Customizing the Console and Interact

You can customize the appearance and behavior of the Tanium Console and Interact Overview page.

Configure a pre-signin page

By default, the Tanium Console sign-in page is the first page that users see when they access the Console URL in a browser (see Sign in to the Console). However, you can configure a pre-signin page to provide information or warnings to users before they sign in to the Console. Figure  1 is an example.

Figure  1:  Example of Console pre-signin page

On the pre-signin page, the I Agree button appears by default and is not configurable.

Before you begin

Configuring a pre-signin page requires:

  • A user account that has access to the Tanium Server:

    • Tanium Appliance: The user must be able to use SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to upload files to the /incoming directory. You also require a user account that has the tanadmin role for TanOS console access.

    • Windows Server host system: The user must be able to copy files to the Tanium Server installation directory.

  • A Tanium Console user account that has the Administrator reserved role or a role with Global Settings write permission

Configure and test the pre-signin page in a lab environment before performing this task in your production environment.

Create the pre-signin page for a Windows deployment

  1. Use a text editor to create a text file with the following contents. Replace PAGE TITLE with the actual title that you want to use and replace PAGE BODY with the information or warnings that you want users to read. You can use standard HTML markup such as </br> for line breaks and <p></p> for new paragraphs.

    <div>
       <h2>PAGE TITLE</br></h2>
          <p align=left>PAGE BODY</p>
    </div>

    The following example produces the pre-signin page in Figure  1:

    <div>
       <h2>Lab Environment Usage</br></h2>
          <p align=left>This is a shared instance for Tanium lab usage only.</br>
                        Access is authorized for approved employees only.</p>
          <p align=left>Do NOT make unapproved changes to this environment!</p>
    </div>

    If any Tanium users access the Tanium Console on a device with a small screen or low resolution and the pre-signin page has a lot of content, you might have to add a style attribute to the <div> element to ensure that those users can see the I Agree button. The following example shows the style attribute with properties that add a scroll bar (overflow:auto) for users to see content that exceeds 350px in vertical space (max-height:350px) on the pre-signin page.

    <div style="max-height:350px;overflow:auto;">
       <h2>PAGE TITLE</br></h2>
          <p align=left>PAGE BODY WITH NUMEROUS LINES</p>
          <p align=left>...</p>
          <p align=left>...</p>
    </div>

    For details on style and other HTML elements and attributes, see https://html.spec.whatwg.org.

  2. Save the file with the name warning_banner.html.

  3. Copy warning_banner.html to the <Tanium Server installation directory>\http directory on the Tanium Server host.

Create the pre-signin page for an Appliance deployment

  1. Use a text editor to create a text file with the following contents. Replace PAGE TITLE with the actual title that you want to use and replace PAGE BODY with the information or warnings that you want users to read. You can use standard HTML markup such as </br> for line breaks and <p></p> for new paragraphs.

    <html>
    <body>
    <div>
       <h2>PAGE TITLE</br></h2>
          <p align=left>PAGE BODY</p>
    </div>
    </body>
    </html>

    The following example produces the pre-signin page in Figure  1:

    <html>
    <body>
    <div>
       <h2>Lab Environment Usage</br></h2>
          <p align=left>This is a shared instance for Tanium lab usage only.</br>
                        Access is authorized for approved employees only.</p>
          <p align=left>Do NOT make unapproved changes to this environment!</p>
    </div>
    </body>
    </html>

    If any Tanium users access the Tanium Console on a device with a small screen or low resolution and the pre-signin page has a lot of content, you might have to add a style attribute to the <div> element to ensure that those users can see the I Agree button. The following example shows the style attribute with properties that add a scroll bar (overflow:auto) for users to see content that exceeds 350px in vertical space (max-height:350px) on the pre-signin page.

    <html>
    <body>
    <div style="max-height:350px;overflow:auto;">
       <h2>PAGE TITLE</br></h2>
       <h2>PAGE TITLE</br></h2>
          <p align=left>PAGE BODY WITH NUMEROUS LINES</p>
          <p align=left>...</p>
          <p align=left>...</p>
    </div>
    </body>
    </html>

    For details on style and other HTML elements and attributes, see https://html.spec.whatwg.org.

  2. Save the file with the name banner.html.
  3. Upload banner.html to the Tanium Server:
    1. Use SFTP to upload upload banner.html to the /incoming directory on the Appliance.
    2. Sign in to the TanOS console as a user with the tanadmin role.
    3. Enter 2 to go to the Tanium Operations menu. ClosedView screen
    4. Enter X to go to the Advanced Operations menu. ClosedView screen
    5. Enter 4 and follow the prompts to copy banner.html to the appropriate location.

Enable the pre-signin page

The pre-signin page does not appear to users until you configure the console_PreLoginBannerHTML platform setting:

  1. Sign in to the Tanium Console as a user with the Administrator reserved role or a role with Global Settings write permission.

