Manual Discovery and Logon Scripts

In addition to scheduled and menu-driven discovery, xAssets supports manual discovery methods for situations where the standard approach is not suitable -- for example, machines behind restrictive firewalls, laptops that connect intermittently, or environments where remote WMI access is blocked.

Everything on this page runs PCAnalyser from the Collection Server share, so it needs a machine that can reach that share -- on the LAN or on VPN. For machines that never reach it (work-from-home laptops, internet-only devices) PCAnalyser is instead installed on the machine itself and uploads over HTTPS; see Deploying PCAnalyser as an Agent. The two are complementary: a logon script covers the office estate, the installed agent covers the rest, and both feed the same Load Now.

Manual Discovery Using PCAnalyser

From any PC that has network access to the Collection Server share, you can run discovery manually using the Start > Run dialog or a command prompt:

\\<collectionserver>\pcanalyser\pcanalyser.exe /enc /flags 535 /idle

This command:

1. Runs the PCAnalyser agent on the local machine (takes approximately 4 seconds)
2. Writes an encrypted PCA file to \\<collectionserver>\pcanalyser\netdiscover
3. Exits without leaving any files or services on the local machine

The PCA file is encrypted and can be viewed using the PCA File Viewer application, which is installed on the Collection Server under Start > xAssets Collection Server.

Manual Discovery Using XDSL Scripts

If the PCAnalyser folder structure is in place on a Collection Server, you can also launch a compiled XDSL script executable directly from the command line. This creates:

• PCA files -- if PCAnalyser was one of the selected technologies in the script
• PCZ files -- containing DNS information and data from agentless discovery techniques (WMI, SNMP, Remote Registry)

This approach is useful for one-off discovery of a specific subnet without going through the web interface.

Logon Script Discovery

Logon script discovery runs the PCAnalyser executable automatically each time a user logs on to their computer (or reboots). This is particularly useful when:

• Remote or mobile users (e.g., salespeople with laptops) only connect to the network occasionally
• Restrictive firewalls prevent remote WMI or SNMP access from the Collection Server
• Different administrator passwords across machines prevent a single Credential Pack from working everywhere
• You want continuous, passive discovery that captures data whenever machines connect

How to Set Up Logon Script Discovery

1. Add a call to the PCAnalyser executable in your Active Directory Group Policy logon script:

   \\<collectionserver>\pcanalyser\pcanalyser.exe /enc /flags 535 /idle
   

2. The /idle flag ensures PCAnalyser waits until the system is idle before running, minimising impact on login speed
3. Each time a user logs on, the agent runs and writes an updated PCA file to the Collection Server share
4. The data loader picks up these files and imports them into the database on its next run

Logon Script Considerations

Loading the Data

Regardless of whether data was collected manually or via logon scripts, the PCA files must be loaded into the database. This happens automatically when the data loader runs, or you can trigger it manually with Discover > Load Now (see Loading Discovery Data).

Related Articles

• Running Discovery — standard menu-driven discovery
• The PCAnalyser Folder — understanding the file share structure
• Deploying PCAnalyser as an Agent — the same agent installed on the machine, for laptops that never see the share
• Collecting Additional Fields — the /settings switch and pcasettings.ini, for licence keys and other values outside the standard field set
• Loading Discovery Data — importing results into the database
• Choosing a Discovery Strategy — when to use logon scripts vs. other methods