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Add an Endpoint (On-premise)

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Bywatchmydc

Introduction

WatchMyDC® supports various ways to add an endpoint (on-premise). An endpoint is a physical device with an IP Address/DNS or a Cloud Service instance ID. This article guides the process to add an endpoint.

Please note that, you must need to bring the WatchMyDC® Collector registered with WatchMyDC® Dashboard before this step. The process is explained here.

The process is further demonstrated in an interactive guide published here.

Dependencies & Limitations

Dependencies

  • For SNMP (v1, v2c or v3) supported endpoints, SNMP configurations are needed. This includes setting up the SNMP credentials as well as the configuration of SNMP security. Please refer to the vendor documentation for SNMP configuration steps.
  • For WMI-supported endpoints, such as Microsoft Windows Server, please configure WMI configuration. Please refer to the Microsoft WMI documentation for detailed steps.
  • For ICMP-supported endpoints, the IPv4 ping method is a dependency. A successful Ping test from the WatchMyDC® Collector will validate the service reachability.
  • For SSH (credentials or certificate) supported endpoints, SSH configurations are needed. This may include setting up the SSH credential as well as the SSH certificate. The default SSH port is TCP/22. However, please note down the required port otherwise.
  • For WinRM-supported endpoints, such as Microsoft Windows Server, please configure the WinRM over HTTPS (TCP/5986).

Limitations

  • Discovery through a mix of various SNMP protocols is not yet supported (for example v2c and v3 together).
  • Auto-discovery for Microsoft Windows endpoints through WMI/WinRM is not supported yet.
  • Bulk import for ‘Node Status Only’ (i.e. ICMP Ping-based) nodes is not supported yet.
  • Only the ‘Monitor’ feature is supported from bulk imported nodes. The ‘Monitor & Import On Topology’ feature is not yet supported.
add an endpoint

Various Ways of Adding an On-Premise Endpoint

  • Auto discovery
    • SNMP v1, v2c, v3
  • Manual discovery
    • SNMP v1, v2c & v3
    • WMI
    • SSH
    • WinRM
    • Node status only (ICMP)
  • Bulk Import
    • SNMP v1, v2c, v3

The Process to Add an Endpoint

Auto Discovery

  1. Login to WatchMyDC Dashboard
  2. Navigate to ‘Operations‘ > ‘Configuration Center‘ > ‘Networks & Systems‘
  3. From the ‘Auto-Discovery‘ panel click on ‘Initiate New Process‘
  4. A window appears with title: ‘Auto Discovery‘
  5. Enter the range of IP address from one of two different methods:
    • ‘From IP Address’ and ‘To IP Address’: Using beginning and end IP addresses
    • ‘Network Address’: Using subnet mask in ‘/n‘ format.
      • Example: 192.168.1.0/24 or 192.168.10.128/28 or 172.16.1.0/16, etc
  6. From ‘SNMP Options’ select one of ‘v1‘, ‘v2c‘, ‘v3‘
    • For option ‘v1’:
      • ‘SNMP Port’: Default SNMP port 161 is preset, change if necessary.
      • ‘Community’: Type in the SNMP Community String as configured on node. Please note: this field is case sensitive.
    • For option ‘v2c’:
      • ‘SNMP Port’: Default SNMP port 161 is preset, change if necessary.
      • ‘Community’: Type in the SNMP Community String as configured on node. Please note: this field is case sensitive.
    • For option ‘v3’:
      • ‘SNMP Port’: Default SNMP port 161 is preset, change if necessary.
      • ‘Options’: Select one of two options from below
        • ‘Auth’:’
          • User’: Enter the SNMPv3 username as configured on node/device
          • ‘Auth Key’: Enter the Auth key as configured on node/device
          • ‘Auth Protocol’: Select one from ‘SHA’ and ‘MD5’
        • ‘Priv‘:
          • ‘User’: Enter the SNMPv3 username as configured on node/device
          • ‘Auth Key’: Enter the Auth key as configured on node/device
          • ‘Auth Protocol’: Select one from ‘SHA’ and ‘MD5’
          • ‘Priv Key’: Enter the Priv key as configured on node/device
          • ‘Priv Protocol’: Select one from ‘AES’ and ‘DES’
  7. Click on ‘Start Discovery‘, the window should close
  8. Refresh the ‘Auto-Discovery‘ panel by clicking on ‘Refresh‘ icon next to the ‘Auto-Discovery’ text, the latest auto discovery process should be enlisted on top of the list and the ‘Results‘ button should be grayed out till the auto discovery process is completed
  9. Click on the ‘Results‘ button once it turns into blue, the auto discovery results page will appear
  10. On the ‘Results’ window:
    • Select the ‘Category’ and ‘Sub Category’ from the dropdown if needed
    • Select one or multiple nodes by checkbox
    • Click one of below two options:
      • ‘Monitor’: Selected nodes will be added on defined category & sub-category
      • ‘Monitor & Import On Topology’: One window will appear to select the ‘Topology Map’where the imported nodes with relevant icons will take place. Also, the selected nodes will be added on defined category & sub-category.
  11. Nodes are added successfully

