Report Filtering

Overview

Report filtering lets you narrow chart and table results to just the entities and data that matter for a specific analysis. By applying entity, data, and pattern-based filters, you can control which entities appear or don’t appear, which metrics are included in calculations, and how properties such as names or tags are matched, so that reports stay focused, performant, and easy to interpret.

Entity filtering

Entity Filtering enables precise control over data aggregation in charts that display multiple entities, such as Top N charts.You can select which specific entities, related to a chart entity, will contribute data to the displayed metrics and calculations.

Once an entity is filtered, all its associated data attributes are used in the aggregation; for instance, filtering by a single application will aggregate data from all related switch ports associated with that application.

Note

Entity filtering is not available for charts that display only a single entity.

Access Entity Filtering

Use entity filters to control which entities appear in a chart and to aggregate data only for those entities.

Configure the chart

Open the chart configuration and set the basic parameters on the Chart Data tab.

Show the: Select Top or Bottom.
Number: Enter the number of entities to show (for example, 1 to 50).
Data Type: Choose the data type
by: Select the metric (for example, Total NetFlow Byte Count).
In the chart area, select the + icon and choose Filter <Entity Type>

Entity filter options

Entity filter options let you control which entities appear in a chart by including, excluding, relating, or property-matching specific entities.

Table 51. Entity Filter

Option	Description
In this list	Select specific named entities to include. Use the search box to find entities by name, and optionally clear Show Archived to limit the list to active entities. Select the entities and click OK to apply the filter. You can also use template variables in this list.
Not in this list	Include only entities that are not in the selected list, effectively excluding the entities you choose.
Related to	Include entities that are related to the chart entity for metric aggregation or calculation. You select the entity from which the search begins—for example, Starting from this host, find the ports. You can also restrict the relationship to a specific topology to improve performance and fine-tune what appears in the chart.
With property	Filter entities by a system property or tag value, such as including only HBA ports with a port speed of 16 GB.

With property matching conditions

Pattern-based filters add four new With property conditions that let you include or exclude entities based on whether a property value matches a specified text pattern. These conditions support optional case sensitivity and wildcard matching for text-based properties, such as Name. The new pattern-matching conditions are available wherever existing filter controls are used, including charts, report filter dialogs, rule create and update pages, and other filtering interfaces.

Pattern-based filters let you match entity properties using wildcard text patterns so they can quickly include or exclude groups of items whose names follow a common pattern.

You can refined the filter with pattern-based conditions:

Table 52. Pattern Matching

Condition	Matching behaviour
Matching pattern (case sensitive)	Includes entities whose property matches the pattern, including letter case.
Not matching pattern (case sensitive)	Excludes property values that exactly match the pattern, including letter case.
Matching pattern (case insensitive)	Includes property values that match the pattern without considering letter case.
Not matching pattern (case insensitive)	Excludes property values that match the pattern without considering letter case.

Note

For optimal performance, especially when your report includes large datasets - it is recommended to use the following filter operators:

Matching pattern (case sensitive)
Not matching pattern (case sensitive)

Data filtering

Data filtering limits the metric calculation to specific entities and their data, instead of using all related entities.

In charts, only the selected entity and metric are included in the aggregation (for example, one application using data from two specific switch ports).
Data filtering is available on all charts, and on Top N charts only when a binding exists between the entity type and the chosen metric (for example, Switch Port–Consumed Bandwidth).
To add a data filter, select the + icon in the chart and choose Filter Entities for Metric Calculation (Advanced).

Table 53. Data Filter

Option	Description
In this list	Include metric data only from the named entities or report variable values you select.
Not in this list	Include metric data only from entities that are not in the specified list; you can also use a report variable.
Related to	Include metric data only from entities that have a defined relationship to the chart’s primary entity, optionally driven by a report variable.
With property	Include metric data only from entities whose system properties or tags match the specified value (for example, applications in the Platinum tier).

Filter Metrics

The Filter Metric lets you include or exclude entities based on their metric values over a selected time range. Use this filter when you want reports to return only entities that meet a specific condition - for example, volumes where Read IOPS = 0 and Write IOPS = 0.

Why use Filter Metric

When you use Top N or Bottom N charts, the system ranks entities based on their metric values. Top N displays the entities with the highest metric values, while Bottom N displays the entities with the lowest metric values within the specified limit. Bottom N ranks results comparatively and does not filter by value; therefore, the returned entities may include non-zero metric values.

The Filter Metric resolves this limitation by applying an explicit condition to a metric, such as equals 0, ensuring accurate results.

Note

Top N and Bottom N charts rank entities based on metric values, but do not guarantee that only entities with exact zero values are returned.
To explicitly include or exclude entities based on metric values, apply a Filter Metric.
Filter Metrics are evaluated using the aggregated metric value calculated for the selected time range (for example, Average, Maximum, or Minimum, depending on the metric definition).
The filter does not evaluate individual time-series data points. As a result, entities are included or excluded based on the aggregated value, not on whether any single data point meets the filter condition.

