Zoomed Image
USA
800 691 9120
UK
01225 704844

The PCAnalyser Folder

xAssets IT Asset Management User Guide
Discovering a Network

The PCAnalyser Folder

The PCAnalyser folder is the central file share used by the discovery engine. It holds the PCAnalyser executable, stores all discovery output files, and serves as the communication point between the discovery agents and the data loader.

Folder Structure

Screenshot

The PCAnalyser share contains the following key items:

Item Purpose
pcanalyser.exe The lightweight discovery agent. This executable is copied to and run on each discovered machine's CPU. It typically takes 0.25 to 4 seconds to execute.
netdiscover The holding folder where all discovery engines and agents write data back to the Collection Server or application server. This is where PCA, PCZ, PCV, and PCS files accumulate.
scripts Used for specialised discovery scripting scenarios (custom VBScripts or batch files)

Share Permissions

The PCAnalyser folder must be set up as a Null Session Share with NTFS permissions granted to ANONYMOUS LOGON and EVERYONE. This is required because:

  • When a discovery script launches PCAnalyser on a remote machine, the process runs under SYSTEM credentials on that machine
  • The SYSTEM account on a remote machine does not have authenticated access to network shares by default
  • The Null Session Share allows the process to write discovery data back to the share without needing domain authentication

Warning: If the PCAnalyser share permissions are not configured correctly, discovery will appear to run but no PCA files will be written. This is one of the most common causes of "discovery ran but found nothing."

File Types in the netdiscover Folder

Extension Source Description
.PCA PCAnalyser agent Encrypted hardware and software inventory data from the target machine
.PCZ XDSL script DNS, WMI, Remote Registry, and SNMP data collected by the agentless discovery engine
.PCV VBScript Output from custom VBScripts run on target machines
.PCS SQL Server Analyser SQL Server instance, database, and file information

Viewing PCA Files

PCA files are encrypted and cannot be read in a text editor. To inspect their contents:

  1. On the Collection Server, navigate to Start > xAssets Collection Server
  2. Open the PCA File Viewer application
  3. Browse to a PCA file in the netdiscover folder

PCZ and PCV files are plain text and can be opened in any text editor for troubleshooting.

Tips

  • If discovery output files are not appearing in the netdiscover folder, check the share permissions and verify that the ANONYMOUS LOGON account has write access
  • Over time, the netdiscover folder accumulates many files. The data loader processes and archives them, but you may want to monitor disk space on the Collection Server
  • The PCAnalyser executable does not install anything on the target machine and does not modify any files -- it runs, collects data, writes the output, and exits