Windows Powershell client v2.15
Hi
I have today committed v2.15. This has a big, new feature that we've been working on internally for some time and testing in our environment, that is, external scripts and external data.
As far as is possible, I have replicated the BBWin functionality for external data. Data files in the 'externaldatalocation' directory (installdir\tmp by default) with the correct file format will be uploaded to Xymon. You can therefore run external scripts, have them produce status data files in the correct format and that will be uploaded. The format is the same as BBWin and that described in 'Xymon Message Syntax' on this page: http://xymon.sourceforge.net/xymon/help/manpages/man1/xymon.1.html. The sample scripts supplied with BBWin, e.g. fsmon.vbs, should work without material changes (fsmon for example looks in the registry for a couple of locations of folders, this may need changing if you have never installed BBWin).
You can now also specify external scripts in client-local.cfg to be run either every scan or every "slow" scan, and they can be sent to run synchronously or asynchronously - therefore a relatively simple external script scheduler. The scripts can either pre-exist on the target or they can be downloaded from a central web server or file share (like client updates). Script versioning is controlled via hashes - this has also been extended to client updates (optionally).
Obviously the use of external scripts requires some care - for example, if you specify synchronous execution and your script never completes, XymonPSClient will be left waiting forever. If you specify asynchronous and your script never completes, you can end up with multiple processes building up over time. It's quite difficult to work out what may be happening with external scripts if you do not have any form of logging in your script, just as it would be with BBWin - therefore if you're having trouble, I recommend logging to file at various points in your script and the start and end of execution.
Note that external scripts will be run as the same user as XymonPSClient, which would usually be the LOCAL SYSTEM user. You can test whether your script works as LOCAL SYSTEM interactively using psexec (e.g. psexec -i -s cmd.exe), from the sysinternals process utilities (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/psexec).
I have updated the XymonPSClient.doc which has a section on external scripts and data - please read this carefully first as there are a number of options associated with these new features. I will try and answer any questions about scheduling and external data configuration, but I can't commit to answering questions about or debugging your individual scripts.
Zak
This is awesome news, thanks!
On Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 5:08 PM, <zak.beck at accenture.com> wrote:
Hi
I have today committed v2.15. This has a big, new feature that we've been working on internally for some time and testing in our environment, that is, external scripts and external data.
As far as is possible, I have replicated the BBWin functionality for external data. Data files in the 'externaldatalocation' directory (installdir\tmp by default) with the correct file format will be uploaded to Xymon. You can therefore run external scripts, have them produce status data files in the correct format and that will be uploaded. The format is the same as BBWin and that described in 'Xymon Message Syntax' on this page: http://xymon.sourceforge.net/xymon/help/manpages/man1/xymon.1.html. The sample scripts supplied with BBWin, e.g. fsmon.vbs, should work without material changes (fsmon for example looks in the registry for a couple of locations of folders, this may need changing if you have never installed BBWin).
You can now also specify external scripts in client-local.cfg to be run either every scan or every "slow" scan, and they can be sent to run synchronously or asynchronously - therefore a relatively simple external script scheduler. The scripts can either pre-exist on the target or they can be downloaded from a central web server or file share (like client updates). Script versioning is controlled via hashes – this has also been extended to client updates (optionally).
Obviously the use of external scripts requires some care – for example, if you specify synchronous execution and your script never completes, XymonPSClient will be left waiting forever. If you specify asynchronous and your script never completes, you can end up with multiple processes building up over time. It's quite difficult to work out what may be happening with external scripts if you do not have any form of logging in your script, just as it would be with BBWin – therefore if you're having trouble, I recommend logging to file at various points in your script and the start and end of execution.
Note that external scripts will be run as the same user as XymonPSClient, which would usually be the LOCAL SYSTEM user. You can test whether your script works as LOCAL SYSTEM interactively using psexec (e.g. psexec -i -s cmd.exe), from the sysinternals process utilities ( https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/psexec).
I have updated the XymonPSClient.doc which has a section on external scripts and data – please read this carefully first as there are a number of options associated with these new features. I will try and answer any questions about scheduling and external data configuration, but I can't commit to answering questions about or debugging your individual scripts.
