Disabling the Neo4j usage data report

How to disable the Neo4j Usage Data Collector, which is enabled by default in CAST Imaging

Overview

Neo4j - the graph database system used to power the CAST Imaging results - includes a Usage Data Collector. When it is enabled, Neo4j periodically sends anonymous, non-confidential usage and diagnostic data to Neo4j (the vendor).

This behaviour is controlled by the following setting in the neo4j.conf file, and it is enabled by default:

dbms.usage_report.enabled=true

The data transmitted is high level only:

The Neo4j version and edition in use.
Deployment and environment details, such as the operating system and JVM.
Aggregate database statistics.

The following is never transmitted:

Your graph data or application data.
Queries.
Credentials.
Any personally identifiable information (PII).

Leaving the Usage Data Collector enabled is therefore harmless for most deployments. However, you may want to disable it if your environment restricts outbound connections - for example an air-gapped or heavily firewalled installation - or if your internal policy prohibits data of any kind leaving your network. To do so, set dbms.usage_report.enabled=false as described below.

For the authoritative list of the data transmitted, see Neo4j usage data reference and Usage Data Collector in the Neo4j Operations Manual.

Microsoft Windows

Step 1 - Edit the neo4j.conf file

Locate the following file:

%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\Imaging\CAST-Imaging-Viewer\setup-config\neo4j\neo4j.conf

If you chose a custom configuration directory during installation, use <your-config-dir>\neo4j\neo4j.conf instead.

Edit the file, update the following entry and then save the file:

dbms.usage_report.enabled=false

Step 2 - Run the update script

Run the following command (from a CMD window with elevated permissions (right click, Run as administrator)) to ensure that the service is updated with the new configuration:

"%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Imaging\CAST-Imaging-Viewer\neo4j\bin\neo4j" windows-service update

Step 3 - Restart services

Finally, restart the CAST Imaging Viewer Neo4j Graph DB Microsoft Windows service to ensure your changes are taken into account.

Your choice is preserved when you update CAST Imaging: the installer adds the dbms.usage_report.enabled setting to neo4j.conf only when it is missing, and never overwrites a value you have set yourself.

Linux via Docker/Podman

The neo4j.conf file is not exposed out of the box, therefore to disable the usage data report you will need to choose a neo4j.conf customization method as described in Customizing Neo4j.

CAST recommends using the imaging-viewer .env file - add the following entry:

NEO4J_dbms_usage__report_enabled=false

Note the double underscore in use between usage and report: this is the equivalent of the dbms.usage_report.enabled parameter available in the neo4j.conf file. See Customizing Neo4j for the naming convention in use.

This parameter is not pre-defined in the .env file. Adding parameters that are not pre-defined requires 3.6.0-funcrel or later.

Restart the imaging-viewer containers to apply the change:

$ cd /opt/cast/installation/imaging-viewer
$ sudo docker compose up -d server

For detailed instructions on modifying the .env file, see: