Cisco Cisco Content Security Management Appliance M390

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I R O N P O R T   A S Y N C O S   6 . 4   R E P O R T I N G   A P I   F O R   I R O N P O R T   A P P L I A N C E S

R E P O R T I N G   A P I   O V E R V I E W

The Reporting API feature allows you to download the same data collected by the Email 
Security Monitor component of the IronPort Email Security appliance or Security 
Management appliance in a comma separated value (CSV) format. This format allows users to 
integrate the IronPort appliance's data gathering capabilities into other IT and business 
reporting systems. 

D O W N L O A D I N G   R E P O R T I N G   D A T A

You can retrieve the data used to build the charts and graphs in the Email Security Monitor 
feature via HTTP. This is useful if you plan to perform further analysis on the data via other 
tools. The data is available in standard comma separated value (CSV) format. The easiest way 
to get the HTTP query you will need is to configure one of the Email Security Monitor pages to 
display the type of data you want. You can then simply click the Export... link to initiate the 
download process.

You can automate the retrieval of data from Email Security Monitor, for example, by an 
automatic script that will download raw data, process, and then display the results in some 
other system. 

The easiest way to get the HTTP query you will need is to configure one of the Email Security 
Monitor pages to display the type of data you want. You can then copy the Export... link. This 
is the download URL. When automating data retrieval like this it is important to note which 
parameters in the download URL should be fixed and which should change (see below).

The download URL is encoded in such a way that it can be copied to an external script that 
can execute the same query (using proper HTTP authentication) and get a similar data set. The 
script can use Basic HTTP Authentication or cookie authentication. Keep the following in 
mind when retrieving CSV data via automated processes:

• Time range selection (past hour, day, week, etc.) in relation to when the URL is used again. 

If you copy the URL to retrieve a CSV data set for “Past Day,” the next time you use that 
URL you will get a new data set that covers the “Past Day” from the time you send the 
URL again. The date range selection is retained, and appears in the CSV query string (e.g. 

date_range=current_day

).

• Filtering and grouping preferences for the data set. Filters are retained and appear in the 

query string. Note that filters in reports are rare - one example is the “Global / Local” 
outbreaks selector in the Virus Outbreaks report.

• The CSV download returns all rows of data in the table for the selected time range.

• The CSV download returns the rows of data in the table ordered by timestamp and key. 

You can perform further sorting in a separate step such as via a spreadsheet application.