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RAPID Discovery Instructions to Run

Team Live Optics
  • Updated

RAPID Discovery access is currently limited to Dell Technology and Partners.

Overview

RAPID Discovery is a feature of the Live Optics collector which scans a customer environment using Active Directory and network Port scanning to identify network devices (servers, laptops, switches, printers, storage arrays, etc).  The tool further enhances the discovered assets by using a mix of WMI and SSH protocols to obtain additional details about servers and devices that it discovers.

This document outlines the process on how to run a RAPID Discovery collection from the Live Optics Collector.

As a reminder, please make sure to download the latest version of the Live Optics Collector.

 

Detailed Instructions

Download the Live Optics Windows Collector Software

  • From the Live Optics portal, Download Collectors can be selected from the left menu or from the radio button on the main screen

NOTE: the Windows collector requires .NET 4.7.2 or greater to be installed on the host running the collector

  • Click the Download button to start the download. A file named LiveOptics.zip will be downloaded
  • Once the file download completes, extract the contents of the zip file to the host where the software will run. The Live Optics collector does not install like a typical Windows application.  Extracting the zip file is all that is needed to run the collector 
  • NOTE: the collector can run on any host with IP connectivity to the storage array being profiled

 

Run the Live Optics Collector Software

  • Navigate to the directory where the Live Optics collector software is downloaded
  • Run LiveOpticsDotNet4_5
  • Click the “Yes, I agree” button to accept the End User License Agreement

NOTE:  This question only appears the first time the collector software is run 

 

Running RAPID Discovery

  • Select Server & Cloud from the Category
  • Then select RAPID Discovery from the list of asset types 

Rapid_discovery.png

  • The Upload Option is already selected for you, click next
  • From this screen, initiate either IP Range Scans or Active Directory Scans.

a. For Network Scan enter one or more IP Ranges, DNS network names, hostnames, or individual IP addresses. Multiple ranges can be provided, separated by either commas or lines.

RD_revised_1.png

  • In addition, there is an option to specify an alternate IP Address for the DNS server.

Notes:

  • Normally, the optional DNS IP Address is not needed.  However, different sub-networks, lab environments and private networks are often setup with private DNS systems, and are isolated from the standard networks. So, to access these environments the optional DNS IP Address will often be required.
  • If the user does not provide an optional DNS IP address, then the default DNS settings are used to resolve the hostnames.

 

b. For Active Directory Scan, provide domain name or LDAP path.

Note: When Rapid Discovery queries Active Directory (AD), the AD replies with a list of server host names.  Rapid Discovery uses DNS to resolve these server names into IP addresses.  If Rapid Discovery cannot resolve the server name, it will not PING, or use WMI, or SSH to further query the target.  If the hostname does not resolve, Rapid Discovery will assume the target is unreachable.

 

RD_revised_2.png

 

  • In addition, there is an option to specify an alternate IP Address for the DNS server.

 Notes:

  • Normally, the optional DNS IP Address is not needed.  However, different domains, lab environments and private networks are often setup with private DNS systems, have their own domain servers (LDAP server), and are isolated from the standard networks. So, to access these environments the optional DNS IP Address will often be required.
  • If the user does not provide an optional DNS IP address, then the default DNS settings are used to resolve the hostnames.
  • If the authentication is required, Live Optics will deliver a prompt to provide credentials (user name and password)

RD_revised_3.png

 

  • Cancelling the authorization prompt., or providing wrong credentials, or failing to provide any credentials, will generate an authentication-denied error message.

 

Once connected to the Active Directory, a list of Organizational Units (OU) will often be presented. Either check “Select All” OUs (organizational units) or check/uncheck individual OUs to include them in the Rapid Discovery project output. 

 

 

RD_revised_4.png

 

 

  • Sort, filter, and select objects from the list.

 

rapid_5.png

  • If needed, run additional, deeper scans of either the WMI or SSH types.                                         

a.  For these types of scans, you must provide credentials (username and password), using the Credential Manager.

rapid_6.png

  • Once the collections have completed, click Generate Excel Report                                                 

a. For information regarding the Excel Definitions, please click on the following link: https://support.liveoptics.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408552652187-Rapid-Discovery-Excel-Definitions-

  • Additionally, can Save Configuration and Import Configuration.                                                         

a.  This saves the data out to a JSON format file, which you can import into the RAPID Discovery tool.rapid_7.png