Discover database instances for monitoring

Use database discovery to automatically find database instances running in your environment that are currently not registered for monitoring.

About Database Discovery

When you use Database Discovery, DPA scans the user-specified IP addresses and ports to find supported database instances. It then displays a list of instances that are not currently registered with the DPA server that performed the scan. Each subsequent scan adds any additional discoveries to the results of the previous scan.

If you have multiple DPA servers in your environment, it is possible for the discovery results to include instances that are registered with a different DPA server. Depending on your environment, limiting the ports and IP addresses to be scanned can prevent overlap.

In addition to the database type, the Database Discovery results include connection information such as the host name, IP address, and port number. You can use filters and sorting to identify instances that you want to register.

Database Discovery helps ensure that all high‑value or at‑risk database instances are monitored. It also speeds the process of registering instances. From the Database Discovery results, you can start registering an instance with a single click. The appropriate fields in the registration wizard are automatically populated with data discovered during the scan.

Supported database types

DPA can discover the following types of database instances:

• Microsoft SQL Server
• Oracle
• MySQL
• MariaDB
• PostgreSQL
• Sybase
• Db2

Requirements

Before using Database Discovery, make sure the following requirements are met:

• There is network connectivity from the DPA server to the target hosts and subnets that will be scanned.

• The required ports are open on the target systems. DPA comes preconfigured with the default ports for each supported database type, which you can change to suit your environment. For example:

  • SQL Server: 1433
  • Oracle: 1521
  • MySQL or MariaDB: 3306
  • PostgreSQL: 5432

• The host names of discovered instances are resolved through DNS or the hosts file.

• No network devices or firewalls are blocking discovery traffic.

Open the Database Discovery page

1. Log in to DPA as a user with administrative privileges.

2. Open the Database Discovery page in any of the following ways:

   • From the Finished Repository Creation page of the Repository Creation Wizard, click the Discover Databases.

   • From the DPA Home page, click the Database Discovery tab.

   • From the Management Options page under Monitory Setup > Database Instances, click Discover.

   • From the License Allocation page, click Database Discovery in the upper-right corner.

   If any database instances were discovered by a previous scan but are not registered, they are listed on the Database Discovery page. The list of discovered instances includes the database type and the host where it is running.

Scan for unmonitored database instances

1. Open the Database Discovery page.

2. Click Start Scan.

   The Start Scan dialog box displays the default ports and IP addresses to be scanned.

3. Update the specified ports and IP addresses as needed.

   • To scan for only certain types of databases, select only those types in the Scan For column.

   • To change the port number used when scanning for a certain type of database, specify the port in the Ports column for that database type. You can enter a single port number, a comma-separated list, or a range separated by a hyphen.

   • To change the IP addresses to scan, specify values in the IPs To Scan box. You can enter a single address, a comma-separated list, or a range separated by a hyphen. IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported.

4. Click Start Scan.

   A spinner indicates that the scan is in progress. Only one scan can run at a time. If another user opens the Database Discovery page, they will see the spinner and will not be able to start another scan.

   When the scan is complete, discovered databases are added to the list of databases not yet registered for monitoring.

   Database Discovery results are visible to all users with administrative privileges.

Register a discovered database instance

1. On the Database Discovery page, locate the instance you want to register.

   • From the Filters panel, apply filters to display only certain types of database instances.

   • Click any column heading to sort the list by the value in that column.

2. In the Action column of the database instance you want to monitor, click Register.

   The registration wizard for that type of database opens. The host name or IP address and the port fields are automatically populated in the wizard.

   For more information about completing other fields in the wizard, see the following topics:

   • Register a SQL Server database instance
   • Register an Oracle database instance
   • Register a MySQL or Percona MySQL database instance
   • Register a MariaDB database instance
   • Register a PostgreSQL database instance and prepare for monitoring
   • Register a Sybase database instance
   • Register a Db2 database instance

Change the default ports and IP addresses

When you start a new scan, the default ports and IP addresses specified for Database Discovery are used to initially populate the port and IP address fields in the Start Scan dialog. You can change these default values to meet the needs of your environment. For example, if your organization does not use port 1433 for connections to SQL Server database instances, change the Database Discovery default to the port that you use.

1. In the upper-right corner of the Database Discovery page, click Default Ports and IPs.

2. To change the default port number for a certain type of database, specify the port in the Ports column for that database type. You can enter a single port number, a comma-separated list, or a range separated by a hyphen.

3. To change the default IP addresses, specify values in the IPs To Scan box. You can enter a single address, a comma-separated list, or a range separated by a hyphen. IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported.

4. Click Save.