Where can UI Queries be Used in Foglight?

In my Introduction to UI Queries  post, the building of a simple query to return all SQL Server Agent Jobs was shown.

Let's back up a step, and take a look at where UI Queries can be used in Foglight. This post will be updated with links as the topics are addressed.

1. A UI Query can be used as an input to a report. This can simplify and offer a broader range of inputs when running or scheduling a report. Details here.
   
   
2. A UI Query can be used as a shortcut to building a custom dashboard or report. This can save time and frustration by publishing either frequently accessed or hard to find data in an easy to use spot. Details here.
   
   
3. A UI Query can be used to add either static or dynamic components to a service definition via the Service Builder dashboard. This in turn offers a great range of additional things Foglight can do. Details here.
   
   
4. A service definition can be used to filter instances and database types on the Databases dashboard. This allows easy access to groups of instances (eg. Production Oracle, QA SQL Server).
   
   
5. One ore more services can be displayed on the Service Operations Console dashboard. This allows the viewing of the SLA, along with all alarms and components that make up the service very easily.
   
   
6. A "green light / red light" indicator for the service health can easily be dropped onto a custom dashboard.
   
   
7. The service definition can be used to open incidents via the newly available ServiceNow integration.. wait, what?  Yes, Foglight Management Server version 5.9.4 introduced two-way ServiceNow integration! That all starts from the definition of a service to enable integration with SNOW.

These will be explored in future posts. You can see that UI Queries form the building blocks of some very interesting things that Foglight can do!

Stay tuned for these posts and please comment on how you've used UI Queries and Service Definitions in Foglight.