NeDi: Troubleshooting NeDi Discovery and Configuration File Backup (2024)

A customer with a NetEye installation to which I had added the NeDi module asked me if I could integrate the saved configuration files of “discovered” network devices with NeDi.

NeDi, for those who are not yet familiar with it, is a Network Discovery tool based on many different network protocols.

The first action NeDi takes is to make sure that a network device is reachable via the network, and can inventory its components using the SNMP protocol.

It will therefore be necessary for network administrators to verify that:

• The source IP of the host where NeDi is running is allowed to send commands toward the list of devices under discovery using the SNMP – ICMP – SSH protocols

NeDi will have to be configured for so that it will know:

• All IPs of the devices being scanned
• SNMP community as configured on board devices
• The SSH credentials with which to access the devices being scanned
• The scheduled times during which it should scan

The files responsible for configuring NeDi are:

• seedlist
• nedi.conf
• crontab

You can choose whether to configure SNMP community in the seedlist file:

or run the configuration via the nedi.conf file:

where it is also possible to specify the configuration of the copy of the configuration file of devices subject to discovery, see this section:

If needed to fulfill security considerations, a hash can be entered in the pass field. In any case, access to the nedi.conf file is only allowed for the root user.

Having made the appropriate configuration changes, it’s now possible to customize the crontab file:

Here you should make use of the existing examples, or comment them out and instead insert your own desired crontab line:

Once you’ve finished the necessary configurations, you can launch the first scan, for example by using the following commands:

• ./nedi.pl –a [IP or IP Range]
• ./ nedi.pl -v -b -u seedlist

Consult the online help in nedi.pl to learn about syntax options, or make use of the graphical interface as shown here:

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Author

Giovanni Davide Saccá

Hi all, my name is Davide and I was born in San Donato Milanese. Since I was a boy I've always been intrigued by PCs, and so I took my first steps with my Commodore VIC-20. Before joining Würth Phoenix as an SI consultant, I worked first as a Network Engineer for several ISPs (Internet Service Providers) in the late 90s, then for the first ASP (Application Service Provider) and next as a head of IT Network and Security. My various ITIL and Vendor certifications have allowed me to be able to cooperate at multiple project levels. I like tennis, music, motorcycles and going on nature walks with my family.