Assigning Device Groups and Applying Device Templates During Discovery

This section describes how to assign device groups and apply device templates during discovery.

Use the following menu options to navigate the SL1 user interface:

To view a pop-out list of menu options, click the menu icon ().
To view a page containing all of the menu options, click the Advanced menu icon ().

What is Discovery?

Discovery is the process by which SL1 retrieves data from the devices and applications in the network. SL1 runs discovery to perform the initial discovery of your network and then nightly to collect and update information about your network. You can also manually initiate discovery for a single device, one or more device groups, or for the whole network, at any time.

SL1's Discovery tool automatically finds all the devices and components in your network. You must provide the Discovery tool with one or more IP addresses, and SL1 then finds all the devices and components in the IP range. For each discovered device or component, SL1 gathers detailed data. This data is used throughout SL1.

In SL1, discovery includes two steps: Identification followed by Modeling.

During the initial identification step, SL1 divides and distributes the list of IPs among the collection processes running on the Data Collectors in a collector group. Each collection process works independently to discover each device and determine the device name, hostname, MAC address, and IP address of each discovered device.
After each device has been discovered, the modeling phase beings. During the modeling phase, SL1 generates a unique identifier for each new device, assigns the device to a Device Class and a Device Category, and optionally can assign each device to a specific Device Group and optionally can apply a device template to each device. SL1 then reexamines each device in-depth, to align monitoring and collection tasks that correlate to the device type and the applications running on the device. SL1 then uses the appropriate Dynamic Applications to retrieve detailed configuration and performance data from the device.

During discovery, SL1 can gather the following types of information:

For each device, performs detailed modeling of hardware, operating systems, applications, process, and services.

Detects open network ports and generates alerts when illicit ports are found open.
Recognizes and classifies all IANA interface types.
Detects and models layer-2 and layer-3 networks.
Maps and models virtual infrastructure, including VMware ESX servers and their guest operating systems.
Automatically catalogs all discovered IP addresses, and categorizes IP networks and subnets.

Assigning Devices to a Device Group During Discovery

During classic discovery, you can specify that each device discovered during the discovery session be assigned to a selected device group. You can then configure and manage the devices as a device group, as described in the previous chapters of this manual.

If the definition for a device group in the Device Group Editor page does not include Discovery in the Visibility field, you will not be able to automatically add all discovered devices to the device group. The device group will not appear in the list of device groups in the Discovery Control Panel page.

You can assign a device to a device group only during a classic discovery session. If you are using a guided or unguided discovery workflow from the Devices page, you can assign devices to a device group after they have been discovered.

To automatically assign devices to a device group during a classic discovery session:

Go to the Discovery Control Panel (System > Manage > Classic Discovery or System > Manage > Discovery in the classic user interface).
The Discovery Control Panel page appears.
Click the Create button to bring up the Discovery Session Editor modal page.
In the editor pane, enter values in each field. For more information on discovery, see the section on Discovery and Credentials.
To assign devices from this discovery session to a selected device group, use the following field:

Add Devices to Device Group(s). As SL1 discovers a device in the IP discovery list, that device is added to each selected device group. You can select one or more device groups from a list of device groups in SL1 that have "Discovery" selected in the Visibility field.
A single device can be a member of multiple device groups.

Click the Save button to save your discovery settings. If no other discovery sessions are currently running, the session will be executed immediately. If another discovery session is currently running, this session will be queued.

Assigning Devices to a Device Group After Discovery

In addition to assigning devices to a device class during classic discovery, you can also assign devices to a device group after the devices have already been discovered, regardless of the discovery type.

The steps for doing so vary based on whether you are adding devices to a device group from the Devices page or from the Device Manager page.

To assign devices to a device group from the Devices page:

Go to the Devices page.
Select the checkbox for each device you want to add to a device group, then click the Actions menu and select Add to Device Group. The Add to Device Group modal appears.
Select one or more device groups from the list, and then click Add.
On the confirmation modal that displays, click Proceed.

To assign devices to a device group from the Device Manager page:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface).
Select the checkbox for each device you want to apply a device template to.
Click the Select Actions menu, select a device group from the Add to Device Group section, and then click the Go button.

If there are a large number of device groups and the device group you want to select does not appear in the list, select the more device groups... option from the Add to Device Group section of the Select Actions menu and then click the Go button. When the Add Devices to Group modal appears, select a device group from the list and then click Save.

Applying a Device Template to Devices During Discovery

During discovery, you can specify that a device template be applied to each device discovered during the discovery session. Normally, these devices would be automatically configured with ScienceLogic's default settings. When you specify a device template, these devices are automatically configured with the settings specified in the device template.

The steps for applying a device template during discovery vary based on whether you are using an unguided network discovery workflow or a classic discovery session.

To automatically apply a device template to devices during an unguided network discovery workflow:

On the Devices page () or the Discovery Sessions page (Devices > Discovery Sessions), click the Add Devices button. The Select page appears.
Click the Unguided Network Discovery Workflow button. Additional information about the requirements for discovery appears in the General Information pane to the right.
Click Select. The Add Devices wizard appears.
Complete the fields on the Add Devices wizard. For more information on these fields, see the section on Adding Devices Using Unguided Discovery.
To apply a device template to all devices from this discovery session, on the Discovery Session Details page of the Add Devices wizard, click the down arrow icon () next to the Additional options field to access additional discovery options, then use the following drop-down list:
- Apply Device Template. As SL1 discovers a device in the IP discovery list, that device is configured with the selected device template. You can select from a list of all device templates in SL1.
Click Save and Close to save the discovery session. The Discovery Sessions page (Devices > Discovery Sessions) displays the new discovery session. If you selected the Run after save option on the Discovery Session Details page, the discovery session runs automatically upon saving.

To automatically apply a device template to devices during classic discovery:

Go to the Discovery Control Panel page (System > Manage > Classic Discovery or System > Manage > Discovery in the classic user interface).
Click the Create button to bring up the Discovery Session Editor modal page.
In the editor pane, enter values in each field. For more information on discovery, see the section on Running a Classic Discovery Session.
To apply a device template to all devices from this discovery session, use the following drop-down list:
- Apply Device Template. As SL1 discovers a device in the IP discovery list, that device is configured with the selected device template. You can select from a list of all device templates in SL1.
Click the Save button to save your discovery settings. If no other discovery sessions are currently running, the session is executed immediately. If another discovery session is currently running, this session is queued.