This section describes how to add devices to Net Inspector by importing the device information from a CSV (comma-separated values) text file.
The CSV file should contain the following data about devices (one line per device):
name, address, port, "description"
The name and address are mandatory, while port and description are optional data. Data separator character is comma (,).
Meaning of data fields:
name - device name as it will appear in Net Inspector
address - device IPv4 or IPv6 address or hostname
port - UDP port on which device listens to for SNMP requests (if not present, the port from the assigned access profile is used)
description - device description as it will appear in Net Inspector. Description must be enclosed in double quotes.
The lines in CSV file can contain 2, 3 or 4 data fields (columns). Below are some examples of a valid CSV file content:
localhost,127.0.0.1
localhost,127.0.0.1,1161
localhost,127.0.0.1,"local machine"
localhost,127.0.0.1,1161,"local machine"
Note: Only users with administrator access rights are permitted to add new devices to Net Inspector.
Click the Devices tab in Net Inspector header to display the Devices page.
In the upper-right section of the Devices frame, click the Configure button to enter the Configuration Mode.
Figure: Switching into map Configuration Mode
In the Explorer section of the Map View frame, click the map, to which you would like to add new devices and click the Add Device button, as shown in the image below .
Figure: Clicking the Add Device button (in map Configuration Mode)
The Select Device Type dialog box appears, prompting you to choose the device type first. Select the type and class of device that best matches the devices you are going to import, e.g., IP Server (if you are importing different types of devices, select the IP Any option). Click the Select button.
Figure: Selecting the device type (from common IP types)
In the New Device dialog box that appears, click the Browse (...) button next to the Import from file input line to browse the file system and select the comma-separated values (.CSV) file that contains information about devices you wish to import.
Figure: Choosing the Import from file option in the New Device dialog box
The name of the selected .csv file appears in the Import from file input line and the number of devices to be imported is displayed below it.
Figure: Importing devices - specifying device properties
Leave the Monitoring state switch in the ON state to enable device monitoring.
The Name, Address, Port and Description input lines are disabled and cannot be edited (these device properties will be acquired from CSV file).
The Import from file input line displays the name of the selected CSV file. Use the the Browse (...) button next to it to select a different CSV file.
In the Type drop-down list, select the type of the devices (e.g., IP).
In the Class drop-down list, select the class of the devices (e.g., Any.).
In the Icon drop-down list, select the desired icon for the devices or leave it empty.
Into the Vendor input line, optionally enter the vendor of the devices you are importing.
In the Polling profile drop-down list, select the polling profile to be used for polling the imported devices. A polling profile controls what parameters will be monitored, how often and what are the threshold values for triggering and clearing alarms. To create a new polling profile or edit existing ones, click the Browse (...) button next to this input line to open the Polling Profiles dialog box, where you can manage polling profiles.
In the Access profile drop-down list, select the access profile to be used for accessing the imported devices. An access profile contains credentials for accessing devices using supported protocols/methods (SNMP, WMI, VMware). To create a new access profile or edit existing ones, click the Browse (...) button next to this input line to open the Access Profiles dialog box, where you can manage access profiles.
In the Polling engine drop-down list, select the IP address of the Net Inspector polling engine that will be used for polling the imported devices (e.g., 127.0.0.1 for the local polling engine or the IP address of a remote polling engine - if installed).
If the imported devices will be sending NetFlow/sFlow packets to Net Inspector, check the NetFlow Source checkbox to enable receiving NetFlow/sFlow packets from these devices in Net Inspector (devicse must be configured to send NetFlow/sFlow packets to Net Inspector by using a vendor-dependent mechanism - please refer to the vendor documentation for details).
After specifying all parameters in the New Device dialog box, click the OK button to close it and start importing devices. The imported device icons will be added to the selected map (as shown in the image below). Note that the imported devices are also added to the Device Panel. Net Inspector starts polling the imported devices and listening for SNMP Trap and Inform messages sent by devices. If everything is configured properly, the status of the manage objects changes from Unmanaged to Normal, i.e., the background color of the managed object icons changes from blue to green.
Figure: Imported devices are added to a map (and to Device Panel)
Note: When you add a device to Net Inspector and enable monitoring it, Net Inspector starts monitoring all network interfaces, storage units (disk partitions) and network services on the given device. You can modify which interfaces, storage units, services and running processes on the given device will be monitored, as described in the Configuring Device Monitoring Options topic.