Setting up remote inventory

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Collecting inventory data from servers, network devices, and workstations across your company without installing an agent on every device is possible through the use of the GLPI Agent Remote Inventory features.

These features are particularly useful when internal policies prevent technicians from installing the GLPI agent on all servers, when there's no centralized installation method for the agent, or when the environment involves the use of isolated networks which should not connect to the internet or an additional network where the GLPI server is.

Requirements to use Remote Inventory

• At least 1 devices running GLPI Agent version 1.6 or above

• This device must have network access to devices you want to scan

• The GLPI Agent Toolbox activated

• The list of IP Ranges from the network you want to scan and collect data from

  • several VLANs mat be split into different ranges for better performance

• SSH, SNMP and WinRM credentials with administration permissions for the targeted devices

Attention

The toolbox is not intended to be installed on insecure networks.

• Activate the basic authentication

• Set the trusted IP networks or hosts authorized to access the toolbox

• Activate SSL on the agent

• Take good care of the yaml file that is created during the configuration

Current environment

• The following task is going to scan one networks

  • 172.16.10.250 to 172.16.10.254 - containing network devices with SNMP enabled, alongside Linux servers with ssh access enabled

• The task should run every every 5 hours

• There will be ssh credentials for remote linux servers

After the information is gathered, you can check the following steps:

Activate the navigation bar menus

For this example you only need 4 menus:

• Credentials

• Inventory

• IP Ranges

• Scheduling

• Open the GLPI Agent Toolbox Web Interface at http://agentip:62354/toolbox

• Click on the cog icon on the top right of the screen

Set-up GLPI Agent

• On Navigation bar session enable

  • Show Credentials in navigation bar

  • Show Inventory tasks in navigation bar

  • Show IP Ranges in navigation bar

  • Show Scheduling in navigation bar

  

  • Click on Update at the bottom of the page

  
• Go back to home clicking on the GLPI Agent icon on top left of the screen

Now you will be able to see new menus on your left where you will create the inventory tasks.

Create an Inventory Task

Create an execution scheduling

Note

Even if you want a task to be run just once, you must create a schedule to add it to the task

• From your GLPI Agent Toolbox home page, click on the Scheduling tab

• Click on Add new scheduling

• The Name of the scheduling is for administrative purposes

• Choose a Type

  • in this example, Delay

  • since there's the need of running this task every 5 hours

  • for more information about the types, please refer to the scheduling official documentation

• Click on Add

Alt text

Register SNMP, SSH, ESXi and WinRM Credentials

• From yout GLPI Agent Toolbox home page, click on the Credentials tab

• Click on Add Credential

  • Give it a name

  • Select the type according to your devices - in this case ssh

  • Type the ssh Username

  • Type the Authentication password

  • Select the port - here is the default port for ssh - 22

  • Select Remote SSH Mode libssh

  • You can add a descriprion to this credential if needed

  • Click on Update

  !!! note Add more credentials to different usernames and/or protocols

Set up credentials

For more information, please refer to the official documentation

Create the IP Ranges to be scanned

• Click on IP Ranges

• Name the IP Range Network A

• On IP range start type the first IP address be scanned on your range

  • 172.16.10.250

• On IP range end type the last IP address to be scanned on your range

  • 172.16.10.254

• Add the credentials previously created that will be used in this IP range

  • rootlinux

IP range parameters

!!!note Repeat the step above for the second IP range

For more information, please refer to the official documentation

Create the Inventory Task

• Click on Add new inventory task

• Name your task to be easy to find and understand it after

• Select the type

  • Local inventory for only the computer where the agent is installed

  • Network scan to run a network scan

• Select a Target for this task

  • It will use the servers that you have created before as targets or the Agent folder when you need to create an XML and import it to GLPI after

  • server0 - it's the URL set up in GLPI Agents config file or installation

• Select the scheduling type

  • Every 5 hours

• Add a tag to make business rules an easier task

• Associate the ip ranges created

• Set the number of threads that you desire to run

• Set the time of Connection timeout

Set up the inventory task parameters

Tip

Threads is the number of remote devices the task will query for at the same time - Timeout is the number of seconds before the agent will decide a remote device is not responding

Warning

You may set a higher number of threads to request for more devices at the same time, and a higher timeout for devices that may be much further from your GLPI Agent scanner. Keep in mind that it consumes more resources of your Agent and Network.

• Enable the Inventory task by clicking on the respective select box and on Enable

  

You may also refer to our video about setting up the GLPI Remote Inventory at our YouTube Channel.