Overview
This article describes features available in the GFI LanGuard console Computer Tree panel and provides the information on using the Computer Tree to configure the properties, filter, group, search for, or add specific devices that you may need to monitor or perform tasks on.
Information
The Computer Tree is present in various LanGuard console tabs where it helps to define how the retrieved from the database information is displayed. It is possible to select single machines, OU’s, or even entire networks to display the respective collected information in the corresponding tab main window.
The Computer Tree also allows the configuration of certain properties for each machine such as alternative credentials, agent deployment, and scan schedules.
General Information and Basic Usage
The Computer Tree resides in the left side panel of the LanGuard console Dashboard, Remediate and Reports tabs, and lists the Entire Network including Groups, Domains, OUs (Organizational Units), Workgroups, and Individual Machines, as well as Mobile Devices.
For example, in the Dashboard tab when a computer or group is selected from the Computer Tree, results in the Dashboard are automatically updated. Press CRTL and select multiple computers to display results for specific computers.
Along with the browsing option to find and select devices, you may also:
- Filter devices based on specific parameters
- Group devices in different ways
- Search specific machines, workgroups, or OUs (Organizational Units).
Adding Devices to the Computer Tree
Machines can be added to the Computer Tree in several ways:
- Through manual or scheduled scans. In general, when a machine that is not currently listed in the Computer Tree is scanned by LanGuard, it is automatically added to the database on the scanning and its respective OU is queried from the responsible primary DC (if the machine is not a member of a workgroup). This new machine along with the corresponding information is automatically reflected in the Computer Tree.
- Manually, by right-clicking anywhere in the Computer Tree panel and selecting Add More Computers to launch the Add more computers wizard.
- Syncing LanGuard Computer Tree with Active Directory. This Computer Tree feature, among other things, removes computers that have been deleted from Active Directory but are still present in GFI LanGuard, which is one of the effective ways to free used licenses.
- Through the Network Discovery by Adding Machines to GFI LanGuard Console by IP Range, which is a quick method of adding machines that can be automatically detected.
The process of adding machines to the tree is the same in all cases:
- LanGuard determines the NetBIOS name of the target machine (which includes the domain name).
- The machine is placed under the respective domain in the network tree.
- LanGuard then determines whether the domain name belongs to an SMB workgroup (where the ‘domain’ does not have a DC) using the NetGetDCName API.
- In cases where a domain controller is found a query is sent to determine the exact OU of the machine.
The tree is then updated with each scan and the location of each machine in AD reflected in the tree. Meaning, when scanning a computer that moves from an OU to another/renamed OU, LanGuard will reflect that change automatically.
LanGuard also allows you to edit the schema and add additional attributes to it. These can be assigned by the user or OU in order to group and filter them based on user-defined attributes. All the changes related to attributes are stored in the active database LNSSScanResults12.
Removing Devices from the Computer Tree
Deleting machines from the network tree can be achieved by deleting those machines from the database, as described in How to Remove Scanned Computers and Free up Licenses in GFI LanGuard article.
Context Menus
Right-clicking on the objects in the Computer Tree allows you to set up various settings or run operations on the current selection. The settings and operations are covered by the corresponding knowledge articles. Among other things, you can: