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Network Inventory Advisor For Mac



Once you have Network Inventory Advisor for Mac installed, you are ready to add nodes. “Nodes” are the Mac OS computers that are connected to your network. NIA for Mac will not detect Windows or Linux devices at this time (see NIA for Windows to scan those devices).

How to Add Nodes

1. Before you start, be sure that each Mac that you wish to scan on your network has Remote Login enabled. Go to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Sharing and check the box next to Remote Login. Be sure that the same administrator-level User is granted access to each Mac you wish to scan during this scanning session.

  • Scan and inventory your Macs network in minutes. Network Inventory Advisor is free for up to 10 Macs to be scanned, and it's fast and easy to setup and run.
  • Mar 02, 2021 The iOS app can be used in tandem with BluePlum's desktop software (Mac only) so your inventory stays up-to-date across all your devices. The remote and desktop app sync with each other once they’re on the same Wi-Fi network so don't have to worry about manually updating.
  • Network Inventory Advisor features several types of scanning to ensure fast & reliable computer inventory. You can inventory every computer running Windows, Mac OS X or Linux in your network, even offline ones. Network SNMP devices are also supported.

2. After launching the program for the first time, you will see a message in the middle of the window that says “Oops, we don’t have anything to inventory yet”. Click the Add Some Nodes Now button. (Alternatively, click the Add icon in the upper-left corner.)

3. At the top of the new window that opens, enter the Mac Administrator username and password that you will need for this scan. This could be network-wide login credentials (if all of your Macs have the same Administrator login information) or you can enter group-level or individual node-level login credentials. The scan will only gather data from those Macs that have the login credentials you enter, and will ignore all others.

With a high-end network audit app like this, you can manage Windows, Mac OS, and Linux nodes and other network devices, all from one place. Network Inventory Advisor is able to detect all software installed across devices on your network. It can automatically track versions, install dates, publisher information and other relevant software data. Download Network Inventory Advisor for Mac for Mac free. Inventory your Mac computers, track software and hardware, compile reports.

4. There are five ways to scan your network:

  • Bonjour – This is typically the easiest way to detect all the Macs connected to your local network. Try this option first.

  • Local Network – If Bonjour is not detecting all of your Macs, try the Local Network option instead. Again, this should detect all Macs connected to your network.

  • IP Range – Use this option if you wish to only scan a certain IP range within your local network.

  • IP/DNS Name – Use this to scan one specific Mac using its IP address or name (to locate that information, see this Apple Support article).

  • My Mac – Use this if you just wish to scan the Mac that NIA is installed on.

5. Select the appropriate option for your network, enter any needed information (such as IP range) and click Start Scan.

6. The nodes detected in the scan will show up in a list in the window. All nodes are selected by default. If you don’t wish to add some nodes, uncheck the box next to their names (to uncheck all the boxes, uncheck the box at the top of the column). When done, click Add Selected Nodes.

8. A network summary will appear. You can view data for the network as a whole, by selecting Network Summary on the far left sidebar and then selecting various categories such as Software, Processors, etc. in the next column. To view the details for a specific node, select the node name from the far-left sidebar.

Managing Nodes

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Right-click on the node name

You have the following options for managing nodes:

  • Delete a Node: Select the node(s) in the left-hand sidebar, and then click on the Manage icon on the upper-left and select Delete Selected Nodes.

  • Delete All Nodes and Groups: If you wish to reset all data and delete ALL nodes and groups at once, click on the Manage icon on the upper-left and select Clear Network.

  • Set Node Login: Right-click on the node name in the left-hand sidebar and select Set Node Login (to erase the login info, select Reset Node Login).

  • Scan a Single Node: Right-click on the node name in the left-hand sidebar and select Scan This Node.

  • To Add a Node to a Group: Right-click on the node name in the left-hand sidebar and select Move to Group -> [group name]. A node can only belong to one group at a time. (See How to Sort Nodes into Groups for more information.)

To Start a New Scan

After you add your nodes, you can rerun a scan at any time:

1. Launch the program. Note that the login credentials you entered the last time you added nodes to the network will be the login credentials used for your next scan. If you need to change the global login credentials, go to the top menu bar and select Network Inventory Advisor > Preferences > Login. See Where do I input network, group and node login information? if you need to set group- or node-level logins.

2. Click the Scan button in the upper-left corner of the window.

3. You have three choices for scanning:

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  • My Mac – will run a scan of just the Mac that NIA is installed on

  • Selected – will scan only those nodes you have selected in the far-left column (hold down the Shift key to select several consecutive nodes, or the Control key to select non-consecutive nodes)

  • Network – will run a scan of the entire network and update the network summary

Network Inventory Program

4. Select the option you need and wait for the scan to finish.

5. See How to Generate, Export and Print a Report if you wish to export or print a report of the scan.

Note: The default is for node details to not be updated until the data is 7 days old. If you wish to update sooner than this, you can change this setting in the preferences. Go to Network Inventory Advisor > Preferences > General from the top menu bar and change the time period where it says “Don’t update node details until they are older than.” If you wish node details to always update immediately, then uncheck the box in front of that statement.