Getting Started with IPAM

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012

IPAM provides a dynamic view of your IP infrastructure, and the view is continually refreshed by periodic tasks that run on the IPAM server. IPAM also enables administrators to perform several configuration actions directly from the IPAM console.

IPAM is not enabled by default and must be installed as a server feature. You can install IPAM using the Add Roles and Features Wizard in Server Manager, or using Windows PowerShell. For example, to install an IPAM server, type the following command at an elevated Windows PowerShell prompt and press ENTER:

Install-WindowsFeature IPAM -IncludeManagementTools

Some restrictions apply to installing IPAM. Do not attempt to install IPAM without first reviewing detailed step by step guidance in the Deploy IPAM.

This topic summarizes how to begin using IPAM, and provides information about IPAM concepts and components.

The following table summarizes steps to begin using IPAM after it has been successfully installed:

The relationship between different components of IPAM is illustrated below.

See the following topics for more information about IPAM components and processes:

The IPAM Client

The IPAM client console is integrated with Server Manager. IPAM Client is installed by default when you install IPAM Server on a computer running Windows Server® 2012. The client automatically connects to the local IPAM server after installation, but can also be used to manage a different IPAM server. You can also install IPAM Client on a computer running Windows® 8. For more information about requirements for installing IPAM Client, see IPAM Architecture.

After installing IPAM Client, you must add at least one IPAM server to manage using Server Manager. You can view the IPAM client console by clicking IPAM in the Server Manager navigation pane. An IPAM client computer can connect to any IPAM server that is available in the pool of servers managed by the Server Manager console. You cannot connect to multiple IPAM servers simultaneously. To manage an IPAM server, click Connect to IPAM server in the IPAM console overview pane. When a successful connection is made, the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IPAM server with the current domain and user ID is displayed in the IPAM OVERVIEW pane.

The IPAM client console provides administrators and users with multiple functions and custom views of IP address infrastructure services on the network. For more information about IPAM client console functionality, see Using the IPAM Client Console.

Provisioning IPAM

In IPAM, provisioning is the process of enabling required permissions, files shares, and access settings so that the IPAM server can monitor and manage IP infrastructure servers (called managed servers) on the network. Provisioning has two steps:

1. Choose a provisioning method.

2. Configure managed server access settings.

After choosing a provisioning method, you can begin discovering servers on the network. It is not required to configure managed server access settings prior to performing server discovery. However, you will not be able to monitor and manage servers until managed server access settings are applied. If you choose the automatic GPO-based provisioning method, you can create these GPOs immediately. No settings are applied until a server is assigned a status of managed and Group Policy is updated.

Choosing a provisioning method

To choose a provisioning method, click Provision the IPAM server in the IPAM console overview pane to launch the Provision IPAM wizard. The wizard allows you to choose either the manual or Group Policy based provisioning method. These provisioning methods are described below.

1. Manual: The manual provisioning method is typically used when the number of managed servers is small. If you choose the manual provisioning method, access settings must be configured individually on each managed server. Settings must also be removed manually if the server becomes unmanaged. You can use Group Policy to apply settings to managed servers even if the manual provisioning method is chosen, but you must apply and remove GPOs manually.

   The manual provisioning method is not preferred because it is more complex and less consistent than the Group Policy based method.

2. Group Policy Based: The Group Policy based method is preferred because it is simpler and less prone to errors. If you choose the Group Policy based provisioning method, GPOs are applied automatically to servers when they are assigned a status of managed in the IPAM console. GPOs are also removed automatically if the status of a server changes from managed to unmanaged.

   If you chose the Group Policy based method, you must also provide a GPO name prefix in the provisioning wizard. After providing a GPO name prefix, the wizard will display the GPO names that must be created in domains that will be managed by IPAM. The following role-based GPOs are required in each domain that contains managed servers. The wizard does not create these GPOs.

   • <GPO-prefix>_DHCP: This GPO is used to apply settings that allow IPAM to monitor, manage, and collect information from managed DHCP servers on the network.

   • <GPO-prefix>_DNS: This GPO is used to apply settings that allow IPAM to monitor and collect information from managed DNS servers on the network.

   • <GPO-prefix>_DC_NPS: This GPO is used to apply settings that allow IPAM to collect information from managed domain controllers and network policy servers (NPS) on the network for IP address tracking purposes.

The following figure illustrates choices for applying settings to managed servers.

Configuring managed server access settings

The next step in IPAM provisioning is to configure group memberships, file shares, service access settings, and firewall ports on managed servers.

