Discovery profiles

System discovery can use a discovery profile to discover manageable resources. A discovery profile is a group of discovery settings that are saved on IBM® Flex System Manager. Settings for the profile include the type of resources to be discovered, and whether to automatically request access to or collect inventory for discovered resources. IBM Flex System Manager includes several default profiles that you can use, or you can create profiles to suit your specific requirements.

Several options exist for working with discovery profiles. You can use the System Discovery page to run an existing profile or create a unique profile. Use the Manage Discovery Profiles page to create, copy, edit, delete, or run discovery profiles. Choosing to create or edit a discovery profile launches the Discovery Profile wizard, which helps you configure the profile.

Typically, a default discovery profile searches the primary subnet for the specified target resources. Default profiles automatically use the IP address range of the current subnet, as determined by the last start of the IBM Flex System Manager. You can also create a profile that you base on a default profile. Simply changing the IP addresses might be sufficient to create a profile that suits your needs.

When discovering a large number of resources, network traffic associated with the discovery process might cause timeouts that result in some discoverable resources remaining undiscovered. To help prevent this problem, use one or more discovery profiles. Using a discovery profile enables you to target specific resources and limit the number of communication protocols used during discovery. Limiting the number of communication protocols used when discovering a large number of resources helps avoid problems caused by network traffic collisions and timeouts.

When you need to create a unique profile, the Discovery Profile wizard assists you in identifying the type (and subtype) of resource that you want to discover and configuring the necessary protocols. For more information about creating, editing and deleting profiles, see "Managing discovery profiles".