Device types
Topology Type
The topology type makes two basic distinctions between the devices stored in the CM database:
Icon | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Super Master | This icon indicates that the device is of topology type super master and its operating system is Linux or Window or the last icon indicates that the operating system is not known. |
| Master | This icon indicates that the device is of topology type master and its operating system is Linux / Window or the last icon indicates that the operating system is not known. |
| Relay | This device is of type relay with a Linux / Windows / Mac or unknown operating system. |
| Client | This device is of type client with a Linux / Windows / Mac or unknown operating system. |
Icon | Type | Description |
| Unmanaged | The device is an unmanaged device, that is, the device is not connected to the network but is registered as a member or it has no CM agent installed but has its inventory and other data generated and uploaded to the master via USB or another device with CM agent . |
| Unknown | The device was created either manually or via an active directory synchronization but is not part of the managed objects of CM as it has no CM agent installed. This type of device is a subtype of the unmanaged device type. |
| Scanned | The device is a scanned device, that is, the device does not have an CM agent installed but was scanned by a vulnerability scanner. If the scan was successfully executed the "blue" scanned device icon is used, if the scan failed the "red" scanned icon will be shown. |
| Deprecated | The device is a deprecated device, that is, the device has arrived at its end of life and been (physically) removed from the IT park but its data is still archived in the database. |
Connection Status
The connection status only applies to devices with an installed CM agent and indicates if the device is currently reachable or not. The color of the icon indicates the respective connection status.
Icon | Connection Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Established | The connection with the device is established and everything is running smoothly. |
| Lost | The device was lost. A device is declared as lost when the master has not received any sign of life of the device for a longer period of time than that specified in the System Variables under the Device Lost Delay entry. |
Operating System
If it is known, the symbol on the client icon indicates the operating system of the respective device. This is applicable to devices with and without CM agent , however, devices of type Unknown never display their operating system; being unknown, their OS cannot be detected. Neither do the icons of scanned devices display the operating system, though this can be found.
Icon | Operating System | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | These icons, a running master and a lost, an unmanaged and a deprecated device all have Windows as their operating system. |
| Linux | These icons display Linux as the devices‘ operating system. |
| Mac OS X | These icons display Mac as the devices' operating system. |
| Unknown | These icons only display their topology type and connection status, because the operating system for the respective device could not be found. |
Device type evolution
When a device is first found or created in the database it is assigned a topology type. Depending on the operations executed on it, its type might change. However, not all device types can change into any other type, the direction is one-way and cannot be reversed. The following changes of type are possible, but not mandatory:
Source Type | Target Type | Operation Description |
|---|---|---|
Unknown | Scanned | Add the unknown device to a target list and scan it for vulnerabilities. |
| Unmanaged | Execute an asset discovery scan on the unknown device. |
| Agent | Roll out the CM agent to the unknown device. |
Scanned | Unmanaged | Execute an asset discovery scan on the scanned device. |
| Agent | Roll out the CM agent to the scanned device. |
Unmanaged | Agent | Roll out the CM agent to the unmanaged device. |