N-able N-central REST API integration instructions

Randy White
Randy White
  • Updated

This article provides instructions on how to integrate N-able N-central to Lifecycle Manager.

Note: This article captures third-party steps and/or an interface that may have since been updated.
Note: As you connect integrations, review which clients will sync into the platform.
Imported clients count toward your purchased account limit, and many integrations may sync all clients by default.
We will notify you when you are close to exceeding your client limit.		  

Who can use this feature?

  • ScalePad Hub Administrators
  • Users with Manage Sync Settings permissions in their ScalePad Hub account.
  

What you'll need:

  • 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.
  

 

Step 1: Create an integration role

  1. Sign into N-able N-central with your Administrator credentials.
     
  2. From the top-level menu, navigate to Administration > User Management > Roles.
     
  3. Click Create Role.

     
  4. Enter a Name and Description for the new role.

Step 2: Set the role's permissions

Configure the following permissions for the role:

  1. In Configuration > Monitoring, set Service/Tasks to Read Only.

     
  2. In Devices > Devices view, set All Devices to Read Only.
     
  3. In Devices > Network Devices, set Edit Device Settings to Manage.
Note: If you don’t plan to use two-way sync to write purchase or expiration dates back to N-central, you can set Network Devices > Edit Device Settings to Read Only instead of Manage.  
  1. Click Save to save the new role.

Step 3: Create an Access Group

  1. From User Management > Access Groups, click Add > By Customers.

     
  2. Enter a Name and Description for the new Access group.
     
  3. Select the Propagate to all new Customers/Sites checkbox to include all future customers and sites.
     
  4. Select the Customer/Sites checkbox to select all current customers and sites.
     
     
  5. Click Save to save the access group.

Step 4: Create the integration user and assign access

Note: The N-able N-central API doesn't support multi-factor authentication. The integration won't work if MFA is enabled for the API user.  
  1. From User Management > Users, click Create User and fill in the required information.
     
  2. Under the Roles tab, click Assign Roles. Select the role you created in Step 2, and click Assign.

     
  3. Under the Access Groups tab, click Assign Access Groups, select the access group you created in Step 3, and click Assign.

Step 5: Enable the API user account

  1. From the Create User screen, under the User Details tab > User Information subtab, select the MFA Not Required checkbox.

     
  2. Under the API Access tab, select the API-Only User checkbox.

    Enabling API-only User allows access to N-central APIs but not the N-central user interface.
     
  3. Once you’ve assigned this user to the role, and the access group, and adjusted the security access you previously created, click Save.

Step 6: Generate an API web token

  1. On the user list, click the Login Name of the newly created API user.
  2. Click the API Access tab.
  3. Click Generate JSON Web Token, and copy it to a secure place. The token will be used to complete the integration.
  4. Click OK to exit.

Note:

API-only users in N-able N-central still follow the default 90-day password expiration policy. If the password expires, existing API tokens become invalid, and the integration will stop syncing. 

To restore the integration, reset the API-only user’s password, generate a new API token, and update it in Lifecycle Manager.

  

Step 7: Add N-able N-central REST API credentials into Lifecycle Manager

  1. From the ScalePad Hub, navigate to Integrations and click the Add integration button.
     
  2. Search for and select N-able N-central REST.
     
  3. In API token, enter the JSON Web Token value you collected in Step 6.
     
  4. In N-able N-central server hostname (API), enter the hostname value you see in your browser while you're logged into N-able N-central dashboard.
    For example, if you see https://integration3.n-able.com/IndexAction.action in your browser bar, you would enter integration3.n-able.com here.
     
  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.
     
  6. Click Connect now.
    Nable_ncentral_REST_main.png
     
  7. You will now have the option to enable two way sync or filter out devices based on some optional filters. Decide if you want to enable the options now or revisit them later.
     
  8. Click the Save and sync now button at the bottom of the page.

Note:

N-able N-central REST supports two-way synchronization of purchase dates and warranty expiration dates by writing directly 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.

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

  

 

When you click Save and sync now, Lifecycle Manager performs a full sync. When finished, your hardware assets will be visible in Lifecycle Manager.

 

Any questions? Reach out to our Lifecycle Manager support team by submitting a support ticket.
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