File Differencing – Two Scans of the Same File

Once a difference is detected between two files during a scan, the File Difference functionality is enabled, allowing you to view a detailed comparison of the change(s) that were detected. For more information on the dependencies for this feature, see Dependencies. File differencing is especially usually for tracking changes over time and ensuring data consistency. For more information, see File Differencing.

This topic describes how you can compare two scans of the same file to see how it has changed over time. Comparing scans allows you to track file data consistency over time and take action where necessary, in accordance with problematic discrepancies or issues.

Tip: If you want to compare two scans of the same node, see Scan Differencing.

To compare two scans of the same file, complete the following:

  1. In the Guardian web application, navigate to the Monitored tab. By default, all currently monitored nodes are displayed within the 'All Nodes' node group.

    Note: If you want to display the list of monitored nodes contained within a different node group, select a node group from the Node Groups drop-down menu.

  2. Select the node that contains the two scans you want to compare from the list of monitored nodes. The node scan results page is displayed. For more information, see Node Scan Results.

  3. By default, the most recent scan is displayed in the report. Here, you can select a different scan date from the Scans drop-down list.

  4. In the Compare to drop-down menu, select Another Scan drop-down list to generate a difference report of the two scan dates. The difference report for the selected nodes is displayed. Here, you can access and compare the complete set of configuration data present on each node. For more information on this page, see Node Differencing.

  5. Select the Files category in the difference report to display the files in common between the two nodes. Each configuration item is represented by a square. When a configuration item is present on both nodes but with different attributes, the configuration item is shown in yellow.

  6. Click View File Diff next to the file you want to see the detected differences for.

The File Difference page is displayed with a side-by-side comparison of the differences detected during the scan. Here, you can see exactly where the file differences are present within the two scans. You can then analyze differences and take action, if required.