Before you can manage devices with WhatsUp Gold, use the discovery scan wizard (DISCOVER > New Scan), to add devices to the WhatsUp Gold database. You can apply discovery on any network, subnet, or IP address reachable from your WhatsUp Gold installation.

Tip: To apply a scan based on an already created profile, see Using Saved Discovery Profiles.

There are two main approaches for discovery:

  • IP Address Scan. Limit scans to check for specific ranges, subnets, or hosts file.
  • Seed Addresses Scan. WhatsUp Gold "seeds" or builds an address list from target device SNMP data. It then continues to scan for additional devices based on the SNMP responses from these seed devices. This powerful feature can be described as the 'cast-a-wide-net' approach. It also has useful controls for limiting the expanse of address boundaries and network hops.

Task 1: Define Scan Settings

  1. Choose a mode of scan.
    • Seed Address Scan. Include the address(es) you want to begin from (and seed from) for this discovery.
    • Scan Depth. Limit the number of hops traversed in the discovery process.
    • Limit to Private Networks. Limit to devices with private IP addresses.
    • Limit to Monitored Subnets. Subnets on which WhatsUp Gold currently has monitored devices.
    • IP Address Scan. Enter known IP range(s) or address(s).
      Note: If you want WhatsUp Gold to disregard one or more IP addresses, enter them in the Exclude field.
  2. Tune and customize.
    • Gateway IP. Include the default gateway IP address for the WhatsUp Gold server in the discovery scan.
    • Local Subnet. Automatically include the entire subnet local to the WhatsUp Gold server in the scan.
    • Select Groups. Include devices in specific subgroups within your device hierarchy during discovery.
    • Use Host File. Access a browser used to select a host file from which devices can be imported into and subsequently added to WhatsUp Gold.
    • Maximum Number of Devices. Specify a set quantity for which to limit the number of devices discovered by WhatsUp Gold.
    • Advanced Settings. Expand additional controls which you can use to fine tune your discovery scan. Advanced settings allows you to expand the discovery scan to include virtualization and wireless environments, limit the number of data threads that can be collected concurrently, resolve hostnames for discovered devices, enable device naming based on SNMP Sysname, select specific connectivity options to use while scanning, specify ping timeout and retry settings, and enable automatic updates to devices.
  3. Click Next to advance to the Credentials tab.

Task 2: Choose and Add Credentials

  1. Click the check boxes to specify credentials WhatsUp Gold should use to access and communicate with network devices during discovery.
    • Use the controls at the top of the interface to add , edit , or prioritize a credential for device discovery.
    • Enable Use all current and future credentials to use any appropriate credential in the library during the discovery scan.
  2. Click Next to advance to the Schedule area of the discovery wizard.

Task 3: Schedule a Time

  • Schedule. Enable to display controls for configuring the discovery to run at a set date, time, and recurrence. You can also set an expiration date for a recurring discovery scan.
  • Email upon completion. Direct WhatsUp Gold to send email notification when discovery scan is complete.

Click Next to advance to the Summary area of the discovery wizard.

Task 4: Review Settings and Run

  1. Review the Settings, Credentials, and Schedule options. Click to the right of the applicable section to make changes, if needed.
  2. Click Run to initiate the discovery scan or Save to retain this scan configuration as a discovery profile in WhatsUp Gold for future use.

Finally, to enable device-level monitoring on selected devices, proceed to Promoting Discovered Devices.