Manually Add Devices to Netreo

There are three ways to manually add devices to Netreo as managed devices. This article outlines the procedures for each.

Adding a Device With Quick Add

This procedure takes you through manually adding a single device to Netreo using the Quick Add option. Use these steps if you don't want to wait for Netreo's normally scheduled autodiscovery scan to automatically discover a new device on your network.

The Quick Add tab of the Add a Device page.

 The only requirements for using Quick Add are an IP address or host name for the device. However, in order for a device to be successfully added to Netreo, Netreo must be able to authenticate with the device. So, a pre-existing device template containing usable authentication credentials for the device must be available in Netreo. (Obviously, the device must also be connected to the network and powered on.) If Netreo cannot find a device template with credentials that allow it to authenticate with the device, the device will not be added.

Procedure

To quickly add a single device to Netreo:

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with at least the Admin access level.
2. From the main menu, select Administration > Add Device > Manual. This takes you straight to the Quick Add tab of the Add a Device page.
3. In the IP Address or Hostname field, enter the IP address or host name of the device you wish to add.
4. Select Add Device.

You will see a message from Netreo that the device is being processed and should be added shortly.

Once added, configuration for the device within Netreo will be based on Netreo's built-in features: subnet scanner, configured device templates and autoconfiguration rulesets.

If desired, you can begin adding additional devices to Netreo using Quick Add immediately. You do not need to wait for Netreo to process the last added device.

Required Device Configuration Fields

• IP Address or Hostname
  The IP address or host name of this device. Use the FQDN when entering a host name.

Adding a Device With Manual Add

This procedure takes you through manually adding a single device to Netreo using the Manual Add option. Use these steps if you don't want to wait for Netreo's normally scheduled autodiscovery scan to automatically discover a new device on your network.

The Manual Add tab offers a complete set of configuration fields for configuring your new device as it's being added to Netreo. You may use as many, or as few, of the configuration fields as desired. Additionally, there is an option switch to further configure the device using Netreo's customizable autoconfiguration rulesets.

The Manual Add tab of the Add a Device page.

 The only requirements for using Manual Add are a (user-provided) name for the device, an IP address or host name and an SNMP public string (if SNMP will be used to communicate with the device). However, in order for a device to be successfully added to Netreo, Netreo must be able to authenticate with the device. This means that working authentication credentials must be supplied either here in the Manual Add options, or a pre-existing device template containing usable authentication credentials for the device must be available. (Obviously, the device must also be connected to the network and powered on.) If Netreo cannot find credentials that allow it to authenticate with the device, the device will not be added.

Procedure

To manually add a single device to Netreo:

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with at least the Admin access level.
2. From the main menu, select Administration > Add Device > Manual.
3. Select the Manual Add tab at the top of the page.
4. In the Name field, enter the desired name for the new device. The name entered here will be used to represent the device in all dashboards and reports.
5. In the IP Address or Hostname field, enter the IP address or host name of the device.
6. In any remaining fields that you wish to use, enter the appropriate information or selections.
   • All remaining fields are optional. See below for a complete explanation of each field.
7. Select Add Device.

You will see a message from Netreo that the device is being processed and should be added shortly.

If desired, you can begin adding additional devices to Netreo using Manual Add immediately. You do not need to wait for Netreo to process the last added device.

Required Device Configuration Fields

1. Name
   The name of this device as it should appear in Netreo. No special characters are allowed, except underscore (_) and dash (-).
2. IP Address or Hostname
   The IP address or host name of this device. Use the FQDN when entering a host name.

Optional Device Configuration Fields

Basic

• SNMP Public String
  The SNMP public string to use for this device. (This field may be required if using SNMP to communicate with the device and credentials are not available from an applied device template.)
• Domain
  The domain on which to find this device. Used for Windows devices.
• Username
  The username to use when logging into the device if you are configuring a Windows device or using TACACS/RADIUS style authentication. This is required for Windows devices using WMI or WinRM polling, and on network devices for configuration management and Looking Glass functions if TACACS or RADIUS is in use.
• Local Password 
  The password to use in conjunction with the username specified for initial login to the device, or the first password to enter if no username is required. This is required for Windows devices using WMI or WinRM polling, and on network devices for configuration management and Looking Glass functions.
• Enable Password 
  The enable-with password for network devices that use a second level of authentication to issue configuration commands. This is required for configuration management. Do not use this field when configuring Windows devices.
• Category
  The category device group this device should be assigned to.
• Site
  Select the site device group this device should be assigned to.
• Type
  The Netreo device type for this device.
• Template
  The Netreo device template that you would like to assign to this device at the "device" hierarchy level.

