Discovery view
On the Discovery page information on discovered computers and other devices are presented in views. These computers/devices do not have an Inventory agent installed. A number of views are delivered with the installation, and new can be created to support customer needs. Also, filters can be added to the views to refine them even more.
The discovered devices are identified using the following properties:
-
hostname
-
IP address
-
MAC address
The Discovery page can be used for deployment of the Inventory Agent (for Windows versions 6.8.2 and earlier only). For more information, see Deploy an agent.
A discovered device cannot be automatically deleted in Inventory. It will remain visible on the Discovery page until either an Inventory agent has been deployed to it, or it is manually deleted in the Admin Console.
Commands
The following commands are available on the Discovery page:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Export | Export the information as it is displayed on the Discovery page to file. Any grouping or sorting will apply. |
| Search | Show (or hide) the search box |
| Refresh | Refresh the content of the view |
| Add view | Create a new custom view |
| Edit view | Edit a selected custom view |
| Copy view | Create a new custom view by copying an existing view |
| Delete view | Delete a selected custom view |
| Create deployment | Deploy a package to a selected discovery (for Windows versions 6.8.2 and earlier only) |
| Delete | Delete a discovery entry |
Discovery details
To see details of a specific discovery, click the discovery in the list. Information such as Source, Name, Network, and Active Directory is shown on the bar to the right of the main window.
Discovery methods
Computers and devices can be discovered using LDAP lookups in an Active Directory, or by using the following technologies for network discovery on specific IP address ranges:
-
SNMP (SNMPv1)
-
SSH
-
WinRPC/WMI
-
ICMP (“ping”)
-
TCP/IP fingerprinting
-
DNS lookup
-
NIC manufacturer lookup.
When TCP/IP fingerprinting is enabled, discovery will attempt to identify the type of OS installed on the device.
For details about the discovery criteria and the columns included in each discovery view, see the following table.
| View | Description |
|---|---|
| AD and SIM computers | Lists all computers that have been found using Active Directory discovery, or that have been reported via the Snow Integration Manager (SIM). The view includes both reachable and unreachable computers. |
| Reachable network devices | Lists all devices that support SNMP but have not been identified as computers, for example printers, switches, and routers. |
| Reachable unknown devices | Lists all devices that are reachable but for which no additional information can be gathered. |
| Reachable computers | Lists all devices that have been identified as computers using one (or several) of the discovery methods WinRPC/WMI, TCP/IP fingerprinting, or Active Directory discovery. |
| Reachable computers with Snow Inventory Client 3.x for Windows | Lists all reachable Windows computers/devices that have not been upgraded yet, and that still have the old Inventory client installed. |
For details about the columns included in each discovery view, see the following table.
| AD and SIM computers | Reachable network devices | Reachable unknown devices | Reachable computers | Reachable computers with Snow Inventory Client 3.x for Windows | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostname | X | - | - | X | - |
| Platform Example: Windows | X | - | - | X | - |
| Site name Example: SESTOSOL-05 | X | X | X | X | X |
| Last logon (AD) | X | - | - | X | - |
| Is reachable Example: Yes | X | - | - | - | - |
| Source Example: Active Directory | X | - | - | - | - |
| Last updated | X | X | X | X | X |
| IP Address | - | X | X | X | X |
| MAC Address | - | X | X | X | X |
| Description Example: HP ETHERNET MULTI-ENVIRONMENT | - | X | X | - | X |
| NIC manufacturer Example: Hewlett Packard | - | X | X | - | - |
| Type Example: Network | - | - | - | - | X |
To change the columns included in a selected discovery view, create a custom view by copying it and then adding (or removing) columns to it. Also, filter criteria can be added to the custom view. For details, see Work with views.