Create a dedicated report scheduler website for use in a CAC card environment

6/13/2019 8:33 PM

1/23/2026 7:18 PM

This article provides detailed steps on how to create a dedicated report scheduler website for use in a CAC card environment.

This article covers the following topics:

• Create website for report scheduler
• Recreate standard Orion website for user access
  • Optional - Add IP and domain restrictions
  • Optional - Enable HTTPS on Report Writer website
• Create a scheduled report

Orion Platform

Create Website for Report Scheduler

1. After the SolarWinds Platform Platform product is installed, stop all SolarWinds Platform services and make sure that the IIS Manager is closed.
2. Open File Explorer and navigate to the IIS websites directory (by default, C:\inetpub), and rename the SolarWinds directory to Reporting. (You can name it whatever you like as long as it doesn't match an existing folder name, as you will map it in a later step in IIS.)
   1. Please note for Solarwinds Platform 2022.3 and above, the directory has changed to C:\Program Files\Solarwinds\Orion\Web for fresh installs and C:\Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds\Orion\Web for environments that upgraded from a previous version.
3. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager under Administrative Tools.
   1. Start > Run > ‘%SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv\Inetmgr.exe’
4. Right-click the ‘SolarWinds NetPerfMon’ website and select ‘Rename’.
   
5. Rename the ‘SolarWinds NetPerfMon’ website to ‘Report Scheduler’. Right-click the ‘Report Scheduler’ website and navigate to Manage Website > Advanced Settings.
   
6. In the ‘Physical Path’ field, update the location to point to the new path specified in step 1 (for example C:\inetpub\Reports or C:\Program Files (x86)\Solarwinds\Orion\Reporting), and then click OK to save changes.
   
7. Right-click the ‘Report Scheduler’ website and select ‘Edit Bindings’.
   
8. Select the binding from the list and click ‘Edit’.
9. In the ‘IP address’ field enter ‘127.0.0.1’ to bind the website to the loopback adapter.
10. In the ‘Port’ field, enter an unused port between 1 and 65535 and click 'OK' to save changes.
11. Click ‘Close’ to close the ‘Site Bindings’ window.
    
12. Select ‘Report Scheduler’ from the list of websites and click ‘Authentication’ from the ‘Report Scheduler home’.
    
13. Under ‘Authentication’, ensure that ‘Anonymous Authentication’ and ‘Forms Authentication’ are the only methods enabled. Right-click any other authentication types and select Disable.
    

Recreate Standard SolarWinds Platform Website for User Access

1. Re-run the website portion of the Configuration Wizard.
   • This time, set your configuration options for users who will be accessing the SolarWinds Platform Web interface using CAC authentication, e.g., binding on all unassigned interfaces, TCP port 443, Windows Integrated Auth, etc.
   • Ensure the Website Root Directory is different than the Report Scheduler path specified in step 1 (for example, C:\inetpub\SolarWinds).
   • If you are unable to edit the 'IP Address' and 'Port' fields, uncheck 'Skip website binding'.
   • If HTTPS should be enabled on your primary SolarWinds Platform website, enable it here and select the certificate to be used for encryption from the certificate drop down.
   
2. Note* if you are on version 2022.x or later you need to repair the entire Platform, not just run the Configuration Wizard.
3. Walk through the remaining steps in the Configuration Wizard by clicking 'Next. Once complete, you should now have two independent SolarWinds Platform websites running: one bound exclusively to the loopback interface using forms-based authentication for use with the Report Writer, and an additional website accessible to end users using CAC card authentication.

Optional – Add IP and Domain Restrictions

1. Add the IP and Domain Restrictions feature to Windows by launching Server Manager, clicking ‘Manage’ from the top menu and selecting ‘Add Roles and Features’.
2. Click ‘Next’ to start the Wizard and select ‘Role-based or feature-based installation’ from the options shown.
   
3. Select the local server from the list (the default) and click ‘Next’ to proceed.
4. Under 'Web Server (IIS) > Web Server > Security':
   1. Select ‘IP and Domain Restrictions’ from the list.
   2. Click ‘Next’ through the next two steps of the wizard.
   3. Click ‘Install’ to proceed with the installation.
      
5. Click ‘Close’ when the installation is complete and relaunch the ‘Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager’ under ‘Administrative Tools’ (Start > Run > ‘%SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv\Inetmgr.exe’).
6. Select the ‘Report Writer’ site and open the ‘IP Address and Domain Restrictions’ from the ‘Report Writer Home’.
   
7. Click ‘Add Allow Entry’ from the ‘Actions’ list.
8. In the ‘Specific IP address’ field enter ‘127.0.0.1’ and click ‘OK’ to save your changes.
   
9. Click ‘Edit Feature Settings’ from the ‘Actions’ list.
10. In the ‘Access for unspecified clients’ drop down, select ‘Deny’ to prevent access from any other host other than localhost.
    

Optional - Enable HTTPS on Report Writer Website

1. Relaunch the ‘Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager’ under ‘Administrative Tools’ (Start > Run > ‘%SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv\Inetmgr.exe’).
2. Right-click the ‘Report Scheduler’ website and select ‘Edit Bindings’ 

3. In the 'Site Bindings' window, click the 'Add' button to create a new binding. 
4. In the 'Type' drop-down, select 'https'.
5. In the ‘IP address’ field, enter ‘127.0.0.1’ to bind the website to the loopback adapter.
6. In the ‘Port’ field, enter an unused port between 1 and 65535, and click ‘OK’ to save changes.
7. Click the 'SSL certificate' drop down and select the certificate that will be used to encrypt traffic to this website. 

8. When done click 'OK' to save changes.
9. From the 'Site Bindings' window select the 'http' binding and click 'Remove'.
10. When done click 'Close' to save changes. 

Create a Scheduled Report

1. Log in to the SolarWinds Platform Web interface, navigate to the report or view you want to be sent on a scheduled basis, and copy the URL to your clipboard or Notepad.
2. Navigate to the Report Scheduler located under Reports > All Reports > Manage Reports > Schedule Manager.
3. Click 'Create New Schedule'.
4. Enter a name for the schedule and provide an optional description of the report that this schedule will generate.
5. Click the 'Assign Webpage' button.
6. Paste the URL you copied in step 1 to the Reports assigned field.
7. Edit the URL to reflect the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the TCP port you defined when creating the Report Scheduler website in IIS above. 

8. Click 'Next' and then click 'OK' on the dialog window that appears notifying you that the URL entered is not the same URL that is currently being used to access the SolarWinds Platform Web interface.
9. Click 'Add Frequency' on and define the date, time, and how often the report should be sent, then click the 'Add Frequency' button to save your changes.
10. Click 'Next' to proceed to the 'Actions' step and select how you want the report to be generated. If email is selected, define the recipient(s) of the email, and SMTP server settings. When done click 'Add Action' to save your changes.
11. Click 'Next' to proceed to the Summary step and review the configuration of your scheduled report.
12. When done, click 'Create Schedule' to save your changes the scheduled report.