A community member inquired about the possibility of collecting custom data extracted from scripts running within Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) sessions and then using that data to create a ControlUp dashboard. Specifically, the user wanted to determine which users were utilizing Macros in Excel during their VDI sessions, with a simple Yes or No indicator, and then visualize this information on a dashboard. Alternatively, they asked if it was feasible to query session-specific data, such as the history of active URLs accessed during a VDI session, and build a corresponding dashboard to monitor those URLs.
A ControlUp expert clarified that while ControlUp does not natively collect or display custom data directly from VDI environments by default, it provides a flexible mechanism to capture and associate additional data via the use of tags and supplemental metadata. These tags can be applied to entities within the ControlUp environment, including sessions or machines, and can be leveraged to filter and create richer dashboards. The expert pointed to the official documentation covering how to add a tags column to the information grid, which facilitates easier tracking and visualization of tagged data ([https://support.controlup.com/docs/add-tags-column-to-information-grid](https://support.controlup.com/docs/add-tags-column-to-information-grid)).
The recommended approach involves writing external scripts or monitoring tools that extract the needed data—such as whether Excel macros are in use or the URLs accessed during a session—and then injecting this information as tags or extra columns to the associated VDI sessions in ControlUp. Once this data residence is established via tagging, ControlUp’s advanced dashboarding and reporting features can be used to create custom dashboards displaying the binary Yes/No macro usage status or detailed URL access history across sessions.
This method requires integrating ControlUp with custom monitoring or scripting workflows that feed data into the platform through tags. It is not an out-of-the-box feature but leverages ControlUp’s extensibility for environments needing custom telemetry. Users aiming to build such solutions should also consider ControlUp’s APIs and scripting capabilities detailed in the official ControlUp Knowledge Base and Academy resources at https://docs.controlup.com and https://cuacademy.controlup.com for advanced custom data reporting.
Read the entire ‘How to Collect and Visualize Custom Script Data from VDI Sessions in ControlUp Dashboards’ thread below:
Hello, team, how is everyone? I have been dealing with a challenge for a few days that I have not been able to resolve — I don’t know if it is even possible. Is there any way to collect data extracted from a script via VDI and create a dashboard? For example, I need to verify each user who is using Macros in Excel from a VDI session, and with a Yes or No return, create a dashboard. Is it already possible to do this via Dashboards? Or alternatively, query, for example, the history of Active URLs from a Session in Reports and build a Dashboard of URLs accessed via VDI?
VDI doesn’t have custom data on itself but what you could do is use tags for it and extra data for that tag support.controlup.com/docs/add-tags-column-to-information-grid
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