The Scan Rules tab of the Roles wizard allows you to define rules which are then used to define devices based on information collected during discovery. For example, users can create a set of rules which define how the system recognizes a Cisco Switch or a Windows Server.

Example

If a device has the hostname XYZ, it can be defined as a Windows Server, so any time a device is discovered containing that hostname, it is assigned the configured Role or Sub Role.

Scan rules can be made up of multiple rule groups. Each rule group is separated by the OR operator.

It is also possible to add multiple rules to a single group. By default, these rules are separated by the AND operator.

Switch instances of AND to OR, by deselecting the Match All Rules checkbox.

More advanced scan rules can contain combinations of both rules and rule groups. For example, the Router Sub Role (as of WhatsUp Gold 24.0.2) is comprised of two rule groups:

  • The first group is comprised of multiple rules separated by AND’s, checking for OID’S, RegEx comparisons, and Information Sets.
  • The second rule then checks if the device is a member of the category router, which is the internal definition of a router.

It is based on the features exposed by the device and/or manufacturer which are standard router features. Please note, the device does not expose the standard information from SNMP to identify a router. 

These two groups are separated by the OR operator:

If a device is discovered that matches all the rules in group 1 or it meets the criteria for group 2, it will be given the sub role of router.

  • Add Rule. Apply a rule from the Select a Rule Type dialog. Please note, you can also select a negative match using the checkbox when configurin the rule.)
  • Edit Rule. Edit a selected detection rule.
  • Copy. Copy a selected detection rule.
  • Delete. Remove a selected detection rule.
Important: Please note, creating multiple device templates with large rule sets and/or groups can impact discovery and refresh scan performance and speed.