Legacy data warehouse and report database export End-of-Life announcement
Starting January 31, 2020, Rapid7 will no longer support the ability to use the legacy data warehouse and report database export features. Instead, we recommend using the Dimensional Data Warehouse Export, which offers a more powerful, comprehensive, and scalable data model.
Please note the Dimensional Data Warehouse Export is only available for PostgreSQL databases. MySQL, Oracle on MS SQL Server, which were previously available as options from the Report Database Export, will no longer be available.
Impact
As a result, you will no longer be able to choose or use the legacy data model for your data warehouse configuration. Only the dimensional data model will be available. If you are currently using the legacy data model option, you will need take some steps to migrate it to the dimensional data model.
Migrating from the Legacy Data Warehouse
Unlike the legacy data model, the schema for the dimensional data model is very similar to the one used by Nexpose. If you are a legacy user, this means that you’ll need to migrate from the schema you’ve constructed to the new one.
Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Change your data model from legacy to dimensional - Log in to your security console, go to the Administration area and select “Data Warehousing” under the “Maintenance, Storage and Troubleshooting” section. This will change the structure of the output schema to the dimensional data model.
- Update the consumers of the warehouse to use the new model - When the new model is used, the existing schema elements will remain untouched, but will no longer update during future ETL processes.
- Enable encryption and identity validation - These settings are new in the dimensional data model, so data in transit was not encrypted during the legacy export process. We recommend you encrypt data in transit going forward. These changes will require a configuration of SSL in the destination warehouse database.
- Schedule your export - The new dimensional model is not real time, so you will need to schedule your exports.
Schedule of Events
Date | Event |
|---|---|
January 31, 2020 | The Legacy Data Warehouse and Report Database export features will be removed and no longer accessible from Nexpose. Prior to this date, you should have upgraded your Data Warehouse configuration to use the dimensional data model. |
Frequently Asked Questions
We know there’s a lot to process. Here are some key questions we’ve put together to anticipate any questions you might have. If there are additional questions that you don’t see here, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or our support team.
What are the benefits of the dimensional data model?
One of the major benefits is the ability to access and control your vulnerability data, so that you can power your own analytics any way you need. Additionally, report generation is 100x faster than the legacy Report Data Model, and the data transit is encrypted. To learn more about the Dimensional Data Model, read this blog.
What are the differences between the dimensional and legacy data models?
First, the most significant difference: the dimensional data model does not use scan-based transactional facts. Instead, it supports periodic snapshot facts, which provides a more cumulative state for an asset. Additionally, there are new built-in functions to help you look up the last date an extract, transform, load (ETL) job ran as well as capabilities to help optimize lookups and aggregation. To learn more about the differences, read this blog.