Network Manager discovery agents retrieve information from
devices in your network. Dedicated agents such as CiscoFrameRelay
retrieve specific network technology data. Check the list of full
discovery agents to ensure that all the technologies in your network
are covered.
About this task
In addition to the Details discovery agent, which retrieves
basic information from all network devices, the discovery process
also uses a set of protocol and technology-specific discovery agents
to retrieve more detailed device information. By default a subset
of discovery agents is enabled, and this subset usually satisfies
the needs of most initial discoveries. You can use the GUI to retrieve
a description of each discovery agent, and optionally enable extra
discovery agents.
Procedure
- Click Full Discovery Agents.
- In the Agents tree, click and then click the subnodes to view the full set of
enabled layer 2 and layer 3 discovery agents.
- Click an agent to see its description.
For
example, click to see a description
of the IpRoutingTable agent. This layer 3 agent is enabled by default
and learns other IP addresses and subnets to feed back into the discovery
by examining each router's routing table.
Other agents
are disabled by default. For example, click to see a description of
the Entity agent. This agent discovers optional detailed containment
information for a network entity. This agent only needs to be enabled
if you want to model physical containment and perform asset management,
because the agent is resource intensive and lengthens discovery time.
- If you made any changes to the discovery configuration,
then click Save
to save your changes.
Results
You have reviewed the network protocols and technologies that
will be discovered. You did this by reviewing the set of full discovery
agents that are enabled. You have also seen how to use the agent tree
to locate agents, how to retrieve more information on each agent,
and how to enable an agent.