Discovery and Inventory Group

Network Discovery to Agentless Inventory

Now that the discovery is done, Agentless Inventory can now be used against SNMP discovered devices. The following items should be considered when moving to an Agentless Inventory

1. Agentless Inventory is SNMP only. A device must have returned SNMP information in order for us to gather Inventory for Network Device data.
2. Computers are not good candidates for Agentless without a lot of customization, the intended purpose is for SNMP driven devices such as routers and switches. This was covered earlier. Inventory Solution for Windows or Unix, Linux, Mac provides better information and does not require a lot of customization, so it is recommended to use the Agent in those cases.
3. For credentials we use the known good community string used during the Network Discovery. This means it is not necessary to do any security, protocol, or credential configuration with a Network Inventory task.
4. Network Discovery is REQUIRED for Agentless Inventory. The two use the same engine, and Agentless is designed as an SNMP extension of Network Discovery.
5. All calls for Network Discovery and Agentless are made via Task Server

Just like Network Discovery, there are a number of items that need to be considered before running it. Out of the box Agentless Inventory provides standard information about systems via our SNMP data classes, but the real ability of Agentless is to configure the engine to pick up whatever SNMP has to offer. In order to do this, the following steps need to be followed:

1. Import MIB files that contain the SysObjectIDs needed for the data you wish to be collected.
2. Create a table / data class to house the collected data.
3. Create columns for the table that contain a data type, length, name, and the OID used to capture the data.
4. Select what device types will try to collect this data.

By following all the steps the custom data can be collected upon completion of the Inventory for Network Devices (Agentless) Task.

MIB Imports

Agentless requires a manufacturer’s MIB file in order to make a proper call to the device to gather each column value of a custom data class. The process must be followed in order to gather custom data if the SNMP values are not available in the MIBs we provide by default. The following process walks through how to import MIBs, using the MIB Importer from the Event Console.

1. In the Symantec Management Console, browse under Manage > Jobs and Tasks > and in the left-hand tree browse under System Jobs and Tasks > Discovery and Inventory > Right-click on Discovery and Inventory and choose New > Task.
2. In the left-hand task tree, look under the Monitoring and Alerting section and choose MIB Import.
   
3. Provide a Name (default works as this task can be reused for multiple MIB Imports) and click OK. The steps to import the MIB will be done after the task is created.
4. The following steps must be followed to properly upload a MIB. It is not intuitive, so please make special note of the order of steps.
   1. Click Browse.
   2. Select the MIB you’ve obtained and downloaded from the manufacturer or elsewhere on the internet and click Open.
   3. Select the radial for Import ONE MIB file only.
   4. Click the Upload button. Ensure that the message “The MIB file has been successfully uploaded” is displayed below the browse field.
   5. Click the Save changes button.
   6. Click the New Schedule button.
   7. Select Now, or if desired schedule a time, and click Schedule.
   8. Let the schedule complete.
5. The MIB is now imported.

Once the MIB is imported, it is available to use when setting up the Data Mappings for custom tables.

Troubleshooting Tips

• If a MIB shows as importing successfully, but does not show up when using SNMP Data Mapping Tables, then the MIB might not be in a format supported by Agentless Inventory. Seek an alternative MIB, or contact the manufacture. The MIB should support SNMP v1 or v2, not v3 which is not supported at this time.
• Review the steps taken if a MIB does not import. Make sure all steps are taken from Step 5, A through H for each MIB to be imported.

Double-check the list as the MIB name might not be the same as the file name of the MIB. Review the values to see if it matches what is expected.

Next Article:

Network Discovery and Inventory for Network Devices Tips and Tricks Article 9