Alteryx Server Usage Monitoring & Reporting

[simon]

Just upgraded to Alteryx Server 2018.4. also downloaded latest alteryxserverusagereport.zip from download portal. I configured the tool correctly and I get a Tableau workbook with data, except for the last dashboard called 'Alteryx Server | Usage'. Looking at datasource behind the sheets in the viz, there are missing fields such a NewUsers, SerialNumber, ServerDataTime, StoppedUsers,tool_group, Count.

Looking at Alteryx_Server_Usage_Report.yxmc, the nested macro "RunBatch.yxmc" throws an error. Inside this macro the error seems to a batch file in the run command tool: 

Error: RunBatch (695): Tool #1: The external program ".\CollectionCheck.bat" returned an error code: 1
Error: RunBatch (695): Tool #29: The external program ".\CollectionCheck.bat" returned an error code: 1

I was able to run my own batch file correctly and I see collection outputs.

Can you recommend a fix?

[bktaylor]

Did you find a resolution to this problem? I am having the same problem with my Alteryx Server Usage Report workflow. In my case the report was running fine and collecting Desktop usage stats, but then just stopped working with this same error yesterday. I would like to know the cause if you found it.

Thanks

[mse139]

@bktaylor I pulled my hair out with the Error Code 1 from RunBatch.  I think I found the issue an am now able to run it successfully - both from my local machine and our server.  I'm using the latest version of the macro - 2019.3.

You need to edit one of the included macros in the Usage Report macro, so I would make a backup first.  

The issue is caused by the value in the 'Mongo Directory' question in the RunBatch configuration window.  The value entered is ./Supporting_Macros, which tells the command prompt to find a Supporting_Macros directory in the current directory.  However, when the command is run, it is already running from Supporting_Macros directory, so its unable to find the necessary files.

Change the value to ../Supporting_Macros, this will tell the script to go up 1 level, and back down to Supporting_Macros.  Alternatively, you could leave this blank and accept the default value of C:/program files/alteryx/bin, but that requires this directory to exist on any machine where the macro is run and that it contains mongo.exe.

[wildflower]

I'm getting the error code 1 out of the box for v.2019.3 Alteryx Server Usage Report from the portal (our server and Designer is 2019.4.6).

Similar to @bktaylor, our report was running on the gallery for a year and then when we moved to server 2019.4.6 this other error code appeared for the batch macro:

RunBatch (695): Tool #1: The external program "..\Supporting_Macros\CollectionCheck.bat" returned an error code: -4

RunBatch (695): Tool #29: The external program "..\Supporting_Macros\CollectionCheck.bat" returned an error code: -4

That's when I found this post and downloaded the latest workflow version from the portal. I inputted our MongoDB credentials and hit run -- out of the box, the error appears, The external program ".\CollectionCheck.bat" returned an error code: 1. I tried your fix within the nested RunBatch macro config, @mse139, but it didn't resolve the error for us.

I met with Support Engineer and when we configured the main Alteryx Server Usage Report macro (8) tool to output results to PDF, it works but not when we Output to Tableau workbook. The error is coming from the Tableau Output container, not the PDF container! He also received the error code 1 on his end. I need the Tableau workbook option to work. 

Really looking for a solution as we rely on this report and dashboards for app executions and usage analysis.

[lepome]

@wildflower @simon @mse139 @bktaylor @Derangedvisions 

If you have a user-managed MongoDB, then you might not be using the same MongoDB version that the workflow assumes.  The package that you download from https://downloads.alteryx.com includes within it a mongo.exe.  Depending on the version you download, I believe it is usually MongoDB 3.4.13.  If your database uses a different version and is not explicitly set up to be compatible with the provided version, then it will error. 

You can probably work around that problem if it occurs by renaming the executable that comes in the Supporting_Macros folder of the download, and add the version that you use instead.  I say probably because if the syntax in the other version of MongoDB is different, then you'll have to modify the Run Command tool's syntax as well. 

Another potential pitfall is that the schema of the MongoDB (how Alteryx stores the data for retrieval) changes somewhat as new features are added.  Though the name of the download may not match exactly to the version of Alteryx you are running, it should be fairly close for best results.   For example, the AlteryxServerUsageReport was updated for 2019.3.  That same version works with 2019.4, but as of 2020.1 it has been updated further.  If you are not sure that you're using a compatible version, try downloading again from the download site for the version of Server you're running.  

[wildflower]

Thank you, @lepome - I opened up the mongo executable details and see that it is indeed version 3.4.13.0. Our mongodb replicaset is on 4.0. Looks like running the compatibility test within the executable shows that I'd have to set the compatibility mode to Windows 8 in order for the shell to launch/work... I'll give that a try first.

[AlexFreitas]

Invalid link 😞

[lepome]

@AlexFreitas True.  That portion of the Help has been retired.