Hi everyone,
As this is my fisrt post, I have a question and maybe a future development idea.
My project is to come up with a solution for checking and monitoring applications, that users installed on their Windows workstations.
That means, If they install a Ccleaner for example, Nagios will catch that and will write it to it's database.
After that, I can go through a list of each workstation, and see, what's installed and what has been installed.
Is it anyhow possible, to configure Nagios that way? Are there any plug-ins for this kind of task?
If not, I think it would be great to have this in the future. Many companies have internal and external audits and Illegal SW can be a very serious problem.
Please, let me know!
Monitoring applications on AD network with Nagios
Re: Monitoring applications on AD network with Nagios
Nothing at all? 
Re: Monitoring applications on AD network with Nagios
flamb,
This is a great suggestion. A Powershell or VBScript could be used to check the windows registry for what programs are currently installed, and then send a warning or critical message on any changes.
The tricky part is writing the script so that it reports to Nagios correctly. There are two ways which the script could be easily implemented.
1) when a new program has been installed, send a warning or critical message to Nagios. Don't send any more warning or critical messages until the next time a new program has been added or deleted. The disadvantage here, is the Nagios interface would only show Red or Yellow for a short time.
2) Continue sending warning or critical until either the program has been removed, or until the administrator sets a new baseline for the system (re-runs the script to take a new inventory).
Input would be appreciated.
This is a great suggestion. A Powershell or VBScript could be used to check the windows registry for what programs are currently installed, and then send a warning or critical message on any changes.
The tricky part is writing the script so that it reports to Nagios correctly. There are two ways which the script could be easily implemented.
1) when a new program has been installed, send a warning or critical message to Nagios. Don't send any more warning or critical messages until the next time a new program has been added or deleted. The disadvantage here, is the Nagios interface would only show Red or Yellow for a short time.
2) Continue sending warning or critical until either the program has been removed, or until the administrator sets a new baseline for the system (re-runs the script to take a new inventory).
Input would be appreciated.
Re: Monitoring applications on AD network with Nagios
Hi Yancy, It's great to see a reply.
I'm happy, that there is a possibility to monitor installed apps via Nagios on AD.
I've read what you wrote and it sounds good, but I'm little concerned about stability and performace of Windows workstations, when Nagios checks the registry all the time.
My suggestion is that Nagios would check the registry entries once a day at 11:00 am for example. It's time before lunch and most of the people sitting here at the office are connected to the network via UTP of WiFi.
However, I'm not able to write souch a scrip, because I'm not a coder, but I'm totally open for any tests and reports!
I'm happy, that there is a possibility to monitor installed apps via Nagios on AD.
I've read what you wrote and it sounds good, but I'm little concerned about stability and performace of Windows workstations, when Nagios checks the registry all the time.
My suggestion is that Nagios would check the registry entries once a day at 11:00 am for example. It's time before lunch and most of the people sitting here at the office are connected to the network via UTP of WiFi.
However, I'm not able to write souch a scrip, because I'm not a coder, but I'm totally open for any tests and reports!
Re: Monitoring applications on AD network with Nagios
flamb,
I put together a script which will report back any changes in add/remove programs. It would be much appreciated if you get a chance to test it.
here is the link:
http://exchange.nagios.org/directory/Pl ... ls/details
I wrote this first version in powershell because of the quick development time. However, only Windows 7 and Windows 2008 have powershell installed by default.
I hope to make a vbscript version as well which would work on almost any version of Windows.
Let me know if you have questions about implementing.
Regards,
-Yancy
I put together a script which will report back any changes in add/remove programs. It would be much appreciated if you get a chance to test it.
here is the link:
http://exchange.nagios.org/directory/Pl ... ls/details
I wrote this first version in powershell because of the quick development time. However, only Windows 7 and Windows 2008 have powershell installed by default.
I hope to make a vbscript version as well which would work on almost any version of Windows.
Let me know if you have questions about implementing.
Regards,
-Yancy