This how-to article will help Assets/CIs administrators to create asset discovery jobs using the TDAdmin interface. The user must have Assets/CIs application admin access in TDNext or be a global administrator with access to TDAdmin.
Overview
An asset discovery job is what tells TeamDynamix which discovery service to use, what types of devices to scan for, and how often to run. Each job can have one or more data types, allowing you to have one job that discovers many types of devices or separate jobs for each type of device.
You can create a discovery job once the Asset Discovery Service has been installed on a Windows computer or server and has successfully registered a scanner within TeamDynamix. Alternately, you can create discovery jobs using Kaseya or Chrome Device Management services without needing to install the service.
Discovery jobs are application-specific, meaning that the discovery job will create Assets, Product Types, Product Models, and Manufacturers only in the Asset/CI application in which they are defined. A discovery job defined in one Assets/CIs application will only create assets in that application.
Choosing a Discovery Method
There are three methods for asset discovery that you can use in a job:
- Asset Scanner - a server running on your network which has the asset discovery service installed. The scanner uses the configuration in the job to scan the network for the specified devices.
- Kaseya - uses Kaseya’s API to get information on the endpoints stored in Kaseya. This information is then reported back to TeamDynamix. In order to use the Kaseya discovery method you first need to configure your Kaseya Asset Source in the Assets application that will be running Asset Discovery.
- Chrome Device Discovery – uses Google’s Chrome Device Management API to collect information about Chromebooks and other Chrome devices.
Each job can use only one discovery method, but you can create multiple jobs, one for each method. Most organizations will only use the asset scanner, but if you have devices stored in Kaseya, or if you have Chrome devices, you should create an additional job using this discovery method.
Defining a Discovery Job
To define a discovery job:
- Navigate to the discovery/sync jobs page:
- For app admins: In TDNext, navigate to [Assets/CIs application] > gear icon in the top right corner > Admin > Asset Discovery > Discovery/Sync Jobs
- For full TeamDynamix admins: In TDAdmin, navigate to Applications > [Assets/CIs application] > Asset Discovery > Discovery/Sync Jobs
- At the top of the page, click +New.
- Enter a Name, then configure the remaining fields as needed:
- Is Active – This controls whether this discovery job will run. A job will only run if both the job and the associated scanner are active.
- Create Manufacturers – This controls whether the discovery job will create any new Manufacturers (vendor records) in the Asset/CI Application. This field is only editable after the job has run once.
- Create Product Types – This controls whether the discovery job will create any new Product Types. This field is only editable after the job has run once.
- Create Product Models – This controls whether the discovery job will create any new Product Models. This field is only editable after the job has run once.
- Create/Modify Assets – This controls whether the discovery job will make changes to existing asset records in the Assets/CIs Application, or create new assets if no existing ones are found. This field is only editable after the job has run once.
- Date Range – This allows you to set a date range within which the job will run. If the date is outside this range, the job will not run unless manually triggered. Leave these fields blank to run the job on its normal interval.
- Frequency – This controls how often the job will run. See the Scheduling Asset Discovery Jobs article for details on how frequency is configured.
- Status – Choose an asset status that will be applied to all assets created by this job.
- Gatherer Type – Select Asset Scanner unless explicitly looking for Kaseya or Chrome devices.
- Scanner – This determines which instance of the Asset Discovery Service will run this job. You may have multiple scanners set up on different areas of your network. Choose the appropriate scanner for the IP range(s) on which you’d like to discover assets.
- IP Range(s) – This defines the range of IP addresses that will be scanned by the job. Each IP or range should be entered on a new line. Ranges can be expressed in CIDR notation or as "[Start Address] - [End Address]" (for example "192.168.1.1 - 192.168.1.255"). The IP address is required for Ping, WMI, SSH, and SNMP protocols.
- Excluded IP Range(s) – This allows you to exclude IP addresses or ranges from the list defined above and uses the same notation. If an IP address is included in both the IP Range(s) and Excluded IP Range(s) fields, the Excluded IP Range(s) value takes precedence, and it will not be scanned.
- Click Save.
Adding Data Providers to a Job
Each job needs one or more data providers to determine which protocols the job will use and how they will run.
The data providers include WMI, SSH, SNMP, UPnP, Ping, Active Directory, and ARPDNS, and also agent-based discovery. Learn more about which data providers to use for your job.
To add data providers to a job:
- In TDAdmin, go to Applications > [Assets/CIs Application] > Asset Discovery > Discovery/Sync Jobs
- Click the Name of the job you’d like to edit.
- At the bottom of the Edit Asset Discovery/Sync Job page, the Data Providers section will display. Click Add Data Provider for each provider you plan to configure.
- Select a protocol from the Type field for each provider.
- If needed, reorder the data providers by clicking and dragging in the Sort column.
- Click the Save button to save the job settings.
- Click the Edit icon to edit the data provider's settings. Each provider type has different configuration options to drive its behavior. The defaults are usually appropriate but can be adjusted based on your environment's needs. See the appropriate related article for details of each data provider.
Running a Discovery Job
For testing purposes, you can choose to run a job right away, rather than waiting for the next scheduled run. The Run Now button will trigger the job to run the next time that the scanner checks for configuration, which is every 30 minutes. If you have access to the server where the scanner is installed, you can use the Asset Discovery Manager application to trigger a configuration check immediately.
For more information about how the Create Manufacturers, Create Product Types, Create Product Models, and Create/Modify Assets checkboxes work and when you would check or uncheck them, see the Reviewing Discovery Results article.
Gotchas & Pitfalls
- When creating your job, the checkboxes for Create Manufacturers, Create Product Types, Create Product Models, and Create/Modify Assets will be “greyed out”, or un-selectable. These boxes only become available after the job has run at least once.
- Before checking the “Create” checkboxes (noted above), make sure to map any discovered manufacturers, product types, and product models. Otherwise, the discovery service will create these items exactly as they appear on the device, which may create duplicates for vendors, product models, and product types you have already created. For more information, see the Reviewing Discovery Results article.
- Remember to choose the right data provider(s) for the job.
- If you will be using this job to target devices with the Windows-based asset agent software installed, add a data provider for Agent.