Reports for your clients: branded PDFs, CSV exports and scheduled sends
Put your logo on NetBlade's eight reports, pick the right one for owner, technician or audit, export PDF or CSV, and schedule weekly or monthly emails.
Your customer does not open NetBlade; they read what you send them. NetBlade has eight ready-made reports, each in PDF and CSV, written for three different readers: the owner who wants to know if things are under control, the technician who has to fix them, and whoever reviews compliance. This article sets up your header once, explains which report to send to whom, and schedules them so they go out on time without you.
Before you start
- At least one site with devices read in depth. A report is only as good as the readings behind it.
- Your logo as an image file, the name you sign with, and your contact details.
- For scheduled sends: a mail server set up in Settings, Mail servers and webhooks (Alerts), and the agent running.
1. Put your header on every report
- In the menu open System, then Reports.
- Next to Header, press Change.
- Press Choose logo… and pick your logo.
- Fill in Who signs the reports, for example your company name, and Contact, for example your email and phone.
The header appears at the top of every PDF, including those sent by email. It is the same header as Settings, Report header, so you can change it from either place. With no header set, reports go out without one.
2. Choose scope and period
At the top of the Reports page:
- Scope: one site, or every site. For customers, always pick their site: a report is something you hand over, and it must not mention anyone else’s network.
- Period: Last 7 days, Last 30 days or Last 90 days. The reports whose card says «uses the period» depend on it; the others describe the current state.
3. Pick the right report for the reader
| Report | For | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
| Summary for the owner | The owner | Score, compliance, the five things to do first, the updates that close the most vulnerabilities, what changed, and «What this report cannot say» |
| Technical annex | The technician | Device by device, every open problem, why it matters and what to do; at the end, the Windows PCs that could not be read |
| Vulnerabilities | The technician | The updates to make, with the version that closes the CVEs and on which PCs, and the full CVE list with severity, exploitation and likelihood |
| Compliance | Review | The 17 baseline rules with their CIS Controls IG1 reference, who keeps them, what to do, and the register of accepted exceptions |
| Changes in the period | Review | New and vanished devices, opened ports, programs installed and updated, new problems |
| Device inventory | Inventory | Every device with score, address, type, operating system, maker, model, serial and last user |
| Software inventory | Inventory | Every installed program with version, publisher and on which devices: for licences |
| Hardware inventory | Inventory | Maker, model, serial, processor, memory, disks and system of the PCs read in depth: for warranties and replacements |
4. Make a report
- On the report’s card, press PDF or CSV.
- Choose where to save the file.
- When it is ready, the status line at the top shows the result and an Open link.
The PDF is for reading and handing over. The CSV is for a spreadsheet: licence counts, warranty checks, importing into your own tools. CSV column headers are in English in every language, so a file opened next year on another PC still reads the same.
Note: Every report says what it is: a scan of what answered, not an audit. It is neither a certification nor a penetration test. The owner’s summary has a section, «What this report cannot say», stating how many devices were not read in depth. Do not remove that honesty when you forward it; it protects you as much as the customer.
5. Build a custom report
When the ready-made reports do not have the table you need, for example “PCs on Windows 10” or “printers by site”:
- Under Custom reports, press New custom report.
- Give it a Report name.
- Tick the Columns you want.
- Under Rows: the devices that meet, choose all or at least one of the conditions, and press Add condition for each one (contains, equals, starts with, is more than, is empty and so on).
- Choose Sort by, and tick Largest first if needed.
- Press Save. The report appears in the list with PDF, CSV and Edit. It uses the scope chosen at the top of the page.
6. Schedule a send
- Under Scheduled sends, press Schedule a send.
- Choose the Report and the Scope (the customer’s site).
- Choose the Format: PDF or CSV.
- Choose the Frequency: Every week or Every month, then the Day and Hour.
- Choose the Mail server (from Settings) and type the recipients in To, separated by a semicolon, for example
owner@customer.com; tech@firm.com. - Press Save.
A weekly send covers the last 7 days, a monthly one the last 30. Each scheduled send shows its next send, its last send, and the last error if one failed. Send now sends it at once, which is the best way to check it before the first real date. The switch on each row turns a schedule off without deleting it.
The email carries the report as an attachment, with a short body saying which report, which site and which date, sent automatically by the name in your header.
Warning: Scheduled sends run from the agent, while you are signed in to Windows. If the PC was off at send time, the report goes out when it comes back on. For a monthly report to a customer, pick a day and hour when the NetBlade PC is normally on.
7. A reporting rhythm that works
- Monthly, to the owner: «Summary for the owner», PDF, on a fixed day. One or two pages in plain words.
- Monthly, to the technician (or to yourself): «Technical annex» and «Vulnerabilities», PDF.
- Quarterly, for review: «Compliance», with its register of exceptions, and «Changes in the period» with Last 90 days selected, made by hand.
- Yearly, or when asked: the three inventory reports, CSV, for licences and hardware renewal.
Check that it worked
- The PDF opens with your logo, name and contact at the top, and the footer says when it was made.
- After Send now, the schedule shows «last sent: …» and the email arrives with the attachment.
If something goes wrong
- «No mail server» when scheduling. Set one up first in Settings, Mail servers and webhooks, and test it.
- «It needs the report, the mail server and at least one recipient». Fill in all three.
- «last attempt failed (…)». Read the reason, fix the server settings, and press Send now.
- The owner’s summary says many devices were not read. That is the report being honest. Improve coverage (Prepare your Windows PCs) before the next one.
- Software or hardware inventory looks incomplete. They include only devices read in depth.
Next
Act on what the reports point to, from your desk: Remote actions, safely.
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