Discovering Network Devices for Vista Migration

Any IT organization must carefully plan and organize the process of migrating from one operating system to another. As you consider all the steps necessary to migrate to the Windows Vista operating system, one important factor is knowing how many, and what type, of IP devices you will migrate.

Altiris® Network Discovery, a free plug-in component for Altiris® Notification Server™, provides you with the ability to capture SNMP-enabled and some non-SNMP-enabled information for all IP devices connected to your network. The information collected can help you plan for imaging, for updating drivers on specific types of hardware, and for configuring changes to routers or switches. Additionally, Network Discovery information can help you plan resources to provide hands-on support throughout the Vista migration process.

In this article

• Overview of Discovering Network Devices for Vista Migration
• Step 1: Setting Up Device Classifications
• Step 2: Creating Scan Policies
• Step 3: Enabling Discovered Network IP Devices
• Step 4: Viewing Network Device Collections
• Step 5: Verifying Discovered Device Information
• Step 6: Viewing Network Discovery Reports

Overview of Discovering Network Devices for Vista Migration

Most organizations do not have current information on each IP device on the network. Network Discovery can provide that information, which is a huge asset in planning Vista migration.

Network Discovery uses scan group policies to define the areas of the network that you want to discover. You can choose between two discovery methods: seed device, which reads the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table, or IP address range. You can also set advanced options to further define your discovery, such as:

• Including or excluding IP addresses for a particular subnet
• Testing the device with a ping before it is discovered
• Setting which ports to scan on each device
• Setting multiple schedules for how often you want to discover devices.

You can also select how you want Network Discovery to find IP devices on the network. The options are:

• Circular DNS resolution
• NetBIOS name and domain
• AMT Scan
• ASF Scan

You can select all methods of discovery so that, if an IP device exists on the network, it will be discovered regardless of its SNMP status.

After all network devices are discovered, they must be enabled before you can use any other Altiris Network Devices managing products. You cannot enable an IP device if the sysObjectID field is missing. However, you can update the category and class identification fields from the Device Classification page. The Classify button on the Discovered Devices page opens the Device Classification page, which lets you make changes to the IP device classifications. This lets you make changes to IP devices quickly, so the next time a discovery runs, the unknown devices are identified and the discovered devices list is updated.

Network Discovery also gathers a simple SNMP inventory from each device that it discovers. There are two types of data collected: the initial Network Discovery data and SNMP Management Information Base (MIB) II basic information. You can view or print the information you discovered by selecting one of the reports by Network Discovery.

Initial Network Discovery data	SNMP MIB II basic information
IP address	device name
MAC address	device description
Host name	user contact
NetBIOS name (if available)	device location
NetBIOS domain (if available)	SNMP object ID
category
class

Step 1: Setting Up Device Classifications

Setting up the device classification list ensures that when you run scan group policies, the IP devices discovered are classified into their appropriate class and category. The manufacturers information that is collected from the device is the class, category, and sysObjectID (MIB number). If a sysObjectID of an IP device matches one of the items from the device classification list, it then populates the Discovered Devices page.

Also, IP devices must be running the SNMP service and configured with a Read-only security setting. If you do not set up an IP device to run the SNMP service, or add community strings through Network Discovery, SNMP data is not collected.

Note
When scan group policies run, IP devices that are discovered can be classified only if a sysObjectID can be identified.

Should you take time to set up device classifications?

Before you move to Step 2: Creating Scan Policies, take time to review the device classification list, which contains most the most common manufacturers.

Compare this list with the type of products you run on your network, if you find that one of your products is not classified, and you have a sysObjectID for your IP device, you can use the Add button to update the list, and enter the Class and Category fields.

Taking time to review and customize the device classification list results in a more accurate discovery. The next the next time your scan group policies run, the IP devices discovered are then classified correctly. If by chance an item gets overlooked, you do have the ability to update this list later, and you can classify a specific IP device from the Discovered Devices page after you view the scan results, but the scan group policies you created must run again before the discovered devices list gets updated.

Migrating your system to the new Windows Vista operating system requires precision timing in some areas of the process, and information is your best avenue to accurately plan and implement the Vista migration rollout. Investing effort up front to review the device classifications list, saves you time and less confusion later. It is a simple matter of going back and forth from viewing the results of discovered devices, and having to keep making changes to the classification list.

Caution
If you use the Remove button to delete a classification for one of the manufacturer's items, you cannot go back and read it using Network Discovery. The only way to import new classifications is by using the Import MIB feature found in Altiris® Inventory Solution® for Network Devices. We recommend that, if you are going to add new IP devices in the future, you should leave the manufacturer's item listed until you are certain that it is safe to remove the item listed.

To set up device classifications

1. From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab.
2. Select Solutions Settings > Network Discovery > Device Classifications.
3. Click Add and enter the Class, Category, and sysObjectID in the fields of the table.
4. Click Apply.

Step 2: Creating Scan Policies

Network Discovery uses scan group policies to discover and identify IP devices across the network. The Altiris Agent does not have to be installed on client devices before they can be discovered.



Click to view.

Since you are planning a Vista migration, we recommend creating several scan group policies to limit the scope of the discovery process. Example: Create different policies to discover the computers you want to target for the Vista migration first. However, if you select Seed Device as the option for discovering IP devices, the ARP tables of the seed device are read during the scan, and the results will display more discovered IP devices you might want to view. You can use the Include and Exclude options to help narrow or expand the discovery scope to get the results you want.