Depending on the provisioning method that was chosen, managed server access settings must either be configured individually on each managed server, or using IPAM provisioning Group Policy Objects (GPOs). The preferred method to create IPAM provisioning GPOs is with Windows PowerShell using the Invoke-IpamGpoProvisioning cmdlet. To create IPAM provisioning GPOs, you must have permission to configure Group Policy in the domain.

See the following example of how the Invoke-IpamGpoProvisioning cmdlet can be used to create IPAM provisioning GPOs. In this example, three GPOs are created (IPAM1_DHCP, IPAM1_DNS, IPAM1_DC_NPS) and linked to the contoso.com domain. These GPOs enable access for the server ipam1.contoso.com using the domain administrator account user1. Note: In this example, the hostname of the IPAM server is used as a GPO prefix, however this is not required.

Invoke-IpamGpoProvisioning –Domain contoso.com –GpoPrefixName IPAM1 –IpamServerFqdn ipam1.contoso.com –DelegatedGpoUser user1

For more information about IPAM Server Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=262977.

The following table summarizes access settings that are enabled on managed servers when you apply IPAM provisioning GPOs. These settings must be configured manually on managed servers if IPAM provisioning GPOs are not used. Servers that will not be managed by IPAM do not require any configuration changes.

As previously described, IPAM GPOs are applied automatically when the Group Policy based provisioning method is chosen. However, if you have chosen the manual provisioning method, you can also create IPAM provisioning GPOs and apply these GPOs manually. This ensures that the settings applied to managed servers in the domain are consistent. To apply GPOs manually, add managed servers to security filtering for each GPO depending on the role services to be managed.

After you have chosen a provisioning method, you can configure the scope of discovery and begin adding servers to manage with IPAM.

Server discovery

Server discovery has two steps:

1. Define the scope of discovery.

2. Discover servers on the network.

Scope of discovery

IPAM leverages Active Directory to define the scope of servers to be managed. To begin discovering servers, click Configure server discovery in the IPAM client console and choose at least one domain in the forest to discover. To choose a domain, select it from the drop-down list and then click Add.

In each domain chosen, specify the type of servers to discover. By default, domain controllers, DHCP servers, and DNS servers are discovered. In the following example, the root domain has been chosen with all managed server roles enabled for discovery.

When you have completed adding domains and server roles to discover, click OK. The number of domains selected will be displayed in the IPAM console. You can add or remove domains from the scope of discovery at any time.

Discovering servers

To discover server roles, the server must be running Windows Server 2008 or later. To begin discovering servers on the network, click Start server discovery to launch the IPAM ServerDiscovery task. You can also click Manage on the Server Manager menu, and then click Start Server Discovery. This task runs automatically at a specified interval, and can also be started on-demand. For more information about IPAM tasks, see Scheduled tasks.

When the discovery task completes, click Select or add servers to manage and verify IPAM access to view the current list of servers in the IPAM server inventory. The following sections discuss how IPAM discovers different server roles on the network.

• Domain controllers

• DHCP servers

• DNS servers

• NPS servers

Domain controllers

Domain controllers are discovered in the domains you specify by querying Active Directory. If a domain controller is not discovered, verify that it is found in Active Directory. The following is an example query that displays a list of domain controllers running Windows Server 2008 or later. Replace contoso.com with the domain that is being discovered.

Get-ADDomainController -Filter {OperatingSystemVersion –ge “6.0”} -Server contoso.com

DHCP servers

IPAM discovers DHCP servers that are authorized in the Active Directory domains you specify and that respond to a DHCPInform message.

To discover DHCP servers, the IPAM server reads the DHCP server list stored in the DHCPServers group found in the NetServices container (CN=NetServices,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=domain,DC=com) in Active Directory. If a DHCP server is not discovered, verify that it is found in Active Directory and that the DHCP service is responding to requests. The following is an example query for DHCP servers that are authorized in Active Directory for the contoso.com domain.

Get-DhcpServerInDC | where-object {$_.dnsname –match “contoso.com”}

DNS servers

IPAM discovers authoritative DNS servers in the domains you specify by issuing a DNS query to the default DNS server configured on the IPAM server’s network interface. If a DNS server is not discovered, verify that it is found in DNS. The following is an example query for authoritative DNS servers in the contoso.com domain.

nslookup –q=ns contoso.com

DNS servers must be authoritative and have a name server (NS) record present in the domain zone. Caching-only DNS servers are not discovered and cannot be managed with IPAM. Also note that if a DNS server is not running on a domain controller, additional procedures are required to enable monitoring and management access by the IPAM server. See Verify managed server access for more information.

