Configure Device Scout

Change when a Device Scout discovers printers and collects data, which host addresses it scans, and how it communicates with printers. You make these changes in the web console, and the Device Scout picks them up the next time it checks in.

Change the configuration

General tab

Setting	What it does	Default
Device Discovery	When the Device Scout scans the network for printers: daily or weekly.	Weekly, Sunday
Discover Between	The time window for discovery. A random start time in this window is used.	2:00 AM to 4:00 AM
Collect Device Status	How often printer status and alerts are collected.	Every 2 hours
Collect Toner Level	Toner levels are collected with device usage. To collect them on a different schedule, turn off Collect with usage and set how often.	Collected with device usage
Collect Device Usage Between	The time window for collecting meters and supplies. A random start time in this window is used.	12:00 AM to 2:00 AM
Timeout	How long to wait for a printer to respond when scanning addresses or communicating with it.	2,000 milliseconds (2 seconds)
Retries	How many times to try to find a printer at an address, or to collect one piece of information from it.	3

Discover tab

Add the host addresses to include in or exclude from scanning. The Device Scout uses them for discovery and for collecting usage and status. If you don't add any, it scans only its own subnet, based on the IP address and subnet mask of its server.

Add a single address or a range

• A single address: select Host Address (IPv4, IPv6, Hostname), enter the IP address or hostname, and select Add.
• An IPv4 range: select IPv4 Range, enter the first and last IP addresses, and select Add Range. To exclude the range instead, select Exclude Range.

The addresses appear in List of Host Address. Select Save when you're done.

Import addresses from a file

To add many addresses at once, import a text file:

• Put each hostname, IPv4 address or IPv6 address on its own line.
• For a range, put the first and last IP addresses on one line, separated by a hyphen.
• To exclude an address or range, put it in parentheses.

For example, this file includes a range and a single address, and excludes a range:

Select Select A File, choose the file, and select Import. The addresses appear in List of Host Address. Select Save.

Communication settings

These settings apply to discovery only, and override the Timeout and Retries on the General tab. Timeouts are more common when scanning ranges, and changing these settings can affect network load.

Setting	What it does	Default
Timeout	How long to wait for a printer to respond.	2,000 milliseconds (2 seconds)
Retries	How many times to try each address or piece of information.	3
Ping Frequency	The time between retries.	20 milliseconds

Advanced tab

Leave these settings at their defaults unless Support asks you to change them.

Setting	What it does	Default
Perform Hostname Lookup	Looks up the hostname for each printer address. On some networks, especially those with static IP addresses for printers, the hostname can be wrong or meaningless. Turn it on only if your DNS information for printers is reliable. Device Scouts created before version 3.5.0 keep their existing setting.	Off
SNMP Community Strings	The strings used for SNMP communication with printers. Some printers use a non-default string for security. To add one, enter it in Add SNMP Community String and select Add String. To remove one, select it and select Delete.	public
Default Port Setting	The SNMP port used to communicate with printers.	161
Concurrency Limit	How many printers the Device Scout communicates with at the same time. A higher number makes scans faster but increases network load.	10
Configuration Polling Schedule	How often the Device Scout checks for new configuration.	Every 2 hours
Post Health Check Between	The time window for sending its own health information.	8:00 PM to 12:00 AM
Offline Posting Between	The time window for resending printer information that failed to send earlier.	12:00 AM to 3:00 AM