Working with Credentials
To identify, monitor, and perform actions on devices, WhatsUp Gold uses one or more credential sets per device.
Some facts about credentials:
- Credentials are needed for network discovery.
- Credential type you apply can affect the richness of information returned for discovering, monitoring, and reporting purposes.
- For core WhatsUp Gold performance monitors (CPU utilization, Memory Utilization) you need at least SNMP or WMI (Windows) credentials during network discovery.
Creating Credentials
Create credential records based on WhatsUp Gold credential types and apply them to devices you select on the My Network Map or its associated device grid. You can access the Credentials library by clicking 
at the right side of the WhatsUp Gold My Network Map.
Assigning Credentials
To assign credentials to a device:
- Select one or more devices on the My Network Map or the collapsible device grid.
- Click to access the Credentials Library.
- Select a credential from the library.
- Click the Apply to selected devices button.
To add a new credential record to the credential library:
Click 
to add a new credential based on an existing credential type.
Tips for Applying Credentials
When choosing credentials, consider the following:
- Quick win: for quick and wide discovery coverage, try SNMPv2 credentials with a public community string first. (You can find community strings in use at your site by looking in network device configurations or consulting your site documentation.)
- For Windows host devices, add Windows/WMI credentials.
- Some Linux/UNIX and Windows hosts might need an SNMP agent (service) running to fetch SNMP statistic values.
- From most Windows versions, you can add this from the Turn Windows Features on or Off section.
- From Linux, install the SNMP package from your respective package manager (yum, apt-get, zypper).
- Add SSH credentials for Linux/UNIX host devices.
- Apply VMware credentials to vCenter hosts.
- When reapplying existing Hyper-V host credentials, an additional step is needed to distribute the new credentials to the VMs. For details, see Windows (WMI) credential for Hyper-V.
Available Credential Types
Credentials Library provides the following credential types:
Network Management. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv1, SNMPv2, SNMPv3).
System Attributes and Instrumentation. Windows, Windows Management Interface (WMI), SSH (typically used for Linux and UNIX).
Remote Execution. Secure Shell client (SSH), Telnet client.
VoIP Management. Cisco CallManager (AXL).
Virtual Machines. vCenter and VMware, Hyper-V.
Application and Database. Java Management Extensions (JMX), ActiveX Data Object (ADO).