Discovery

The new Discovery (KDIS) module consolidates all methods of discovering computers and devices on networks. The Discovery module:

• Scans a network to discover additional devices after a single agent is installed on a computer on that network.
• Can optionally launch the discovery of computers and devices on a newly detected network from the notification bar. The user only has to confirm the notification prompt. No additional configuration is required.
• Incorporates Directory Services module functionality, which discovers computers, users and contacts within an Active Directory domain.
• Deploys agents--automatically or selectively--to discovered domain or non-domain computers.
• Converts discovered domain users into VSA users, Portal Access users, or VSA organization staff records.
• Released in conjunction with VSA 6.3.

Discovery by Network

This section of release notes refers only to the Networks folder and Managed Assets folder of the Discovery module.

LAN Watch by Network

and

LAN Watch by Probe

The LAN Watch by Network page and LAN Watch by Probe pages replace the functionality provided by the v6.2 LAN Watch page. These pages set options for the discovery of computers and devices on networks. It does not matter whether the computers and devices are members of a domain or not. By default, you are prompted to discover computers and devices as soon as a single agent is installed on a single computer on a network.

• Any Windows, Mac or Linux machine can be used as a discovery machine.
• Optionally includes scanning for SNMP enabled devices. Scanning for SNMP enabled devices using Discovery is a required step for monitoring SNMP devices. See the Monitor > Assign SNMP page for more information.
• Optionally includes scanning for vPro enabled machines. Mac and Linux do not support the scanning of vPro devices.
• A Scan Results popup window shows a summary of all devices found on a network. Counts are for both the last scan and for all previous scans on that network. The details for each found device are displayed in tile format on a separate tab. Agents can be immediately deployed to discovered devices from this popup window.
• On the LAN Watch by Network page, for any selected network, tabs in the bottom half of this page enable you to specify:
  • The agent machine to serve as the "preferred probe" machine used for discovery.
  • Multiple recurring schedules. Each schedule can specify different IP ranges and exclude a range of IP addresses.
  • The machines serving as agent deployment machines, one each for Windows, Mac and Linux.
  • Alert profiles for newly discovered and changed IP addresses.
  • Rules for promoting discovered devices to assets. See the Assets release note below for more information.

LAN Watch by Probe

The LAN Watch by Probe pages enables you to immediately scan a network using any agent machine your scope allows you to see and use.

Discovered Devices - Grid View

and

Discovered Devices - Tile View

The Discovered Devices - Grid View page and Discovered Devices - Tile View page both display discovered computers and devices in different formats. The results shown on these two pages are aggregated from all methods of discovery so as to eliminate duplicate records.

• An agent can be immediately deployed to any machine capable of being installed with a Kaseya agent.
• The user can set selected discovered computers and devices to "ignore," to prevent further activity such as deployment of agents.
• A column identifies discovered vPro machines. If a vPro credential was provided with the scan, vPro data can be seen by clicking the View button for that vPro machine.
• A column identifies SNMP enabled devices. Navigate to the Monitor > Assign SNMP page to assign SNMP sets to discovered SNMP devices.
• Promote a discovered device manually to an asset. See the Assets release note below for more information.
• Merge one or more discovered IP addresses into one device record, if you know the IP addresses are for the same device.
• Assign an alias to a discovered device to make it easier to identify. This is typically done with devices that failed to provide a hostname.
• Change the "device type" assigned to a device if it was misclassified during the discovery process. Deploying an agent successfully depends on classifying the device type correctly.
• Device filtering can be applied to the two Discovered Devices pages.

Discovered Devices - Tile View

The Discovered Devices - Tile View page displays each device in tile format. In tile format all the significant properties for each device are grouped together for easier reference.

