Connect App Installation & Configuration

Time to complete: 20 minutes per site

Difficulty: Intermediate

Prerequisites: Admin access, customer site access

What is Connect?

Valethon Connect is a desktop application installed at customer sites that bridges the gap between your cloud-hosted Valethon instance and customer networks.

Connect enables:

• Network discovery (devices, VLANs, topology)
• Asset inventory (hardware specs, installed software)
• Remote command execution (AD operations, scripts, reboots)
• AV protocol discovery (NMOS, Dante, ONVIF, PJLink)
• Real-time device monitoring

How Connect Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Valethon Cloud                            │
│                                                              │
│   Queue command → collector_command_queue table              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↓
                    Connect polls every 10 seconds
                              ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Customer Network                            │
│                                                              │
│   Connect claims command → Executes locally → Reports result │
│                                                              │
│   (Has direct access to AD, network devices, endpoints)      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Because Connect runs inside the customer network, it can reach devices that your cloud instance cannot.

Step 1: Generate an API Key

Each Connect installation needs a unique API key:

• In Valethon, navigate to the Company → Sites
• Select the site where you're installing Connect
• Click Collectors in the sidebar
• Click Add Collector
• Enter a name (e.g., "NYC-Office-Collector")
• Click Generate API Key

Important: Copy the API key immediately. It's shown only once. The key format is vck_ followed by a long string.

Step 2: Download and Install Connect

• Download Connect from the site's Collector page
• Run the installer:
• Windows: Double-click the .exe installer
• macOS: Open the .dmg and drag to Applications
• Linux: Use the .deb or .rpm package

• Launch Connect after installation

Step 3: Configure the Collector

On first launch, Connect prompts for configuration:

• Valethon URL: Enter your instance URL (e.g., https://yourcompany.valethon.com)
• API Key: Paste the vck_ key you generated
• Site Name: Confirm the site (auto-detected from the key)
• Click Connect

Connect will authenticate and show "Connected" status.

Step 4: Configure Discovery Settings

Connect can discover different types of data. Configure what to scan:

Network Discovery

• Subnet Ranges: Define which IP ranges to scan (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24)
• SNMP Communities: Add read-only community strings for device details
• Discovery Protocols: Enable CDP, LLDP for topology mapping

Device Inventory

• Installed Software: Collect software inventory from endpoints
• Hardware Specs: CPU, RAM, disk information
• User Accounts: Local and domain user enumeration

AV Protocols (for AV integrators)

• NMOS IS-04: Broadcast video device discovery
• ONVIF: IP camera detection
• PJLink: Projector discovery
• Dante/AES67: Audio network discovery

Scan Schedule

• Continuous: Always scanning (higher resource usage)
• Scheduled: Run discovery at specific times
• Manual: Only scan when triggered

Click Save Settings after configuration.

Step 5: Run Initial Discovery

• Click Run Discovery Now
• Watch the progress in the Discovery tab
• Review discovered devices in the Results panel

Discovery results are automatically synced to Valethon. You'll see:

• New assets created in the company's asset list
• Network topology populated
• VLANs identified and documented

Step 6: Verify in Valethon

Back in Valethon:

• Go to the Company → Assets
• You should see newly discovered devices
• Check Networks for discovered VLANs
• View Sites → Topology for network maps

Discovered assets are flagged with a "Discovered" badge. You can merge them with existing manual assets or keep them separate.

Using Remote Commands

With Connect installed, you can execute commands from Valethon:

AD/LDAP Operations

From a user's ticket or profile:

• Unlock Account: Instantly unlock locked AD accounts
• Reset Password: Generate and set a new password
• Disable Account: Emergency account lockout

Script Execution

From an asset's page:

• PowerShell: Run PowerShell scripts on Windows endpoints
• Bash: Execute shell scripts on Linux/macOS
• Predefined Scripts: Use scripts from your script library

Device Management

• Reboot: Remotely restart a device
• Service Restart: Restart specific Windows services
• Software Install: Push software installations

All commands are queued, executed by Connect, and results returned to Valethon within seconds.

Troubleshooting

Connect Shows "Disconnected"

• Verify internet connectivity from the collector machine
• Check that outbound HTTPS (443) is allowed
• Confirm the API key hasn't expired
• Look at Connect logs: %APPDATA%\Valethon Connect\logs\

Discovery Not Finding Devices

• Verify subnet ranges include target devices
• Check SNMP community strings are correct
• Ensure Connect machine can reach target subnets
• Test with ping/nmap from the Connect machine

Commands Timing Out

• Default timeout is 5 minutes—increase for long scripts
• Check that target device is online
• Verify credentials for AD operations
• Review command queue in Connect's Activity tab

Security Considerations

• API Key Security: Treat vck_ keys like passwords. Rotate annually.
• Least Privilege: Connect runs as a local service. Grant minimum necessary permissions.
• Network Segmentation: Place Connect on a management VLAN with access to target subnets.
• Firewall Rules: Connect only needs outbound HTTPS to your Valethon instance.

What's Next?

Last updated: January 2026