Discovery probes and drivers

The probing of topology is accomplished by using the discovery drivers that are identified in the following .import files:

BASEDIR/smarts/conf/discovery/DISCOVERY_<vendor>.import
BASEDIR/smarts/conf/discovery/DISCOVERY_CUSTOM.import

The main drivers are identified in the DISCOVERY_<vendor>.import files, and the custom drivers, also known as discovery hook scripts, are identified in the DISCOVERY_CUSTOM.import files. IP Manager User Guide provides information about the custom drivers. By default, the custom drivers are not configured and therefore do not run.

The discovery process calls the discovery probes that are listed in Discovery probes, in the order that the probes are listed. Each probe will call one or more discovery drivers.

Table 1. Discovery probes

Probe name 1	Applicable to these systems	Available to these IP Manager products
1  Not all probes are listed in this table. 2  Performance probes and Host Resources probes are also known as Health probes. 3  Requires a feature license to enable the Performance probe. 4  Requires a feature license to enable the Host Resources probe.
Name Resolution	All systems	All IP Manager products
Containment	All systems	All IP Manager products
VLAN	Bridges, switches	All IP Manager products
Bridge	Bridges, switches	All IP Manager products
HSRP	Routers	All IP Manager products
VRRP	Routers	All IP Manager products
IP Network	All systems	All IP Manager products
Virtual Router	Routers, switches	All IP Manager products
Neighbor	All systems	All IP Manager products
Performance 2	All systems	IP Availability and Performance Manager running as a single process, IP Performance Manager 3,IP Server Performance Manager 3
Host Resources 2	All systems	IP Server Performance Manager 4

The actual probes and associated discovery drivers that run for a specific device are specified in the oid2type configuration files. A specific device is identified by a unique OID. If a probe is not specified for a specific device, the IP Manager skips the probe.

The probes operate in series, one immediately following the other. In the event that one of the discovery probes is unable to complete, the discovery process does not stop. Instead, discovery proceeds with the next probe. Events that can prevent a discovery probe from completing are discussed in “Discovery error scenarios and results” on page 186.