Discovery and Inventory Group

Credential Management

Before we dive into Network Discovery, we need to ensure that the proper credentials are setup. These credentials will be used by Network Discovery to gather data on a specific device. While not all credentials are necessary, it is good to have as many available to allow the best results with the Discovery.

To review what credentials are provided by default, follow these steps:

1. In the Symantec Management Console, browse under Settings > All Settings > Monitoring and Alerting > Credential Settings > and select Credentials Management.
2. The list of credentials will be listed. Note that some credentials may only be set to default and will not show up at this location.

Add what credentials are necessary. The subsequent steps will walk you through the most typical credentials used for a Network Discovery. Again not all need to be used.

1. Click the Add Credentials button.
2. Under the Credential type, select  SNMP V1 V2 Read Credentials (or SNMP V3 Credentials, if that's enabled in your environment).
3. Provide a Name for the credentials (this will be the label for the credentials provided).
4. Provide all Community Strings (or complete authentication if v3) used in your environment. For v2 Multiple strings can be added using space delimited.
5. If needed, set the Expiration date and limit who can use the credentials.
   
6. Click OK to save the credentials.
7. Click Add Credentials.
8. Choose WMI Credentials from the Credential type dropdown.
9. Provide a Name.
10. Provide a Domain for the credentials to use. As WMI is a Windows-based protocol this should be the Domain your Windows systems belong to.
11. Provide a Username and Password that has local administrator rights on your target Windows computers. Admin rights are generally required for WMI interaction.
12. If needed, set the Expiration date and limit who can use the credentials.
    
13. Click OK to save the credentials.
14. Click Add Credentials.
15. Choose SSH Credentials from the Credential type dropdown.
16. Provide a Name.
17. Provide a Username and password that has access to your Mac systems.
18. If needed, set the Expiration date and limit who can use the credentials.
19. Click OK to save the credentials.
20. Not all available credentials are used by Network Discovery, but the above are the most common.

Now that we’ve setup the proper credentials for use with Network Discovery, the next article will cover how to configure a Connection Profile to use the set of Credentials.

Troubleshooting Tips:

• If SNMP Community strings are not working, try using the default, which is public only. “public” is the default community string for all network devices and will work unless it has been changed. This does not apply to SNMP v3. If v3 is enabled on the network, please contact your Network team to find out the credentials needed to access SNMP on the devices.
• Try specifying only one community string at a time if authentication and SNMP gathering does not appear to be working. This allows you to test specific credentials.
• WMI credentials use Windows-based authentication, typically via Active Directory. If WMI information is not being gathered, check your WMI credentials against a system to ensure that user has rights to the local system. You can test WMI with the following process:
  • Log onto the Symantec Management Platform server.
  • Launch Windows WMI utility by going to Start > Run > type wbemtest > and click OK.
  • Click the Connect button.
  • The Namespace was given \\computername\root\cimv2, so type this into the Namespace area if it is not already set.
  • Use the Authentication fields to provide the user you’ve specified in the WMI credentials.
    
  • Click Connect. By using the Computer Name in the Namespace and providing the authentication, this utility will attempt to connect via WMI, and we can see if WMI is working properly from the NS to the target computer.
  • You can run a WMI query using the query button for further testing, such as querying SELECT * FROM Win32_Processor
• Make sure to add Public if you create your own SNMP credential as it will catch any devices that have not had their community strings updated.
• For SNMP v3, try using a 3rd Party tool to connect to your network device. Typically your Network team will have a tool they are using to manage devices, and you can check credentials there, or use a tool that allows testing of SNMP v3 connecting. If you are unable to connect using 3rd party tools, please work with the network team to figure out where authentication is failing.

Next Article:

Network Discovery and Inventory for Network Devices Tips and Tricks Article 3