Editing the Configuration File

You must tell the Discovery Agent where to send asset information, and also about a couple of other settings. This is accomplished via a configuration file. It’s a simple text file that you can edit with Notepad, or your favorite editor.

Please note that you need to set "configured" (under "Settings") to "yes", if you want the Agent to start collecting data. This flags makes sure that after the first install, the Agent does not start working with an invalid configuration.

For Windows, the configuration file is located in the “%ALLUSERSPROFILE%/Langner/OTbase Discovery Agent” folder on your system. The filename is “Discovery Agent.cfg”. It is organized in different sections. For Linux, the file is located under "/etc/langner/otbase-discovery-agent/".

Network

This section(s) define the various networks found on you machine. Each network has its own section and starts with "Network" followed by the delimiter ":" and the network address incl. the mask.

name

Enter the name of this network. The default name is the network address incl. the mask. When in doubt, ask your OTbase Inventory administrator. If this network is also used by other devices a common name should be selected.

location_id

Enter the location ID for this network. When in doubt, ask your OTbase Inventory administrator.

interface

Added with v2.0

Name of the network interface. Read-only property.

Device

This section defines the settings related to the local device where OTbase Discovery Agent is run on. You only need to change fields in this section if you experience that the values were not discovered properly.

hardware_vendor

Automatically detects the hardware vendor when set to “auto”. Change this field only if the hardware vendor was not detected correctly after the first export.

hardware_model

Automatically detects the hardware model when set to “auto”. Change this field if the hardware model was not detected correctly after the first export.

hardware_type

Automatically detects the hardware type when set to “auto”. Set a different value if the hardware type was not correctly detected after the first export.

hardware_product_description

Automatically retrieves the product description when set to “auto”. Change this field if you prefer a different hardware model description after the first export.

Export

In this section you configure how the Discovery Agent exports data to OTbase Inventory.

execute_at

This field, with a default of 00:00 (midnight), specifies the time each day when the agent will run the probe and export data. You set this time using the hh:mm 24 hour format. For example, if you set execute_at to 14:30, the agent will run every day at 2:30 PM local time.

host_key

This field is used for SSH host key checks, ensuring secure connections. When connecting to SSH servers, OTbase Discovery Agent verifies the identity of the server using the provided host key. This enhances security by preventing man-in-the-middle attacks. Default is empty, i.e., no host key specified.

host_key_verification

Determines whether to verify the host key. This setting controls if the OTbase Discovery Agent should verify the SSH host key during connections. The default is “no”.

ip_or_hostname

Specifies the IP address or hostname to which data is exported. This field determines the destination server for the data exported by OTbase Discovery Agent , ensuring that the collected information reaches the intended endpoint.

is_active

The field controls whether data export is turned on or off. By default, it is set to "yes," meaning exports are active. You can change it to "no" to stop exports without stopping the entire service.

user

This field specifies the username if you export via SSH or fileshare.

password

This field is used to specify the password if you export via SSH or fileshare.

path

Defines the file path where the export data will be saved / sent to. For sending to OTbase Inventory, please use "/agent-sink/agentsink.php". Default is empty, in which case the exported file will be placed in the same directory as the configuration file.

proxy_ip_or_hostname

This field specifies information to route the connection through a proxy server.

Type

This setting specifies the protocol or method used for exporting data. Allowed values are "none", "http", "https", "ssh", and "file" (default).

Export.Certificate

This section is only required if your OTbase Inventory checks the identity of Discovery connections via SSH client certificates. In this case you can provide the necessary information here.

certificate

Path to the certificate file. This field specifies the location of the certificate file used to secure data exports, ensuring encrypted and authenticated connections.

private_key

Path to the private key file. This field indicates the location of the private key file associated with the certificate, necessary for establishing secure communications.

Settings

This section contains general settings.

location_id

Enter the location ID for this device. When in doubt, ask your OTbase Inventory administrator.

name

If left empty, the device’s hostname will be used. This name is applied to the export file (e.g., “My-Device.OT-BASE”), ensuring each file is easily identifiable.

performance_monitoring

Turns on or off performance monitoring by saving monitor log files using Logman. Default is “yes”.

configured

Set this to "yes" once you have completely configured OTbase Discovery Agent. This will enable the OTbase Discovery Agent to start collecting data.

remote_configuration

Added with v2.0

Set this to "yes" if you want to allow configuration of the OTbase Discovery Agent via OTbase Discovery Manager. 

remote_update

Added with v2.0

Set this to "yes" if you want to allow OTbase Discovery Manager to install software updates and uninstall OTbase Discovery Agent. 

Credentials

Added with v2.0

This section stores the credentials (username and password) for remote access via OTbase Discovery Manager.

user

Username to be used for accessing the OTbase Discovery Agent node via OTbase Discovery Manager.

password

Password to be used for accessing the OTbase Discovery Agent node via OTbase Discovery Manager. The password will be removed by the Discovery Agent and stored as a hashed value in the "password_encrypted" field. There is no way to restore the password to its original value, i.e., if you do not remember the password, simply provide a new password here.

password_encrypted

Hashed value of the password. Read-only property.