Preparing WhatsUp Gold for discovery

Before running discovery for the first time, you need to configure credentials and action policies in WhatsUp Gold.

Configuring credentials

The discovery process uses SNMP and WMI credentials to correctly identify devices. For the best results, you should configure all of the credentials used by devices on your network before starting a discovery scan.

To configure credentials:

1. From the WhatsUp Gold console, select Configure > Credentials. The Credentials Library appears. (In the Web interface, select GO > Configure > Credentials.)
2. Click New. The Select Credential Type dialog appears.
3. Select the type of credential you want to create, then click OK. The Add New Credential dialog appears.
4. Enter the information for the credential you want to create, then click OK. The Add New Credential dialog closes.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each credential that you want to use during the discovery process.

For more information about credentials, see Using Credentials.

Tip: You can also configure SNMP credentials from the WhatsUp Gold Welcome Center (accessible on the console from Tools > Welcome Center).

Creating action policies

The discovery process gives you the ability to associate action policies, which describe what actions should be taken when a device's status changes. To use these action policies during discovery, you must configure them in WhatsUp Gold before starting a discovery session, then associate them with a device role.

To create an action policy:

1. From the WhatsUp Gold console, select Configure > Action Policies. The Action Policies dialog appears.
2. Click New. The New Action Policy dialog appears.
3. Enter a name for the action policy. This name is used to help you identify this action policy in WhatsUp Gold.
4. Click Add. The Action Builder wizard appears.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions in the Action Builder wizard to create or select actions for the policy. At the end of the wizard, click Finish to close the Action Builder wizard and add the action to the action policy.
6. To add additional actions to the action policy, click Add again.
7. After you have added all of the actions to the action policy, verify that they are listed in the correct order. If they are not, you can select actions and use the Up and Down buttons to change the actions' order in the list.
8. Click OK. The New Action Policy dialog closes.

To associate an action policy with a device role:

1. After creating the action policy, select File > Discover Devices from the WhatsUp Gold menu. The Discovery console appears.
2. From the Discovery console menu, select Advanced > Device role settings. The Device Role Settings dialog appears.
3. Select the device role that you want to use in the action policy, then click Configure. The Role Settings Editor appears.
4. Select the Action Policy tab.
5. Select the action policy, then click OK. The Role Settings Editor dialog closes.

For more information about action policies, see About Action Policies.

Tip: If you enter email information into the WhatsUp Gold Welcome Center, an action that emails the address you enter is automatically created and added to a default action policy.