Build intuitive visualizations using PeopleSoft Kibana

PeopleSoft Search Framework

 

As we are already familiar, PeopleSoft utilizes Elastic Search which provides a multitenant-capable, full text search engine with an HTTP web interface and schema-free JSON documents. In fact, Elastic Search framework has enhanced the process of crawling, processing attachments, and indexing data.

What is Kibana?

Kibana is an open source frontend application, that is built on top of Elastic search. Kibana provides rich, intuitive data visualizations for that data that is indexed in Elastic Search.

The easy-to-use Kibana interface allows developers and Business end users to query data, create catchy charts, thereby visualize the results via different chart types.

Kibana features as an ideal tool:

  • For searching, viewing and visualizing data
  • For analysing the data through charts, tables, histograms or maps.
  • Which has centralised access for built-in solutions developed on Elastic Stack.
  • With dozens of features for data exploration, visualization, monitoring, and management.

Kibana and PeopleSoft

Kibana was delivered with PeopleTools 8.57 for technical administrators only with system metrics and indexing metrics. Though Elastic search DPK was shipped with Elasticsearch and Kibana, usage of Kibana was limited to monitoring ES server only.

With tools 8.58 the feature is now integrated with Peoplesoft UI and available for end users for key decision making.

Dashboard Development Steps

Following are the quick steps to be followed for creating a Kibana Visualization from scratch –

  1. Create index pattern
  • On the Kibana tool, open Management, and then click Index Patterns.
  • The Create index pattern page opens automatically. Click on Create index pattern.

  • Define an index pattern name, which matches the first letter on existing Index and ends with *.
  • Click on Next Step

  • Open the Time Filter field name dropdown and select @timestamp.
  • Click Create index pattern.
  1. Create Visualization/Dashboard
  • Open Discover. Multiple available index patterns are displayed.
  • To make your current index, click the index pattern dropdown, then select your newly created index. By default, all fields are shown for each matching document.
  • Hover over the list of available fields, then click add next to each field you want include as a column in the table.

  • Post that, select Visualization tab on the left menu. And select on “+”.

  • Select the Visualization type from the choices given below

  • To enter new search criteria, select the index pattern for the indices that contain the data you want to visualize. The visualization builder opens with a wildcard query that matches all of the documents in the selected indices.

  • Select the Data, Metrics and Axis for the graph.
  • In the Kibana toolbar, click Inspect.

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  • In the Kibana toolbar, click Save.

Create Kibana dashboard

  • To create a dashboard, add multiple needed visualizations, saved-searches and analysis maps
  • Arrange dashboard elements according to your choice.

  1. Import Kibana dashboard in PeopleSoft

Navigation:- Main menu > PeopleTools > Search framework > Administration > Import Kibana dashboards

  • Add a new row and select the dashboard which is created.
  • Save and click on Import
  1. Configure as tile

Navigation: Main menu > PeopleTools > Search framework > Administration > Kibana visualization

  • Add a new row.
  • Select the Imported dashboard and tile to been viewed and label of the tile.

  • Go to home page and select Personalize Homepage.
  • Select Add tile >PeopleSoft Applications > and select the dashboard and save.

Tile added to Homepage

Kibana Visualizer

Advantages

  • Provides dashboard view with all visual elements accessible in any browser
  • Real-time analytical view into large volumes of data
  • Being the official interface of Elasticsearch, Kibana serves to be the most effective interface for discovering data insights
  • No load on transactional database
  • Data security applied to index data is applicable to visualizations as well
  • Seamless interface between PS UI and Kibana

Author
Gautam Gunasekhar
PeopleSoft Team
Kovaion Consulting

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