Question: Where can I find detailed information about HP Web Jetadmin Discovery?

Answer : Help is available on-line within the HP Web Jetadmin product and covers the Discovery Topic. Help content can also be downloaded in the form of a user guide. A white paper covering the Discovery topic can also be downloaded by visiting www.hp.com/go/webjetadmin and navigating to the Documents tab.

Question: What is HP Web Jetadmin device discovery?

Answer : Discovery features enable HP Web Jetadmin to find both network-connected and PC-connected printers and multi-function peripherals (MFPs) and then add them to the HP Web Jetadmin All Devices list. In many cases, the administrator may have information about the network that can be used in HP Web Jetadmin discovery settings. Some discovery features enable the administrator to search for devices without the benefit of networking details. A powerful discovery engine exists within HP Web Jetadmin enabling administrators to locate most devices on both small and large networks. Web Jetadmin now includes a new discovery for printers located in Active Directories. Scheduling and discovery templates allow administrators to tailor HP Web Jetadmin features to any topology or geographically deployed printer fleet.

Question: What are some of the differences from Web Jetadmin 8.x and previous versions?

Answer : HP Web Jetadmin has been created without several discovery features and options used in previous versions of the software. Simplification, ease of use and newer, more valuable features are reasons for this re-design. No IPX protocol support No IPX or Netware related discovery No BootP or DHCP listener discovery No BootP server No Arp discovery No RDA (Remote Discovery Agent) HP Web Jetadmin has improved or even additional functionality over earlier releases. These are:

• Improved Discovery History Metrics
• Integrated PC Connected Discovery
• Discovery Templates Store Credential Settings

Question: How does discovery work?

Answer : Discovery is a two-part process. HP Web Jetadmin discovery always begins by scanning the network to find active nodes. Active nodes are any networked device that will respond to the discovery method used by HP Web Jetadmin . Once the node discovery portion of the discovery is complete, HP Web Jetadmin begins a resolution process to qualify either PC-connected devices or network-connected devices. Here is a look at a typical discovery sequence:

Start

Type : PC-connected device OR network-connected device.

Node Discovery First method Scan: execute scan based on method settings. Second method scan: execute scan based on method settings …more method scans… end node discovery.

Node Resolve Query all discovered nodes to discern PC connected or network devices. Add resolved nodes to All Devices

End

Question: What device discovery options and or settings are available for me to use when attempting to discover devices in HP Web Jetadmin?

Answer : The HP Web Jetadmin discovery wizard contains a number of settings and steps that enable you to find devices on both small and large networks. Both PC Connected and Network Connected device discovery can be accomplished through the following methods:

• SLP Multicast*
• IP Broadcast
• IP Range
• Specified Address
• Active Directory
• Domain**

*network connected devices only

**PC connected devices only

Each of these contain a variety of settings and may or may not include the use of credentials. See the White Paper document at www.hp.com/go/webjetadmin or use online Help to understand detailed settings for each discovery method.

Question: What is the difference between Network Device Discovery vs. PC Connected Discovery?

Answer : Both PC connected and Network device discoveries are possible in HP Web Jetadmin. Both of these discoveries will result in devices added to the All Devices list. Network devices, when discovered, are manageable from within HP Web Jetadmin software. PC-connected devices may be less manageable depending on how they were discovered. See the white paper regarding PC Connected Discovery at www.hp.com/go/webjetadmin for more details regarding this device type as well as discovery options.

Question: When are credentials needed with Discovery?

Answer: a. PC-connected device discovery is being performed using WMI, or b . Network device discovery is being performed on devices with SNMP Get community name, or c . Network connected device discovery is being performed on SNMPv3 devices.

When the HP Web Jetadmin discovery wizard is used, you have the opportunity to add credentials depending on the type of discovery desired. If devices on your network are utilizing Get names or SNMP v3, you will need to add these credentials in order to discover them. If you are doing PC Connected discovery and want to use the WMI protocol (provided on the Windows systems) you will need to add credentials. If you are using the SNMP Proxy Agent on your PCs, credentials may not be needed. For more detailed information regarding PC Connected discovery, visit www.hp.com/go/webjetadmin.

