Auditing Individual Network Nodes

Auditing Individual Nodes Within Sites

You can force the audit of a single Node as follows:

1. In the All Nodes grid, locate the Node you want to audit.
2. Right-click the Node and select Audit Now from the pop-up menu. A new "Audit" task appears in the Task List. Wait for the task to finish.

   NOTE: After inventory information is uploaded to the database, the Changes message appears in the status bar. Click this message to refresh the data display.

Specifying Individual Audit Credentials

By default, Network Inventory computers within a Site use audit credentials that you have provided when configuring the Direct Network Scan Audit Source; Chromebooks use credentials that you have provided when configuring Google Directory Audit Source. However, you may need to specify individual audit credentials for a particular computer or Chromebook.

You can also select multiple nodes and apply desired credentials for all those nodes simultaneously.

INFO: For details, see Providing Audit Credentials.

To specify individual credentials for a particular computer or Chromebook, follow these steps:

1. In the Computers grid or Chromebooks grid, locate the Network Node you want to specify individual audit credentials.
2. Right-click the Network Node record and choose Properties from the pop-up menu. The Node Properties [Node Name] dialog box opens.
3. For Computers, click Use individual credentials and select an existing set of audit credentials in the Windows or Linux and Mac drop-down list.
4. For hypervisors, click Use individual credentials and select an existing set of audit credentials in the ESXi/vSphere/Citrix drop-down list.
5. For Chromebooks, click Use individual credentials and select an existing set of audit credentials in the Google drop-down list.

   NOTE: To create new credentials or modify a set of existing credentials, you can click the ellipsis button and change them as follows:

   • To add credentials record, click New, specify account details in the Audit Credentials [Credentials Name] dialog box and click OK.
   • To modify a record, select it in the list, click Edit, change its properties as needed, and click OK.
   For details, see Adding Windows Audit Credentials, Linux and Mac Audit Credentials, ESXi/vSphere/Citrix Audit Credentialsand Adding SNMP Credentials.

   Alternatively, you can choose audit credentials from another Audit Source by clicking Use the settings from this Audit Source and selecting the source.

6. Click OK.

   NOTE: Individual audit credentials for a Network Node take precedence over the credentials specified in its Audit Source.

To specify audit credentials for multiple nodes, follow these steps:

1. In the Computers grid or Network Devices grid, locate the nodes you want to specify individual audit credentials.
2. Select multiple nodes, right-click one of the selected records and choose Properties from the pop-up menu. The Properties of Multiple Nodes dialog box opens.

   NOTE: When you select multiple nodes with different credentials, the Credentials field displays "<miscellaneous>".

3. In the Credentials section, click Change. The Change Credentials for Multiple Nodes dialog box opens.
4. Click Use these credentials and select an existing set of audit credentials in the Windows or Linux and Mac drop-down list, and then click OK. You can also select an individual set of SNMP credentials in the SNMP list.

   NOTE: To create new credentials or modify a set of existing credentials, you can click the ellipsis button and change them as follows:

   • To add credentials record, click New, specify account details in the Audit Credentials [Credentials Name] dialog box and click OK.
   • To modify a record, select it in the list, click Edit, change its properties as needed, and click OK.
   For details, see Adding Windows Audit Credentials, Linux and Mac Audit Credentials, ESXi/vSphere/Citrix Audit Credentials, and Adding SNMP Credentials.

   Alternatively, you can select audit credentials from another Audit Source by clicking Use credentials from this Audit Source and selecting the source, and then click OK.

5. Click OK.

   NOTE: Individual audit credentials take precedence over the credentials specified for the Audit Source.

Associating Virtual Machines with Host Machines

Network Inventory automatically identifies different types of virtual machines and hypervisors among audited Computers. Besides that, Network Inventory provides the ability to associate virtual client computers with host computers where they reside. For a number of popular virtualization platforms, Network Inventory automatically associates virtual client computers with their hosts. In other cases, you can establish the association manually.

INFO: For the list of supported hypervisors, see Installation Guide: Network Inventory Audit Clients.

NOTE: Typically, Network Inventory puts virtual computers and hypervisors detected during the audit into the pre-defined Virtual Machines Collection and Hypervisors Collection respectively.

Automatic Association of Virtual Machines to their Hosts

By default, Network Inventory associates virtual guest computers with their host using the list of MAC addresses. Mac addresses of virtual machines are collected from the computer or hypervisor during the audit. However, there might be rare cases when the virtual machines hosted on different computers or hypervisors may have the same MAC addresses. In these cases, the automatic association may work incorrectly. You can correct that by establishing the association manually. For details, please refer to Manual Association of Virtual Machines to their Host Machines.

NOTE: Make sure to keep MAC addresses of virtual machines unique to establish correct auto-association of virtual machines to their hosts. Otherwise, manually corrected association may fall apart next time you audit the virtual guest computer.

You can check whether the host for the virtual machine was detected correctly in the Host field of the Computer [Computer Name] dialog box (for details, see Viewing record details).

Manual Association of Virtual Machines to their Host Machines

To associate a virtual guest computer to a host where it resides, follow these steps:

1. In the Computers grid, locate the Computer you want to associate with its host.

   NOTE: Alternatively, if the Computer is already identified as a virtual machine, you can find it within the Virtual Machines Collection. For details on Collections, see Working with Collections.

2. Double-click the Computer. The Computer [Computer Name] dialog box opens.
3. If the Computer is not marked as the virtual machine, select Yes from the Virtual Machine drop-down list. The Host field will be enabled.
4. In the Host drop-down list, select the host where the virtual guest computer resides. You can also manually enter the host name or click the ellipsis button and choose the host computer in the Select Host dialog box.
5. Click OK.

Auditing a Computer or Network Device by Name or IP Address

If you know the name or IP address of a computer or network device within your LAN, you can audit it on demand.

NOTE: Network Inventory uses the default audit profile for auditing computers and devices by their name or IP address. For details, see Default Audit Profile.

To audit a single Network Node (a computer or a network device), follow these steps:

1. Select Audit > Audit by Name/IP from the main menu. The Audit by Name/IP Wizard starts.
2. Click Next on the Welcome page. The Select Site page opens.
3. Each Network Node in Network Inventory belongs to a Site, where you access its audit snapshot. Select a Site where the node is expected to reside and click Next. The Name or IP Address page opens.

   IMPORTANT: The selected Site must be associated with a running Automation Server. Otherwise, you will be unable to proceed.

4. Type in the name or IP address of the node and click Next. The Audit Credentials page opens.
5. Specify the audit credentials for Network Inventory to access the target computer or device.

   INFO: For details, see Providing Audit Credentials.

   Click Next. The Ready to Audit page opens.

6. Review your settings and click Next to start the audit.
7. On the Audit results page, review the summary of audit results and click Next. The Audit Source page opens.
8. Optional: If you plan to audit the target node again with the same settings, you can create a new Direct Network Scan Audit Source in the selected Site. The audit scope of this new source will be narrowed down to that single Network Node only. You can create a new Audit Source as follows:
   1. Select the Create Audit Source check box.
   2. If you want to apply a non-default audit profile for auditing that node at a later time, select the desired profile from the Audit Profile list.

      INFO: For details, see Configuring Audit Profiles.

9. Click Next, and then click Finish on the last page to complete the wizard. A new "Audit" task appears in the Task List. When the task finishes, the computer or network device appears in the selected Site.

   NOTE: After audit snapshot is uploaded to the database, the Changes message appears in the status bar. Click this message to refresh the data display.