ITAM Automatic Scan Configuration and Usage
ITAM Agents
The first step to actively use the ITAM module, and then begin the automated introduction of Devices in Deepser, is the installation of the Agent.
The Agent is a lightweight Windows application that collects all available information regarding the device on which it is installed, and then systematically sending it to the server.
Once installed, the Agent can be converted in few simple steps into Remote Collector, so you can collect data by scanning the company network, or the subnet on which it is connected.
ITAM Agent Installation
To install the Agent go to the Deepser back-end, from the menu access the Asset>Device section, click on the “Download Agent” button at the top right (as shown in figure).
The installer will be downloaded.
All the information necessary to configure communication with the Server (URL, port) is contained in the name of the executable.
Run the installer (requires Administrator privileges) and, if necessary, modify the pre-filled connection parameters; finally click on the install button to start the installation.
Once the installation is complete, on the device desktop, an icon named ‘Portal’ and a new start menu entry named ‘DeepAgent’ menu will appear.
By clicking on the ‘Portal’ icon you will be redirected to the opening page of a new Ticket where the device in use will be automatically set in it. The proposed type of Ticket created through the Agent can be changed in the Portal configuration section.
To ensure installation has taken place correctly and there are no communication problems, go to the Device section of the Asset module from the Deepser back-end menu (Asset>Device).
In this section, the record representing the device on which the Agent has been installed will be displayed.
To access the Agent user interface, click on the ‘DeepAgent’ entry added to the Start Menu.
In the first tile, the one with an icon representing an “eye”, you can check the status of the ‘DeepAgent’ service.
In the second tile, the one with an icon that represents a “wifi” network connection, there is the interface for converting an Agent into a Remote Collector (the conversion process will be discussed in the dedicated section).
ITAM Remote Collector
A remote collector is a component in a network monitoring or management system designed to gather data from various devices and systems within a network. In Deepser you can configure a device as a remote collector, if that device has agent downloaded and by clicking on the button ‘Convert to RC’, within the Asset – Device model.
The first step for collecting information in Agent-less mode is to configure a Remote Collector, a small-sized Windows application, which allows you to:
- Retrieve data from devices on the same network
- Acquire data from the device on which it is installed
- Send collected data to the main appliance
It is possible to configure more than one, this is necessary for particular corporate network configurations, for example, if the network is organized in subnets isolated among them.
It is recommended to install the Remote Collector on a Windows computer that can communicate through the network with as much devices as possible, in order to reduce the number of Remote Collectors needed.
ITAM Agent to Remote Collector Conversion
To install a Remote Collector you need to have previously installed an Agent, which can be converted into a Remote Collector through some simple steps that can be done directly from the user interface.
Currently, Deepser offers two options to archive this conversion. Manually, using the interface, or automatically, using the ‘convert’ button.
AUTOMATIC CONVERSION
1- The first step to Automatically convert a regular Agent to a Remote Collector is to open the Agent form, through Asset > Device, then select the Agent you want to convert.
2 – Then, press the Convert to RC button, this will trigger the conversion request.
3 – A Dialog will open, asking for confirmation, click YES.
3b – The request will be sent, press Enable to get to the Remote Collector Grid.
4 – If the process finished without errors, the remote collector will be available, open it.
5 – To enable the Remote Collector to work in the network, click on the Enable button.
6 – If you want to Disable the remote collector, click on Disable.
MANUAL CONVERSION
Go to the ‘DeepAgent’ entry added to the Start Menu, by clicking on it the Agent user interface will open.
In the second tile, there is the interface for converting an Agent into a Remote Collector.
To convert the Agent click on the ‘Convert to Remote Collector’ button.
At this point go to the System>Asset Configuration>Remote Collector section of the Deepser back-end.
In the grid there will be a record representing the conversion request (from Agent to Remote Collector) sent by the device, the status of the request will be ‘Pending‘.
Click on the ‘One Time Password’ cell to copy the OTP directly to the clipboard, or open the request form and copy the content of the ‘One Time Password’ field.
Once the ‘One Time Password’ has been copied, return to the Agent user interface, and paste it in the text field on the Remote Collector tab.
Now the Agent can be converted into a Remote Collector, click on the ‘Validate OTP’ button to proceed, at this point the user interface will automatically close and the background conversion procedure will begin.
Once the conversion process is finished:
- In System>Asset Configuration>Remote Collector section in the Deepser backend, the previously created conversion request will change from ‘Pending‘ to ‘Enabled‘
- the start menu entry will be renamed to ‘DeepAgent RC‘ (RC = Remote Collector).
The user interface of the Remote Collector displays only the status of the service, all configuration tools and controls are accessible from the Deepser back-end under the section SystemàAsset Configuration.
At this point, it is possible to configure scan jobs that will be performed by the Remote Collector, which will recover data from devices connected to the network.
