Devices replacing each other in N-able N-central

Last Modified

Thu Mar 12 13:51 GMT 2020

Description

  • Two or more devices with installed agents merge and connect to a single device entry in N-able N-central containing a random combination of each device's information

Environment

  • N-able N-central

Solution

  • N-able N-central uses a variety of methods to identify whether or not a device is unique. Chief among these is the MAC addresses present on a device. If N-able N-central detects the same MAC address on multiple devices, N-able N-central 's logic may consider these to be the same device. This issue has become more significant with Mini Wan Ports, VPN and RAS adapter which have virtual network interfaces with repeating MAC addresses and using same Docking Station when setting up new devices for N-able N-central .
  1. For N-able N-central 10.1 and above:
    1. Stop the Windows Agent and Windows Agent Maintenance services on each of the merged devices.
    2. Run "C:\Program Files (x86)\N-able Technologies\Windows Agent\bin\NcentralAssetTool.exe -d".
    3. Delete the following files:
      • C:\Windows\temp\NcentralAsset.xml
      • C:\Program Files (x86)\N-able Technologies\NcentralAsset.xml
  2. Uninstall the agent on all "merged" devices.
  3. Delete the entry in N-able N-central .
  4. At the customer level, click Add/Import devices.
  5. Click More Options
  6. Under Manually Create a Device that Represents an External Website or IP Address, click Add Device.
  7. Add all necessary details.
  8. Click Save.
  9. In the Device Details, select Settings -> Local Agent.
  10. Download the agent from the link on the Local Agent page and install on the target device.
  11. When prompted, enter the activation key found in N-able N-central above the download link.
  • Prevention
    • This issue can often be prevented by:
      • Excluding non-unique MAC addresses (VPN adapters,Docking Station for example)
  1. Identify MAC addresses that repeat amongst devices.
  2. In N-able N-central , select Administration > Defaults > Discovery Defaults.
  3. Scroll down to MAC Addresses > Exclude > Add New MAC Address.
  4. Enter the MAC Address identified in Step 1.
  5. Repeat as needed.
  • Enabling DNS Scavenging
  1. Login to the DNS server(s) and open DNS Manager (Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > DNS )
  2. Right-Click an applicable DNS server
  3. Click Set Aging / Scavenging for all zones
  4. Ensure that Scavenge stale resource records is checked
  5. Set the No-refresh interval and Refresh interval so the combined duration is equal to or less than your DHCP lease
  • For example, if your DHCP lease is 24 hours, the default for each field could be 12 hours or less
  1. Click OK
  2. Check Apply these settings to the existing Active Directory-integrated zones
  3. Click OK
  4. Right-click the DNS server again
  5. Click Scavenge State Resource Records to start immediate scavenging