Note
When SNMP-enabled devices get discovered and enabled, the basic SNMP information is stored in the Notification Database. If you want to take advantage of more advanced SNMP inventory data, look at Altiris® Inventory Solution® for Network Devices software. However, you can capture a detailed inventory with Inventory Solution.

To create scan group policies

1. From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab.
2. Select Solutions Settings > Network Discovery > Scan Groups.
3. Right-click on a scan group.
4. Select Clone.
5. Name the cloned scan group.
6. In the new scan group, select the method of network discovery and enter or select the property settings for each tab on the page.
7. Click Apply.
8. Click Discover Now to run the policy immediately.

Step 3: Enabling Discovered Network IP Devices

If one or more Resource Creation Settings groups are selected on the Network Discovery Settings page, any time a device in the selected group is discovered, a resource is created. These resources are unmanaged resources. If you enable an IP device, a resource in the Notification Database for that device is created. Enabled resource objects are called managed resources. Each enabled IP device becomes a member of one or more collections found on the Resources tab (some of these collections are also found in the Network Device Collections folder).

Note
Certain IP devices are enabled by default. These include all Intel® AMT enabled devices. All NetBIOS devices are added as unmanaged resources to various collections found under the Agent Rollout option on the Configuration tab. This is to facilitate installation of the agent to these devices.

The following graphic shows that only four IP devices are enabled. This is denoted on the page by the column with the asterisks. When you view collections, the Resource Manager, or the reports, the focus is narrowed to only these four devices. In essence, this is what you want to do in your environment to save time searching through lots of unwanted data.

Also, notice that the last item listed shows Unknown in the class field. You can use the Classify button to update the device classification list. However, the discovered IP devices list is not updated with the new classification information until after another scan group policy runs. See Step 3: Enabling Discovered Network IP Devices.

For the purposes of getting ready for your Vista migration, we recommend that you enable the IP devices that you want to migrate first, before enabling other IP devices to manage. This makes it easier for you to precisely view the scope of your rollout, and it also helps you to better plan how you intend to implement your migration.



Click to view.

Note
You can remove items from the list, but it affects only the listing on this page. IP devices that are enabled can be deleted from the database if you right-click on the IP device in the Resources tab, and then select Delete.

To enable discovered network IP devices

1. From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab.
2. Select Solutions Settings > Network Discovery > Discovered Devices.
3. Select an IP device from the list, and click Enable. Use the Windows standard Shift and Ctrl keys to select and deselect items in the list.

Step 4: Viewing Network Device Collections

After you enable discovered devices, a resource object is created and stored in the Notification Database. To make it easier for you to find out if the scan group polices collected IP device data, you can view information in the database by selecting one of the Network Discovery collections or any other collection you may have created.

Network Device Collections are categories of network IP devices, such as all network devices, routers, switches, and SNMP-enabled computers. Each collection lists the IP devices by Host Name, Device Name, IP Address, and more. Double-click any device listed in a collection to view the Managing Resource page. Discovered IP device information is found in the following tabs:

• Summaries
• Inventory
• Events
• Tasks
• Associations

If you can view data in the collections, then you can use the Resource Manager and the Network Discovery reports to track information. The Resource Manager is specific to an individual IP device, while collections list all the IP devices that fall into the collection grouping. It is possible that the same IP device is listed in more than one collection. Example: A notebook computer can be a member of the All Computers collection and the All Windows XP collection.

This provides you with the ability to capture accurate information on IP devices that are currently running on your network. You can then begin to analyze the IP device information you have, and plan the Vista migration.

See also: Step 5: Verifying Discovered Device Information.



Click to view.

To view the network device collections

• From the Altiris Console, click the Resources tab.
• Select Collections > Network Device Collections.
• Click on one of the collections.
• Double-click on one of the IP devices listed.

Step 5: Verifying Discovered Device Information

The Resource Manager displays IP device data as it is currently in the Notification Database. The Network Device Data collections store all the information collected after enabling the IP devices you discovered. The use of this accessible information helps you to isolate and review specific IP device information as you start to finalize plans for the Vista migration.

The following graphic shows the kind of information the Resource Manager is capable of displaying. As you can see, the SNMP Identification collection is selected, and the IP device, ALI-TE-HOMER, displays the information collected by the scan group policies.

This quick glance feature of Network Discovery saves you time, simply because of its ability to view a specific result immediately. You do not have to manually go to the IP device, or run a report to get the information you need.



Click to view.

To verify discovered device information

1. From the Altiris Console, click the Resources tab.
2. Select Collections and select the collection that the device is in. (Example: Look
   under Computer Collections or Network Device Collections.)
3. Click on one of the collections.
4. Double-click on one of the IP devices in the list. The Resource Summary page appears, displaying basic information about the device. To see SNMP data, click the Summaries tab and select SNMP Summary.

Step 6: Viewing Network Discovery Reports

Running Network Discovery reports is the last step in evaluating your network. This adds value to your Vista migration planning because have the ability to view or print reports that tell you precisely the IP address or host names of your entire network. You can repeat running discovery scans, to ensure you have captured accurate and up-todate data at any time.

The following graphic shows the report of SNMP devices, the results of running a scan group policy, and then enabling the devices. As you can see in this example, only four SNMP devices are listed, the number of IP devices enabled after the discovery.



Click to view.

To view Network Discovery reports

1. From the Altiris Console, click the Reports tab.
2. In the left pane, select Reports > Network Discovery.
3. To run a report, select the report and click Run this report in the right pane.