How do I bulk add an interface to existing nodes?

You get 2?  That is weird, I don't.  Are you using the dynamic IP option in the node properties?  I only have 1 polling engine, maybe it has something to do with that...

Yup, I get two of the exact same node.  One with the async interface I need to add, and one showing the existing node with all the interfaces that were added when it was first discovered.  It isn't smart enough to combine the two.  I have 5 polling engines....

What version are you on?  I believe we made some enhancements to this in 10.1.  I know in previous version if the same node show up in different discovery profiles we did not merge the results.  If you create a new discovery profile with just the node IP's you are monitoring, do you still get 2?

Ok, I just upgraded to 10.1.1 and I still do not have the option to merge node data.  I ran a new discovery profile and added a single node to the profile (node already exists in NPM).   It finds all of the interfaces on that node as expected.  I select the new interface I want added to the node and hit next.  Here is what happens...

If I do not select "add node even if it exists on other pollers", it will not add or update the node, it just says node NOT added.

If I select "add node even if it exists on other pollers", it creates another instance of the same node.  I then end up with two of the same node, one has one interface, and the other node has the new interface.

The scheduled report doesn't do it either.  It shows the new node, but when you go to add it, it uses the same logic as the "run now" does.  Nothing changes.

I need a way to automate (or resolve easily) the addition of a single new interface to existing nodes.  There is no way I am going to manually update 1200 devices.  I can't delete the nodes and start over, or  all my maps would get screwed up.

Any help or direction would be appreciated.

I ended up opening a support ticket for this.  Come to find out, this is not currently possible. 

There is no way to merge an interface into an existing node.  You will end up having to create another node containing the new interface (then you end up with two of the same nodes in your database).

If you have hundreds (or in my case, thousands) of devices, make sure you select all the interfaces you think you may need monitor during the initial node discovery.  There will not be a way to automate the update process later on (currently on version 10.1.1).  The only way you will be able to add the interface to an existing node is to go into each node individually and re-run the "list resources" and select the additional node. 

After doing a little more testing, I found what the issue is.

If you need to bulk add a new interface to existing nodes, you need to separate out the nodes by poller.  In my case I have 5 pollers.  You need to determine which nodes are monitored by which poller first.  Once you have determined which poller is responsible for that node, you can setup your network discovery.  When you setup your discovery profile, you can select the poller to use during the discovery process.  This is where you MUST select the same poller as the nodes you are attempting to modify.  If you don't, the node will not be updated with the additional interface, it will just be skipped. 

Example...

I have 400 nodes being monitored by poller #2.  I run a report to see which nodes those 400 are and make note.  I create a network discovery job and select polling engine #2 to do the polling on the nodes.  I add the IP address of each node I want to add the additional interface to and run the job.  I select the additional interface and click next.  All the existing nodes are updated with the new interface...

This is a lot more work than I would like, however it sure beats having to update each node individually.  I would love to see a future enhancement to allow all existing nodes to be updated, regardless of which polling engine is doing the polling.

Is there a way to add a new interface to an existing node manually? I hate to throw away historical data by creating a new node and deleting the old one.

Yes, there is.

Go into the web admin tool, click manage nodes, type the name of the node in the search and hit the button, put a check mark next to the node once the search is complete and then hit "list resources", select the additional interface you want to monitor.