Advanced Report Topics

Command line options

You can use command line options to start the creation of network reports with the MTNA application. First you need to create a report settings file. Use the Report Settings and Report Data pages of the MTNA Settings Dialog to configure a report (you can also add protocol and address filters if needed). Then go to the Save and Load Filter Settings page of the Settings Dialog, click the Export button, and save the settings in a file. Now you can use this settings file to start the report generation on start-up of the MTNA application. Therefore you need to add the -r (report) option and the settings file path to the start command for the MTNA application (e.g.: MTNA -r "C:\mtna_data\MyReport.mnset"). This will start the Network Analyzer, open a new report generator, load the settings, and schedule a new report (according to the schedule settings in the given file).

Additionally you can add the -o (one-time run) option to the command line (e.g.: MTNA -o -r "C:\mtna_data\MyReport.mnset"). This will start MTNA and load the settings as above. But the report generation is started immediately (with a 5 second delay to allow the application to initialize itself). Thus all schedule settings you made are ignored except for the report duration. After the time that was set for the report duration has elapsed, the report is saved to disk and the application closes itself.

Note: Make sure not to start more than one instance of the Network Analyzer at once when using the -o option. Usually starting MTNA multiple times would switch you to the running instance, but running in one-time mode will close the application when the first report is finished, so you may get unexpected results in this case.

Using the Windows Task Scheduler

The command line options allow to use the Windows Task Scheduler to run MTNA reports. The Task Scheduler is automatically installed on Windows 2000, 2003, and XP systems. For other operating system versions you may need to install it with the Microsoft Internet or Platform SDK (or use the AT command line tool in Windows NT 4 and higher). Open the Task Scheduler via the Start menu: Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks. Or double-click the Scheduled Tasks entry in the Control Panel window. Double-click the Add Scheduled Task entry in the task list and follow the instructions. Browse for the MTNA application (MTNA.exe) and choose it as application to run. Configure the desired start frequency and time. Use an account with administrative credentials and a valid password for running the task. On the last page check the 'Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish' option and click Finish. Now add the above options and the settings file path to the start command. See the Task Scheduler help for its other options.

You can use the Task Scheduler for different purposes:

• Use the -r option without -o to start the MTNA application on system start-up and schedule the report generation via the report settings file.

• Use -r and -o to start the application with the Task Scheduler on a regularly basis and set the report duration in the report settings file. This way the Network Analyzer will close itself when the report is finished.

• Start the application with -r and -o options as above, but set the duration in the settings file to a rather high value (e.g. 24 hours). Now use the Advanced tab of the Task Scheduler to set the desired report duration. This way the Task Scheduler will close the MTNA application after the specified time. The report will be created with the correct ending time.

Tips for running long-term reports

When creating one or multiple reports over a long period of time, it is possible that the address database becomes too large so that the overall system performance decreases. To avoid this, you can either use the Windows Task Scheduler to periodically restart the Network Analyzer (see above). This will remove all non-persistent address entries from the database. Or you switch off the auto-update of the address database in the Tools menu. This will prevent the network analyzer from adding new addresses to the database. Any data for addresses that are not found in the address database will then be added to a default address group, e.g. 'LAN' for unknown MAC addresses or 'Internet (v4)' for unknown IP addresses. These names are also used in the reports to display the sum of all traffic from and to addresses that were not present in the database. This is especially useful if you aren't interested in the contacted remote addresses but want only to log the overall traffic of a small number of computer systems. You can further reduce the size of reports by combining this with address group statistics (see Address Groups).

Modifying the style of HTML reports

When a report in HTML or XHTML format is created, the application will check the report destination directory for the files mtna.css, ascend.png, and descend.png. If the files are not found, they will be copied from the MTNA installation directory. Thus you can edit these files in either directory. Modify the files in the installation directory if you want to change the style for all new reports (you will need to copy the files to existing report directories, as MTNA won't overwrite existing style files). Or change the files in any report destination directory to change only the style of the reports in this directory.

The png files contain the arrow graphics for marking the sorted columns. Use any graphics editor that can load and save png files to change these images. The mtna.css file is the style sheet for all reports in the same directory. Use any text editor or style sheet editor (e.g. the free TopStyle Lite from Bradbury Software) to modify the report styles.

Following table lists the most important styles in the file and what they are used for: