Creating Sites

Sites in Network Inventory were designed to represent either logical or physical sections of the organization's network infrastructure. Often Sites are used to represent geographical locations. Each Site may have multiple Audit Sources, depending on the audit methods you want to use to audit network nodes within the Site. Each Audit Source serves as a provider of inventory information collected using a single audit method and a particular Audit Profile.

INFO: For details, see Sites and Sources and Audit Profiles.

Before creating a Site, go through the following checklist:

• Decide which audit methods to use in your Site. Keep in mind that each audit method requires an individual Audit Source. For details, see Overview of Audit Methods.
• For the Direct Network Scan method (see Overview of Audit Methods):
  • Make sure you have configured the audit credentials of all types that you will need, i.e. Windows, Linux and Mac, and SNMP. You will have the option to create new credential records when configuring the Direct Network Scan Audit Source, but we recommend that you first review the Providing Audit Credentials section and create credential records, as needed.
• For the Network Folder Audit method (see Overview of Audit Methods):
  • On your network, designate a file server to host a network shared folder, accessible by all networked computers.
  • On the dedicated server, create a folder that will serve as an intermediary repository. This network folder must have both the "Modify" permission and the "Change Permissions" special permission assigned for your account.
  • Share this folder and grant the "Full Control" share permission to the Everyone group for this network share.
• For the Remote Audit method with E-mail delivery (see Overview of Audit Methods):
  • On your incoming mail server, create an e-mail account dedicated for receiving audit snapshots from the remote network.
  • On the remote network, go through the following checklist and perform the necessary steps, or request a technician administering the remote network to perform these steps:
  • Make sure Internet connectivity is available to allow for sending e-mail.
  • Designate a file server to host a network shared folder, accessible by all computers on the remote network.
  • On the designated for the task server, create a folder that will serve as an intermediary repository. This network folder must have both the "Modify" permission and the "Change Permissions" special permission assigned for your account.
  • Share this folder and grant the "Full Control" share permission to the Everyone group for this network share.
  • Make sure you know the name and port number of the outgoing SMTP mail server on the remote network and have a valid user name and password if the SMTP server requires users to authenticate. You will need to provide those SMTP server settings when configuring an E-mail Audit Source.
• For the Remote Audit method with FTP delivery (see Overview of Audit Methods):
  • On your FTP / SFTP server, create an account dedicated for receiving audit snapshots from the remote network.
  • On the remote network, go through the following checklist and perform the necessary steps, or request a technician administering the remote network to perform these steps:
  • Make sure Internet connectivity is available to allow transmitting files via FTP.
  • Designate a file server to host a network shared folder, accessible by all computers on the remote network.
  • On the designated for the task server, create a folder that will serve as an intermediary repository. This network folder must have both the "Modify" permission and the "Change Permissions" special permission assigned for your account.
  • Share this folder and grant the "Full Control" share permission to the Everyone group for this network share.
  • Make sure you know the name and port number of the upload server settings on the remote network and have a valid user name and password. You will need to provide those server settings when configuring an FTP Audit Source.
• For the Google Directory Audit method (see Overview of Audit Methods):
  • Make sure you have enrolled all your Chromebooks in the domain.

    INFO: For details on enrolling Chromebooks, see Google support documentation at https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/1360534.

  • Using Google Admin and Google Developers consoles, configure the G Suite account and enable the API access.

    INFO: For details, see Help: Enable API access and create a client ID.

  • Configure the Google Directory Audit Source with Google credentials specified.

    INFO: For details, see Providing Audit Credentials.

• Make sure you have created Audit Profiles for Audit Sources that you are planning to create. You will have the option to create new profiles when configuring an Audit Source, but we recommend that you first review the Configuring Audit Profiles section and create the Audit Profiles, as needed.

To create a Site and configure Audit Sources for it, follow the instructions below.

1. Select File > New > Site from the main menu. The New Site Wizard starts and the Site Properties page opens.
2. Specify general properties of the Site:
   1. Type in a name for the Site.
   2. Network Inventory uses Site Tags for associating computers and network devices with their Site. By default, the Site Tag field is automatically populated with the Site name. You can keep the default value or change the Site Tag as needed.

      NOTE: If you rename the Site later, the Site Tag will remain unchanged.

   3. Optional: Type in a description for the Site.

      

   4. Click Next. The Audit Sources page opens.
3. On the Audit Sources page, add the Audit Sources as follows:
   • To create an Audit Source for the Direct Network Scan, click New > Direct Network Scan and follow the instructions on adding Direct Network Scan Audit Sources.

     INFO: For details, see Adding Direct Network Scan Audit Sources.

   • To create an Audit Source for the Network Folder Audit, click New > Network Folder and follow the instructions on adding Network Folder Audit Sources.

     INFO: For details, see Adding Network Folder Audit Sources.

   • To create an E-mail Audit Source, click New > E-mail and follow the instructions on adding E-mail Audit Source.

     INFO: For details, see Adding E-mail Audit Sources.

   • To create an FTP Audit Source, click New > FTP and follow the instructions on adding FTP Audit Source.

     INFO: For details, see Adding FTP Audit Sources.

   • To create an Audit Source for the Portable Audit, click New > Portable and follow the instructions on adding Portable Audit Sources.

     INFO: For details, see Adding Portable Audit Sources.

   • To create a Google Directory Audit Source for the Google Directory Audit, click New > Google Directory and follow the instructions on adding Google Directory Audit Sources.

     INFO: For details, see Adding Google Directory Sources.

   Add all Audit Sources as needed and click Next. The Ready to Create New Site page opens.

4. Click Next to create a new Site. The Site appears in the Sidebar, and the Wizard Completed page opens.
5. Click Finish to close the wizard.