sshcollector Deprecation

Deprecation Notice

The standalone bin/netdisco-sshcollector script is deprecated since release 2.041000. You should run at least version 2.043000 to avoid bugs in operation.

The sshcollector functionality has been incorporated into the core of Netdisco, being run from the arpnip worker. A cron job for netdisco-sshcollector is no longer required and should be removed.

Netdisco will continue to work with the existing sshcollector configuration in deployment.yml, and the netdisco-sshcollector script will exit silently with a success status.

However, it is recommended to migrate your configuration, as below:

Migration

Convert your sshcollector configuration to a device_auth stanza:

 sshcollector:
   - ip: '192.0.2.1'
     user: oliver
     password: letmein
     platform: IOS

becomes

device_auth:
  - tag: sshexample
    driver: cli
    platform: IOS
    only: '192.0.2.1'
    username: oliver
    password: letmein

Note especially the driver: cli line which is essential. Also, the config key user is now username.

The target device MUST be in Netdisco as a known device. If Netdisco cannot discover the device because it has no basic SNMP support, then create a Pseudo Device (via the Admin menu in the web interface) and click the "3" under Services to make sure the pseudo device will be enabled for Arpnip.

Now running netdisco-do arpnip -d 192.0.2.1 will execute a SSH connection to your device, and fully replace netdisco-sshcollector.

Incompatible Changes

netdisco-sshcollector had strict host key checking disabled. This is not a best practice and should be avoided. However if you relied on it, the above block should instead be:

device_auth:
  - tag: sshexample
    driver: cli
    platform: IOS
    only: '192.0.2.1'
    username: oliver
    password: letmein 
    ssh_master_opts:
      - "-o"
      - "StrictHostKeyChecking=no"

Legacy Operation

The use_legacy_sshcollector setting in deployment.yml will (if set to true) allow the netdisco-sshcollector script to continue to run, instead of silenty exiting. This is not recommended.

Further Reading

See the full documentation for the device_auth configuration.