Index


Overview

The Hosts File serves two purposes:

  • To filter the devices walked in the discovery process, a Discover Using Hosts will only discover those devices listed in the Hosts File
  • To ensure that an appropriate name is associated with a device, even if the device is not currently configured in a way that will return one (for device naming hierarchy see Device Naming)

The file lists IP addresses and host names in the following format:

IPAddress one or more spaces hostname
e.g.
10.1.1.1 router1
10.1.1.4 switch1

  • Each device must have only ONE entry, for devices with multiple IP addresses, specify the address that should be polled by Statseeker
  • Hostnames can only contain alpha-numerics, hyphens and periods
  • A hash (#) as the first character in a row will 'comment out' that row and it will be ignored when Statseeker processes the file
IPv6 Address Syntax

Statseeker supports standard IPv6 address formats:

  • Full address - 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334
  • Leading zeros omitted - 2001:db8:85a3:0:0:8a2e:370:7334
  • Empty group replacement - 2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334

While any number of consecutive empty groups can be collapsed to the double colon replacement (::), only a single instance of this replacement can be used in an address. Address range statements for IPv6 addresses are not supported.

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Populating the Hosts File

To populate the Hosts File:

  • Select Administration Tool > Network Discovery > Hosts File
  • Enter IP address and hostname pairs, one per line
  • Click Save

Specifying a device in the Hosts File DOES NOT add the device to Statseeker. The devices in the Hosts file need to be added to Statseeker via Discovery, see The Discovery Process for details.

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