Configure the Discovery Engine (WMI) settings

The Web Help Desk Discovery Engine (WMI) allows you to discover Microsoft Windows-based assets based on the subnet or IP range. By using scheduled WMI discovery, Web Help Desk can periodically poll endpoints to update hardware and software inventory information.

This information includes:

• Host name
• Model
• Serial number
• Operating system
• Hard drive
• Memory
• Installed software

The discovery engine uses a set of administrator credentials to scan at least one IP address range for a new discovery connection. Web Help Desk stores and encrypts all administrator credentials in the database with the connection parameters (such as IP ranges and schedule).

Using this discovery connection, you can create separate discovery and auto-sync job schedules. A discovery job scans a selected IP address range and discovers endpoints that accept at least one of the saved credentials. The first time you run the discovery job, it forces an auto-sync (collection) that collects configuration data from endpoints retrieved by the discovery job.

1. Click Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections.

2. Click New.

3. In the Connection Name field, enter a name for this new connection.

4. From the Discovery Tool drop-down menu, select WHD Discovery Engine (WMI).

5. In the IP Ranges section, enter the IP address range in IPv4 format to scan for the assets.

   For example:

   192.168.1.1

6. In the Credentials section, enter the credentials used to authenticate against the discovered assets. Web Help Desk will attempt authentication with each credential in the listed order until all assets are successfully discovered.

7. Select the dates and times used to determine the asset scan frequency for the provided IP address range. All discovered asset properties are synchronized with Web Help Desk according to the auto-sync schedule that you set up in the next step.

   Asset scanning can be a time-consuming process. Scanning once a day is usually a sufficient schedule.

8. In the Auto-Sync Schedule area, select a synchronization schedule that determines how often Web Help Desk collects properties from the discovered endpoints. To disable automatic synchronization, select Every but do not select a day of the week.

9. If you want to ignore blank values encountered, select the Ignore Blank Discovered Values checkbox.

10. Select the Sync with Existing Assets Only checkbox to synchronize assets found in the discovery connection with the existing assets in Web Help Desk. If the assets do not exist, they will be added to Web Help Desk.

11. In the When Assets Are Removed section, select an action to take if an asset currently in the Web Help Desk database is not found by the discovery tool.

    • Select Delete Asset to delete the asset from the database.

    • Select No Action to leave the asset in the database.

    • Select Set Status To if you want to leave the asset in the database but set its status to another value.

12. Click the Attribute Mapping tab and map the asset fields. All bold selections are required.

    The asset attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to the values in the discovery tool’s database.

13. Click Save.

14. Run the discovery job manually, or wait until the scheduled discovery job completes.

    To view the imported assets, click Assets > Search Assets.