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Administration Guide

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Container icon

Containers are logical groups that are used to organize network devices. See Configure container for devices for more information. Click the Container icon to manually add, delete, and automatically discover devices, and to view and edit device properties.

Note

A device must be given a unique name in order to appear in Topology. You cannot add devices with duplicate names.

Note

Any device you add to a container must be reachable by IP through ICMP/Ping and then with the SNMP v1 or v3 credentials. Check firewall settings to determine whether the device is reachable prior to adding the device to a container. Make sure ICMP is enabled on the network.

Network devices should have static IP addresses or dynamic IP addresses that are reserved. Once a device that provides network services had been identified in FortiNAC there is no mechanism to automatically update the IP address for that device if there is a change. If the IP address on the device itself is changed, the device appears in FortiNAC to be offline or to have a communication error.

See Control access for additional information on that Container Icon feature.

When a Container is selected in the Topology, the panel on the right displays Devices, Ports and SSIDs tabs. These contain lists of every device and every port that reside within the selected container. Hosts that display both in Host View and Topology are not included in the Devices tab because they are managed through the Host View, and are indicated by the number of host devices not shown.

The title bar of the Devices panel shows the number of devices Displayed, Total Devices in the database and Host Devices that are not shown. The view in Host View link allows you to display the hosts that are managed in Host View.

To see host devices, expand the appropriate Container in the tree. Hover over an item in the tree to display the associated tool tip. The tool tip indicates whether the item is a Host or a Network Device.

Settings

Field

Definition

Devices Tab

When Customer or Node is selected, the Devices tab is displayed with a list of all Devices in the database. Devices are also displayed in the tree under the Container in which they reside. See Device view.

Hosts that are displayed both in Host View and Topology are not displayed in the table of devices because they are managed in the Host View. They are displayed in the tree.

Click the View in Host View link to display the hosts that are managed in Host View.

Selecting a device from the Devices tab or from the tree provides you with the same set of right-click options.

Add a device by right-clicking the Container icon or selecting Add on the Devices tab.

Ports Tab

When Customer or Node is selected, the Ports tab is displayed with a list of all Ports in the database. Ports are read from devices and cannot be added manually. See Ports view.

SSIDs Tab

When Customer or Node is selected, the SSIDs tab is displayed with a list of all SSIDs in the database. SSIDs are read from devices and cannot be added manually. See SSID view

Right click options

Add Device

Adds an SNMP device to the selected container. See Add or modify a device

Add Pingable Device

Adds hubs, IPS/IDS, printers, servers, wireless access points and other non-SNMP or pingable devices to a container. See Add or modify a pingable device.

Convert Pingables To Hosts

Converts one or more selected non-SNMP or pingable devices to hosts. After conversion these devices are removed from Network Devices but do display both in the Topology and the Host View. See Convert all pingables to hosts.

Wireless access points added as pingables cannot be converted to hosts.

Start Discovery

Searches the network based on user specified IP ranges and determines what SNMP enabled devices exist on the network. Once a device is discovered, FortiNAC creates a model for the device in the database and places the device in the Network Devices list. See Discovery.

Container icon

Containers are logical groups that are used to organize network devices. See Configure container for devices for more information. Click the Container icon to manually add, delete, and automatically discover devices, and to view and edit device properties.

Note

A device must be given a unique name in order to appear in Topology. You cannot add devices with duplicate names.

Note

Any device you add to a container must be reachable by IP through ICMP/Ping and then with the SNMP v1 or v3 credentials. Check firewall settings to determine whether the device is reachable prior to adding the device to a container. Make sure ICMP is enabled on the network.

Network devices should have static IP addresses or dynamic IP addresses that are reserved. Once a device that provides network services had been identified in FortiNAC there is no mechanism to automatically update the IP address for that device if there is a change. If the IP address on the device itself is changed, the device appears in FortiNAC to be offline or to have a communication error.

See Control access for additional information on that Container Icon feature.

When a Container is selected in the Topology, the panel on the right displays Devices, Ports and SSIDs tabs. These contain lists of every device and every port that reside within the selected container. Hosts that display both in Host View and Topology are not included in the Devices tab because they are managed through the Host View, and are indicated by the number of host devices not shown.

The title bar of the Devices panel shows the number of devices Displayed, Total Devices in the database and Host Devices that are not shown. The view in Host View link allows you to display the hosts that are managed in Host View.

To see host devices, expand the appropriate Container in the tree. Hover over an item in the tree to display the associated tool tip. The tool tip indicates whether the item is a Host or a Network Device.

Settings

Field

Definition

Devices Tab

When Customer or Node is selected, the Devices tab is displayed with a list of all Devices in the database. Devices are also displayed in the tree under the Container in which they reside. See Device view.

Hosts that are displayed both in Host View and Topology are not displayed in the table of devices because they are managed in the Host View. They are displayed in the tree.

Click the View in Host View link to display the hosts that are managed in Host View.

Selecting a device from the Devices tab or from the tree provides you with the same set of right-click options.

Add a device by right-clicking the Container icon or selecting Add on the Devices tab.

Ports Tab

When Customer or Node is selected, the Ports tab is displayed with a list of all Ports in the database. Ports are read from devices and cannot be added manually. See Ports view.

SSIDs Tab

When Customer or Node is selected, the SSIDs tab is displayed with a list of all SSIDs in the database. SSIDs are read from devices and cannot be added manually. See SSID view

Right click options

Add Device

Adds an SNMP device to the selected container. See Add or modify a device

Add Pingable Device

Adds hubs, IPS/IDS, printers, servers, wireless access points and other non-SNMP or pingable devices to a container. See Add or modify a pingable device.

Convert Pingables To Hosts

Converts one or more selected non-SNMP or pingable devices to hosts. After conversion these devices are removed from Network Devices but do display both in the Topology and the Host View. See Convert all pingables to hosts.

Wireless access points added as pingables cannot be converted to hosts.

Start Discovery

Searches the network based on user specified IP ranges and determines what SNMP enabled devices exist on the network. Once a device is discovered, FortiNAC creates a model for the device in the database and places the device in the Network Devices list. See Discovery.