Aliases

Create synonyms for a data value or object to be used in reports or queries.

Aliases Overview

Aliases display a meaningful or user-friendly name for a data value.

For example, Financial Server might be defined as an alias for IP address 192.168.2.18. After you define an alias, users can display report results, formulate queries, and enter parameter values with the alias instead of the data value.

Aliases can be defined in a number of ways:

  • Through the IP-to-Hostname Aliasing tool - use this tool to generate aliases for discovered client and server IPs.

    Click Protect > Database Intrusion Detection > IP-to-Hostname Aliasing to open the IP-to-Hostname Aliasing tool.

  • Through the Alias Builder - use this method to define aliases manually.

    Open the Alias Builder by clicking Comply > Tools and Views > Alias Builder.

  • Through a GuardAPI or REST API query.
  • Through the Alias Quick Definition while using the Group Builder pane.
Note: Alias changes on the Central Manager or managed units are not available on other systems until either GUI is restarted or any alias changes are made through their GUI.

IP-to-Hostname Aliasing

One of the more common applications of aliases is to use them as synonyms for IP addresses. Use this tool to schedule the discovery of client and server IP's and generate aliases for them.

  1. Open the IP-to-Hostname Aliasing tool by clicking Protect > Database Intrusion Detection > IP-to-Hostname Aliasing.
  2. Check the Generate Hostname Aliases for Client and Server IPs (when available) check box.
  3. Check the Update existing Hostname Aliases if rediscovered check box if you want the tool to continually look for and update hostname aliases.
  4. Click Apply to save your configuration, then schedule the operation.
    • Click Run Once Now to start the tool immediately.
    • Click Define Schedule... to schedule the tool in the future.
    • Click Pause to pause the generation of client and server IPs aliases.

Alias Builder

Use this method to manually create an alias.

  1. Open the Alias Builder by clicking Setup > Tools and Views > Alias Builder.
  2. Select the attribute type for which you want to define aliases.
  3. Filter your search on that attribute type that uses the Value and Alias fields and click Search.
  4. If any results match your search, they display in the value and alias table. Click Apply for the search results, or add a new alias by specifying a Value and Alias name, then clicking Add.
  5. Add a comment to an alias by clicking the Item Comments icon Item comments icon. Comments can be helpful for quickly referencing what an alias refers to in the future.

Define Aliases using a Query

Use this method to create aliases from a query. When a custom table is uploaded to Guardium®, that table is available to map aliases to specific values.

Restriction:
  • When importing group members from Members tab > Import From query using Run Once Now, the maximum number of imported members is 5,000 rows. This is not configurable.
  • When importing group members from Members tab > Import From query using a schedule, the maximum number of imported members is 20,000 rows by default. You can configure this limit with the CLI command show/store populate_from_query_maxrecs. For more information, see Configuration and Control CLI Commands.
  1. Open the Alias Builder by clicking Setup > Tools and Views > Alias Builder.
  2. Select the attribute type for which you want to define aliases from the Alias Finder and click Populate from Query to open the Builder Alias From Query Set Up pane.
  3. Enter the required information and click Save to save the alias.
    • Select the query to run from the Query menu.
    • Choose a value for both Choose Column for Value Column and Choose Column for Alias Column.
    • After you select column values, more fields display that require input (From Date, To Date, Remote Source, and any additional parameters for the selected query).
    • Check the Clear existing group members before Importing check box to delete the existing content of the group before you populate from the query.
    • Click Save to save.
    • With the query saved, the Scheduling buttons become active. Click Modify Schedule to run the query in the future, or click Run Once Now to run it immediately.

Alias Quick Definition from Group Builder

Use this method to create an alias for a group immediately when you create or populate a group.

  1. Open the Group Builder by clicking Setup > Group Builder. Select any group from the list, and click Modify.
  2. Click Aliases to open the Alias Quick Definition window. Type in an alias for any group or groups, and click Apply to save the alias.