution List drop-down list, if applicable, select a distribution list.

    • If you want to send the report to additional recipients, enter their email addresses in the To e-mail and Cc fields. Enter full email addresses separated by commas.

  6. Click Notify.

8.10 Annotating and Attesting Reports

After a report has been generated, auditors can annotate and attest to the report.

This enables you to create a record of all notes and attestations for the report in one place, with the most recent note and attestation listed first. If you delete the report, its associated annotation and attestations are removed as well.
  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab.
  3. Click the Generated Reports tab in the left navigation menu.
  4. Click the Details icon of the specific report.
  5. Scroll down to the Attestations section.
  6. In the Notes field, enter a note for the report.
  7. Perform one of the following actions:
    • To save the note only, click the Save button. The note appears in the Previous Notes area.

    • To save the note and attest to the report, click the Save & Attest button. The note appears in the Previous Notes area and the Attestation area is updated with your user name and the time that you attested to the report.

    • To download the report, click the Download Report button.

  8. To return to the Generated Reports page, click the Cancel button.

    The Generated Reports page appears.

8.11 Downloading a Report in HTML or CSV Format

You can download reports in .csv (for use in an Excel spreadsheet) or html format.

  1. Log in to the Audit Vault Server console as an auditor.
  2. Click the Reports tab.
  3. All the report categories are listed in the left navigation menu. Select the specific report category. For example, click Activity Reports sub tab.
  4. Select the specific report.
  5. Use the filter options using the search field or by clicking on the column names. From the Actions menu, select Download.
  6. Select CSV or HTML in the dialog.
  7. In the opening dialog box, select Save File and then click OK.
  8. Select a location and enter a name for the file.
  9. Click Save.

8.12 Related Event Data Appendices

For audit data, reports track audit events from a variety of sources, such as Oracle Database audit events, Sybase ASE audit events, and so on.

See the following appendices for more information: