Defining a scanner

A scanner is a device of your network that is capable of scanning other devices for their assets. Contrary to the scanned devices the scanner must have a CM agent installed and have the asset discovery module loaded. Any device with a supported Windows or Linux operating system can be defined as a scanner. For more information on supported operating systems, see Software requirements.

A device may be configured as a scanner in the following different locations:

To designate a device as a scanner

Any device can be defined as a Scanner either via the Device Topology or the device group node of which the device is a member.

1. Select the Device Topology or the Device Groups node, of which the desired device is a member in the left window pane.
2. Select the device to become a Scanner.
3. Select Edit > Properties  .
   The Properties pop-up menu appears.
4. Go down to the lower part of the window and check the box next to the Asset Discovery Scanner option. For devices which do not have the required operating system, this option is not accessible.
5. Click OK to confirm and close the window.

The device will be added to the table of Scanners and it will appear in the list of Scanners under the main Asset Discovery node.

To add a device as a scanner

You can directly add a device as a Scanner under the Scanners node. Any device that fulfills the predefined requirements can be a scanner in BMC Client Management - Inventory. The master is a scanner by default.

To define a device as a scanner,

1. Select the Asset Discovery node and then go to the Scanners node in the left window pane.
2. Click Edit > Add Device  .
   The Add a Scanner pop-up menu displays displaying the list of all devices, that can be a scanner because of their operating system.
3. Select the device to be added from one of the list boxes.
4. Click OK to confirm and close the window.

The device will be added to the table of Scanners and its configuration parameter will be updated.