LAN Data Collection (Crawler)

The GoToAssist Open Source Crawler is the agent that gathers information throughout your network and sends the information securely to GoToAssist, where you can use it. The Crawler can be installed on a single computer or server to probe your entire network. Everything you see on your GoToAssist web account is discovered by your Crawler.

Note: The Crawler requires at least 24.1 MB of free disk space. If you have any questions, email GoToAssist Support.

Note: It can take up to 24 hours after configuring the Crawler for initial devices to appear in the Inventory and for the Crawler to collect information such as operating system, software installed, etc.

Topics in this article:

Set Up Crawlers

Configure Crawlers

Reconfigure Crawlers

Update Crawlers

Stop, Restart and Uninstall Crawlers

Set Up Crawlers

Once you download the Crawler, a simple GoToAssist Crawler Setup Wizard will take you through the easy installation and configuration process. The Crawler’s default configuration is pre-set for optimum out-of-the-box performance, but you can also reconfigure it at any time after installation.

Warning: To avoid unreliable results, do not configure multiple crawlers to scan the same devices.

To set up a GoToAssist Crawler

1. Log in at www.GoToAssist.com and open the Data Collection application.

2. In the For LAN Data Collection section, click Add a Crawler.

3. In the Download Crawler window, click onClick to show data key in the yellow box. Copy or take note of the alphanumeric code that appears, as you will need it later to complete the installation.

4. After you copy the data key, click on this link link to begin downloading the GoToAssist Crawler Setup Wizard. Click Save File when prompted.

5. Once it finishes downloading, double-click the GoToAssist Crawler executable file ("GoToAssist_crawler_installer.exe") on your computer to open the GoToAssist Crawler Setup Wizard. Click Run when prompted.

6. Once the GoToAssist Crawler Setup Wizard appears, click Next to get started. Then continue following the Setup Wizard's prompts to finish the installation process.

7. Once you click Install on the Ready to Install page of the Setup Wizard, a progress bar indicates the status of the installation. The Wizard alerts you once the Crawler is successfully installed. Click Finish to exit the Setup Wizard.

Once installation is complete, the Crawler icon appears in your system tray, and back in the Data Collection application, your new Crawler appears on the For LAN Data Collection list (see Data Collection for more information).

8. After you click Finish and the Setup Wizard closes, a GoToAssist Crawler Setup window appears so that you can configure your Crawler. If you do not wish to configure your Crawler immediately, simply click Cancel (you can always reconfigure it later).

Configure Crawlers

If you choose to configure a Crawler immediately after installing it, the setup window takes you through the process.

Note: Since the information that you provide during configuration is crucial for the Crawler to provide you with meaningful data about your network, it is vital that this information be kept up-to-date. Even after your initial configuration, you should continue to reconfigure your Crawlers on a regular basis as your network changes.

To initially configure Crawlers

1. After you click Finish to close the GoToAssist Crawler Setup Wizard, the GoToAssist Crawler Setup window automatically appears. Click Next to get started.

2. Follow the instructions at the top of each of the subsequent pages in the Setup window to complete the setup process, clicking Next to move on.

• Choose the Network Adapter to Scan the Network – Use this page to indicate which network your Crawler should be scanning by selecting the correct Network Adapter and IP Address.

• Choose the Networks and Devices to Scan – Use this page to indicate whether you want the Crawler to scan the entire network (the first option) or only certain devices on the network (the second option). For instance, if you decide to set up multiple Crawlers that each scan different groups or devices, you would indicate which ones they should scan here.

Note: If you select the second option, you should leave the "Don't automatically scan the network the Crawler is connected to" checkbox selected; otherwise, the Crawler will behave as if you had the first option selected.

• Enter Windows Domain Credentials – Use this page to give the Crawler access to your network so that it can scan your devices and gather information. Without proper credentials, your Crawler will not work. See Configure Credentials for details on adding credentials.

• Enter More Network Credentials – If you have devices on your network that use credentials other than the Windows Login ones entered on the previous page (such as VMware Hosts or a Zendesk account), you can set up access to them here. You can always add additional credentials later by reconfiguring your Crawler. See Configure a Credential for details on adding credentials.

• Associate this Crawler with a GoToAssist Account – This page allows the installed Crawler to link to your GoToAssist account so that it can send the data it collects back to your Monitoring web account, where it is used by your various applications. To link your Crawler, enter the data key that you copied in Step 3 of Set Up Crawlers.

3. The Crawler Setup indicates when the Crawler is configured. Click Finish to close the window; you can always reconfigure the Crawler later.

