CIQ

What is Ascender Ledger Pro? Actionable logs & insights for automation

What is Ascender Ledger Pro? Actionable logs & insights for automation
the CIQ TeamOctober 22, 2024

Automation is table stakes for today’s enterprises, but given the scale of IT infrastructure deployments, automation alone may not be enough to truly get the most out of existing and future systems. That’s where Ascender Ledger Pro comes in. Designed to complement your Ansible automation efforts, Ascender Ledger Pro provides actionable logs, insights, and visibility into your infrastructure and the automations you are running — helping you track, troubleshoot, and optimize every aspect of your automated environment.

While automation platforms like Ansible or Ascender handle the heavy lifting of deploying, managing, and scaling systems, Ascender Ledger Pro ensures you have a clear, auditable view of what’s happening behind the scenes. It bridges the gap between automation and comprehensive visibility, giving your teams the tools they need to maintain control, compliance, and efficiency.

Why visibility matters for automation platforms

Automation creates a vast amount of data: logs, metrics, and information about every action your systems are performing. However, without a centralized way to view and understand this information, you risk losing track of changes, updates, or potential security vulnerabilities. As your enterprise grows, so does the complexity of managing your automation processes across different teams, tools, and environments.

This is where Ascender Ledger Pro excels: it provides a single source of truth for all automated activities across your infrastructure. Whether it’s keeping track of configuration changes, monitoring system updates, or ensuring security patches are applied, Ledger Pro gives you the insights you need to stay on top of your environment.

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Key features of Ascender Ledger Pro

Detailed logs and change tracking: Every change in your infrastructure is logged in detail. From configuration adjustments to system updates, Ascender Ledger Pro tracks it all, ensuring you know exactly who made a change, when it happened, and what was modified. This provides full visibility into your systems, reducing the chances of unnoticed errors or security gaps.

Compliance and audit-ready reports: Preparing for compliance audits can be a headache, especially when data is scattered across multiple platforms. Ascender Ledger Pro simplifies this by automatically generating detailed compliance reports. Whether you need to ensure adherence to HIPAA, GDPR, or other industry standards, Ascender Ledger Pro helps you stay audit-ready without the last-minute scramble.

Baseline management: One of the most compelling features of Ascender Ledger Pro is its ability to designate baseline configurations for your systems. Administrators can quickly reference what should be installed on a specific server type and spot any deviations from the baseline, making it easier to maintain consistency across your infrastructure.

Centralized inventory view: In Ascender Ledger Pro’s host section, admins can view all known information about a particular host in one place, including hardware stats, services, and package details. This unified view allows for quick access to critical data, improving response times when troubleshooting or performing updates.

Vulnerability and patch management: Ascender Ledger Pro tracks errata and CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) across your infrastructure, showing which packages or services on each host may be vulnerable. It provides detailed CVE descriptions and links to official notices, helping admins prioritize and patch vulnerabilities before they become bigger issues.

Alerts and automations: With Ascender Ledger Pro’s alert section, you can configure saved filters to automatically trigger emails or webhooks when certain conditions are met. For example, if a critical security patch is needed, an alert can automatically create a ticket or even trigger an automated remediation process.

How Ascender Ledger Pro works

Ascender Ledger Pro works on automation platforms like Ascender, Ansible AWX, or Red Hat’s Ansible Automation Platform. While these platforms handle the automation tasks, Ascender Ledger Pro collects and stores all the resulting logs and data in a centralized database. This gives admins a powerful tool to search, filter, and analyze information related to system changes and automation processes.

For example, automation often generates a tsunami of information, and without proper tools, much of it could go unnoticed. Ascender Ledger Pro lets admins harness this data in innovative ways, allowing for detailed monitoring of system changes and giving you a clear view of what’s happening across your enterprise. With Ascender Ledger Pro, you can track every package on every host, log every change, and ensure that your infrastructure is always running smoothly.

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The intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) makes it easy to navigate, while the API ensures that Ledger Pro can be integrated with your existing tools and workflows. Whether you’re accessing it through the GUI or pulling data programmatically via the API, Ascender Ledger Pro provides the flexibility needed to support your team’s unique requirements.

Your business needs Ascender Ledger Pro

Eliminate blind spots: Automation may be running smoothly, but if you don’t have visibility into what’s happening across your infrastructure, you’re bound to miss something. Ascender Ledger Pro closes this gap by giving you full insight into your systems, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

Reduce errors and downtime: With Ascender Ledger Pro’s comprehensive logging and baseline management, errors are caught before they become major issues. This proactive approach reduces downtime and helps you maintain optimal system performance.

Stay compliant: Manually compiling compliance data is time-consuming and prone to mistakes. Ascender Ledger Pro automates this process, ensuring that you’re always ready for audits without the added stress.

Strengthen security: Security vulnerabilities are a constant threat, and patching them promptly is essential. With Ascender Ledger Pro’s vulnerability tracking, admins can quickly identify and patch weak spots across the infrastructure.

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Conclusion: Get Started with Ascender Ledger Pro

Automation alone is no longer enough to keep enterprise IT systems running smoothly and securely. Ascender Ledger Pro provides the visibility, control, and insights needed to optimize your automated environment. From detailed logs and compliance reports to proactive vulnerability management, Ascender Ledger Pro empowers your team to stay ahead of challenges and ensure your infrastructure is always running at its best.

Ready to see how Ascender Ledger Pro can transform your IT operations? Contact us today for a demo and experience the power of automation with full visibility and control.