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

  • 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

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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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Adding Secondary IPs via the Hosts File

Each device can only be SNMP polled via a single IP address, but may be ICMP polled on any number of IP addresses. Multiple entries (different IP addresses) for the same device will be handled differently depending on the Discovery configuration:

  • Network Discovery – if the IP is matched to a known device (a device already SNMP polled via another IP), it will be ignored and generate no new records
  • Ping-Only Discovery – the behavior is determined by the Allow Adding Secondary IPs option under Advanced Options > Existing Device Behavior
    • Allow Adding Secondary IPs Enabled – Discovery will generate a new device record linked to the secondary IP, and the device will be ICMP polled via that IP
    • Allow Adding Secondary IPs Disabled – the IP will be ignored, no new device record will be created

If the device is only being ICMP polled (no SNMP polling), then Discovery will be unable to match the secondary IP to any known device. If the device responds to ping, then a new device record (linked to the secondary IP) will be created in all circumstances.

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