Troubleshooting network discovery problems in Cloud Security for Endpoints

Cloud Security for Endpoints by Bitdefender protects systems using security technology that has been rated number one time and time again. It does not require on-site server hardware and maintenance as it is managed by Cloud Security Console, a powerful and intuitive interface to a solution that can scale to defend any number of systems, no matter where they are located.

This article provides instructions for troubleshooting network discovery problems in Cloud Security for Endpoints. To learn how network discovery works in Cloud Security for Endpoints, check this article.

Cloud Security for Endpoints relies on the Microsoft Computer Browser service to perform network discovery. Network discovery problems in Cloud Security for Endpoints are usually related to the Computer Browser service operation. Occasionally, network discovery might fail due to NetBIOS name resolution issues, communication problems between Endpoint Client and Cloud Security Console or to internal errors.

Important

Before proceeding to troubleshooting, consider the following:

• In complex network environments consisting of multiple workgroups and domains, it might take up to a few hours until all computers are detected and displayed in Cloud Security Console.
• When new computers are connected to the network, they do not show up in Cloud Security Console immediately. The Computer Browser service requires some time to learn about the new computers (in the worst case, up to about one hour). Additional time is added depending on when an Endpoint Client queries the service for the new computer list.

Normally, in a few minutes after installing Endpoint Client on a computer in your network, most of the computers from the client’s visibility area (workgroup, domain) should be displayed as unmanaged in Cloud Security Console, on the Computers page.

If no computers are displayed after installing the first Endpoint Client, follow these troubleshooting steps:

1.       Check that the client is displayed as managed computer in Cloud Security Console and that it is online. Go to the Computers page to view this information. If the client does not appear as managed computer or if it is offline for some time, you must identify and troubleshoot the condition that prevents communication between Endpoint Client and Cloud Security Console. After solving the communication problem, you must wait for about an hour until network discovery is performed again.

2.       Run the net view command on the client computer and check the results. This command displays the list of computers from the client’s visibility area (workgroup, domain). The same computer list should be available in Cloud Security Console.

a.       Press the Windows and R keys simultaneously to open the Windows Run dialog.

b.      Type cmd and press Enter to open a command prompt window.

c.       Type net view and press Enter.

Proceed as follows:

• If no computers are displayed, go to the next troubleshooting step. The problem is related to the Computer Browser service.
• If the net view command does return a list of computers, contact us to further investigate this issue.

3.       Make sure the Computer Browser service is started on the client computer.

a.       Press the Windows and R keys simultaneously to open the Windows Run dialog.

b.      Type services.msc and press Enter to open the Services window.

c.       Locate the service in the list and check its status. If the service is stopped, start it. You must wait for about an hour before computer detection is performed again.

4.       Check if the client computer can reach the WINS server and resolve NetBIOS names.

5.       Make sure the client computer is in a workgroup or domain and connected to an IPv4 local network.

6.       If the computer is in a workgroup, check if there are other network computers in the same workgroup. If the workgroup includes just a few computers, chances are the Computer Browser service is not working properly within the workgroup.

7.       Check that the NetBIOS over TCP/IP protocol is enabled and allowed by the local firewall.

8.       Check that the network computers have a policy assigned to them in the Policies > View Policies section in the Cloud Security Console. If a policy is not assigned, create one from the Policies > Create New Policy section.

If no computers are displayed after installing Endpoint Client on additional computers, the previous troubleshooting steps must be performed for each computer with Endpoint Client installed. Alternatively, you can check the general requirements for network discovery to work, as described hereinafter.  

Important

After installing each Endpoint Client, you might need to wait for about an hour before network discovery is performed and detected computers show up in Cloud Security Console.

If some computers have not been detected, check the following possible causes:

• Computers directly connected to the Internet, but having no connection to the local network, will never be detected.
• Computers in a workgroup or domain where Endpoint Client has not been installed yet will not be detected.

o   For full network visibility, Endpoint Client must be installed on at least one computer in each workgroup or domain in your network.  Ideally, Endpoint Client should be installed on at least one computer in each subnetwork.

o   To detect computers in another domain, there must be a trust relationship between domains.

• On the computers that have not been detected, make sure the following conditions are met:

o   Computer Browser service is started.

o   File sharing is enabled and allowed by the local firewall.

o   Network discovery is turned on (for Windows Vista or later).

o   NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled and allowed by the local firewall.

• The Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) infrastructure must be set up and working properly across the entire network.
• Computer Browser does not work over IPv6 networks. Computers using IPv6 addresses only will not be detected.

For additional troubleshooting information, check this article on the Microsoft Support website.

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