  2. From the Main menu, go to Administration > Configuration > Settings > Advanced Settings and click Add Setting.

  3. Specify the following values and click Save:

    • Setting Type: Server

    • Platform Setting Name: console_PreLoginBannerHTML

    • Value Type: Text

    • Value: banner.html (Appliance) or warning_banner.html (Windows)

Users who are currently signed in to the Console do not see the pre-signin page until they sign out and sign in again. See Getting started with the Console and Interact.

Select the Console color

In deployments with multiple environments, customizing the color of the top border and of the Build (<platform>) <version> Console <version> background in the Tanium Console Main menu (header) can help users identify which environment they are signed in to for the current session. For example, you might set different colors to distinguish between lab and production environments.

Figure  2:  Tanium Console Main menu color

In an active-active cluster, the Console instances for both Tanium Servers use the same color configuration. You cannot specify a different color for each server in the cluster.

Users require the Administrator reserved role to manage the Console color.

  1. From the Main menu, go to Administration > Configuration > Appearance.
  2. In the Console Color section, use the Current Color selector to pick a color and then click Submit.
  3. Perform one of the following steps:
    • Click Refresh Now to apply the change immediately by refreshing your web browser.
    • If you plan to customize other aspects of the Console (for example, Configure Console header text), complete all those changes and then click Refresh Now to apply all the changes simultaneously.

Configure Console header text

By default, the Tanium Console Main menu (header) displays no text above the version fields. In deployments with multiple environments , adding text can help users identify which environment they are signed into for the current Console session. For example, you might add text to distinguish between lab and production environments.

Figure  3:  Tanium Console header text

In an active-active cluster, the Tanium Console instances for both Tanium Servers use the same text configuration. You cannot specify different text for each server in the cluster.

Users require the Administrator reserved role to manage the Main menu text.

To revert to the default (no text), click Reset.

Perform the following steps to add or edit the Main menu text:

  1. From the Main menu, go to Administration > Configuration > Appearance.
  2. Enter the new text in the Header Text field and click Submit .
  3. Perform one of the following steps:
    • Click Refresh Now to apply the change immediately by refreshing your web browser.
    • If you plan to customize other aspects of the Console (for example, Select the Console color), complete all those changes and then click Refresh Now to apply all the changes simultaneously.

Select the task confirmation prompt

Many tasks that users initiate in the Tanium Console require responding to a confirmation prompt before the tasks proceed. Select the prompt type based on whether you want to optimize Console security (password prompt) or the user experience (Yes/Cancel prompt).

Only users who are assigned the Administrator reserved role can manage the confirmation prompt.

If you enable Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) single sign-on, the Tanium Server automatically changes the prompt to a Yes/Cancel prompt. For details, see Integrating with a SAML IdP.

  1. From the Main menu, go to Administration > Configuration > Appearance.
  2. In the Choose which type of Confirmation Prompt to display section, select one of the following options and click Submit:
    • Show a password prompt (default)
    • Show a prompt with "Yes" and "Cancel" options
  3. Perform one of the following steps:
    • Click Refresh Now to apply the change immediately by refreshing your web browser.
    • If you plan to customize other aspects of the Console (for example, Select the Console color), complete all those changes and then click Refresh Now to apply all the changes simultaneously.

Add a help URL

Clicking Help Help in the Main menu opens the Tanium documentation portal in a new browser tab or window. Optionally, you can add a link to a custom help source. For example, you might create an internal help source in deployments where the Tanium documentation portal is inaccessible because the Tanium Server has no Internet connection. If you add a help link, the Help Help menu presents options for both the Tanium documentation portal (Tanium Help) and the custom source (Custom System Help).

Figure  4:  Tanium Console Help links
Users require the Administrator reserved role to manage the Console help URL.

To remove the custom help URL, click Reset.

  1. From the Main menu, go to Administration > Configuration > Appearance.
  2. Enter the custom Help URL, including the protocol prefix, http:// or https://.
  3. Click Submit and perform one of the following steps:
    • Click Refresh Now to apply the change immediately by refreshing your web browser.
    • If you plan to customize other aspects of the Console (for example, Select the Console color), complete all those changes and then click Refresh Now to apply all the changes simultaneously.
  4. Select Help > Custom System Help to verify that the URL works.

Customize the Console logo

You can replace the default Tanium logo in the Main menu (header) and sign-in page of the Tanium Console with the logo of your organization. The Console supports all the standard image formats that your browser supports, such as PNG, JPG, and SVG. The maximum file size is 2 MB. You can also adjust the logo height, which is 24 pixels by default. The Console automatically scales the logo width proportionately.

Figure  5:  Logo in Main menu and sign-in page
Users require the Administrator reserved role to manage the Console logo.

To revert to the original, default logo, click Reset.

