Network Discovery is a powerful feature that allows you to quickly identify network devices without manual intervention or third-party scanning tools. You can then quickly bring discovered devices under management in no time. 

Syncro Users with appropriate permissions can create customized Discovery Profiles with scheduling options that minimize impact on business operations. The Discovery Profiles automatically scan and discover any devices connected to the network where a Syncro Agent is already operating, including workstations, servers, printers, scanners, and other network-enabled devices. 

Once additional devices are discovered, the Network Discovery feature facilitates Syncro Agent installations and assists in manual asset creation, streamlining the entire network management process. For example, you can use the Network Discovery feature to easily onboard new Organizations. Simply install one Syncro Agent, run a scan, then easily deploy the Syncro Agent to all of the discovered devices!

Thus, Network Discovery significantly reduces onboarding labor, improves data quality, enhances regulatory compliance, and minimizes potential human errors in asset management. 

Notes: 

• The Network Discovery feature provides a distinct network ping to identify active devices. You'll still need to use existing SNMP functionality for manually-created assets, as well as the monitoring capacity of the Syncro agent. 
• Customers are in the process of being renamed to Organizations, and Contacts to End Users. You may see both in Syncro for the time being.

This document describes how to create Network Discovery Profiles. Read on, or watch this short video to learn more:

Prerequisites

• Network Discovery is available on Syncro's Team Plan. No additional installation is required to use it.
• If you're on the Team Plan but don't see the top-level Network Discovery tab, click your User Profile Menu, then select Tabs Customization to add it. Reload the page to see the changes.

Create a Network Discovery Profile

To discover assets, you'll create a Network Discovery Profile for each Organization. 

You can do this from the top-level Network Discovery tab in the primary navigation bar (where you'll be given an option to select the (Customer) Organization), or from a specific Organization's “Network Discovery” subtab. 

To create a Network Discovery Profile for a specific Organization, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Organizations tab.
2. Click the Customer Organization's name to open their Details Page.
3. Select the "Network Discovery" subtab. The Network Discovery table displays with the Profiles view selected:
   
4. Click +New Profile. Syncro displays the Network Discovery Profile pop-up window.
5. Complete the fields to set up your profile. See Discovery Profile Fields Reference for details.
6. Click Save & Run Now. The new profile appears in the table with a Status of “In Progress.” 
   Note: You can cancel the scan before it finishes if you need to. 
7. When the table refreshes and the Status changes to “Complete,” click “Devices” to view the discovered devices:
   
8. Act on Network Discovered Devices.

Discovery Profile Fields Reference

Here's a description of each of the fields you'll see when creating or editing a Network Discovery Profile:

Discovery Profile: A descriptive name. The Discovery Profile name must be unique for the selected Organization.

Primary Network Node: The name of an asset on the Organization's network that has the latest version of the Syncro Windows Agent installed. Syncro uses this asset as a starting point/probe for the discovery process.

• The Primary Network Node must be a device with the Syncro Windows Agent installed. Ideally, this device is online often. At this time, Syncro also only supports remote installs of the Syncro Agent on discovered devices running the Windows OS. See also Act on Network Discovered Devices.
• As long as the Primary Network Node is connected to the same VPN as a device, then it will be discoverable.

IP Range/Subnet: An IP address range or subnet for the discovery profile to scan, in CIDR notation (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24). When you click the +, Syncro will validate your entry and add it to a list beneath this field. You can use a wildcard here, e.g.: 10.100.77.*. Please ensure the nodes for discovery have access to the selected subnets.

Community String: Community String for SNMP v2 authentication. The default is “public.”

Agent Installation

Credentials: For managing remote agent installs, the domain admin credentials with remote access rights over the network.

• By default, Syncro uses existing credentials you select from the Credentials dropdown menu. 
• Select “Create New” to supply new credentials (i.e. a username/password) instead. 

Notes: 

• You need appropriate Syncro user permissions to view and/or create credentials. 
• Credentials are needed to remotely install the Syncro Windows Agent on discovered devices. 
• You can use credential store entries to populate credentials. Discovery profiles may also hold credentials associated with them without adding them to the credential store, if desired. 

Policy Folder: An existing Policy Folder. 

Discovery

Set Recurring: Click the toggle to the On position to make the discovery profile recurring. Then click to specify a Daily Discovery Time. 

Notify About New Devices: Click the toggle to the On position enable notifications. IMPORTANT: You must also specify values for the “Network Discovery - Device Discovered” event in your relevant Notification Sets.

Edit or Delete a Network Discovery Profile

Any Network Discovery Profiles you've previously created display in the Network Discovery table in the “Profiles” view. 

 To edit or delete an existing Network Discovery Profile, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Network Discovery table. 
   Tip: You can get here from either the Organization's Details Page's “Network Discovery” subtab, or from the Network Discovery tab in the primary navigation bar. 
2. Be sure you're in the “Profiles” view:
   
3. Click the vertical ellipsis icon () in any row. 
4. Select “Edit Profile” to edit the profile, or “Delete” to remove it. (Syncro will ask you to confirm deletions.) 

Configure Notifications for Newly Discovered Devices

To receive notifications about newly discovered devices, you must do two things:

1. Specify values for the “Network Discovery - Device Discovered” event in your relevant Notification Sets.
2. Toggle the “Notify About New Devices” to the On position when you create or edit your Discovery Profile(s).

Manually Start a Network Discovery

Any Network Discovery Profiles you've previously created display in the Network Discovery table's “Profiles” view. 

Regardless of whether an existing Network Discovery Profile is recurring, you can run a scan using it at any time.

1. Navigate to the Network Discovery table. Be sure you're in the “Profiles” view:
   
   Tip: You can get here from either the Organization's Details Page's “Network Discovery” subtab, or from the Network Discovery tab in the primary navigation bar. 
2. Click Run Now in any row. The discovery profile you've started the scan for displays a Status of “In Progress.” 
   Note: You can cancel the scan before it finishes if you need to. 
3. When the table refreshes and the Status changes to “Complete,” click “Devices” to view the discovered devices:
   
4. Act on Network Discovered Devices.

View Discovered Network Devices

Once a Network Discovery Profile has been run, you can view the results of the scan. 

1. Navigate to the Network Discovery table. You'll be in the “Profiles” view:
   
   Tip: You can get here from either the Organization's Details Page's “Network Discovery” subtab, or from the Network Discovery tab in the primary navigation bar. 
2. Click “Devices” to switch to that view.

Alternatively, you can click the vertical ellipsis icon () in any row from the "Profiles" view and select “View Results.”

See also: About the Network Discovery Table.

Cancel an In-Progress Network Discovery

While a Network Discovery Profile has a Status of “In Progress,” you can stop it before it completes. This can be useful if, for example, you accidentally begin a scan using the wrong subnet. 

1. Navigate to the Network Discovery table. Be sure you're in the “Profiles” view:
   
   Tip: You can get here from either the Organization's Details Page's “Network Discovery” subtab, or from the Network Discovery tab in the primary navigation bar. 
2. Click Stop Now in any row with a status of “In Progress.” The discovery profile you've cancelled the scan for displays a Status of “Stopped.”