Alteryx Server Ideas

Hi there,

Currently, when we download a version of Alteryx - we need to download a very large number of binaries across many different download locations.    Once we get these in, they need to go through InfoSec audits; then be packed for deployment etc.     this creates a very large admin overhead in that folk need to check for updates across multiple binaries and also create a significant number of different installs which then need to be rolled out across hundreds of workstations.

The request would be to change the approach to downloads for enterprise customers:

- Admin logs into the download portal

- They then select the components which they need (Designer; predictive; CREW macros; Microsoft starter pack; Tableau starter pack; JIRA connector from the gallery; additional predictive tools from the gallery)

- this then becomes the defined selection set.

- When any of these items are updated - the admin is notified

- When they download - these are then all built into a single installer binary which we can then download and roll out to all our workstations.

Many thanks

Sean

cc: @dataMack @adrianloong

In order for us to manage the large number of canvasses on our server - we need to add the ability for Admin teams to require additional attributes on every canvas:

For us, these mandatory attributes would be:

- Which team do you belong to (dropdown)

- What business process does this serve (dropdown - multiselect)

- Primary & secondary canvas owner (validated kerberos)

For the ones that have dropdown lists - we can provide the master data into a drop location or into a manually configured list on the server.

As a Server 2018.4 admin, I need granular control of Server/Gallery defaults including:

1.) Pre-allocate AD users and groups (under Permissions) to specific Studios

2.) Control defaults for scheduling/priority/worker settings on Users

3.) Control defaults for workflow download/no-download at Gallery or Studio level

4.) Control defaults for notifications. Currently I have to check each notification template individually to disable it. Change template tile colors (or whatever) to provide visual queue as to which are enabled or disabled.

Above all, the tiled approach to displaying users, groups, studios simply isn't scalable. A simple data grid type display will allow higher information density allowing settings like: sharing, download ability, scheduling, credential type settings (studio default, artisan specified, runtime entered etc) to be easily reviewed. Basic server governance relies on easy visibility (reporting) of settings to ensure consistency...

Hi,

It would be nice if scheduled workflow credentials could be linked to the workflow and not the individual versions of the workflow.

It is problematic for the user that they need to remember to reschedule the workflow, whenever they publish a new version of the workflow.

Best,

Daniel

When looking at a Workflow in the Gallery there is no way to tell if it currently resides in a collection. As a suggestion, a good place to have this information would be in the header block of a workflow where the version information and number of times a workflow was run is stored.

In larger organizations or organizations with global coverage, it is possible for users to be in different time zones from each other and the Alteryx server. 

WIth our implementation of Alteryx server, we have the server time zone set to that of our data warehouse, but this time zone is different than my own by -2 hours. In the case of scheduling a workflow in the future, I normally correct for this by setting the scheule in the time zone of the server and things work alright. 

Problem 1:

It falls apart is when I want to schedule something in the future, but it is within the timespan between my time zone and the server time zone. For example: It is 6PM my time, and 4PM server time. I want to schedule a workflow to run at 5PM server time (7PM my time). When I try to set this up with the Version 10 scheduler built into Alteryx desktop, it overides the date field upon saving to run the following day instead of today as it thinks im trying to schedule the run at a time that has already passed (which it has in my timezone, but not in the server time zone). Upon trying to edit this schedule to reset the date to today, it again reverts upon saving.  

The only way I have found to get around this is to reset the time zone of my computer to match the server time zone, then set the schedule, then reset the time zone of my machine back to local time again. This is not the best experience, and will likely be required more frequently for users as their time zone difference increases. 

Problem 2:

When wanting to run something server side immediately (I do this in cases where the runtime will be long, or im mobile and on a machine with a lower amount of processing resources) the "Once" option can be used in scheduler to push something to server and run it. In my case, due to the timezone difference, the default time set when trying to do this is the current time in my time zone, but 2 hours ahead of the current server time.

I have two proposed resolutions:

1) Transmit Server time zone information to the local scheduler to have everything involving scheduling in Server time. Also for any timestamp fields, include the time zone designation so its clear to the user.

2) Use information from the user's machine and information from the server to do timezone conversions behind the scenes so whenever scheduling or viewing schedules, all timestamps are in local time to the user. I feel this is the prefered solution for the best user experience, but would also be the more complex to implement. 

Thanks,

Ryan

I would like to suggest the idea of being able to handle row-level security data sources in a more seamless way using Kerberos passthrough, where Alteryx Gallery will pass the information that User A is running the workflow to the underlying DB and will authenticate as User A. 

We have many workflows that are built to handle different queries of a database that are reliant on knowing who is running the workflow in Gallery. We also have many regional workers, and we want to keep the administration of these connections to the data as simple as possible. 

For more information, check out the Community thread on this subject.

