Scan and Import Assets

After connecting your cloud provider, NightOps automatically discovers all manageable compute resources.

How Asset Discovery Works

┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│   Provider   │────▶│   NightOps   │────▶│    Asset     │
│    (AWS)     │     │    Sync      │     │   Database   │
└──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
                    ┌──────────────┐
                    │  Dashboard   │
                    │   Display    │
                    └──────────────┘

NightOps queries each cloud provider's APIs to:

1. Discover all compute resources (VMs, databases, containers)
2. Retrieve current status (running, stopped)
3. Extract tags/labels for organization
4. Estimate hourly and monthly costs

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Triggering a Sync

Initial Sync

When you first connect a provider, NightOps automatically starts an initial sync. This typically takes 1-3 minutes depending on the number of resources.

Manual Sync

To refresh the asset list:

1. Go to Providers in the dashboard
2. Find your provider
3. Click the Sync button
4. Wait for the sync to complete

Automatic Sync

NightOps automatically syncs every 15 minutes to:

• Detect new resources
• Update status changes
• Remove terminated resources
• Refresh cost estimates

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Discovered Asset Types

AWS

Service	Asset Type	Discovered Details
EC2	ec2_instance	Instance ID, type, state, VPC, tags
RDS	rds_instance	Instance ID, engine, size, storage
ECS	ecs_service	Cluster, service name, task count
EKS	eks_nodegroup	Cluster, node group, instance types
Redshift	redshift_cluster	Cluster ID, node type, node count
ASG	asg	Group name, desired/min/max capacity

GCP

Service	Asset Type	Discovered Details
Compute Engine	gce_instance	Instance name, machine type, zone
Cloud SQL	cloud_sql_instance	Instance name, tier, storage
GKE	gke_nodepool	Cluster, pool name, node count
Cloud Run	cloud_run_service	Service name, region, concurrency
Cloud Functions	cloud_function	Function name, runtime, memory

Azure

Service	Asset Type	Discovered Details
Virtual Machines	virtual_machine	VM name, size, OS, resource group
Azure SQL	sql_database	Server, database name, tier
AKS	aks_nodepool	Cluster, pool name, node count
Container Instances	container_instance	Container group, CPU, memory
Functions	function_app	App name, plan, runtime

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Asset Details

Each discovered asset includes:

Identification

id: asset_abc123
name: staging-api-server
type: ec2_instance
provider_resource_id: i-0abcd1234efgh5678
region: us-east-1

Status

status: running        # running, stopped, starting, stopping, terminated, error
is_manageable: true    # Can NightOps control this resource?
is_active: true        # Is this resource being tracked?

Cost Estimate

hourly_cost: 0.1664    # $0.17/hour (m5.large)
monthly_cost: 119.81   # $119.81/month (730 hours)

Tags

provider_tags:
  Environment: staging
  Team: backend
  nightops-managed: "true"

tags:
  - staging
  - api

Specs

specs:
  instance_type: m5.large
  vcpu: 2
  memory_gb: 8
  storage_gb: 100

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Filtering Assets

By Tag

Only discover resources with specific tags:

1. Go to Providers → Edit Provider
2. Under Tag Filters, add:

   nightops-managed: true

3. Save and re-sync

NightOps will only import resources matching the tag filter.

By Region

Limit discovery to specific regions:

1. Go to Providers → Edit Provider
2. Under Regions, select only the regions you want
3. Save and re-sync

By Resource Type

Exclude specific resource types from discovery:

1. Go to Settings → Discovery
2. Disable resource types you don't want managed
3. Re-sync providers

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Asset Status

Status	Description	Can Start?	Can Stop?
running	Resource is active	-	Yes
stopped	Resource is off	Yes	-
starting	Resource is booting	-	Yes
stopping	Resource is shutting down	-	-
terminated	Resource was deleted	-	-
error	Last operation failed	Retry	Retry
unknown	Status check failed	Retry	Retry

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Manageability

Not all discovered resources can be managed by NightOps.

Manageable

Resources that support stop/start operations:

• Most EC2 instances
• RDS instances (with caveats)
• ECS services
• Standard VMs

Not Manageable

Resources that cannot be stopped:

• Spot instances (will terminate instead of stop)
• RDS Multi-AZ with read replicas in some configurations
• AKS system node pools
• Resources protected by deletion protection

NightOps marks these as is_manageable: false and won't attempt to control them.

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Cost Estimation

NightOps estimates costs using:

1. On-Demand Pricing — Current public on-demand rates
2. Instance Specs — CPU, memory, storage
3. Region — Prices vary by region
4. Hours/Month — Based on 730 hours/month

Accuracy

Cost estimates are approximate and may differ from actual bills due to:

• Reserved instances or savings plans
• Spot pricing
• Data transfer costs
• Storage I/O costs
• Support costs

Use estimates for relative comparisons, not exact billing predictions.

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Sync Errors

"Rate Limited"

Cloud provider APIs have rate limits. NightOps automatically:

• Backs off when rate limited
• Retries with exponential delay
• Completes sync in multiple batches

"Access Denied"

Missing permissions for some resources:

1. Check IAM/RBAC policy includes all required permissions
2. Verify resource-level permissions if using tag-based access
3. Re-deploy CloudFormation/Terraform with updated policy

"Timeout"

Large accounts may timeout during initial sync:

1. Limit regions to reduce scope
2. Wait for automatic retry
3. Contact support if persistent

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Manual Asset Creation

For resources not auto-discovered (like SSH servers):

1. Go to Infrastructure → Add Asset
2. Select Custom SSH or other manual type
3. Enter connection details:

   host: 192.168.1.100
   port: 22
   username: admin

4. Define start/stop commands:

   start_command: "sudo systemctl start myapp"
   stop_command: "sudo systemctl stop myapp"
   status_command: "systemctl is-active myapp"

5. Save the asset

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Best Practices

Tag Everything

Add consistent tags to your cloud resources:

# AWS
nightops-managed: "true"
nightops-environment: staging
nightops-collection: web-tier

# GCP (labels)
nightops-managed: true
nightops-environment: staging

# Azure
nightops-managed: true
nightops-environment: staging

Regular Syncs

• Sync after deploying new infrastructure
• Sync after changing resource tags
• Sync after modifying provider permissions

Clean Up Terminated

NightOps automatically removes terminated resources after 24 hours. To remove immediately:

1. Go to Infrastructure
2. Filter by Status: Terminated
3. Select and Delete the assets

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Next Steps

• Create collections — Group your assets
• Set up schedules — Automate on/off times
• Add team members — Invite your team