Network Discovery scans the entire network, and then populates your database with the devices that you want to monitor and manage with PacketTrap MSP. Using various discovery tech- niques, such as ping and MAC resolution, network discovery provides a complete set of attrib- utes for all devices. Using the data profile created for devices during discovery, PacketTrap MSP automatically assigns them to different policies, known as Smart Policies, that are com- prised of monitors that best fit what kind of data you want to collect from the devices.
The Network Discovery Wizard appears shortly after you install PacketTrap MSP and open it for the first time. However, if you need to add more devices to your database, you can run network discovery again.
To run network discovery from the Studio
1. In the PacketTrap MSP Studio, click Add Devices.
2. In the Add Devices Wizard, select the method by which you want to add devices:
l SeeAdding Devices By SNMPfor more information
l SeeAdding Devices by Deploying Agentsfor more information
3. Go through the remaining screens of the wizard to complete the process and click Finish.
Things to Consider Before You Run Network Discovery
Although network discovery detects a device in the network, the data profile that it creates for the device may not be complete because of several factors. It is recommended that you con- sider the following before you run network discovery:
l Enable SNMP or WMI on your devices in order to monitor and collect data from it. You do
not need to enable SNMP on devices where an agent is deployed; however, if the agent is monitoring and collecting data from other devices, such as routers and switches, you will need to enable SNMP on those devices.
NOTE: Enabling WMI allows you to monitor and collect data for Microsoft Exchange, SQL, Active Directory, Windows Event Logs, Windows Services, and Hardware Inventory data types only.
l Make sure you have the correct credentials. When you run network discovery, you can
only enter one credential at a time for each level of security. So you may have to run net- work discovery more than once to properly discover all devices in the network. You can also set the credentials for a device at a later time using the Set Credential link in the Devices View. If you do not have the correct credentials assigned to a device in Pack- etTrap MSP, PacketTrap MSP will not be able to monitor and collect data from that device.
Topics in this section
l Adding Devices by SNMP
l Adding Devices by Deploying Agents l Managing Credentials
l Enabling SNMP on a Device
l Enabling WMI on Windows Devices
Pre-Network Discovery Checklist
PacketTrap MSP installs on your system and starts discovering your devices in less than 15 min- utes. However, there are important items that you must have in place in order to optimize your experience with PacketTrap MSP. This section will help you prepare your system before you run network discovery by providing you with the following checklist of items that you need to imple- ment.
Make sure your server meets the minimum system requirements– The PacketTrap MSP platform server is the main database for monitoring and collecting all data from your devices. To verify that it meets the minimum system requirements, seeHost Server Hardware and Software System Requirementsfor more information. Open the appropriate ports– You will need to make sure that all the correct TCP Ports are open on your firewall to allow communication to the PacketTrap MSP plat- form server. For more information about inbound ports, seeHost Server Hardware and Software System Requirements.
Have your valid WMI credentials available– You will need to have all your valid Win- dows administrative credentials available for the devices that you want to monitor by WMI. After you install PacketTrap MSP, you can use the WMI enablement tool to ena- ble WMI on your devices. For more information about how you can accomplish this task, seeEnabling WMI on Windows Devices.
Have your valid read/write SNMP credentials available– You will need to have all your valid read/write SNMP credentials available for the devices that you want to mon- itor by SNMP. After you install PacketTrap MSP, you can use the SNMP enablement tool to enable SNMP on your devices. For more information about how you can accomplish this task, seeEnabling SNMP on a Device.
Telnet/SSH access– You must have Telnet/SSH access to all your routers, switches, and devices that you want to monitor with PacketTrap MSP.
Compile a list of IPs and/or IP ranges– You should make a list of all the IPs or IP ranges that you want to monitor during the PacketTrap MSP.
Adding Devices by SNMP
PacketTrap MSP can use SNMP to discover devices in a network and then provide a complete set of attributes for each discovered device. This type of network discovery will gather technical data including hardware, software, and processes for each device, and then identify devices by responding status, protocols, type, and operating system. When you add a device by SNMP, it requires that you provide the SNMP credentials for the devices and you must make sure that you have the correct port open so that the target machine can accept SNMP packets from that device.
1. In the PacketTrap MSP Studio, click Add New Devices.
2. In the Add Devices Wizard, select Add Devices Via SNMP Network Discovery. 3. Click Next.
4. In the Enter Targets field, type any one of the following: CIDR, DNS, IP/Subnet Mask or range of IP Addresses.
5. In the Select Network Discovery Techniques section, deselect any of the check-boxes that do not apply to your discovery.
For more information on these techniques and configuring the advanced ping settings, seeNetwork Discovery Techniques.