Note: It can take up to 24 hours after configuring the Crawler for initial devices to appear in the Inventory and for the Crawler to collect information such as operating system, software installed, etc.

Reconfigure Crawlers

You can modify your Crawler configuration at any time. Since the information that you provide during configuration is crucial for the Crawler to provide you with meaningful data about your network, it is vital that this information be kept up-to-date so that the Crawler can continue to collect the rich data about your IT environment. This ensures optimal monitoring, alerting, and overall management on an overall basis.

To reconfigure Crawlers

1. Right-click the Crawler icon in your system tray and select Configure Crawler from the pop-up menu.

Note: If the Crawler icon does not appear on your system tray, find the GoToAssist Crawler desktop application on your computer and double-click to open it.

2. In the GoToAssist Configuration window, you can use the following tabs to modify the Crawler's configuration:

Service tab

Use this tab to see the status of your Crawler service and manually stop/restart it (by clicking Stop or Start respectively).

Note: The Crawler desktop application must be running and not manually stopped in order for Crawler to gather information about your network.

You can also manage the performance of the Crawler by setting the crawling speed, which causes the Crawler to scan more devices more frequently. The Crawler uses separate processes, rather than separate threads, to perform different actions in parallel. By using separate processes, reliability is increased, but more RAM is used. It is normal to see between 8-25 Crawler processes on the system that hosts your Crawler.

Note: The default value is 7. It is not recommended that you adjust this value unless you require the Crawler to increase its speed, which will cause it to use more RAM.

Credentials tab

Use this tab to set or reset the information that the Crawler uses to see where your discovered devices are located by adding, removing and/or editing credentials (same as the Enter More Network Credentials page in the initial configuration window). See Configure Credentials for details on adding credentials.

Note: These credentials are required for the Crawler to properly access and gather your network information. Each credential type requires a separate configuration. This account information is encrypted on the system on which the Crawler is hosted, and is not sent to the GoToAssist servers.

Automation

If you use the Automation application on your Monitoring web account, you must select the "Enable Automation" checkbox and create a unique password on this tab in order to link the Crawler to your Monitoring web account.

Network

Use this tab to indicate which network your Crawler should be scanning by selecting the correct Network Adapter and IP Address (same as the Choose the Network Adapter to Scan the Network page in the initial configuration window). By default, the Crawler scans only the network that it is directly attached to. However, you can scan additional networks by adding them using CIDR notation. The Crawler then scans its own network, plus the networks you added.

Account

Use this tab to access your Company Data key, which links the Crawler to your GoToAssist account so that it can send the data it collects back to your Monitoring web account (where it is used by your various applications). To link your Crawler, enter the data key that you copied in Step 3 of Set Up Crawlers (same as the Associate this Crawler with a GoToAssist Account page in the initial configuration window). The data key helps keep your data secure, private, and under your control.

Updates

By default, the Crawler checks for updates each time it launches. You can choose to disable this feature by deselecting the checkbox. You can also check for updates manually by clicking Check for Updates Now (if you keep your Crawler running in the background so that it isn't closed and launched very frequently, it is a good idea to check for updates manually). See Update Crawlers for more information.

Tools

Use this tab to manually trigger the Crawler to scan the entire network (which happens every 24 hours by default) or an individual device on the network (with its DNS name or IP Address). This can be useful if you have recently added a new device to your network, and you want the Crawler to discover it before its next scheduled scan.

3. Click Apply or OK when finished.

Check the Status of the Crawler

You can check the status of your Crawler to see information about your scanned devices, any found issues and crawling activity.

To check the Crawler's status

1. Right-click the Crawler icon in your system tray and select Crawling Status from the pop-up menu.

Note: If the Crawler icon does not appear on your system tray, find the GoToAssist Crawler desktop application on your computer and double-click to open it.

2. In the GoToAssist Status window, the following sections appear:

• Devices – In the Devices section, you can see the total number of devices found and how many were active within the last 24 hours.
• Issues – In the Issues section, you can see the total number of issues found, and those that were raised within the last 24 hours. Click Issues to see device, IP, and plugin details. You can make searches from here too:
• Crawling Activity – In the Crawling Activity section, you can see whether the Crawler is running or stopped, as well as the number of active processes, tasks completed in the last hour and tasks in the backlog.

You can also choose from the following options:

• Device Crawl Status – Click Devices to open the Device Crawl Status window and see a detailed list of each device's name, IP Address, when it was last scanned and its status. You can also run plugins and perform Quick Searches from the Device Crawl Status window.

• Issues Log – Click Issues to open the GoToAssist Logs window and see a list of any errors the Crawler encountered while scanning the network. You can also right-click and select Clear Messages to clear the list.

3. Click Close when finished.

Update Crawlers

By default, the Crawler desktop application automatically checks for updates each time it launches. You can also check manually for updates, however (if you keep your Crawler running in the background so that it isn't closed and launched very frequently, it is a good idea to check for updates manually).

To manually check for updates

1. Right-click the Crawler icon in your system tray and select Configure Crawler from the pop-up menu.

Note: If the Crawler icon does not appear on your system tray, find the GoToAssist Crawler desktop application on your computer and double-click to open it.

2. In the Updates tab of the GoToAssist Configuration window, click Check for Updates Now. A "Checking for software updates" message" appears, informing you that any available updates will automatically install. Click OK to close it.

3. Complete the update process below.

To complete the update process

After the updating process begins, the wizard automatically checks for and cleans up the previous version, downloads the selected version, and installs it based on the configuration of the previous version.

1. If an automatic update is available, a Found Updates for Crawler window appears. Select "Download and install now" and click Next.

2. In the Choose Updates to Install window, select a version and click Next (click OK when prompted).

3. A Downloading Updates window appears displaying a progress bar. When it finishes, click Next to continue.

4. In the Installing Updates window, click Finish.

5. In the Update window, click Next.

6. When the files have finished downloading, click Next.

7. GoToAssist applies the original settings to the new version of your Crawler. When the installation process is complete, click Finish.

Note: Sometimes two Crawler icons appear briefly in the lower right corner after updating. The extra icon disappears when you hover your cursor overhead.

To turn automatic updates off and on

1. Right-click the Crawler icon in your system tray and select Configure Crawler from the pop-up menu.

Note: If the Crawler icon does not appear on your system tray, find the GoToAssist Crawler desktop application on your computer and double-click to open it.

2. In the Updates tab of the GoToAssist Configuration window, select or deselect the "Don't automatically install updates when available" checkbox.

Stop, Restart and Uninstall Crawlers

Your Crawler automatically starts when you first install or upgrade it, and continues to gather data whenever the Crawler desktop application is open and running. At any time you can choose to stop it from gathering data while still leaving it open, and then restart it at a later time.

Note: The Crawler desktop application must be running and not manually stopped in order for Crawler to gather information about your network.

To stop or restart Crawlers

You can temporarily prevent Crawlers from scanning your network and gathering data without closing or uninstalling the program, and then restart them at a later time.

1. Right-click the Crawler icon in your system tray and select Configure Crawler from the pop-up menu.

Note: If the Crawler icon does not appear on your system tray, find the GoToAssist Crawler desktop application on your computer and double-click to open it.

2.In the Service tab of the GoToAssist Configuration window, click Stop to prevent the Crawler from scanning your network. Click Apply or OK when finished.

3. The Service Status section indicates when the Crawler service is stopped. To restart it, open the GoToAssist Configuration window again and click Start. Click Apply or OK when finished.

To uninstall Crawlers

1. From the Windows Start menu, click All Programs > Citrix > GoToAssist Crawler > Uninstall GoToAssist Crawler.

2. In the GoToAssist Crawler Uninstall window, click Yes to confirm that you want to completely remove GoToAssist Crawler and all of its components. A progress bar will indicate the status of the installation process.

3. A "GoToAssist Crawler was successfully removed from your computer" message appears once the uninstall process is complete, and the Crawler icon disappears from the system tray. Click OK to close the window. When the uninstall process is complete, click OK.

Crawler Plugins

Perform Quick Searches from Crawlers

Rather than logging in at www.GoToAssist.com and using the Search Index on your Monitoring web account, you can also run a quick search directly from the Crawler desktop application. The Crawler queries the data in your Search Index and displays the results in a new browser window.

To perform a Quick Search from the Crawler desktop application

1. Right-click the Crawler icon in your system tray and select Crawling Status from the pop-up menu.

Note: If the Crawler icon does not appear on your system tray, find the GoToAssist Crawler desktop application on your computer and double-click to open it.

2. Click Devices in the GoToAssist Status window.

3. In the upper-right corner of the Device Crawl Status window, type a simple term or phrase (such as "mysql") into the search field. You can also enter an advanced search using Boolean operators, or even a PQL query (such as "select * from /").

4. Your Monitoring web account will open in a new browser window with the results of your search automatically displayed. You can look over the results and choose from the following options:

• Refine this search to get more specific results.
• Display these results as a chart, table, or graph.
• Save the query to run again in the future.
• Share this query with colleagues at your workplace to use.
• Publish this query to the greater GoToAssist community to run these search criteria against their own data.

| Views: 6164 | Last Updated: Thu, May 09 2013 2:28 PM

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