Perform the following steps to replace the logo or adjust its height:

  1. (New logo only) Create your own logo file.
  2. From the Main menu, go to Administration > Configuration > Appearance.
  3. (New logo only) In the Console Logo section, click Upload, select the logo file, and click Open.
  4. (Optional): In the Logo height field, specify the logo height in pixels.
  5. Click Submit and perform one of the following steps:
    • Click Refresh Now to apply the change immediately by refreshing your web browser.
    • If you plan to customize other aspects of the Console (for example, Select the Console color), complete all those changes and then click Refresh Now to apply all the changes simultaneously.

Set Console user preferences

User preferences control, on a per-user basis, the Tanium Console inactivity timeout, color scheme, and aspects of question results behavior. Changes that you make to your settings affect all the personas that are assigned to your account, but do not affect other users. Tanium CloudThe Tanium Server applies the preferences of a user when that user signs in to the Console. The Console filters the settings on the Edit Preferences page based on the effective permissions of the user (persona) who accesses the page.

  1. In the Main menu, click User and select Preferences.

  2. Configure the following settings and click Save. The changes apply immediately.

 Table 1: User preferences
Settings Guidelines
Consider question results complete at Tanium Console pages that display results from Tanium Clients (such as the Question Results and Action Status pages) indicate that all clients have responded when the number of registered clients that responded reaches the specified threshold (default is 99%). Tanium CloudThe Tanium Server calculates the number of registered clients based on when it initiated the operation, such as when it issued a question or deployed an action. However, the actual number of registered clients might fluctuate during the period between the initiation and timeout of the operation. For example, several end users might close their laptops soon after a question is issued and before it times out (default 10 minutes). For cases where the calculated and actual numbers of registered clients might never match, setting the value at less than 100% prevents Console users from waiting indefinitely for an indication that all clients have answered.

A user role with Saved Question read permission or Ask Dynamic Questions permission is required to see and configure this setting.
Suspend console automatically if no activity detected for

By default, the Tanium Console automatically ends a user session and displays the sign-in page if the user performs no activity on the Console for 10 minutes. You can set the value to a minimum of 2 minutes and a maximum that equals the max_console_idle_seconds platform setting (rounded down to minutes), which applies to all users. The platform setting has a default of 3,600 seconds (60 minutes). If the user preference is less than the platform setting, Tanium Cloudthe Tanium Server applies the user preference. To edit platform settings, see Manage advanced settings.

By default, the Tanium Console displays a warning 60 seconds before the activity timeout to give users a chance to preserve their current session. To display the warning sooner or later, set the console_idle_warning_seconds platform setting.

For details about how other events and platform settings affect the duration of a user session, see Sign in to the Console.

Initiating a solution import or update operation suspends the inactivity timer. The timer resets to zero and resumes at the moment the operation finishes.
Hide error results from questions Enabled by default. Select this option if you want the Questions Results grid to omit null or error values, such as [no results] or [results currently unavailable]. This option provides clarity in that the grid shows only the answers that are likely to be useful. However, this option also prevents the grid from showing the complete set of answers received from all endpoints.

A user role with Saved Question read permission or Ask Dynamic Questions permission is required to see and configure this setting.
Theme Select the user interface color scheme that is most comfortable for you when using the Tanium Console and Tanium solution workbenches:

  • Auto (default): On the device that you use to access the Tanium Console, the operating system (OS) settings automatically set the color scheme to light or dark. If the OS settings specify automatically changing the theme based on the time of day (such as switching to the dark theme at sunset), the Tanium user interface automatically changes accordingly. To change the color scheme, you can change the OS settings or override them by selecting another option in the Theme dropdown.

  • Light: Pages have a white background and dark text.
  • Dark: Pages have a dark background and white text.

Not all versions of Tanium solutions support the Dark theme.
Language Select a language for text that appears in the Tanium Console. The default option (Browser Language) is the language that is selected for the browser that you use to access the Console.

Customize solution overview pages

Each Tanium solution (module or shared service) has an Overview page that opens when you access the solution workbench. These Overview pages, and also the Tanium Home page, are organized into sections, such as guidance on getting started and reports related to solution health. After you perform the following steps to show, hide, or reorder sections of a page, your changes apply across all the personas that are assigned to your user account but do not apply to other users.

  1. Open the page that you want to customize by selecting from the Main menu:
    • Tanium Home page: click Tanium Home page.
    • Module Overview page: Select Modules > <module name>.
    • Shared service Overview page: Select Administration > Shared Services > <shared service>.
  2. (Optional) Toggle between collapsing Collapse and expanding Expand a page section. By default, all the page sections are expanded.

    Collapse section

  3. Click Customize page Customize Page and select the sections that you want to display.

    The following example is for the Interact Overview page.

  4. Click and drag the sections to change the order in which they appear, and then click Save.
  5. (Tanium Home page only) Optionally, filter the Dashboards and Dashboard Lists using the widgets that are specific to those sections. See View dashboards.

The Tanium Home page and Interact Overview page display categories, dashboards, and saved questions that you selected as favorites. To change the favorites, see Filter by favorites.