6.2.5 Discovery seeds
This subsection explains the devices that are used as discovery seeds.
- Tip
One of the NNMi rules for selecting the preferred management IP address specifies using the first discovered IP address as the management address. You can influence NNMi by configuring the preferred IP address as the seed address.
For Cisco devices, use a loopback address as the discovery seed, because loopback addresses are more reliably reachable than other addresses on a device. Ensure that DNS is correctly configured to resolve the device host name to the loopback address.
- List-based discovery only
For list-based discovery, list all devices that you want NNMi to manage. You might be able to export this list from asset management software or from some other tool.
Because NNMi does not automatically add any devices to this list, ensure that the list includes every device for which you have responsibility or that influences your monitoring and status calculations.
- Rule-based discovery only
Discovery seeds are optional for rule-based discovery.
If Ping sweep is enabled for an auto-discovery rule, you do not need to specify a seed for that rule.
For each auto-discovery rule with Ping sweep disabled, identify at least one seed. If a rule includes multiple IP address regions, you might need a seed in each routable region because routers do not keep ARP entries across WAN links.
- Tip
For the most complete rule-based discovery, use routers, not switches, as discovery seeds because routers generally have much larger ARP caches than do switches. A core router connected to a network that you want to discover is an excellent choice for a discovery seed.