Manual Discovery to Add an Endpoint

Manual discovery supports two ways of adding nodes:

  • ‘Add New Devices‘: This option is best suite for a single node addition with individual settings. 
  • ‘Bulk Import‘: This option allows to import a large quantity of nodes by editing a predefined CSV template.

Add New Devices

  1. Login to WatchMyDC Dashboard
  2. Navigate to ‘Operations‘ > ‘Configuration Center‘ > ‘Networks & Systems‘
  3. From the ‘Manual-Discovery‘ panel click on ‘Add New Devices‘
  4. A new window will appear to select one of the below three options:
‘Node Status Only’:

To monitor an endpoint based on ICMP/Ping method. No performance metric can be collected through this method (i.e. CPU, Memory, Disk, etc). When select this option the next window requires below information to add an endpoint:

  • ‘Set IP Address’: Enter the IP address of the node
  • ‘Test The Connectivity’: Click to test the reachability of the node. When click on it a new window appears with:
    • ‘Vendors’: Select the Vendor/OEM name of the node (example: Cisco Systems).
    • ‘Models‘: Select the model name of the node.
    • ‘Category’ & ‘Sub Category’: Select a category & sub-category to place the node in WatchMyDC Dashboard
    • ‘Add Device‘: Click to add the device 
‘Monitoring & Diagnostics’:
  1. Preferred way to add a network service system like routers, switches, firewalls, etc. Unix based operating systems can also be added through this method using SNMP or WMI credentials.
  2. Please select one of two options from:
    • ‘SNMP Enabled Node’: Preferred way to add a device using SNMP credentials like SNMP Community Strings or advanced security credentials.
    • ‘WMI Enabled Note’: Preferred way to add a Microsoft operating system based node like Microsoft Windows Server.
SNMP Enabled Endpoint:

When select this option the next window requires below information:

  • ‘Set IP Address’: Enter the IP address of the node
  • ‘SNMP Version‘: select one of ‘v1‘, ‘v2c‘, ‘v3‘
  • For option ‘v1’:
    • ‘SNMP Port’: Default SNMP port 161 is preset, change if necessary.
    • ‘Community String’: Type in the SNMP Community String as configured on node. Please note: this field is case sensitive.
  • For option ‘v2c’:
    • ‘SNMP Port’: Default SNMP port 161 is preset, change if necessary.
    • ‘Community’: Type in the SNMP Community String as configured on node. Please note: this field is case sensitive.
  • For option ‘v3’:
    • ‘SNMP Port’: Default SNMP port 161 is preset, change if necessary.
    • ‘Options’: Select one of two options from below
      • ‘Auth’:
        • ‘User’: Enter the SNMPv3 username as configured on node/device
        • ‘Auth Key’: Enter the Auth key as configured on node/device
        • ‘Auth Protocol’: Select one from ‘SHA’ and ‘MD5’
      • ‘Priv‘:
        • ‘User’: Enter the SNMPv3 username as configured on node/device
        • ‘Auth Key’: Enter the Auth key as configured on node/device
        • ‘Auth Protocol’: Select one from ‘SHA’ and ‘MD5’
        • ‘Priv Key’: Enter the Priv key as configured on node/device
        • ‘Priv Protocol’: Select one from ‘AES’ and ‘DES’
    • ‘Test The Connectivity’: Click to test the reachability of the node. When click on it a new window appears with:
      • ‘Vendors’: Select the Vendor/OEM name of the node (example: Cisco Systems).
      • ‘Models‘: Select the model name of the node.
      • ‘Category’ & ‘Sub Category’: Select a category & sub-category to place the node in WatchMyDC Dashboard
      • ‘Add Device‘: Click to add the device 
WMI Enabled Endpoint:

