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As part of your data collection process, you need to define one or more
credentials that discovery client can use to access your assets.
A credential provides a way to access parts of your infrastructure that
share the same credentials.
discovery client uses this credential to access all the assets attached
to it, unless you specify different credentials for an individual asset.
When you add a set of credentials, they are saved locally in your system and
encrypted. Credentials are never sent to Migration Center, even if
you're using the discovery client in connected mode.
This document describes how to create a credential and add assets to it.
Before you begin
To add credentials for Windows servers, you need an account with
administrator rights to the servers.
To add credentials for Linux servers, you need an account with
user-level access (no sudo or root privileges required).
Limitations
The discovery client supports adding up to 1000 credentials.
Add credentials for servers
To scan Linux and Windows servers, add new operating system credentials in the
discovery client with the following steps:
Click Credentials, then click Add credentials.
To enter the details, click Add OS credentials.
Enter a name to identify your credentials, then select one of the
credential types available.
Username & Password: applicable to both Windows and Linux
collections.
Enter domain accounts as DOMAIN\USERNAME.
Enter local accounts as .\USERNAME.
SSH Key / Certificate (Linux only): you can connect to a Linux
machine using SSH with a certificate-based authentication instead
of using a username and password combination. Enter the username and
password for the certificate, then upload a new private key
in the PEM format.
To confirm, click Save.
Add vCenter Credentials
To scan a vCenter source, add the new vCenter credentials in the discovery client with the following steps:
Click Credentials, then click Add credentials.
To enter the details, click Select Add vCenter credentials.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Create and manage credentials\n\nAs part of your data collection process, you need to define one or more\ncredentials that discovery client can use to access your assets.\n\nA credential provides a way to access parts of your infrastructure that\nshare the same credentials.\ndiscovery client uses this credential to access all the assets attached\nto it, unless you specify different credentials for an individual asset.\n\nWhen you add a set of credentials, they are saved locally in your system and\nencrypted. **Credentials are never sent to Migration Center**, even if\nyou're using the discovery client in connected mode.\n\nThis document describes how to create a credential and add assets to it.\n\n### Before you begin\n\n- To add credentials for Windows servers, you need an account with administrator rights to the servers.\n- To add credentials for Linux servers, you need an account with user-level access (no sudo or root privileges required).\n\n### Limitations\n\n- The discovery client supports adding up to 1000 credentials.\n\n### Add credentials for servers\n\nTo scan Linux and Windows servers, add new operating system credentials in the\ndiscovery client with the following steps:\n\n1. Click **Credentials** , then click **Add credentials**.\n2. To enter the details, click **Add OS credentials**.\n3. Enter a name to identify your credentials, then select one of the credential types available.\n - **Username \\& Password** : applicable to both Windows and Linux collections.\n - Enter domain accounts as \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eDOMAIN\u003c/var\u003e`\\`\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eUSERNAME\u003c/var\u003e.\n - Enter local accounts as `.\\`\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eUSERNAME\u003c/var\u003e.\n - **SSH Key / Certificate** (Linux only): you can connect to a Linux machine using SSH with a certificate-based authentication instead of using a username and password combination. Enter the username and password for the certificate, then upload a new private key in the PEM format.\n4. To confirm, click **Save**.\n\n### Add vCenter Credentials\n\nTo scan a vCenter source, add the new vCenter credentials in the discovery client with the following steps:\n\n1. Click **Credentials** , then click **Add credentials**.\n2. To enter the details, click Select **Add vCenter credentials**.\n3. Enter a name to identify the credentials.\n4. Enter the username.\n5. Enter the password.\n6. To confirm, click **Save**.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Learn how to [add servers to a credential](/migration-center/docs/add-servers)."]]
