Application Delivery Management

How NetScaler Console discovers instances

Instances are NetScaler appliances or virtual appliances that you want to discover, manage, and monitor from NetScaler Console. To manage and monitor these instances, you must add them to the NetScaler Console server. You can add the following NetScaler appliances and virtual appliances to NetScaler Console:

  • NetScaler instances

    • NetScaler MPX

    • NetScaler VPX

    • NetScaler SDX

    • NetScaler CPX

    • NetScaler BLX

  • NetScaler Gateway instances

You can add instances either while setting up the NetScaler Console server for the first time or later.

Note

NetScaler Console uses the NetScaler IP (NSIP) address of the NetScaler instances for communication. NetScaler Console can also discover NetScaler instances with a subnet IP (SNIP) address that has management access enabled on it. For information about the ports that must be open between the NetScaler instances and NetScaler Console, see Ports.

If you want to add a NetScaler HA pair using SNIP, ensure to enable the Independent Network Configuration (INC) mode on the NetScaler HA pair. For more information to add instances, see Add instances.

When you add an instance to the NetScaler Console, the server implicitly adds itself as a trap destination for the instance and collects inventory of the instance.

The following diagram describes how NetScaler Console implicitly discovers and adds instances.

NetScaler Console discovering NetScaler instances

As shown in the diagram, the following steps are performed implicitly by NetScaler Console.

  1. NetScaler Console uses the instance profile details to log on to the instance. Using a NetScaler NITRO call, NetScaler Console retrieves the license information of the instance. Based on the licensing information, it determines whether the instance is a NetScaler instance and the type of NetScaler platform (for example, NetScaler MPX, NetScaler VPX, NetScaler SDX, NetScaler BLX, or NetScaler Gateway). On successful detection of the instance, it is added to the NetScaler Console database.

    This step might fail if the instance profile does not include the correct credentials. For NetScaler MPX, NetScaler VPX, NetScaler SDX, NetScaler BLX, and NetScaler Gateway instances, this step might also fail if the licenses are not applied to the instance.

    Note

    Using HTTP, you can add all instances to NetScaler Console even if the licenses are not configured on the instances.

  2. NetScaler Console adds its IP address to the list of trap destinations on the instance. This allows NetScaler Console to receive traps generated on the NetScaler instance.

    This step might fail if the number of trap destinations on the instance exceeds the maximum limit of trap destinations. The maximum limit on instances is 20.

  3. NetScaler Console collects inventory from the instance by sending a NITRO request. It collects instance details such as host name, software version, running and saved configuration, certificate details, entities configured on the instance.

    This step might fail because of network or firewall issues.

    To learn to add instances to NetScaler Console, see Add instances.

How NetScaler Console discovers instances

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