Configuring the BMC Discovery Outpost

Once registered with the BMC Helix Discovery service, the BMC Discovery Outpost requires little configuration. However, you may need to change some settings, for example, the log level or the port on which the BMC Discovery Outpost listens for connections. 

Related topics

BMC-Discovery-Outpost-system-requirements

Registering-an-Outpost-with-the-BMC-Helix-Discovery-service

Troubleshooting-BMC-Discovery-Outpost-connectivity-issues

To configure the BMC Discovery Outpost

  1. Log in to the BMC Discovery Outpost UI and select Manage > Configuration.
    The Outpost Configuration page displays. The following image shows enabled automatic updating, and the BMC Outpost is up-to-date:       
    Auto Update enabled.png

    The following image shows that an update is available on a BMC Discovery Outpost where automatic updating is disabled. BMC recommends that you leave automatic updates enabled.
    Auto Update disabled.png

  2. Make any required changes to the settings on this page and click Apply.

    Field Name

    Details

    Name

    The name of the BMC Discovery Outpost. This is displayed in any BMC Helix Discovery service or appliance with which the BMC Discovery Outpost is registered.

    Address

    The address of the BMC Discovery Outpost. This name or address forms part of the URL of the BMC Discovery OutpostUI.

    Changing the address changes the URL needed to access the BMC Discovery Outpost.

    Port

    The port on which the BMC Discovery Outpost listens for connections. If you change the port, you must restart the BMC Discovery Outpostservice.

    Scope

    Enter the scope that this BMC Discovery Outpostwill apply to IP addresses to distinguish between overlapping address spaces. The default scope is Default.

    See Overlapping-IP-addresses for more information.

    You should set the IP Ranges, Excluded IP Ranges, and Scope settings as a group to ensure that the BMC Discovery Outpostonly scans the required IP addresses, and where appropriate applies a scope to the IP addresses.

    IP Ranges

    The IP ranges that the BMC Discovery Outpost is permitted to scan.

    Tip

    A credential held in a BMC Discovery Outpost cannot be used in another BMC Discovery Outpost. You should ensure that if you restrict the ranges here, the credentials on this BMC Discovery Outpost are valid for the permitted IP ranges.

    By default this is All IP Addresses. If you deselect the check box, a field is displayed enabling you to enter IP address information in one of the following formats:
    • IPv4 address (for example 192.168.1.100). Labelled v4.
    • IPv6 address (for example 2001:500:100:1187:203:baff:fe44:91a0). Labelled v6.
    • IPv4 range (for example 192.168.1.100-105, 192.168.1.100/24, or 192.168.1.*). Labelled v4.
    As you enter text, the UI divides it into pills (discrete editable units) when you enter a space or a comma. According to the text entered, the pill is formatted to represent one of the previous formats or presented as invalid.

    Exclude IP Ranges

    The IP ranges that the BMC Discovery Outpost is not permitted to scan. By default this is None, that is, no IP addresses are excluded from scanning. If you deselect the check box, a field is displayed enabling you to enter IP address information for IP addresses that are not to be scanned. Enter IP address information in the same way as for the IP address field.

    Logging level

    Choose a level at which the 

    BMC Discovery Outpost

     writes logs. The following log levels are available for selection:

    • Debug — Specifies fine-grained informational events that are most useful to debug the application.
    • Info — Specifies informational messages that highlight the progress of the application at coarse-grained level.
    • Warning — Specifies potentially harmful situations.
    • Error — Specifies error events that might still allow the application to continue running.
    • Critical — Specifies severe error events that might cause the application to abort.

    If you select Debug, you are asked to confirm your selection as the Debug level logging can impact the performance of the BMC Discovery Outpost.

    Auto Update

    The BMC Discovery Outpost can be automatically updated. The default setting is to enable automatic updates, and we recommend that you do not disable automatic updates. If automatic updates are disabled, and an update is available, a notice is displayed in the header of the BMC Discovery Outpost UI, and in the Configuration page. Click either notice to update the BMC Discovery Outpost. The UI banner shows the progress of the update. The update is downloaded from s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com.

    Use WMI

    Choose whether to enable WMI queries from BMC Discovery Outpost. Select the timeout for WMI queries. The default is 120 seconds.

    Use RemQuery

    Choose whether to enable RemQuery from BMC Discovery Outpost. Select the timeout for RemQuery requests. The default is 60 seconds.

    FIPS 140-2

    Shows whether FIPS 140-2 is enabled on the BMC Discovery Outpost host. See Running-in-FIPS-compliant-mode for information on FIPS and BMC Helix Discovery, and consult the Microsoft documentation for the version of Windows that you are using.