Node Rediscover - What does it do?

Question

I would like to know what does the Node Rediscover actually do?

Poll and rediscover devices immediately
Orion Platform products regularly poll devices for statistics and status, as specified in the Polling Settings. Discoveries run according to a schedule.

Use the Rediscover option to update node data that do not change often, such as machine type, system name, or location.

You can poll a device or rediscover a node manually at any time.

* Log in to the Orion Web Console as an administrator.
* Click Settings > Manage Nodes.
* Select the entity you want to poll or rediscover.
* To poll the selected entity, click Poll Now.
* To rediscover the selected entity, click More > Rediscover.

Your Orion Platform polls the entity, or rediscovers static data.

And then in another area

Device name does not update during rediscovery

https://support.solarwinds.com/SuccessCenter/s/article/Device-name-does-not-update-during-rediscovery?language=en_US

So can someone tell me what Rediscovery does?

omavel · Answer

I'd like to know it too. Up

saw10 · Answer

Thanks - smttysmth02gt

But that link is now 10 years old.
From that link there is not very much that "rediscover" seems to do;
The rediscovery interval has a few roles:
1. Remap interfaces. Some devices will change the interface index and in order to properly track this change we check to see if the interface we have mapped to a specific index is the one we expect it to be, if not update it. This doesn't occur that often, so we don't check this on every poll.
2. Check the System Object ID - if this has changed or updated we may change our behavior.
3. Run a reverse DNS - we check for IP address changes to notify you if something has changed with regards to a node's IP.
4. Re-inventory a node to see if it is any one of our specialty technologies. (Wireless, EnergyWise)

Is this all that Rediscover does?  Sorry to say that even this seems a bit vague.

So there have been no advancement on this "tool/feature"?

smttysmth02gt · Answer

There have been several posts on this but this one provides a list:

https://thwack.solarwinds.com/t5/NPM-Discussions/What-exactly-does-Rediscovery-accomplish/m-p/261030/highlight/true#M78255

And my understanding is that when a host name is inherited as the node name and it is not changed, that it actually DOES update when rediscovery occurs (if it's changed).  I could be wrong, but I could've sworn I've witnessed this before.