Zak
Xymon mailing list Xymon at xymon.com http://lists.xymon.com/mailman/listinfo/xymon
Hello Zak,
Thanks for this excellent script. I haven't tested the externals function yet, but I will soon. And maybe then I'll finally be able to remove BBwin everywhere...
Is it possible to add this line (or something similar) to the XymonClientInstall section :
& "$xymondir\nssm.exe" set `"$xymonsvcname`" Description "XymonPSClient Version $Version"
This way the service will have a description with the version in it (instead of nothing). This will benefit me greatly in deploying the client. I've tested it on one of my servers and it seems to be working as expected.
Kind regards,
Sven De Vilder
zak.beck at accenture.com wrote:
Hi
I have today committed v2.15. This has a big, new feature that we've been working on internally for some time and testing in our environment, that is, external scripts and external data.
As far as is possible, I have replicated the BBWin functionality for external data. Data files in the 'externaldatalocation' directory (installdir\tmp by default) with the correct file format will be uploaded to Xymon. You can therefore run external scripts, have them produce status data files in the correct format and that will be uploaded. The format is the same as BBWin and that described in 'Xymon Message Syntax' on this page: http://xymon.sourceforge.net/xymon/help/manpages/man1/xymon.1.html. The sample scripts supplied with BBWin, e.g. fsmon.vbs, should work without material changes (fsmon for example looks in the registry for a couple of locations of folders, this may need changing if you have never installed BBWin).
You can now also specify external scripts in client-local.cfg to be run either every scan or every "slow" scan, and they can be sent to run synchronously or asynchronously - therefore a relatively simple external script scheduler. The scripts can either pre-exist on the target or they can be downloaded from a central web server or file share (like client updates). Script versioning is controlled via hashes – this has also been extended to client updates (optionally).
Obviously the use of external scripts requires some care – for example, if you specify synchronous execution and your script never completes, XymonPSClient will be left waiting forever. If you specify asynchronous and your script never completes, you can end up with multiple processes building up over time. It's quite difficult to work out what may be happening with external scripts if you do not have any form of logging in your script, just as it would be with BBWin – therefore if you're having trouble, I recommend logging to file at various points in your script and the start and end of execution.
Note that external scripts will be run as the same user as XymonPSClient, which would usually be the LOCAL SYSTEM user. You can test whether your script works as LOCAL SYSTEM interactively using psexec (e.g. psexec -i -s cmd.exe), from the sysinternals process utilities (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/psexec).
I have updated the XymonPSClient.doc which has a section on external scripts and data – please read this carefully first as there are a number of options associated with these new features. I will try and answer any questions about scheduling and external data configuration, but I can't commit to answering questions about or debugging your individual scripts.
Zak
Xymon mailing list Xymon at xymon.com http://lists.xymon.com/mailman/listinfo/xymon
De informatie opgenomen in dit bericht kan vertrouwelijk zijn en is uitsluitend bestemd voor de geadresseerde. Indien u dit bericht onterecht ontvangt, wordt u verzocht de inhoud niet te gebruiken en de afzender direct te informeren door het bericht te retourneren. Het Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht is een publiekrechtelijke rechtspersoon in de zin van de W.H.W. (Wet Hoger Onderwijs en Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) en staat geregistreerd bij de Kamer van Koophandel voor Midden-Nederland onder nr. 30244197.
Denk s.v.p aan het milieu voor u deze e-mail afdrukt.
This message may contain confidential information and is intended exclusively for the addressee. If you receive this message unintentionally, please do not use the contents but notify the sender immediately by return e-mail. University Medical Center Utrecht is a legal person by public law and is registered at the Chamber of Commerce for Midden-Nederland under no. 30244197.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
Hi
Yes, I can look at that - however, I'm not sure about adding the version as the client can self-update. I'll see if there's a way to update the version at the same time.
Cheers
Zak
-----Original Message----- From: Sven De Vilder [mailto:s.devilder at umcutrecht.nl] Sent: 03 May 2016 16:16 To: Beck, Zak <zak.beck at accenture.com> Cc: xymon at xymon.com Subject: Re: [Xymon] Windows Powershell client v2.15
Hello Zak,
Thanks for this excellent script. I haven't tested the externals function yet, but I will soon. And maybe then I'll finally be able to remove BBwin everywhere...
Is it possible to add this line (or something similar) to the XymonClientInstall section :
& "$xymondir\nssm.exe" set `"$xymonsvcname`" Description"XymonPSClient Version $Version"
This way the service will have a description with the version in it (instead of nothing). This will benefit me greatly in deploying the client. I've tested it on one of my servers and it seems to be working as expected.
Kind regards,
Sven De Vilder
zak.beck at accenture.com wrote:
Hi
I have today committed v2.15. This has a big, new feature that we've been working on internally for some time and testing in our environment, that is, external scripts and external data.
As far as is possible, I have replicated the BBWin functionality for external data. Data files in the 'externaldatalocation' directory (installdir\tmp by default) with the correct file format will be uploaded to Xymon. You can therefore run external scripts, have them produce status data files in the correct format and that will be uploaded. The format is the same as BBWin and that described in 'Xymon Message Syntax' on this page: http://xymon.sourceforge.net/xymon/help/manpages/man1/xymon.1.html. The sample scripts supplied with BBWin, e.g. fsmon.vbs, should work without material changes (fsmon for example looks in the registry for a couple of locations of folders, this may need changing if you have never installed BBWin).
You can now also specify external scripts in client-local.cfg to be run either every scan or every "slow" scan, and they can be sent to run synchronously or asynchronously - therefore a relatively simple external script scheduler. The scripts can either pre-exist on the target or they can be downloaded from a central web server or file share (like client updates). Script versioning is controlled via hashes - this has also been extended to client updates (optionally).
Obviously the use of external scripts requires some care - for example, if you specify synchronous execution and your script never completes, XymonPSClient will be left waiting forever. If you specify asynchronous and your script never completes, you can end up with multiple processes building up over time. It's quite difficult to work out what may be happening with external scripts if you do not have any form of logging in your script, just as it would be with BBWin - therefore if you're having trouble, I recommend logging to file at various points in your script and the start and end of execution.
Note that external scripts will be run as the same user as XymonPSClient, which would usually be the LOCAL SYSTEM user. You can test whether your script works as LOCAL SYSTEM interactively using psexec (e.g. psexec -i -s cmd.exe), from the sysinternals process utilities (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/psexec).
I have updated the XymonPSClient.doc which has a section on external scripts and data - please read this carefully first as there are a number of options associated with these new features. I will try and answer any questions about scheduling and external data configuration, but I can't commit to answering questions about or debugging your individual scripts.
Zak
Xymon mailing list Xymon at xymon.com http://lists.xymon.com/mailman/listinfo/xymon
--
De informatie opgenomen in dit bericht kan vertrouwelijk zijn en is uitsluitend bestemd voor de geadresseerde. Indien u dit bericht onterecht ontvangt, wordt u verzocht de inhoud niet te gebruiken en de afzender direct te informeren door het bericht te retourneren. Het Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht is een publiekrechtelijke rechtspersoon in de zin van de W.H.W. (Wet Hoger Onderwijs en Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) en staat geregistreerd bij de Kamer van Koophandel voor Midden-Nederland onder nr. 30244197.
Denk s.v.p aan het milieu voor u deze e-mail afdrukt.
--
This message may contain confidential information and is intended exclusively for the addressee. If you receive this message unintentionally, please do not use the contents but notify the sender immediately by return e-mail. University Medical Center Utrecht is a legal person by public law and is registered at the Chamber of Commerce for Midden-Nederland under no. 30244197.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
Okay, great. I didn't think about the self-update mechanism. It seems to be possible to update the description without reregistering the service.
Thanks,
Sven
zak.beck at accenture.com wrote:
Hi
Yes, I can look at that - however, I'm not sure about adding the version as the client can self-update. I'll see if there's a way to update the version at the same time.
Cheers
Zak
-----Original Message----- From: Sven De Vilder [mailto:s.devilder at umcutrecht.nl] Sent: 03 May 2016 16:16 To: Beck, Zak<zak.beck at accenture.com> Cc: xymon at xymon.com Subject: Re: [Xymon] Windows Powershell client v2.15
Hello Zak,
Thanks for this excellent script. I haven't tested the externals function yet, but I will soon. And maybe then I'll finally be able to remove BBwin everywhere...
Is it possible to add this line (or something similar) to the XymonClientInstall section :
& "$xymondir\nssm.exe" set `"$xymonsvcname`" Description
"XymonPSClient Version $Version"This way the service will have a description with the version in it (instead of nothing). This will benefit me greatly in deploying the client. I've tested it on one of my servers and it seems to be working as expected.
Kind regards,
Sven De Vilder
zak.beck at accenture.com wrote:
Hi
I have today committed v2.15. This has a big, new feature that we've been working on internally for some time and testing in our environment, that is, external scripts and external data.
As far as is possible, I have replicated the BBWin functionality for external data. Data files in the 'externaldatalocation' directory (installdir\tmp by default) with the correct file format will be uploaded to Xymon. You can therefore run external scripts, have them produce status data files in the correct format and that will be uploaded. The format is the same as BBWin and that described in 'Xymon Message Syntax' on this page: http://xymon.sourceforge.net/xymon/help/manpages/man1/xymon.1.html. The sample scripts supplied with BBWin, e.g. fsmon.vbs, should work without material changes (fsmon for example looks in the registry for a couple of locations of folders, this may need changing if you have never installed BBWin).
You can now also specify external scripts in client-local.cfg to be run either every scan or every "slow" scan, and they can be sent to run synchronously or asynchronously - therefore a relatively simple external script scheduler. The scripts can either pre-exist on the target or they can be downloaded from a central web server or file share (like client updates). Script versioning is controlled via hashes - this has also been extended to client updates (optionally).
Obviously the use of external scripts requires some care - for example, if you specify synchronous execution and your script never completes, XymonPSClient will be left waiting forever. If you specify asynchronous and your script never completes, you can end up with multiple processes building up over time. It's quite difficult to work out what may be happening with external scripts if you do not have any form of logging in your script, just as it would be with BBWin - therefore if you're having trouble, I recommend logging to file at various points in your script and the start and end of execution.
Note that external scripts will be run as the same user as XymonPSClient, which would usually be the LOCAL SYSTEM user. You can test whether your script works as LOCAL SYSTEM interactively using psexec (e.g. psexec -i -s cmd.exe), from the sysinternals process utilities (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/sysinternals/psexec).
I have updated the XymonPSClient.doc which has a section on external scripts and data - please read this carefully first as there are a number of options associated with these new features. I will try and answer any questions about scheduling and external data configuration, but I can't commit to answering questions about or debugging your individual scripts.
Zak
Xymon mailing list Xymon at xymon.com http://lists.xymon.com/mailman/listinfo/xymon
--
De informatie opgenomen in dit bericht kan vertrouwelijk zijn en is uitsluitend bestemd voor de geadresseerde. Indien u dit bericht onterecht ontvangt, wordt u verzocht de inhoud niet te gebruiken en de afzender direct te informeren door het bericht te retourneren. Het Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht is een publiekrechtelijke rechtspersoon in de zin van de W.H.W. (Wet Hoger Onderwijs en Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) en staat geregistreerd bij de Kamer van Koophandel voor Midden-Nederland onder nr. 30244197.
Denk s.v.p aan het milieu voor u deze e-mail afdrukt.
--
This message may contain confidential information and is intended exclusively for the addressee. If you receive this message unintentionally, please do not use the contents but notify the sender immediately by return e-mail. University Medical Center Utrecht is a legal person by public law and is registered at the Chamber of Commerce for Midden-Nederland under no. 30244197.
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
participants (3)
-
colin.coe＠gmail.com
-
s.devilder＠umcutrecht.nl
-
zak.beck＠accenture.com