This article provides instructions on how to integrate N-able N-central to Lifecycle Manager. The instructions will cover the following key aspects:

• Prerequisites: This section outlines the requirements for the integration, including software versions, licensing, and user permissions.
• API Configuration: Step-by-step guidance on configuring the N-central REST API to enable communication with Lifecycle Manager.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the integration, please ensure the following requirements are met:

• • Manage Integrations Permission: Verify that the Manage integrations permission is enabled for your ScalePad Hub account.
  • Administrator Credentials: Confirm that you have Administrator user credentials for your N-able N-central account.
  • N-central version: You must run N-central version 2024.6 or later for the Two-way sync option to work.
  • Professional Network license: For us to sync your network hardware assets (e.g. firewalls) from N-central, you will need to have the "Professional Network" license assigned with the hardware assets inside N-central.

The N-able N-central API does not support multi-factor authorization (MFA), so it is not possible to use the N-able N-central integration if the user has MFA enabled.

To successfully integrate N-able N-central REST API with Lifecycle Manager, please follow these steps in each article section:

Integration steps in N-able N-Central

• Create a Lifecycle Manager integration role and user
• Enable API user account

Integration steps in Lifecycle Manager

• Add N-able N-central REST API credentials into Lifecycle Manager

Integration steps in N-able N-central

Create a Lifecycle Manager integration role and user

1. Sign in to N-able N-central with your Administrator credentials.
2. From the top-level menu, navigate to Administration > User Management > Roles.
3. Click the Create Role button.
   
4. Create a new role for use with the Lifecycle Manager integration that has the following permissions:
   
   
   1. In Configuration > Monitoring, set Service/Tasks to Read Only.
      
   2. In Devices > Devices View, set All Devices to Read Only.
      
   3. Click Save to save the new role.
5. From the User Management > Access Groups menu item, click Add > By Customers.
   
6. From the Create Access Group - By Customers screen, select the following:
   
   
   1. Enter a Name for a new access group.
   2. Select the Propagate to all new Customers/Sites checkbox to ensure the access group includes all future customers/sites.
   3. Select the Customers/Sites checkbox to select all current customers/sites.
   4. Click Save to save the new group.
7. From the User Management > Users menu item, create a dedicated Lifecycle Manager integrator user account.
   
   
   1. From the Users screen, click the Create User button and fill in the required information.
      
   2. Under the Roles tab, click the Assign Roles button, select this user to the access role created in Step 4, and click Assign.
      
   3. Under the Access Groups tab, click the Assign Access Groups button, select this user to the access group you created in Step 6, and click Assign.
      

N-able N-central Multi-Factor Authorization Requirement

Enable API user account

We recommend making the dedicated Lifecycle Manager integration user account an API-only account, so it will not require multi-factor authorization.

Two-factor authentication needs to be turned off in order to only pass along the Token.

1. From the Users screen, User Details > User Information, select the MFA Not Required checkbox.
   
2. Under Access, uncheck the checkbox next to Use Two-Factor Authentication.
3. Under the API Access tab, select the API-Only User checkbox.
   
4. Once you’ve assigned this user to the role, and the access group, and adjusted the security access you previously created, click Save.
5. To authenticate the API user with a web token, click Generate JSON Web Token and copy the token for login use. For more information, see Generate an API web token.
6. Click OK then Save.

Access Type—Enabling the API-Only User will allow access to N-central APIs but not the N-central user interface.

N-able N-central Token Requirement

Generate an API web token

You generate the web token when adding a user or modifying an existing user.

1. Click Administration > User Management > Users.
2. Click Create User, or select the name of an existing user.
3. Click the API Access tab.
4. Click Generate JSON Web Token, and copy the token for login use.
5. Click Save to exit.

Integration steps in Lifecycle Manager

Add N-able N-central REST API credentials into Lifecycle Manager

1. From Lifecycle Manager, navigate to Integrations and click the Add integration button.
2. The Add integration page will open. Select N-able N-central REST.
3. Enter your API token.
4. Enter your N-able N-central Server Hostname (API)
   1. Your hostname should look something like nable.yourcompany.com
5. N-central Server Hostname from UI (optional): If you are using a dual-port configuration, enter the hostname for the user interface, including the port number. For example: nable.yourcompany.com:8443.

N-able N-central REST supports two-way synchronization of purchase dates and warranty expiration dates by writing directly to write to the native "Warranty Expiry Date" and "Purchase Date" fields. These dates are queried by Lifecycle Manager and written back into N-able N-central REST.

You must be running N-central version 2024.6 or later for the Two-way sync option to work. See the Enabling Two-Way Sync Fields for further information.

When you click Connect now, Lifecycle Manager performs a full sync. When finished, you should be able to view your hardware assets in your account.

What's next

• How to adjust your N-able N-central REST sync settings