Scanner installation

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Introduction

Before you install the SolarWinds Service Desk (SWSD) Discovery Scanner, review the prerequisites, security, and best practices below. The information can help you determine the best setup for your organization based on your current infrastructure.

Navigation

Setup > Discovery & Assets > Installation.

Prerequisites

Hardware and software requirements

The Discovery Scanner should be installed on a dedicated virtual or physical machine running Windows or Linux.

The dedicated machine should be on the same subnet/network as devices, or it should be able to access the devices.

SolarWinds recommends Installation of Nmap, SNMP Client, ODBC driver, SQLCmd utility, and Free TDS library before installing the scanner. See Prerequisite packages for more information.

Requirement	Supported software and hardware
Operating System	Red Hat 7.4 or newer Ubuntu 18.04 or higher Windows 10 1809 or newer Windows Server 2016 version 1607 Windows Server 2019
Hardware	Dual Core CPU 4 GB RAM 40 GB disk space

Firewall requirements

The following domains and ports must be allowed.

Purpose	Destination IP	TCP/UDP	Destination Port	Protocol
Report asset data to the SWSD platform	agt.samanage.com + agteu.samanage.com (EU accounts only)	TCP	443	HTTPS
Obtain the external IP address for monitored devices	opendns.com	UDP	53	DNS

Prerequisite packages

The following table lists the packages required by the Discovery Scanner.

Package	Description	Needed for Linux OS (Ubuntu and Red Hat)?	Needed for Windows OS?
Nmap	Performs network scans using raw IP packets to identify hosts available on the network.	Yes	Yes
SNMP client	Queries information from routers and additional SNMP-enabled devices, such as printers and switches.	Yes	No
SqlCmd utility	Connects to a Microsoft SQL Server database that is defined in the SCCM connections. Install the proper ODBC driver before installing the SqlCmd utility.	No	Yes
Free TDS library	Enables the Discovery Scanner to communicate with Microsoft SQL Server.	Yes	No

Additional prerequisites

The Discovery Scanner collects and organizes information about managed devices on your network using specific protocol tools. The following table provides a list of all tools the scanner uses to collect information about your managed devices.

Information Type	SCCM	vCenter	SNMP v1/v2c	SNMP v3	SSH	WMI
Name
Dataserver
Username						*
Password
Port
Database
IP Address
Community
Authentication Key
Privacy Key

Pre-installation decisions

Determine whether you will install on a Linux server or Windows machine. Follow the corresponding Linux and/or Windows package requirements below.

Package installation commands

See the section below that corresponds with the operating system running on your host server.

Linux installation

The following table lists the commands used to install the packages required by the Discovery Scanner. Run the commands (with elevated privileges) on your Linux server.

Purpose	Command
Update repository	sudo apt-get update
Install Nmap	sudo apt-get install nmap
Install SNMP Client	sudo apt-get install snmp snmp-mibs-downloader
Install free TDS	sudo apt-get install freetds-bin

Windows installation

The following table lists the commands used to install the packages required by the Discovery Scanner. Run the commands on your Windows machine.

Task	Installation
Install Network Mapper (Nmap)	Download Nmap from the following location: https://nmap.org/dist/nmap-7.91-setup.exe. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. If your web browser does not prompt you to run or save the file, copy and paste the URL into the browser address bar.
Install the Microsoft Command Line Utility for SQL Server (SqlCMD)	For best results, SolarWinds recommends installing SqlCMD version 15. Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server may also be required. See the system requirements for details. Download the latest SqlCMD utility from the following location: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/tools/sqlcmd-utility?view=sql-server-ver15 Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Best practices

• If your company spans multiple locations that are not interconnected (such as the USA, Europe, and the Middle East) SolarWinds recommends deploying the Discovery Scanner in each location. 

• Ensure that the Discovery Scanner can access all parts of the networks that contain the asset data you want to collect.

• Determine the frequency of network scans. The default scanning frequency is set for every 24 hours. To reduce high bandwidth use on your network, consider scanning your targeted network subnets once a day.

• Determine how many scans you need to collect your device data. After you determine the frequency of your scans (for example, once a day), schedule the scans so they complete during the appropriate time and date.

  Scheduled scans cannot begin during their currently scheduled interval if a previous scan has not completed. Instead, after the previous scan is completed, the scheduled scan will begin during its next scheduled interval.

• Do not install both the Discovery Agent and the Discovery Scanner together on the same machine.

  • SolarWinds recommends installing the Discovery Agent on each computer running Windows or MacOS. The Discovery Agent provides additional information that enhances the Discovery Scanner results.

  • For Linux computers and other devices (such as network equipment and connected devices), install the Discovery Scanner.

• Install the Discovery Agent on computers that were discovered by the Discovery Scanner. The Discovery Scanner discovers computers that are not monitored by a Discovery Agent. You will receive limited information on that specific endpoint device. 