Question: How does device discovery work with SNMP get community names?

Answer : If SNMP Get community names other than the default “public�? are used, HP Web Jetadmin must have awareness of the Get community name value. Devices with a value other than “public�? in their Get community name will not respond and therefore will not be discovered.

Question: How can you display the status of your device discovery progress?

Answer : Any user can find out if a discovery is currently running by navigating to Devices > Active Tasks task module (found under Overview in the navigation tree). Device Discovery > Progress can be launched by selecting the View button from within this task module. Also, users can get current discovery progress by simply choosing to start a discovery. For example, right-click the Discovery node in the navigation tree and choose, Start Discovery. If a Discovery is running, you will be given three choices: View Current Discovery, Queue a Discovery and Schedule a Discovery. Discovery results provide you ongoing progress through both the node and node-resolve portion of a discovery. This can make it easy to determine which method is currently executing or whether node-discovery or node-resolve portions have begun execution. Nodes found counter shows how many devices were found using various discovery methods. After the first portion of the discovery is complete, Nodes resolved and Devices found indicate device resolution. A counter showing devices new to this discovery is also included. The active discovery can be stopped at any time by using the Stop button or can be put into background tasks by using the Hide button.

Question: What happens if you run a discovery when one is already running?

Answer : The discovery Wizard allows users to choose between, View Current Discovery, Queue a Discovery and Schedule a Discovery.

Question: Can you display details about discoveries that have already taken place?

Answer : Yes, Discovery History can be viewed by selecting its node from the navigation tree beneath Discovery. This provides a way to analyze discovery effectiveness, who performed discovery, and which methods were used. By expanding a specific discovery, the user can view the methods that were used and determine how many devices were found per method. Also, users can compare within the session by looking at the New Devices metric. Session to session comparisons can be made by using the New Devices Found metric. See HP Web Jetadmin Help for complete definitions and descriptions.

Question: Can you schedule a Discovery?

Answer : Yes, a flexible scheduler exists within HP Web Jetadmin Device Discovery wizard and allows a wide variety of options. Unique device discovery schedules can be created that allow scanning different parts of the network on different days, times and recurrence levels. Also, PC connected devices can be found during the day when most people are logged onto the network while network devices can be found later in the evening. Use the Allow start time to occur between the specified hours of: control to limit discoveries from running outside of appropriate timeframes. This is especially helpful on systems where many scheduled tasks have been configured. Existing Discovery schedules can be viewed and edited by using one of several task modules: launch Scheduled Tasks from the Application Management > Overview workspace or Discovery > Scheduled Discoveries.

Question: What are Discovery Templates?

Answer : Discovery templates are like other templates in HP Web Jetadmin . They store pre-defined settings that can be retrieved at a later time. Both PC-connected printer discovery and network printer discovery settings can be stored in many uniquely named templates. Once a discovery template has been created, it can be launched or scheduled for launch through the Device Discovery wizard with the Use template option. Create, Edit, Remove, Launch, and View features are all available through the Device Management > Discovery > Templates.

Question: Can you track last communication and discovery for a device?

Answer : Two columns in HP Web Jetadmin allow the administrator to track the last discovery date and time as well as the last application-to-device communication date and time. These columns are useful for troubleshooting to determine whether a device exists on the network, has communication issues, and more. These also allow the administrator to track how current the device data is as it is being represented by the application interface. To enable these columns, simply right click on the column header and use the control to select Last Discovery and/or Last Communication.

Question: Is there a way to block certain devices from being discovered?

Answer : Simply right click any existing device within the HP Web Jetadmin All Devices list and choose Delete. Three choices will appear: Hide, Delete and Delete and Block. Delete and Block not only removes the device from HP Web Jetadmin it adds the device address information to a Blocked Device List. This list exists in Tools > Options > Device Management > Device Lists > Blocked Devices that will keep HP Web Jetadmin from discovering a device. Sometimes, administrators may desire that a device not appear in Discoveries. This list can be manually edited or devices can be added by using right-click from the All Devices list. The Delete and Block option will place the device into this list where it will stay until manually removed.