I have been looking at the content in Alteryx Public Gallery for some time and I have had some concerns about the safety and usability of the macros/workflows in the gallery. 

I think there should be an option to rate, review and provide feedback on stuff that is out there on the public gallery. This will be helpful in many different way.

1. It will generate trust about the workflow/app. If I see that something is rated higher and has been used and commented by a lot of users I am more inclined to use it
2. It will provide a lot of ideas on how a particular workflow/macro can be used in different ways 
3. Review/Feedback will help the author to make changes as required or suggested by users.
4. The macro's will probably show up in google search based on key words provided by users in their reviews.

......

I had initiated a thread some time ago related to this, there is some useful information in there if someone has same concerns.

 https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Connect-Gallery/Can-Apps-and-Macros-in-Alteryx-public-Galle...

Thanks,

Ashish

As a Gallery Admin I would like to be able to add and remove a user from local groups on the User page.

I realise that this would only work for local groups and that AD groups would need to be excluded (and indicated as unavailable for editing)

On the Users page it is quick and easy to see what Role each user has - UNLESS they have been assigned the "Default" role in which case it will depend on Gallery Default Role and which Group(s) they are assigned to.

I propose an additional column be added to the page to show the Effective Role for each user. The purpose of this change is to allow an administrator to quickly and easily confirm the effective Role of any Gallery use by viewing the User page, without having to check the user's group membership and the Role assignment that those groups provide.

For those users with a assigned Role other than "Default" that value will obviously match the assigned Role.

For users assigned the "Default" Role the page should show the result that would be returned by the appropriate permission resolution code when determining their effective Role from the Group membership and the Gallery Default.

[Screen image is from 2020.4 - with my suggested positioning for Effective Role added]

As a further enhancement a set of checkboxes showing the value of the special permissions e.g. Create Collections, would be good but might require a more significant re-design of the page and would only be saving a single click. I suggest instead that it might be useful to have an enhanced filter view of users which allows an administrator to view e.g. all users who can Create Collections etc.

Hi there,

we are in a dynamic team where people move from 1 project to the other that implies moving series of workflows from private studio to collections prior to sharing. I have not found other ways but to do that 1 by 1 with very limited ways to filter the flows.

Could there be, from the collection, a way to 

 - increase number of possibilities to filters to find the proper flows (or maybe just simply allow folders in the Private studio)

 - be able to multi select the one to add / delete from / to the collection

thanks,

Currently the Private Gallery product has 2 authentication options - AD and built in. 

If an organization uses AD, this solution is fine, however there are many origanizations who use other standard directory systems. One of the more common directory/authentication systemsis LDAP due to its wide adoption and cross platform compatibility. 

It would be fantastic to have functionality similar to the AD integration, however with LDAP for Gallery authentication and user management. 

Best regards,

Ryan

Hello everyone,

I created before a post about managing chained workflows using the API.
After reaching out the support, it turns out to be impossible, which is unfortunate.

So I post this idea here, in case anyone is needing it too.

Feels free to ask me details if needed.

Thanks.

The dcm admin apis look promising. I would love if they could add put endpoints for sharing/execution and sharing/collaboration for admins. There is already a delete command for those two endpoints

I remember when i started using Alteryx and the gallery i was able to display the results of a workflow run and then copy a value from the screen to complete checks on.

Now when i run a workflow and the .yxdb results and displayed ever if its one record i have to download a file and open it just to copy the value.

Can we not get the screen to allow highlight and control c of text as required?

Hi,

Currently on Alteryx it is possible to add visibility of a subscriptions scheduled workflows to all members of that subscription.

What we would quite like is for the ability to turn on or off the ability to edit workflows within that subscription for all members.

As in if a member goes on leave, or leaves the company, or is ill, other members can edit, update and cancel the scheduled workflow as needed without needing to go through an admin for it.

Many Thanks,

Oli

Organizations using Alteryx Server with an embedded MongoDB can benefit from an option to change the MongoDB User and Admin User passwords.

Current deployments of Alteryx Server allow regeneration of the Controller Token, and for many of the same reasons, the ability to change the MongoDB passwords would be beneficial to customers.

Many organizations rely on a centralized team for daily administration of the Alteryx Server and MongoDB. With the current functionality, when members of this team change positions, they continue to know the MongoDB authentication information indefinitely. Providing organizations with this capability allows them to make the determination of how/when a change is required to mitigate any risk of misuse.

As Alteryx makes more and more use of the Public gallery - it would be valuable for Alteryx to explicitly have a section devoted to items that are certified by Alteryx so that we can be safe bringing them into our corporate env.

The assets created by Alteryx are currently listed with Alteryx as the author, however it would be useful to have a completely separate section with Alteryx assets only, and with these broken down by type.