6. In the Choose Device Credentials section, select a credential for each level of security that you want to use to discover each device.
For more information on credentials, seeSetting Device Credentials for Network Dis- covery.
7. Click Next to start the discovery process.
8. On page 2 of the Network Discovery Wizard, select the devices on which you want to do a complete discovery. You can use the options in the drop-down list to filter the devices shown on this screen.
9. Click Next.
10. On page 3 of the Network Discovery Wizard, select how you want to assign your devices to a policy.
For more information about the Policy Assignment Options, seeApplying Smart Policies to Devices.
11. Click Finish to complete the Network Discovery process.
See Also
l Network Discovery Techniques
l Setting Device Credentials for Network Discovery l Applying Smart Policies to Devices
Network Discovery Techniques
PacketTrap MSP provides 3 different techniques to help you discover the devices in a network. They are:
Use this technique if you have previously run network discovery. It does not include devices that are currently in the database in you new search, which allows PacketTrap MSP to scan a net- work faster.
Ping
Use this technique to send an ICMP command to a device. If the ping monitor is working as expected, a device will respond to the request. There are advanced ping settings that you can configure from the Network Discovery Wizard, which is explained further in the following sec- tion.
MAC Resolution
PacketTrap MSP uses the MAC Address to uniquely identify and profile a device in the network. Configuring Advanced Ping Settings
PacketTrap MSP provides a way to configure the ping settings so that you can turn a resolution on to display or turn it off from displaying.
Click the Advanced Settings link in the Select Network Discovery Techniques section to modify the following settings:
Ping Timeout (ms)
Maximum amount of time in milliseconds that a ping waits for a response from the target IP address. If the target does not respond within the number of milliseconds set, ping assumes it is not working as expected.
Number of hops along the way to the specified address. If you assign a value of 32 to this set- ting, your ping scan may pass through up to 32 different routers on the way to the remote address before the network throws it away.
Pings Per Node
You can control the number of ping attempts to send to each address during a scan. When a net- work containing a Cisco router is scanned, you should set this number to a number greater than 2. If the target IP address is not in the ARP cache of a Cisco router, the router discards the ICMP query while it requests the MAC address of the target IP. The first ping will never arrive at the subnet of the target IP address; however, the Cisco router will respond to the second ping. Delay Between Pings
Time in milliseconds between each successive ping to the target address. If you assign a low value to this setting a constant stream of pings is sent to the target IP address.
See Also
l Adding Devices by SNMP
Setting Device Credentials for Network Discovery
When you run network discovery, selecting the correct credentials is essential in order for Pack- etTrap MSP to access the devices in a network. When a device is discovered during a scan of the network, PacketTrap MSP will add it to the database. However, if you incorrectly set the cre- dentials for that device (in the product), PacketTrap MSP cannot monitor and collect data from it.
In the Network Discovery Wizard, choose the correct credential for the devices in the network. PacketTrap MSP allows you to select a credential for the following protocols:
l SNMP Version 1 Credential l SNMP Version 2 Credential l SNMP Version 3 Credential l WMI Credential
From the Network Discovery Wizard, you can add new credentials to the Encrypted Credential Store by clicking the Managing Credentials link. For more information about credentials, see Managing Credentials.
See Also
l Adding Devices by SNMP
Adding Devices by Deploying Agents
The Deploy Agent Wizard allows you to select one or more devices where you can deploy a local or remote agent. Agents can only be deployed to Windows-based machines running Win- dows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2003. As you work through the different screens of the wizard, you will select the device where you want to install the agent, determine if SNMP in enabled on the device, learn the status of that device (if it will support an agent deployed on it), set and manage the device's credentials, set the telnet/SSH credentials in order to connect to the device.
For more information about the minimum system requirements the agent device needs to meet, such as which ports you need to open, seeDevice and Collection Agent System Require- ments.
1. In the PacketTrap MSP Studio, click Add Devices.
2. In the Add Devices Wizard, select Add Devices By Deploying Agents and click Next. 3. In the Deploy Agent Wizard, type a CIDR, DNS, IP/SubnetMask or range of IP addresses in
the Enter Targets field.
4. Click Next.NOTE: This process may take a few moments to complete.
5. In the Connectivity Results screen, select a device in the list.NOTE: Check the Status col- umn for information about the devices that were discovered. If the returned results have a "Fail" status, you may not be able to select that device.
6. Click Next.
7. Select a preferred credential and type a username and password. You can create a new credential by selecting (new credential) in the drop-down list.
9. In the Set Telnet/SSH Credential screen, select the device on which you are installing an agent and click Set Preferred.