Advanced

• Host Alert Contact 
  The action group (that contains a contact method) that will receive alert notifications if this device becomes unreachable. The “blackhole” action group is a default notification action group that does not generate any notifications. Note: If you do not select an action group here or in a device template applied to this device, you will not receive alert notifications when this device goes down!
• Interface Filter 
  A Perl-5 compatible regular expression (PCRE*) (not case-sensitive) to filter the list of interfaces on this device for which performance statistics will be collected. The entered expression will be tested against the name and description of each interface on the device. Only names or descriptions that match this expression will be polled. For example, you might type "ethernet" if you only wanted to monitor "fast ethernet," "gigabit ethernet," and "ethernet" ports, but not serial ports, on a router. Omit the leading and trailing slashes (i.e., enter "ethernet" and not "/ethernet/").
• SNMP Version 
  The version of SNMP you would like to use for this device.
• Parent
  The layer-3 parent for this device from the list of currently managed devices. If you didn't allow Netreo to autodiscover the devices on your network and are manually adding them now, this field won’t apply to the very first device you add manually—so make sure the first device you add is the parent of all other devices. Additional devices can then be added with a parent device.
• Auto-Parenting
  Leave this setting switched to ON to dynamically detect and set the layer-3 parent(s) for this device. This won’t work for the very first device you configure (see Parent, above), nor will it work for any devices that are on the same subnet as the Netreo appliance.
• Poll Device (SNMP/WMI) 
  Leave this setting switched ON to enable the collecting of performance statistics for this device.
• Host & Service Monitoring 
  Leave this setting switched ON to enable monitoring for host and service outages on this device. You should generally leave this setting switched to ON, unless you have a specific reason to switch it to OFF.
• Enable Thresholds 
  Leave this setting switched ON to enable threshold checks to be performed on collected performance data. You should generally leave this setting switched to ON, unless you have a specific reason to switch it to OFF.
• Use Templates 
  Leave this setting switched to ON to enable device templates to be applied to this device. Switching this setting to OFF means that any device template selected above will be applied once, then forgotten—which is not recommended except when applying default device templates as a one-time operation.
• Run Auto Configuration Rules 
  Switch this setting to ON to process this device using Netreo's autoconfiguration rulesets as it is added to Netreo.

Adding a Device With Device Import

This procedure takes you through manually adding one or more devices to Netreo using the Device Import option. Use these steps if you don't want to wait for Netreo's normally scheduled autodiscovery scan to automatically discover a new device on your network, or if you have previously exported your list of devices and now wish to import them (for example, when reinstalling Netreo).

The Import/Export Devices page. Click on "More About File Format" to see explanations of the configuration fields included in the CSV import template.

 Adding devices to Netreo using Device Import allows you to simultaneously add any number of devices using a CSV file. Device Import offers a large set of optional configuration settings for configuring your new devices as they are being added to Netreo. You may use as many or as few of these configuration settings as desired. Additionally, there is an optional checkbox in the UI to further configure the devices using Netreo's customizable auto configuration rulesets.

The only requirements for importing devices are a (user-supplied) name and an IP address or host name for each device. Be aware that when using device import, Netreo adds the specified device as a managed device, regardless of whether or not it can communicate or authenticate with those devices. This means that working authentication credentials must either be supplied for each device within the import CSV file or a set of pre-existing device templates containing usable credentials for the devices must be available in Netreo.

Procedure

To import one or more devices into Netreo: (if importing from a previously exported CSV, skip to step 5)

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with at least the Admin access level.
2. From the main menu select Administration > Add Device > Import.
3. In the IMPORT section select Download Sample to download the Netreo import template CSV.
4. Enter the names and IP addresses/host names for each device into the CSV template (required).
5. In any remaining fields that you wish to use, enter the appropriate information or selections.
   • All remaining fields are optional. See below for a complete explanation of each field.
6. Save your CSV file.
7. Select Browse.
   
   1. Locate your CSV file and select Open.
8. Currently, the only option to deal with duplicate devices (devices included in the CSV that already exist in Netreo) is Update Data. This means the configurations of any existing devices will be overwritten and updated to match what's included in the CSV file. Other options may be available in the future.
9. If you would like Netreo to process the devices being imported using Netreo's customizable autoconfiguration rulesets, check the Run Auto Configuration Rules setting.
10. Select Import Now.

You'll see a message from Netreo that the devices are being processed and should be added shortly.

Required Device Configuration Fields

When importing devices into Netreo using a CSV, some fields require the appropriate data to be present and some fields are optional. This section and the one that follows explain which fields are required and what data they should contain.

• Name
  The name of this device as it should appear in Netreo. No special characters are allowed, except underscore (_) and dash (-).
• IP
  The IP address or host name of this device. Use the FQDN when entering a host name.

Optional Device Configuration Fields

The following fields are optional. They may be set as desired or left empty.