Preferred way to add a Microsoft Windows Server based systems.When select this option the next window requires below information:

  • ‘Set IP Address’: Enter the IP address of the node
  • ‘Domain‘: Enter the Microsoft Windows Server based domain name
  • ‘Credentials‘: Enter the domain user ‘Login‘ name and ‘Password‘
  • ‘Test The Connectivity’: Click to test the reachability of the node. When click on it a new window appears with:
    • ‘Vendors’: Select the Vendor/OEM name of the node (example: Cisco Systems).
    • ‘Models‘: Select the model name of the node.
    • ‘Category’ & ‘Sub Category’: Select a category & sub-category to place the node in WatchMyDC Dashboard
    • ‘Add Device‘: Click to add the device

Bulk Import

This option helps an organization to add most of their endpoints through uploading a single CSV file. An admin can download the template from WatchMyDC®, fill the rows with node details and upload it.

  1. Login to WatchMyDC Dashboard
  2. Navigate to ‘Operations‘ > ‘Configure‘ > ‘Networks & Systems‘
  3. From the ‘Manual-Discovery‘ panel click on ‘Bulk Import‘
  4. Download the predefined template by clicking ‘Download template’
  5. Fill the template by adding one device at a row, distinguished by its IP address and save it
  6. Click on ‘Upload’ to browse and select the  CSV file
  7. As soon the CSV file is selected, the import process starts. An ‘Upload Result‘ window will open with the result of import process, the fields are explained below:
    • One row represents a node as previously added on the upload template CSV file by maintaining the same order
    • If WatchMyDC has successfully contacted and discovered the node, the ‘Discovered?‘ field will show ‘Yes‘ otherwise ‘No‘
    • For the nodes marked with ‘Yes‘ select the ‘Vendor‘, ‘Model‘, ‘Category‘ and ‘SubCategory‘ and then click on ‘Monitor‘ to add those in WatchMyDC.
    • The ‘Discovered?‘ field can be marked as ‘No‘ for below reasons which need to be corrected before further Bulk Import process:
      • The SNMP or WMI credentials are not correct
      • The SNMP port is not correct
      • The IP is not reachable from WatchMyDC Collector
  8. The template contains below fields:
    • ‘ip_address’: put the IP address of the nodes
    • ‘snmp.port‘: use the snmp port as configured on the node. Default port is 161.
    • ‘snmp.version‘: options are ‘v1’, ‘v2c’ and ‘v3’.
    • ‘snmp.credential.community‘: the SNMP community string if SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c.
    • ‘snmp.credential.user‘: the SNMP username if SNMPv3.
    • ‘snmp.credential.auth_key‘: the SNMP Auth key as configured on the node.
    • ‘snmp.credential.auth_protocol‘: the Auth protocol SHA or MD5.
    • ‘snmp.credential.priv_key‘: the Priv key if configured on the node.
    • ‘snmp.credentials.priv_protocol‘: the Priv protocol AES or DES.
    • ‘wmi.domain‘: for Microsoft Windows Servers the domain name
    • ‘wmi.user‘: for Microsoft Windows Servers the domain username
    • ‘wmi.password‘: for Microsoft Windows Servers the domain user password

Please note: not all fields are necessary for a node as explained below:

  • SNMP v1 and v2c based nodes below fields are required:
    • ‘snmp.port‘
    • ‘snmp.version‘
    • ‘snmp.credential.community‘
  • SNMP v3 based nodes below fields are required:
    • For Auth only nodes:
      • ‘snmp.port‘
      • ‘snmp.version‘
      • ‘snmp.credential.user‘:
      • ‘snmp.credential.auth_key’
      • ‘snmp.credential.auth_protocol‘
    • For Auth & Priv based nodes:
      • ‘snmp.port‘
      • ‘snmp.version‘
      • ‘snmp.credential.user‘:
      • ‘snmp.credential.auth_key’
      • ‘snmp.credential.auth_protocol‘
      • ‘snmp.credential.priv_key‘
      • ‘snmp.credentials.priv_protocol‘
    • For WMI based nodes below fields are required:
      • ‘wmi.domain‘
      • ‘wmi.user‘
      • ‘wmi.password‘

Next Steps

Following to add an endpoint, customers can start integrating external tools and applications through Webhook and Syslog.