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Devices and discovery

Devices hold durable identity and intent: site, type, name, hostname, platform, operating-system information, provisioning state, interfaces, addresses, and applications. Parent/child relationships model patterns such as hosts and guests. The Servers directory provides a server-focused hierarchy over the same records.

Agents add evidence through ARP scans, ping, network introspection, port probes, and optional nmap enrichment. Results stream to the server and remain observations until reviewed.

Before scanning​

  1. Confirm the agent is attached to the intended site and can reach the target network.
  2. Choose a bounded target range and an appropriate timeout.
  3. Verify that your authorization and local policy permit discovery.
  4. Install external tools such as nmap only for modules that need them.

Review and import observations​

Open Discovery → Review queue to inspect observed hosts and ports. MiniPAM suggests likely inventory matches and can prepare an import plan for one host or a batch. Review the proposed creates, updates, links, and conflicts before applying it. You can ignore an irrelevant port observation and reopen it later.

Completed jobs also expose explicit import actions:

  • import networks from the latest netinfo result;
  • import devices from a netscan result;
  • introspect a known device and reconcile the returned host evidence.

Hostnames, MAC addresses, IPs, and services can change or conflict with existing records. Prefer durable evidence—stable MACs, known interfaces, and explicit ownership—over a transient hostname alone.

Follow work as jobs​

Discovery → Job runs lets you select an agent, start a supported request, filter job history, and inspect structured logs, duration, resource links, child jobs, and failure reasons. Logs update through the server's event stream while work runs.

Nmap enrichment​

Nmap enrichment can identify open ports and service details. Port profiles keep scans predictable: fast uses nmap's fast selection, top_ports scans a configured count, and custom accepts an explicit port list. OS detection and NSE scripts may require more privileges and take longer. Allow-list only the NSE scripts you intend an agent to run.

Scan responsibly

Discovery is active network traffic. Keep targets narrow, understand the modules you enable, and do not scan networks you do not administer.

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