• Tiles are color coded to identify the type of device: blue if an agent is installed, green if no agent is installed.
• Tiles can be filtered by asset or non-managed (non-asset) checkboxes.
• Clicking the eye icon for a tile displays the scanning details returned by that single device.
• Hovering the cursor over the name of a device displays a pencil icon. Clicking the pencil icon enables you to assign an alias to the device.
• For agent machine tiles only, an alarm clock icon shows the count of all open alerts for that agent machine. Clicking the alarm icon displays an alarm summary page for just that one machine.
• For agent machine tiles only, a theater ticket icon shows the count of all open tickets for that agent machine. Clicking the theater ticket icon displays a list of all open tickets for just that one machine.

Assets

An "asset" is a network node you manage. Since agent machines are already under management, they are automatically classified as assets. All assets display on the new Assets page of the Discovery module. Devices that cannot be installed with an agent—printers, firewalls, routers and switches—can also be "promoted" to a managed asset, even if it an agent is not installed on it. This enables you to compile a complete list of all network node assets under management.

Discovery by Domain

This section of release notes refers to the Domains folder and Administration folder of Discovery. These features were previously introduced with Directory Services 1.1.

Domains

The Domains page configures the discovery of domain computers and domain users listed in an Active Directory domain. To interface with an Active Directory domain, you must have at least one Kaseya agent deployed to a computer that belongs to the domain. This machine then becomes the probe machine for that domain, and requires a valid domain credential.

Policies for the creation of VSA users, Portal Access users, and the installation of agents on discovered machines are defined by policy. Policies can be defined by individual:

• Computer
• User

Computers

Once domain computers are discovered, Discovery supports:

• Automatic deployment of agents on newly discovered machines
• Manual deployment of agents on selected machines
• Optional deployment of an agent on the system hosting the Active Directory domain.

Users

Discovery can create VSA users based on domain user logons. This means IT administrators can provide their users the same credential for the VSA and manage authentication and authorization from a single location, using the Active Directory domain.

Portal Access

Discovery sets policies that enable users to use their domain credentials to logon remotely to their machines using Portal Access. Remote access using Portal Access can be inside or outside of the company's firewall. For example, a Portal Access user might want to access their office computer from home. Discovery manually assigns and removes Portal Access to domain machines.

Audit Log

The Audit Log page displays a log of Discovery module activity.

Settings

The Settings page sets preferences for the entire Discovery module.

Directory Services 1.2

Directory Services 1.2 is a feature set, licensed separately, that provides advanced functionality in the Discovery module.

Domain Policies

Domain policies can be can specified for multiple machines and users by:

• OU/Container
• Groups

Synchronization

Provides incremental discovery and synchronization of domain controller data. Without Directory Services 1.2 only full discovery and synchronization is supported.

Auto Portal Access

Auto creates portal access to a machine, based on the person last logged on to the machine.

Contacts

Discovers and synchronizes domain contacts and VSA staff records. A domain contact contains information similar to a domain user, but a contact has no domain logon privileges. Directory Services 1.2 enables you to set policies that create VSA staff member records for newly discovered contacts in a domain and to keep the two records synchronized with each other. Creating a staff record using a Discovery policy also creates a hierarchy of departments that reflects the OU/container hierarchy in the domain.

Users

• Enables and disables domain logons from the Discovery module.
• Resets the domain passwords.
• Unlocks domain accounts.

Alerts

Provides alerts for new or changed computers, contacts, OU/containers, domains, groups, organizations, or users.

Upgrading to Discovery

LAN Watch

Recurring LAN Watch schedules set for machines using LAN Watch are converted into scheduled scans in Discovery. This includes settings for the discovery of SNMP devices and vPro machines.

KDS Conversion

All domains managed using Directory Services 1.1 are migrated to the Discovery > Domain Watch page during upgrade to 6.3.

KAD Conversion

All domains managed using the View AD Computer and View AD Users pages in the 6.2 Agent module are migrated to the Discovery > Domain Watch page during upgrade to 6.3. KAD domains must be activated on the Domain Watch page to continue managing these domains using Discovery 1.0. Even if the domains are not activated, existing VSA user logons and Portal Access user logons that were previously managed by KAD will continue to be operational after the upgrade.