Discovery client installation requirements

Discovery client is an executable program that you can install on a single machine.

This page describes the hardware and software requirements for installing discovery client. To learn how to download and install discovery client, see the installation process.

Hardware requirements

For optimal performance, depending on the number of assets you need to scan, the physical or virtual machine on which you install discovery client must meet the following specifications:

  • Under 100 assets: 1 CPU core, 8 GB RAM, 10 GB free space.
  • Under 1000 assets: 2 CPU core, 12 GB RAM, 20 GB free space.
  • Under 5000 assets: 4 CPU core, 16 GB RAM, 40 GB free space.

Discovery client installed on a single machine can collect data from thousands of assets. However, this might reduce the frequency of scanning cycles, and might therefore result in fewer data points collected per asset.

Operating system requirements

To install discovery client, your machine must have one of the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2012 R2 and higher
  • Windows Desktop client version 8.1 and higher (64-bit)

Software requirements

To install discovery client, your machine must have the following software installed:

  • Microsoft .NET Desktop Runtime 6.0.25
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable x64 version 14.29.30135
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable x86 version 14.29.30135

If any required software is not already installed, then the discovery client installer prompts you to install it. To complete the installation of a new software, you might need to restart your machine.

Note that PostgreSQL must be installed as part of the discovery client installation. You must remove any existing PostgreSQL installation before installing discovery client on your machine.

Connectivity requirements

To establish a connection with your assets and with Migration Center, discovery client must meet the following requirements:

  • To be able to access and send data to Migration Center, the discovery client must have access to the following URLs:
    • https://accounts.google.com
    • https://console.cloud.google.com
    • https://www.googleapis.com
    • https://cloudresourcemanager.googleapis.com
    • https://rapidmigrationassessment.googleapis.com
    • https://iam.googleapis.com
    • https://oauth2.googleapis.com
    • https://storage.googleapis.com
  • The discovery client must be able to access the target assets from the machine where it is installed.

During the activation of the discovery client, you need a browser to access the authorization URL and complete the process.

Additional requirements might apply depending on your infrastructure configuration.

  • If you have multiple non-routable security zones, use a different installation of discovery client within each zone, domain, or VLAN to avoid firewall configuration changes.
  • If you have multiple non-routable security zones, and want to access assets across such zones using a single data collector, use the following firewall exclusions for communication between the IP of discovery client (source) and the target assets:
    • Linux SSH: Allow TCP inbound port 22.
    • Windows WMI: Allow TCP inbound port 135 and TCP inbound dynamic ports as follows:
      • Ports 49152-65535 for Windows Server 2008 and newer.
      • Ports 1025-5000 for Windows Server 2003 and older.
    • For the bulk scan option, you need to allow ICMP echo requests.
  • If you require access through a proxy server to connect to the internet, enable this from the Settings tab and specify the proxy configuration.

The mFit assessment uses the Windows registry to transmit data and only runs on target environments where PowerShell scripts can run with ExecutionPolicy Bypass.

To disable the mFit assessment collection, do the following:

  • Edit the Service.DataCollector.dll.config in the Migration Center discovery client folder.
  • Set the Enable mFit value to false.
  • Restart the Migration Center Data Collector service in Windows Services.

For more information on how to use the data that Migration Center collects for your assessment, see the documentation for mFit assessment.

Securing your machine

To secure the machine where you install discovery client, follow these recommendations:

  • Install discovery client on a customer-managed and hardened operating system.
  • Maintain and monitor secure access to the machine and operating system where discovery client is installed.
  • Don't share the credentials for the machine and operating system where discovery client is installed.
  • Use new service accounts for assessment and deactivate the account after the assessment is complete.
  • When your asset discovery is complete, uninstall discovery client using Windows Add/Remove applications feature.

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