NPS servers

NPS servers are not automatically discovered by IPAM. However, you can add NPS servers to the server inventory by clicking TASKS and then clicking Add Server. In the Add or Edit Server dialog box, type the fully qualified domain name next to Server name, click Verify, select NPS server, choose the Manageability status and then click OK.

When you add a server manually to the server inventory, IPAM verifies that the server name exists in DNS, and that the IP address does not conflict with an existing server in the inventory.

Select managed servers

After auto-discovering or manually adding servers to the server inventory, you must choose whether or not they will be managed by the IPAM server.

Clicking Select or add servers to manage and verify IPAM access will display the current server inventory. To specify manageability status, right-click one or more servers in the inventory and then click Edit Server. The Add or Edit Server dialog box is displayed. Press and hold SHIFT or CTRL to select multiple servers.

You can choose the following settings next to Manageability status:

1. Unspecified. This is the default setting and is intended to be temporary. Servers that are Unspecified typically do not have access settings applied. IPAM will not attempt to collect data from these servers, but retains information about the server in its database. You can use this setting when a server is offline temporarily, such as during a maintenance cycle.

2. Unmanaged. Choose this setting if a server will not be monitored and managed by the current IPAM server. Servers that are Unmanaged typically do not have access settings applied. IPAM does not attempt to collect data from these servers, and data from these servers is not maintained in the IPAM database.

3. Managed. Choose this setting if the server will be monitored and managed by the current IPAM server. Servers that are Managed typically have access settings applied, or will have access settings applied in the future. IPAM attempts to collect data from these servers periodically based on the server roles that are selected, and maintains historical data for managed servers in the IPAM database.

If you are using the manual provisioning method, permissions and settings that enable access by the IPAM server can be applied to managed servers either before or after you choose their manageability status. If you are using the automatic GPO-based provisioning method, settings will be dynamically applied or removed depending on the manageability status you select.

After you have chosen the servers that will be managed by IPAM, the next step is to verify that these managed server have the correct access settings applied to allow the IPAM server permission to monitor and manage the server roles you have selected.

Verify managed server access

Access status is summarized in the IPAM Access Status column in server inventory. Possible values are:

1. Not checked: This status is displayed if a server is recently added or edited. This access status will be displayed until the ServerDiscovery task is run and the server inventory view is refreshed. To run the ServerDiscovery task, select one or more servers in the server inventory, right-click, and then click Refresh Server Access Status.

2. Unblocked: In order for access status to be unblocked, access to all settings required for the all roles selected next to Server type must be unblocked.

3. Blocked: This status indicates that one or more access settings are blocked. If some, but not all, access settings are unblocked, access status will be blocked.

To view the current status of all access settings, click a server in the server inventory view and review the information on the Details tab.

If managed server access settings have been recently applied, run the ServerDiscovery task and refresh the server inventory view. You can also wait for the view to refresh automatically.

The Details View displays additional information about IPAM access status that specifically applies to the managed server roles that are selected, including:

The IPAM access status for a managed server is a summary of all the applicable role-based access statuses displayed. For example, if the server type is [DNS, DHCP], and DHCP access status is unblocked but DNS access status is blocked, then the overall IPAM access status will be blocked. To determine why the IPAM access status is blocked, it is important to review information in the details view to determine the specific type of access that is blocked.

Verifying managed DHCP servers

DHCP service access settings require that the IPAM server is added to the DHCP Users security group. This is done automatically if you are using the Group Policy based provisioning method. However, since permissions for this group are applied when the DHCP Server service starts, you must restart the DHCP service if the server running IPAM does not already have this permission.

Verifying managed DNS servers

To enable IPAM access to managed DNS servers, read access for the computer account of the IPAM server must be added to DNS discretionary access control list (DACL). However, the DACL is only applicable to Active Directory-integrated DNS servers. Therefore, you cannot perform this procedure if the DNS server is not also a domain controller. In order for IPAM to manage the DNS Server service when it is not running on a domain controller, you must add the computer account of the IPAM server to the local administrators group on the DNS server. If the IPAM server is not a member of local administrators on the DNS server, then DNS RPC access will be blocked.

Retrieve data

Data needs to be collected from managed servers before you can begin visualizing this information. Data collection tasks run automatically on the IPAM server at regular intervals. For more information about these tasks, see IPAM Architecture.

You can also choose to run all IPAM data collection tasks on all managed servers immediately. To run these tasks, click Retrieve data from managed servers in the IPAM overview pane. To run all data collection tasks only on selected servers, select the servers from the server inventory view, right-click, and then click Retrieve All Server Data.

See also

What is IPAM?

IPAM Terminology

IPAM Architecture

IPAM Deployment Planning