Configure the Metric Filter

Follow these steps to apply a Filter Metric to a report:

From the Report page, click Add New Report and select Trends.
Open the chart configuration and set the basic parameters on the Chart Data tab.
Set Show the to Top or Bottom.
Enter the number of entities to display (for example, 1–50).
Select the Data Type.
Under By, choose a metric.
In the chart area, click the + icon and select Filter Metric.
Add a filter for the required metric (for example, Read IOPS or Write IOPS).
Set the condition, enter the value, and apply the filter.
Example 2. Display Volumes with Zero I/O Activity
In this example, the chart is configured to display volumes with no I/O activity:
- Under By, select Read IOPS or Write IOPS.
- Add filters for:
  Average Read IOPS = 0
  Average Write IOPS = 0
  With these filters applied, only volumes with zero average read and write IOPS are included in the chart.

Note

Line charts display filtered values exactly (for example, 0 IOPS).
Trend charts average data across time intervals, so values may appear slightly different.

Pattern Syntax

What is Pattern Syntax?

Pattern syntax is a filtering mechanism in Virtana Infrastructure Observability that allows you to include or exclude data based on text patterns. It provides flexible matching options to refine your report data by searching for specific text strings within properties like Tags, Names, or other attributes.

Available Pattern Matching Options:

in this list - Matches items that are in a specified list
not in this list - Excludes items that are in a specified list
Matching pattern (case sensitive) - Includes items matching a pattern with exact case
Not matching pattern (case sensitive) - Excludes items matching a pattern with exact case
Matching pattern (case insensitive) - Includes items matching a pattern regardless of case
Not matching pattern (case insensitive) - Excludes items matching a pattern regardless of case

Boolean Operators for Advanced Filtering:

or - Combines multiple conditions (any can be true)
union - Internal OR-like operator for embedded relationships

After you select a pattern matching option (like "Not matching pattern (case sensitive)"), you'll see a text input field where you need to enter your pattern.

This field is where you type your search pattern using:

Regular text
Boolean operators (|)
Wildcard symbols (*, ?)

Pattern Matching Symbols

Use pattern matching symbols to create flexible filters that match multiple entities based on common naming patterns in your infrastructure.

Asterisk (*) - Match Zero or More Characters

Table 54. Asterisk (*) - Match Zero or More Characters

Symbol	What It Does	Where to Place It
* (asterisk)	Matches zero or more characters of any type (letters, numbers, symbols). Use this to match entities that share a common prefix, suffix, or middle portion in their names. The matched characters are known patterns in your environment—the asterisk simply allows you to match all variations efficiently without listing each one individually.	After a common prefix to match all items starting with that pattern. Before a common suffix to match all items ending with that pattern. Around a middle portion to match all items containing that pattern. Multiple positions to match complex patterns.

Example

Table 55. Example

Pattern	What It Matches	Use Case
prod-*	prod-web, prod-, prod-app, prod-db-01, prod-server-east-001	Prefix match: All entities starting with "prod-" (including "prod-" itself with zero characters after).
*-backup	server-backup, db-backup, storage-array-backup	Suffix match: All entities ending with "-backup"
-tier1-	prod-tier1-web, dev-tier1-app, storage-tier1-ssd	Middle match: All entities containing "-tier1-" anywhere in the name
prod-*-01	prod-web-01, prod-app-01, prod-database-01	Prefix and suffix match: All production entities ending with "-01"

Question Mark (?) - Match Exactly One Character

Table 56. Question Mark (?) - Match Exactly One Character

Symbol	What It Does	Where to Place It
? (question mark)	Matches exactly one character of any type—letters, numbers, or symbols. This is useful when you need to match a single variable character in a specific position while keeping the rest of the pattern fixed.	In place of a single variable character in the pattern. Multiple times to match multiple single-character variations. Combined with other symbols for complex patterns

Example

Table 57. Example

Pattern	What It Matches	Use Case
server-0?	server-01, server-02, server-0a, server-0X	Single variable character: Matches any single character in the last position (numbers, letters, or symbols)
host-?	host-a, host-1, host-#	One character variation: Matches any single character after "host-"
prod-??-web	prod-01-web, prod-xy-web	Two variable characters: Matches exactly two characters in the middle position
fc?	fc0, fca, fc#	Single trailing character: Matches "fc" followed by any single character.
?-server-?	b-server-2, 1-server-x	Multiple single positions: Matches one character at the beginning and one at the end

Pipe (|) - Match Multiple Alternative Patterns

Table 58. Pipe (|) - Match Multiple Alternative Patterns

Symbol	What It Does	Where to Place It
\| (pipe)	Allows you to define multiple alternative patterns and match entities that satisfy any one of them. This acts as a logical OR operator, letting you combine different patterns in a single filter.	Between two or more complete patterns to include all matching entities in the same search. No spaces around the pipe unless spaces are part of the intended pattern

Note

Do not put spaces before or after the pipe (|) unless those spaces are intentionally part of your pattern.

Example

Table 59. Example

Pattern	What It Matches	Use Case
prod-\|staging-	prod-web, prod-app-01, staging-db, staging-server-02	Multiple prefixes : (no spaces): Matches all entities starting with "prod-" OR "staging-"
-web\|-app\|*-db	server-web, host-app, storage-db	Multiple suffixes: Matches entities ending with "-web" OR "-app" OR "-db"
prod \|staging	rod server, prod web, staging app , staging db	With intentional spaces: Matches "prod " (with space) OR "staging " (with space)
server-0?\|host-0?	server-01, server-0a, host-01, host-0x	Combined with other symbols: Matches two different patterns with variable characters

For advanced patterns or troubleshooting, contact Virtana Support team.

In this section:

Report Filtering

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Data filtering

Filter Metrics

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Pattern Syntax

Pattern Matching Symbols

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Search results