10. Click Next.
11. In the Results screen the Results screen will notify you if the Telnet/SSH credential for the device is valid.
12. Select a device with the correct WMI credential so that you can monitor and collect spe- cific Windows-based data.
For more information, seeMonitoring Your Devices by WMI.
NOTE: Use the Manage Credential link on this screen to edit your existing credentials or to create a new credential. For more information, see Managing Your Credentials. 13. Click Next. The agent will now be deployed to the device. You can view the log in the
agent deployment status. 14. Click Finish.
See Also
l Monitoring Your Devices by Deploying Agents l Benefits of Deploying an Agent
Benefits of Deploying an Agent
You will experience the following benefits when you deploy an agent on a machine:
l An agent captures and monitors all data from a machine eliminating the need to enable
SNMP or WMI on a device.
l You can use the Patch Management feature.
l You can remotely gain access to a machine using Expert Assist.
l Increase a machine's performance by decreasing the amount of traffic between devices. l Increase the quality of monitored data by missing fewer monitoring intervals than a
SNMP connection.
l Gives you remote access to various mobile assets, such as laptops. l Increase the amount of devices that you can monitor.
See Also
l Monitoring Your Devices by Deploying an Agent
Installing Agents Manually
You can manually deploy an agent on any windows-based machine. When you install an agent manually, you are downloading the agent software from a known location on your PacketTrap MSP server. Also, you can use the Email URL feature to deploy an agent to all the desktops in a network. By emailing the location of the agent software to each desktop owner, they can down- load the agent software onto their desktops.
1. In the PacketTrap MSP Studio, click Add Devices.
2. In the Add Devices Wizard, select Add Devices By Deploying Agents. 3. Click Next.
4. In the Deploy Agent Wizard, click Install Manually.
5. In the Manually Deploy Agent dialog, select an operating system and do one of the fol- lowing:
l Click Copy URL to download the agent software from a known location on your
PacketTrap MSP server.
l Click Email URL to send the location of the agent software to all the desktops in a
network. 6. Click Close.
See Also
l Adding Devices by Deploying an Agent
Managing Credentials
The Encrypted Credential Store is a secure repository of SNMP, WMI, and SSH credentials shared by all tools and gadgets which require them. It uses standard AES 256-bit encryption. Selecting the correct credentials is essential in order for PacketTrap MSP to access the devices in your network. When a device is found during Network Discovery, PacketTrap MSP will add it to the database. However, if you incorrectly set the credentials for that device in the Network Discovery Wizard, PacketTrap MSP cannot monitor and collect data from it.
In the Encrypted Credential Store, you can store credentials for the following protocols:
l SNMP Version 1 Credential l SNMP Version 2 Credential l SNMP Version 3 Credential l WMI Credential
l Telnet SSH
From the Network Discovery Wizard, you can add new credentials or edit existing credentials by clicking the Managing Credentials link.
1. Click Credentials from tree options in Devices. 2. In the Credentials window, click New.
3. From the drop-down list next to Type select the type of credential protocol you wish to configure and save. The configuration of each of the three choices displayed is described in the following three sections.
4. Click Save.
5. Click Assign, and then in the Select Devices window, select one or more devices to assign the credential to those devices.
Applying Smart Policies to Devices
When you run a network discovery, PacketTrap MSPcreates an intelligent profile of a device and assigns it to a pre-configured policy called a Smart Policy. A Smart Policy is a product default policy made up of recommended monitors and data gathering time intervals appro- priate to a specific type of device, such as a wireless device or desktop device. For example, PacketTrap MSP assigns a desktop computer to the Desktop Policy, which monitors data specific to desktops such as CPU, memory, and disk volume. Applying Smart Policies during Network Dis- covery will save you time by automatically assigning all the devices discovered in a site's net- work to a qualifying Smart Policy.
You can edit Local and Global Smart Policies in the Edit Policy window; however, you cannot delete a Global Smart Policy.
Smart Policies in your product include:
l Default Policy
NOTE: A device is applied to the Default Policy when PacketTrap MSP cannot identify what type of device it is. For example, during network discovery, if PacketTrap
MSP cannot identify a device's description, OID, or which services are running on it, that device is assigned to the Default Policy. In the Default Policy, all monitors are selected to cover a wide range of devices to make sure that data is monitored and collected from these devices. It is recommended that you migrate these devices from the Default Policy to the appropriate Smart Policy.
l Networking Policy l Server Policy l Desktop Policy l Wap Policy
l VMware Host Policy
Applying the default Policy to Devices
By selecting the Default Policy option in the Network Discovery Wizard, you are assigning the discovered devices to the Default Policy (only the devices that you selected on page 2 of the Net- work Discovery Wizard are applied to it). After the network discovery process is complete, you
can reassign devices in the default policy to a different smart policy or to a policy that you created.
See Also