  After the Scanner agent is installed and the first scan is complete, you will receive detailed information on hardware, BIOS, and installed software titles for computers where the agent is installed.

  The Scanner will detect and report computers that were already reported by the Agent.  As the Agent has precedence over the Scanner, these devices are identified as duplicates and will only display once.  All computers display automatically on the Computers index page under the Inventory tab and not in Network Devices. However, if you don't see a computer on the Computers index page as expected, check the Network Devices index page.

Setup tasks order

SolarWinds recommends that you:

1. Follow the proper order for setup.
   1. Scanner installation.
   2. Create a new credentials set.
   3. Connections.
   4. Apply your credentials.

2. Initially deploy the Discovery Agent on your endpoint device. After you complete the deployment and setup processes, install the agent on host devices throughout your organization.

3. Deploy the Discovery Scanner on one or more subnets in your network. During the deployment, use the following guidelines:

   • Ensure that the Discovery Scanner can access all subnets that include the targeted asset data you want to collect in your network.

   • Create an organized deployment method. The key to efficient asset management is to access all targeted subnets. If you have multiple subnets, consider adding a router integration to pull information from multiple subnets. If the subnets cannot communicate with each other, each subnet will require a separate scanner.

   • Consider the subnet load. Calculating the number of devices connected to each subnet is not sufficient. You need to consider the load of processes to determine whether to deploy a scanner on each subnet or whether one deployment for multiple connected subnets is sufficient.

Download and install the SolarWinds Discovery Scanner

After you review the prerequisites, pre-installation decisions, and best practices, install the Discovery Scanner on your network.

The following sections describe how to download and install the Discovery Scanner on your Linux and Windows machines.

If you cannot download the installer to your Linux machine, download it to a Windows machine and then install it remotely.

Download the installation file (Linux and Windows)

1. In SWSD, navigate to Setup > Discovery & Assets > Installation.
   

2. Scroll down to Discovery from the left pane or from the tile on the right. The SolarWinds Service Desk Discovery pane opens.

   

3. Next to Discovery Scanner, select the operating system running on the device where you will be installing the scanner, and then click Download. A unique package is generated for your SWSD instance.

   

   Optionally, click on either Installation Guide or Discovery Guide to open the guide in the SolarWinds Service Desk Success Center.

4. Copy the installation file.

5. Install the scanner:

• On Windows, you can run the installation wizard.

• On Linux, depending on the Linux machine configuration (workstation or server), you can:

  • Run the installation wizard.

  • Use an SSH client such as PuTTY to perform a remote installation.

Install using a setup wizard on a Linux or Windows machine

Perform the following steps to install the Discovery Scanner on a machine running a supported version of Linux or Windows.

1. Be sure prerequisites requirements are met.

2. Double-click the installer.

3. Click Forward to begin.

   
   

4. If you agree with the license agreement, select I accept the agreement, and then click Forward.

   

5. In the Ready to Install dialog, click Forward.

   

6. Allow the SolarWinds Discovery Scanner Setup to complete the installation process. When complete click Forward.

   

7. Click Finish to close the wizard.

   

Install remotely on a Linux machine using PuTTY

Use PuTTY when installing the Discovery Scanner from a Windows machine. These instructions also apply to any other SSH client.

If you cannot download the installer and run the wizard on your Linux machine, download the installer to a Windows machine. Then complete the following steps to transfer the installer to the Linux machine and run it remotely. Although these instructions use PuTTY, you can perform the same actions using any SSH client.

1. Be sure prerequisites requirements are met.

2. Download PuTTY (www.putty.org).

3. Open a Command Prompt window.

4. To transfer the file using SCP, execute the following command:

   "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\pscp.exe" -scp

   followed by the path to the installation file on your computer.

   For example:

   "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\pscp.exe" -scp [PATH_TO_DOWNLOADED_FILE] [linux_user@linux_ip]

5. Close the Command Prompt window.

6. Log in to your Linux server using PuTTY.

7. Execute the following commands in the terminal:

   tar -xzvf Samanage_Discovery_Scanner_[version]_installer.tar.gz

   sudo ./Samanage_Discovery_Scanner_[version]_linux-x64_installer.run

The installation is complete.

Records created during installation

The following records were created in your SWSD instance:

• A Scanning Device

• The subnet in which the scanner was installed

• The router the Scanner is using to connect outside of its subnet

Uninstall the scanner

Uninstall the scanner on a Windows machine

Open a Command Prompt window and run the following command:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds Discovery Scanner\uninstall.exe" --mode unattended

--mode unattended is optional

Uninstall the scanner on a Linux machine

Open a Terminal window and run the following command:

sudo /usr/share/SolarwindsDiscoveryScanner/agent/src/mini_kernel/utils/linux/uninstaller.sh

Related topics

• Discovery troubleshooting
• Scanners
• Scans