Question: How can the user quickly find just one device?

Answer : Quick Device Discovery provides a field in the lower left portion of the HP Web Jetadmin Device Management user interface that allows you to enter device address detail. Enter either a device IP hostname or device IP address. Web Jetadmin will first attempt to locate the device within the All Devices listing. If the device is not previously discovered, Web Jetadmin will search on the network using either the IP address or IP hostname provided. If the device is discovered on the network, HP Web Jetadmin will add it to the All Devices list.

Question: How does Web Jetadmin maintain devices’ IP addresses that have changed?

Answer : HP Web Jetadmin has the ability to adjust IP addresses stored for each device. In many cases, IP addresses on devices will remain static and changes within the HP Web Jetadmin all devices list won’t be needed. In a few cases, device addresses may change due to device moves or when device addresses are assigned with DHCP. In these cases, HP Web Jetadmin should be able to cope with the changes and quickly change its internal record of a device’s IP address. HP Web Jetadmin will automatically change a devices IP address anytime it detects a change in that address. For instance, a device might have been configured with the IP address 192.186.40.203 yesterday but today it has the IP address 192.168.42.198. HP Web Jetadmin will only realize changes when some communication has taken place with the new device address. IP Range discoveries may be performed from time to time if IP addresses are prone to changing.

Question: What is the best way to discover all or nearly all devices in an enterprise?

Answer : IP Range Discovery is probably the most powerful way to discover all or nearly all devices in an enterprise. The Select IP ranges interface is used to add, remove or edit IP range data. IP ranges can also be imported or exported from and to flat text files. A calculate feature is available that adds IP ranges based on the client host, server host or known IP address information. Large subnet protection is in force by default which will keep the application from spanning too many addresses unless absolutely necessary. IP Range discovery is powerful in that it can be crafted to resemble the network. IP ranges can span segments of the network enabling HP Web Jetadmin to check virtually every address in use. If an address happens to be a printer, HP Web Jetadmin adds it to the All devices list. Specified Address Discovery is yet another powerful discovery tool. It relies on the administrator having all the device IP addresses or IP hostname prior to performing discovery. These device lists are then scanned by HP Web Jetadmin software for network connected or PC connected printers depending on discovery settings. Watch for new

Specified Address discovery features that enable on the fly edits of the specified address files within the file system on the host where HP Web Jetadmin resides.

Question: How does HP Web Jetadmin Discovery use Active Directory to find devices?

Answer : In the case of network connected devices, HP Web Jetadmin scans Active Directory for print share information. If a share exists with a certain Port Name format, HP Web Jetadmin will add IP address details to the Node Discovery. Once this address list is complete, HP Web Jetadmin will scan the addresses and add any printers that are found to the All Devices list. NOTE: See HP Web Jetadmin Discovery White Paper for details regarding Port Name format. In the case of PC connected discover, HP Web Jetadmin simply uses active directory to find Windows hosts. From the list of Windows hosts, HP Web Jetadmin will scan these nodes for the SNMP Proxy Agent or WMI depending on discovery settings. See the white paper on PC Connected Discovery for more details.

Question: What about troubleshooting HP Web Jetadmin Discovery?

Answer : Troubleshooting network connected device discovery is fairly easy. HP Web Jetadmin must be able to communicate via SNMP with the devices before they can be discovered. If only one device cannot be discovered, SNMP may have been disabled or the device may have a Get Community Name on it. These items can be checked on the device by using the device Embedded Web Server Network tab. If there are lots of devices that cannot be discovered and the devices have not had SNMP disabled, the network may be inhibiting SNMP communication. Check with network administrators to learn if SNMP is being blocked or if there is a common SNMP Get Community name in place on large numbers of devices.