Admin Essentials

Creation date: 3/31/2022 6:28 PM    Updated: 8/24/2023 10:48 AM
This article is a reference for learning how to administer Angelfish.

Like most tools, Angelfish is really useful once you understand how it works!

OVERVIEW

  • Angelfish is self-hosted / on-premises web analytics software
  • Angelfish creates reports from web server & CDN access logs
  • Angelfish processes these access logs and stores the important bits in an internal database
  • When someone accesses the reports, the report data is loaded from the internal database
  • Angelfish automatically updates reports, via a processing schedule

  • Use Angelfish to track any of your organization's websites & web-based applications, both public and internal

INSTALLATION


  • Angelfish is entirely self-contained: it uses an embedded database & web server
  • Install Angelfish on any recent 64-bit Windows or Linux OS
  • Use a dedicated server, vm / cloud container, or even your desktop / laptop
  • Angelfish can be installed anywhere, as long as it's able to access your web server log files

LOGGING IN
  • Login to the Angelfish UI from a network client or from a browser on the Angelfish instance
  • Access the Angelfish UI via a web browser (HTTP or HTTPS), using the hostname / IP address and port of the Angelfish instance
  • e.g. https://stats.internal.corp:9000 or http://192.168.5.33:9000 or http://localhost:9000
  • Angelfish uses port 9000 by default - you can change the port number as needed.
  • The default username / password is admin / Angelfish123 - it's a good idea to change this after installation.

DATA STORAGE
  • All configuration and report data is stored in the /data/ directory, under the Angelfish installation directory
  • The /data/ directory can be moved to another location
  • We don't recommend storing /data/ on network storage, as it negatively affects performance
  • When Angelfish processes log files, the data is written to files in /data/
  • When reports are accessed, the report data is loaded from files in /data/

GETTING HELP
  • If you don't know how something works, click the closest Tooltip! Look for a small gray circle around a question mark.
  • Global Admins and Collection Managers can open support tickets with Angelfish Support.
  • Users can get help from Global Admins and Collection Managers via the Ask Your Admin (AYA) utility.

KEY CONCEPTS

Profile
  • A Profile contains a set of reports and the config settings for the reports
  • You must choose a Tracking Method for each Profile: this specifies the logic used to detect Pages & Visits during processing
  • You typically use one Profile for each website | web application you want to track
  • It's also common to use multiple Profiles for the same website, using different Tracking Methods, Filters, directories, etc.
  • Only Global Admins & Collection Managers can edit a Profile's config settings
  • After creating a Profile, you need to process data to see info in the reports.
  • Help Article: Profiles Overview

Datasource
  • A Datasource contains the location, filename, and settings of the log files to be processed.
  • A single Datasource can be used by many Profiles
  • Log files referenced in a Datasource can be on the local server, or on a remote server
  • Log files on a remote server are accessed via SFTP, FTP, or a UNC path.
  • Angelfish reads compressed logs in these formats: zip, gzip, bzip2, 7zip
    • 7zip added in v2.50
  • Help Article: Datasources Overview

Filter
  • Filters are applied during processing and allow you to edit or ignore data before it is written to the report data files.
  • Filters can be run in a specific order, and are applied at 3 different stages during processing (Raw, Page, Session).
  • Changes made to a Filter are not applied to existing report data: Filters are only applied during processing.
  • Reports in the IT Reports section are only affected by Filters run at the Raw Filter Level.
  • Help Article: Filters Overview

User Accounts

There are 3 types of User Accounts in Angelfish
  • Global Admin: can create, edit, and delete Objects, and can view all reports in the Angelfish instance.
  • Standard User: can login and view reports to which the User has been granted access.
  • Read-Only User: similar to Standard User but cannot update account settings, like password, name, email address, etc.
  • Help Article: User Accounts

Collection
  • Collections are used to arrange Profiles, Datasources, Filters, etc. (a.k.a. Objects) into a group
  • Objects in a Collection can only "see" other Objects in the same Collection
  • e.g. when a Profile is assigned to a Collection, it can only use Datasources or Filters in the same Collection
  • Help Article: Collections Overview

Collection Manager
  • Collection Managers can create & manage Objects in the same Collection
  • Any Standard User account can be promoted to Collection Manager
  • Global Admins can delegate management of Collections to Collection Managers
  • Help Article: Collection Managers

HELPFUL LINKS