Automatically generate reports

To automatically generate PDF and CSV reports, generate a POST URL, then submit an HTTP POST request using Watcher or a script. Alternatively, use Kibana to generate reports on a recurring schedule and share them with a list of emails that you specify.

Create the POST URL that triggers a report to generate PDF and CSV reports.

To create the POST URL for PDF reports:

To create the POST URL for CSV reports:

To configure a watch to email reports, use the reporting attachment type in an email action. For more information, refer to Configuring email accounts.

For example, the following watch generates a PDF report and emails the report every hour:

PUT _watcher/watch/error_report
{
  "trigger" : {
    "schedule": {
      "interval": "1h"
    }
  },
  "actions" : {
    "email_admin" : { 
      "email": {
        "to": "'Recipient Name <recipient@example.com>'",
        "subject": "Error Monitoring Report",
        "attachments" : {
          "error_report.pdf" : {
            "reporting" : {
              "url": "<KIBANA_HOST>:5601/api/reporting/generate/printablePdfV2?jobParams=...", 
              "retries":40, 
              "interval":"15s", 
              "auth":{ 
                "basic":{
                  "username":"elastic",
                  "password":"changeme"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

To automatically generate reports from a script, make a request to the POST URL. The request returns a JSON and contains a path property with a URL that you use to download the report. Use the GET method in the HTTP request to download the report.

To queue CSV report generation using the POST URL with cURL:

curl \
-XPOST \ 
-u elastic \ 
-H 'kbn-xsrf: true' \ 
'<KIBANA_HOST>:5601/api/reporting/generate/csv?jobParams=...' 

An example response for a successfully queued report:

{
  "path": "/api/reporting/jobs/download/jxzaofkc0ykpf4062305t068", 
  "job": {
    "id": "jxzaofkc0ykpf4062305t068",
    "index": ".reporting-2018.11.11",
    "jobtype": "csv",
    "created_by": "elastic",
    "payload": ..., 
    "timeout": 120000,
    "max_attempts": 3
  }
}

The response payload of a request to generate a report includes the path to download a report. The API to download a report uses HTTP response codes to give feedback. In automation, this helps external systems track the various possible job states:

If you experience issues with the deprecated report URLs after you upgrade Kibana, regenerate the POST URL for your reports.

IMPORTANT: In earlier Kibana versions, you could use the &sync parameter to append to report URLs that held the request open until the document was fully generated. The &sync parameter is now unsupported. If you use the &sync parameter in Watcher, you must update the parameter.

Save time by setting up a recurring task that automatically generates reports and shares them on a schedule that you choose.

A message appears, indicating that the schedule is available on the Reporting page. From the Reporting page, click on the Schedules tab to view details for the newly-created schedule.

The feature enables analysis of data in external tools, but it is not intended for bulk export or to backup Elasticsearch data. Issues with report generation and sharing are likely to happen in the following scenarios: