Remote plugins?

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DuncanClarke
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 6:08 am

Remote plugins?

Post by DuncanClarke »

We have a simple check running that I have tested on one of our servers. It is using a Powershell script in the plugins directory.

check_xi_ncpa!-t '<token>' -P 5693 -M 'plugins/CheckNetworkCategory.ps1' -q "args=DomainAuthenticated"!!!!!!!

My question is, do I need to upload this script to the plugins directory on every server we want to monitor, or is it possible to store it centrally and point all servers to the one centralised script (UNC path or similar)? For example,

check_xi_ncpa!-t '<token>' -P 5693 -M '\\fileserver.domain\Share\script.ps1' -q "args=DomainAuthenticated"!!!!!!!
kg2857
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2023 5:48 pm

Re: Remote plugins?

Post by kg2857 »

That's an interesting question. I've always installed the plugins on the hosts, but I imagine you could install them on a share. Of course what happens when the share isn't available?
DuncanClarke
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 6:08 am

Re: Remote plugins?

Post by DuncanClarke »

It mostly depends on authorisation, formatting etc. for the links.

I'm sure we could add in redundancy for the share. I'm not that worried about that part. Even if I can't then I can't imagine it would be catastrophic. It just seems like something that would be an obvious solution to adding (and updating etc) the same plugin script on a large number of servers. Having one centralised source is just easier to roll out and maintain.

I just can't believe it's not a common practice, or at the very least, an edge case that a few people have tried. I can't find any info on anyone trying this before.
DuncanClarke
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 6:08 am

Re: Remote plugins?

Post by DuncanClarke »

What I've ended up doing is using the SysVol as a pseudo fileshare by:
- adding the plugin to the "Scripts" section of a GPO
- using the [Computer -> Prefs -> Windows -> Files] to copy the file from SysVol into the Nagios Plugins folder
- apply that GPO to the servers we want to monitor

This results in a central storage point (the GPO/SysVol) for the file which is then copied out to all of the servers. From there I can call the plugin on these servers are report the results. Any new server will receive the GPO (which also installs NCPA) thus having the plugin available, and we can add it to a group in Nagios to monitor it.

It would be nice to be able to use a remote plugin by using the UNC path, but this will do.
katyswift468
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 22, 2023 9:01 pm

Re: Remote plugins?

Post by katyswift468 »

To ease plugin deployment, you can configure InsightCloudSec to download plugins from a remote location on system startup. Mapquest Directions
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