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Device Addition

Contents

 

Overview

After successfully starting the server and connecting client, comes the next step - adding devices to the inventory. As the name itself indicates, Inventory, in simple terms, deals with the listing of all the available devices. This listing is done by discovering all the devices present in your network.

 

Discovery of SNMP-enabled devices can be initiated through the 'Discover Devices' wizard in the web interface. The devices discovered through this process get added to the inventory. DeviceExpert provides the option of manually adding the devices to the inventory too. This section explains Device Discovery and Manual Addition of Devices. In addition, there is provision to import devices from a text file.

 

Next to inventory discovery, credential information has to be supplied to the added devices for establishing communication with the device and for authenticating access to the device. A common set of credential information can be shared among many devices in the network.

 

As stated above, devices can be added to the inventory in three ways:

 

 

This section provides detailed information on how to add devices through the three ways stated above.

Discover Devices

The SNMP-enabled devices available in the network can be discovered and added to the Inventory Database. The devices are listed in the inventory UI in the web interface. You can discover specific devices, devices present in a specific IP range and even multiple devices. To initiate discovery, you need provide some configuration details using the 'Discover Devices' Wizard present in the "Inventory" tab.

To initiate Discovery,

 

All SNMP-enabled devices are discovered. The discovery wizard provides the option for discovering the devices with specific IP addresses or devices falling under a specific IP range and multiple devices whose details are present in a file.

 

Based on your need for discovery, choose any one of the options available under "Discover Devices by":

To discover a specific device(s),

 

Provide SNMP Settings,

 

To discover devices in a specific IP range,

 

Provide SNMP Settings,

 

 

To discover multiple devices

You can even discover multiple devices by simply loading a file containing the device details. Entries in the file need to be in a specific format as detailed below.

 

 

For example, typical entries in the file would be something like the ones below:

cisco805
catalyst2900      192.168.117.12
foundry2402

192.168.111.2     cisco1710    

 

 

Provide SNMP Settings,

 

Tracking Discovery Status

After starting discovery of devices, you can track the status of discovery on real time basis. You can find the progress of discovery (that is percentage of completion) and finally the result - whether the device/devices was/were discovered successfully and added to the inventory. In case of failure of discovery process, the probable reason for the failure is also reported.

 

Apart from viewing the status of discovery of a particular attempt on real-time basis, you can even view historical information pertaining to all device discovery attempts made so far and their respective status / result.

 

Status of Current Discovery

 

Once you initiate discovery (that is once you click the button 'Discover'), the 'Discovery Details' page showing the status of current discovery opens up. This page provides the following details:

 

 

Discovery Status - Historical Information

 

You can view the status of all discovery attempts made since the previous cold start of the DeviceExpert server, along with the result of each attempt through the 'Discovery Status' page. This page provides a snapshot all discovery attempts. Upon clicking each item in the list, you can view the details about the status of that particular discovery attempt.

 

To view the historical information, click the link "Discovery Status" present in the 'Discover Devices' page.  

Add Device

You can add new devices through Manual Addition also. To add a device manually,

 

 

The device can be added through a three-step process:

 

Step 1: Device Details

 

Note: When you complete this step and click 'Next' - DeviceExpert tries to establish connection with the IP. In case, the device is not up or if there is no such device with the name/IP specified, you will see the message "Could not establish connection with <IP address>. To proceed anyway, click 'Next'". If you wish, you may proceed further and add the device. Once the device is up, it will get added to the inventory.

Step 2: Device Specifications

Step 3: Adding the Device

Importing Devices from a Text file

DeviceExpert provides the option to import devices from a text file and add them to the inventory. To import devices from a text file, DeviceExpert requires that the entries in the file conform to a specific format.

 

Ensure that the entries in the file are in the following format: (column names should be in the same order as shown in the format below with each name separated by a comma):

 

Format : <Hostname>,<IP Address>,<Device Type>,<Vendor>,<Series>,<Model>,<OS Type>,<OS Version>

Example: catalyst2900,192.168.111.10,CiscoSwitch,Cisco,2900,2924,IOS,12.0

    cisco805,192.168.111.11,CiscoRouter,Cisco,800,805,IOS,12.2

    cisco2501,192.168.111.12,CiscoRouter,Cisco,2500,2501,IOS,11.3  

 

To import devices from a text file,

 

 

 

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