• SNMP Public String
  The SNMP public string to use for this device. Limit 32 characters. Netreo device import does not support device template interrogation for any device template other than "Default." If you do not include an SNMP string in the import CSV for the device you are trying to add and your Default device template does not include credentials for the device you are trying to add, the device may not be added to Netreo or may be added incorrectly.
• SNMP Private String
  The SNMP private string to use for this device. Limit 32 characters. Netreo device import does not support device template interrogation for any device template other than "Default." If you do not include an SNMP string in the import CSV for the device you are trying to add and your Default device template does not include credentials for the device you are trying to add, the device may not be added to Netreo or may be added incorrectly.
• Username
  The username to use when logging into the device if you are configuring a Windows device or using TACACS/RADIUS style authentication. This is required for Windows devices using WMI or WinRM polling, and on network devices for configuration management and Looking Glass functions if TACACS or RADIUS is in use. If a Windows domain is needed, add it to the username as follows: "domain/username".
• Password
  The password to use in conjunction with the username specified for initial login to the device, or the first password to enter if no username is required. This is required for Windows devices using WMI or WinRM polling, and on network devices for configuration management and Looking Glass functions.
• Enable
  The enable-with password for network devices that use a second level of authentication to issue configuration commands. This is required for configuration management. Do not use this field when configuring Windows devices.
• Category
  The name of the category device group in which to place the device. If no category is specified the device is placed in the "New Devices" category.
• Host Alert Contacts
  A list of host alert contacts (action groups that contain a contact method) that will receive alert notifications if this device becomes unreachable. List format: "action group name:escalation value,action group name:escalation value". The “blackhole” action group is a default notification action group that does not generate any notifications. Note: If you do not assign at least one host alert contact to a device, either here or in a device template applied to this device, you will NOT receive alert notifications when this device goes down!
• Site
  The name of the site  device group in which to place the device (64 character maximum). If no site is supplied the device is placed in the "Unknown" site. If a site name is supplied that does not exist, Netreo will create that site and assign the device to it. Use the additional fields below to add/update location data for a site.
  • Site Address
    The street address for the site.
  • Site City
    The name of the city in which the site is located.
  • Site State
    The name of the state in which the site is located.
  • Site Country
    The name of the country in which the site is located.
  • Site Zip
    The postal code for the site location.
• Description
  Enter a description to override the autodetected description for this device. (255 character maximum.)
• Template
  The name of the Netreo device template that you would like to assign to this device at the “device” hierarchy level.
• Bandwidth Override
  Enter a bandwidth speed to manually override the autodetected bandwidth speed value for this device.
• Availability Alarming
  Set this to 1 to enable monitoring for host and service outages on this device. Set to 0 to disable. You should generally set this to enabled, unless you have a specific reason to switch it off.
• Parent Name
  The name of the layer-3 parent for this device from the list of currently managed devices. If you didn't allow Netreo to autodiscover the devices on your network and are manually adding them now, this field won’t apply to the very first device you add manually—so make sure the first device you add is the parent of all other devices. Additional devices can then be added with a parent device.
• Performance Trending
  Set this to 1 to enable the collection of performance statistics for this device. Set to 0 to disable.
• Enable Threshold Checking
  Set this to 1 to enable threshold checks to monitor collected performance data from this device for problems. Set to 0 to disable. You should generally set this to enabled, unless you have a specific reason to switch it off.
• Include in Reports
  Set to 1 to allow this device to be included in Netreo reports. Set to 0 to prevent its inclusion.
• Use Template
  Set this to 1 to enable device templates to be applied to this device (recommended). Set to 0 to disable. Switching this setting to off means that any device template supplied in the Template field above will be applied once, then forgotten—which is not recommended except when applying default device templates as a one-time operation.
• Functional Group
  A list of functional groups in which to place this device. List format: "group_name1,group_name2,group_name3". If a functional group name is supplied that does not exist, Netreo will create that functional group and assign the device to it.
• SNMP Version
  The name of the version of SNMP you would like to use for communication with this device. Options are: leave blank for system default, "v1", "v2c" and "v3". Be sure to include the required credentials in the CSV for the version you choose.
• V3 Username
  (Required if using SNMPv3) The SNMPv3 username to use for this device.
• V3 Password
  (Required if using SNMPv3) The SNMPv3 password to use for this device.
• V3 Algorithm
  (Required if using SNMPv3) The SNMPv3 algorithm to use for this device. Options are SHA or MD5.
• V3 Engine ID
  (Required if using SNMPv3) The SNMPv3 engine ID to use for this device.
• V3 Private Key
  (Required if using SNMPv3) The SNMPv3 private key to use for this device.
• V3 Private Algorithm
  (Required if using SNMPv3) The SNMPv3 private algorithm to use for this device. Options are AES, 3DES or AES128.
• User Partition Profile
  The name of a user partition to place this device in (255 character maximum). If no user partition is specified the device is not placed in a user partition.
• Service Engine
  The name of the service engine to which this device should be assigned. The service engine name must be supplied as it appears in the Service Engine Administration page (Administration > System > Service Engines).