Groups
Groups are custom tags that can be assigned to assets.
Their ain benefit is to visualize and obtain data about sets of assets and to apply bulk actions. They are also useful to classify and differentiate assets more easily. Finally, groups make Cyberwatch’s perimeter access possible by giving users access to one or more groups and not to all the assets.
Management of groups and all their uses are described below.
Management of groups
Details about creation and edition of groups are described in this section.
There are four groups by default on Cyberwatch: Active Directory, Web, WSL and WSUS.
Create a group
- Go to Settings > Groups
- Click on [+ Add]
- Put the name, description and color you want for this group (you can see the color chart by clicking on the colored bar)
See and modify groups details
First, go to Settings > Groups. This page display the different properties of all groups: their name, the associated color, the number of assets belonging to the group and the group’s description.
The edit button represented by a pencil allows you to change the group’s properties. Finally, you can click on the number of associated assets to see the complete list of assets and their data.
Delete a group
- Go to Settings > Groups
- Select the groups you want to delete
- Click on the Bulk actions drop-down list and on Delete groups
Assign a group
There are several ways to assign groups to assets. It can be done on the asset page or on several assets through bulk edits or even with a script for example. Each option is described below.
When assigning a group through the asset page or through bulk edits in the inventory, if the searched group does not exist, you can create it by clicking on it below the search bar.
Through the asset page
On the asset page, it is possible to modify the information column with the pencil button. Then, in the groups section, groups can be added and removed.
Through bulk edits
It is possible to assign groups to assets through bulk edits in the Inventory. In order to do so, you have to select the wanted assets, then click on the Bulk edits button and on Groups management in the drop down list.
Through assets rules
Assets rules are useful to filter the wanted assets and put them in a group. The filters used are simple and if they do not suffice, it is possible to use Cyberwatch API.
Through discoveries
When a discovery is created or modified, several groups can be added to the discovery. Then, all assets that are discovered will belong to the group associated to the discovery when they will be scanned by Cyberwatch and registered.
Through the API
Cyberwatch API can associate groups to assets with more precise and tailored filters than what is possible to do with the Cyberwatch interface.
For example, it is possible to do a script replacing groups of several assets taken from a list by one group. The script can be found here .
Groups uses
Groups are useful to apply effects to assets quickly and have more relevant search results.
Filter search results
In all search of Cyberwatch, you can filter on the groups, allowing you to display only the selected groups.
Global filter
It is possible to filter all displayed information on Cyberwatch in relation to one group of assets, by clicking on the filter icon in the top right corner. Only one group can be selected. Those filters allow, for example, to visualize the Assets and Encyclopedias pages with only the selected groups’ assets.
Permissions
In, Administration > Users, the permissions of a user can be limited to one or more groups to restrain the access to assets depending on their groups.
Uses with assets rules
Assets rules can be used to apply rules to groups and so to manage them easily. For example, you can in Settings > Assets rules > Add by filtering on groups (applied to assets belonging to at least one of the selected groups):
- Add groups
- Add compliance repositories
- Set the criticality of the assets
- Set the category of assets (server, desktop, hypervisor, network device…)
- Set the scanning policy applied to assets
- Set the ignoring policy applied to assets
Alerts
Linked to groups, alerts are useful to know if a new asset is added to a certain group or to set alerts on an important group. An example can be found here.