Audit trails

Purpose

The audit trail provides the system administrator with a full record of UNICORN usage and system activity.

The different types of audit trail files

There are two types of audit trail files, global files and system-specific files:

The global audit trail files

  • are saved on the server disk in a network installation

  • are examined via a network connection.

The system audit trail files

  • are saved on the local station to which the chromatography system is physically connected

  • can be examined from the local station without logging on to the network

  • can be examined from any computer in a network installation.

Tabs of the Audit trail dialog box

The Audit trail dialog box has two or more tabs, one Global tab and a System tab for each installed system.

  • The global tab displays usage information for the complete UNICORN installation.

  • The system tab(s) displays usage information for a chosen system.

How to view the audit trail files

The table below describes how to examine the global and system audit trail files:

Step

Action

1

Choose Administration:Audit Trail in the UNICORN Manager.

Result: The Audit Trail dialog box is opened, see the illustration in The Global tab.

2

By default the Global tab is displayed which shows the information of the global audit trail file.

If you want to examine the audit trail file for a system, click a System tab. There is one tab for each installed system. See illustration in The System tab.

3

Select the check boxes for the items you want to display.

Note: All items are recorded in the audit trail. The check boxes only control which items are displayed in the dialog box.
The Global tab

The illustration below shows the Global tab of the Audit Trail dialog box:

The items of the Global tab

The table below describes the items which can be displayed on the Global tab:

Item

Displays

User

  • user creation, deletion and redefinition.

  • creation of rescue file for system definitions

  • restoration of system definitions with rescue file

  • changes of global and personal lists:

    column list

    report format

    templates

    evaluation procedures

  • column protection mode enable/disable

Backup

backup operations for global audit trail files.

Logon/Logoff

  • all logon and logoff attempts

  • the name of the user logging on or off

  • failed logon attempts.

Define system

system definition, deletion and definition.

MethodQueue

MethodQueue start operations.

Maintenance

  • maintenance activities that are scheduled in the System Control module (menu command System:Maintenance).

  • settings made in maintenance module

Information

  • system lock/unlock

  • socket on/off

  • global log started/stopped

Timezone

the time zone where the activity was logged.

The System tab

The illustration below shows a System tab of the Audit Trail dialog box:

The table below describes the items which can be displayed on a System tab:

Item

Displays

Run/End/Manual

  • the times for start and completion of a run

  • the times for manual operation.

Alarms/Warnings

alarms and warnings defined in the strategy for the system.

Errors

system errors.

Calibration

monitor calibration operations.

Information

system log started/stopped

Timezone

the time zone where the activity was logged.

How to view previous audit trail files

A new audit trail file is created at regular intervals and the old audit trail file is automatically saved. See How to renew audit trail files for more information.

The table below describes how to view previous audit trail files:

Step

Action

1

Choose Administration:Audit Trail in the UNICORN Manager.

Result: The Audit Trail dialog box displays the current audit trail.

2

  • Choose File:Open to display the Open audit trail dialog box:

3

  • Choose Global or a System in the Type drop-down box.

  • Select the file(s) to open from the File list:

    Use the CTRL key if you want to open several audit trail files at the same time.

    Click the Browse button if you want to open a file which is not listed.

    Note: Files are named by date and serial number.

  • Click OK.

Result: The audit trail file(s) is now displayed on a new, temporary tab.

How to search for text in audit trail files

The table below describes how to search for text in audit trail files:

Step

Action

1

Choose Administration:Audit Trail in the UNICORN Manager.

Result: The Audit Trail dialog box is displayed.

2

If you want search the currently open audit trail file

  • press the CTRL + F keys or choose Edit:Find in current log.

    Note: The currently open audit trail is the one displayed in the Audit trail dialog box and depends on the selected tab (Global or a System).

  • type the text string you want to find in the Find Text dialog box and click the Find button.

  • press the F3 key (or choose Edit:Find next) to find the next occurrence of the search string.

3

If you want to search all the existing audit trail files, either Global or System,

  • choose Edit:Find in log files.

  • type the search string, choose whether to search Global or System audit trail files in the Files at drop-down box, and click the Find button.

Result: The search results are displayed on a new, temporary tab named Find result.

How to print audit trails

The table below describes how to print an audit trail file:

Step

Action

1

Choose Administration:Audit Trail in the UNICORN Manager.

Result: The Audit Trail dialog box is displayed.

2

  • Select the Global tab or a System tab.

  • If you want to print other audit trail files than the currently open, then open the file(s) as described in "How to view older audit trail files" above.

  • Choose File:Print to print the file(s) displayed in the dialog box.

How to renew audit trail files

The audit trail file is renewed at regular intervals between 1 to 30 days. The old audit trail file is then saved automatically together with all the previous audit trail files.

The table below describes how to set the renewal interval and how to renew the audit trail immediately:

Step

Action

1

Choose Administration:Audit Trail in the UNICORN Manager. Result: The Audit Trail dialog box is displayed.

2

Choose View:Renew interval.

Result: The Renew interval dialog box is displayed.

3

Set renewal interval

  • Type the desired interval in the Interval field. The standard value is 7 days.

  • Click the Set button.

Result: The new Interval setting will take effect after the next scheduled renewal, or immediately if the Renew now button is clicked.

Renew now

  • Click the Renew now button to start a new audit trail file. The old file is saved automatically.

Example: If the audit trail is set to renew every 7 days and you click Renew now on a Friday, a new file will be started immediately and another file will be started the following Friday.

4

Click the Close button.

How to back up audit trail files

The table below describes how to back up audit trail files.

Note: Old audit trail file are automatically saved each time a new one is created. This backup function is only necessary if you want to copy or move the audit trail files to a specific location.

Step

Action

1

Choose Administration:Audit Trail in the UNICORN Manager.

Result: The Audit Trail dialog box is displayed.

2

Choose File:Backup.

Result: The Backup log files dialog box is displayed.

3

You can choose either to copy or move the log files.

  • Select the files you want to back up in the Log files field.

  • Select a destination folder in the structure tree.

  • Select to Copy or Move the file(s) in the Mode field. The Move alternative is recommended to save disk space.

  • Click the Copy or Move button, depending on the previous choice.

  • Click the Close button.

Note: Backup operations are recorded in the audit trail.
How to display the system run hours

Run hour values show the number of hours that the system has been used for manual or method-controlled runs. The Run hours record is useful if you want follow up the expected and actual lifetimes for liquid handling components.

The table below describes how to display (and reset) the system run hours:

Step

Action

1

Choose Administration:Audit Trail in the UNICORN Manager.

Result: The Audit Trail dialog box is displayed.

2

  • Choose a System tab.

  • Choose View:Run hours.

    Result: The Run Hours dialog box with the accumulated run time for the system is displayed.

3

  • If you want to reset the accumulated run hours to zero (0), click the Reset button.

  • Click the Exit button.

Note: The reset time is recorded in the audit trail.
Other sources of information

Parts of the audit trail information can also be found in the Documentation dialog box, available in the Evaluation and System Control modules.

The table below describes how to open the Documentation dialog box:

Step

Action

1

  • Open the Evaluation module or the System Control module.

  • Click the View Documentation icon.

Result: The Documentation dialog box is opened.

2

Select the Event Log or the Logbook tab to view some of the audit trail information. See the example below.

2005-06-15