Net Inspector incorporates the auto configuration feature, which automatically adds new monitored devices to the system and (optionally) to the workspace when Net Inspector receives SNMP Trap or Inform notification messages and NetFlow or sFlow packets from unknown sources/devices.
Furthermore, auto configuration feature can also automatically add new devices representing guest virtual machines hosted by a Virtual Server or Virtual Host device monitored by Net Inspector.
The auto configuration feature is enabled by default. This section describes the auto configuration feature settings and functioning.
Note: Only users with administrator access rights are permitted to configure settings described in this topic.
Click the Settings tab in Net Inspector header to display the Settings page.
Click the Auto Configuration button in the Settings page to open the Auto Configuration dialog box .
In the Auto Configuration dialog box, check the Add devices on received SNMP notifications from unknown sources checkbox, to enable adding new devices based on received SNMP Trap and Inform packets to Device Panel. Check also the Add to user view checkbox to enable adding devices to the user view and map selected in the accompanying drop-down lists.
To enable adding new devices based on received NetFlow and sFlow streams, enable the Add devices on received NetFlow streams from unknown sources option (checkbox). Check also the Add devices to user view checkbox to enable adding newly discovered NetFlow/sFlow devices to the selected user view and map respectively.
Figure: Auto Configuration dialog box
The Add devices on new Virtual Machine discovered frame lets you control how Net Inspector will manage discovered virtual machines, e.g., when a new Virtual Server or Virtual Host device is added to Net Inspector and appropriate access profile (e.g. VMware for VMware virtualization or WMI for MS virtualization) that allows discovering guest VMs is assigned to it, as follows:
To enable adding devices for all discovered guest VMs, select the Add all VMs option from the drop-down list.
To enable adding devices for all discovered guest VMs that are currently running, select the Add running VMs only option from the drop-down list.
To disable adding devices for discovered guest VMs, select the Do not add any VMs option from the drop-down list.
To enable adding devices for newly discovered guest VMs to the same map as the parent device (i.e., Virtual Server or Virtual Host), select the Add new virtual machines on the map beside parent option.
After specifying the auto configuration settings, click the OK button at the bottom of the Auto Configuration dialog box to close it and apply the settings.
Configure remote SNMP devices to send SNMP Trap or Inform notifications messages to the computer where Net Inspector Server runs. In case of a distributed configuration where two or more Net Inspector polling engines are used, direct the SNMP notification sending to the nearest polling engine.
Configure remote devices to send NetFlow or sFlow packets to the computer where Net Inspector Server runs. In case of a distributed configuration, where two or more Net Inspector polling engines are used, direct the NetFlow/sFlow packets to the nearest polling engine.
Net Inspector will automatically add a new devices to the system (Device Panel) and to the workspace (user view and map) when it receives an SNMP Trap or Inform notification message or NetFlow/sFlow packets from a new device. New Netflow devices are marked as NetFlow sources with the “NF” label displayed in the lower-left corner of the managed object icon.