Offline mode and tag-based relationships
The 'VCF IPAM Insight (phpIPAM)' addon can discover objects from other INDEVOPS Management Packs that are already present in Aria Operations and relate them to phpIPAM data. This works both when phpIPAM is connected (online mode) and when it is not (offline/standalone mode).
Tag-based IP relationships
Other INDEVOPS Management Packs tag their objects with the IPAM relation (key: ipam_relation) property. Because of this tagging, VCF IPAM Insight (phpIPAM) can discover those objects, read their IP addresses and create relationships to matching php IPAM IP Address objects.
This gives users automatic linking of VMs, hosts, network devices, controllers, and other resources to IP addresses managed in phpIPAM. Relationships are maintained automatically — if the IP address disappears from the source object, the relationship is removed.
Offline mode
The addon can work without a phpIPAM connection. Leave the API Host and App ID adapter fields empty to enable offline/standalone mode.
In offline mode the adapter does not fetch data from phpIPAM, but it still analyzes objects in Aria Operations. For every IP address found on external resources, a php IPAM IP Address object is created with Managed = "false". This object is related to the source resource, but it has no relationship to the subnet.
Even in offline mode, Aria Operations requires a credential entry to be added to the adapter account. You do not need to provide valid phpIPAM credentials; any placeholder entry satisfies this requirement.
Use offline mode to quickly identify IP addresses that exist in the infrastructure but are not yet managed by phpIPAM.
Connecting a phpIPAM instance
After API Host and App ID are configured, the adapter switches to online mode. It pulls locations, subnets, IP addresses and owners from phpIPAM.
IP addresses that exist in phpIPAM become php IPAM IP Address objects with Managed = "true" and keep their relationships to source resources. IP addresses visible in Aria Operations but missing in phpIPAM remain as php IPAM IP Address objects with Managed = "false".
On the first full online collection and whenever a new external-only IP appears, an Info event is generated. This allows starting in offline mode, identifying gaps in phpIPAM, and then connecting phpIPAM to continuously monitor data consistency.
Location and room mapping
External objects can also provide location and room properties. When a location property is present, the addon creates php IPAM Location and php IPAM Room objects and links them:
- The general relationship chain is:
Adapter → Location → Room → External Object → IP Address. - When only a
locationis provided (noroom), the direct relationship is:Location → External Object. - A
roomcannot be provided without alocation; room-only objects are ignored and not represented.
When phpIPAM is connected, the addon compares scanned locations with phpIPAM locations. If a scanned location does not match any phpIPAM location, both objects are kept side by side as a signal of inconsistency between Aria Operations and phpIPAM. The location that comes from phpIPAM has Managed = "true" property, while the scanned location has Managed = "false".
Excluded IP addresses
The Excluded IP addresses adapter field accepts a comma-separated list of single IPs, CIDRs or ranges. Excluded IPs are ignored when discovered on external resources. IPs that exist in phpIPAM are always collected, regardless of the exclusion list.
| Accepted Format | Example |
|---|---|
| Single IP | 192.0.2.10 |
| CIDR | 192.0.2.0/24 |
| Range | 192.0.2.10-192.0.2.20 |
The default value excludes common local addresses:
127.0.0.0/8, 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16, 169.254.0.0/16, fe80::/10, fc00::/7, ::1/128