WMI

h6. Overview

This page reviews how to use WMI agentless plugins and is valid for use with any version of GroundWork Monitor. Further, those customers using GroundWork Distributed Monitor Agent (GDMA) may find the description of plugins and WMI troubleshooting sections useful.
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h1. 1.0 About WMI

{color:#333333}{*}WMI Agentless Plugins Project{*}{color}{color:#333333}* *{color}{color:#333333}\-  Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is a management standard technology for accessing management information and automating administrative tasks in an enterprise environment. There are two main systems management architectures; Agent-based where the proprietary software agent is loaded on a managed system and, Agent-less which depends on management functionality that is built into a managed system. {color}{color:#333333}{*}GroundWork WMI Agentless Plugins Project{*}{color}{color:#333333} \- This project consists of a collection of script monitors (.vbs for starters) that use the Microsoft .NET Framework and WMI to retrieve performance data from remote Windows hosts without the need for agents on the remote hosts. Initially we have about 20 scripts, although it is a fairly minor matter to script others.{color}

There are large numbers of WMI Classes on Windows hosts. This plugin package with a small change to each plugin can be used to retrieve almost any parameter of interest in the default WMI namespace. There is no need for agents on the remote hosts.

The plugin package comes with an NRPE configuration file that can be included from the base {{nrpe.cfg}} file. Some of the plugins retrieve specific properties such as CPU load percentage, disk utilization, disk and network I/O, etc., while others are for retrieving arbitrary properties from WMI. The provided NRPE configuration file defines NRPE commands using the plugins to get both specific and arbitrary properties and there are documented syntax examples for each command.

Plugins are configured to return performance data where it makes sense which facilitates easy graphing of results on a Nagios server.

h6. Typical monitor

A typical monitor works like this:

{noformat}cscript //nologo check_cpu.vbs -h hostname -w -c -user username -pass password{noformat}

This script returns a string to stand out that says something like:

{noformat}OK - CPU Utilization 67%" or "WARNING - CPU Utilization 89%" or "CRITICAL - CPU Utilization 98%{noformat}

The warning and critical thresholds will be passed as command line arguments (in percent).

In addition it returns an exit value like this:

{noformat}0 = OK 1 = Warning 2 = Critical 3 = Error{noformat}

All scripts return syntax and help if passed the \--help command line option. And all scripts return performance data formatted according to the [Nagios Plugin Developer's Guidelines|http://nagiosplug.sourceforge.net/developer-guidelines.html].

h6. Description of plugins

The following table lists and describes plugins in the package.
\\
|| Plugin || Description ||
| check_100nsec_timer.vbs | checks WMI counters of type 'PERF_100NSEC_TIMER' |
| check_counter_bulk_count.vbs | checks WMI counters of type 'PERF_COUNTER_BULK_COUNT' |
| check_counter_counter.vbs | checks WMI counters of type 'PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER' |
| check_counter_large_rawcount.vbs | checks WMI counters of type 'PERF_COUNTER_LARGE_RAWCOUNT' |
| check_counter_rawcount.vbs | checks WMI counters of type 'PERF_COUNTER_RAWCOUNT' |
| check_cpu_load_percentage.vbs | checks load percentage of one or more CPUs |
| check_disks_io.vbs | checks disk I/O of one or more logical disks |
| check_disks_percentage_space_used.vbs | checks disk usage of one or more logical disks |
| check_memory_percentage_space_used.vbs | checks RAM, page file, or total memory usage |
| check_network_io.vbs | checks network I/O of one or more TCP/IP network interfaces |
| check_proc_num.vbs | checks number of running processes matching a search expression |
| check_raw_fraction.vbs | checks WMI counters of type 'PERF_RAW_FRACTION' |
| check_services_states.vbs | checks the state of an installed service |
| get_computer_info.vbs | enumerates information about processors, installed services, running processes, network interfaces, and logical disks for use in configuring other plugins |
| get_counter_type.vbs | enumerates information about WMI classes and properties to determine which counter plugin to use |
| get_system_uptime.vbs | checks system uptime and enumerations information about the hardware and OS |
| verify_wmi_status.vbs | checks OS version to verify WMI is working |

h1. 2.0 Installation

h6. Prerequisites

# NRPE_NT version 0.8b. The remainder of this document assumes that {{NRPE_NT}} has been installed under {{C:\NRPE_NT}} with the executable and configuration file under {{C:\NRPE_NT\bin}}. It also assumes that you have tested correct operation of {{NRPE_NT}} by calling it with the {{check_nrpe}} Nagios plugin from your Nagios server. Version 0.8b is necessary in order to fully support specification of some special characters when calling {{NRPE_NT}} from {{check_nrpe}}. {{NRPE_NT}} can be downloaded from [Sourceforge|http://sourceforge.net/projects/nrpent/].
# Nagios 2.x or later with {{check_nrpe}} plugin compatible with {{NRPE_NT}} version 0.8b. Nagios can be found at [www.nagios.org|http://www.nagios.org].

h6. Installing

# Once you have installed {{NRPE_NT}} on a host (designated as {{<host>}}) and tested that it can be called from your Nagios server with a {{check_nrpe \-H <host>}} create the following directories:
{noformat}C:\NRPE_NT\Plugins
C:\NRPE_NT\Plugins\V2{noformat}
# Copy all of the VBS programs from this directory into:
{noformat}C:\NRPE_NT\Plugins\V2{noformat}
# Copy the file {{V2_nrpe_commands.cfg}} into:
{noformat}C:\NRPE_NT\bin{noformat}
# Edit {{C:\NRPE_NT\bin\nrpe.cfg}} and append the following line to the bottom:
{noformat}include=C:\NRPE_NT\bin\V2_nrpe_commands.cfg{noformat}
# Restart the NRPE_NT service.

h6. Testing

After completing the installation procedure you should be able to call each of the installed scripts with the commands defined in {{V2_nrpe_commands.cfg}} either from the Windows server itself or from the Nagios server using {{check_nrpe}}.

# On the Windows server you installed {{NRPE_NT}} and the plugins on, open a command window and type:
{noformat}cscript //nologo C:\NRPE_NT\Plugins\V2\verify_wmi_status.vbs -h 127.0.0.1{noformat}
The output you get should look something like:
{noformat}OK - Microsoft Windows XP Professional, SP 2.0{noformat}
This indicates that the plugin was able to successfully talk with the WMI service on 127.0.0.1 and retrieve the OS version.
# On the Nagios server, type the following command in a shell once you have changed directory to the location of the {{check_nrpe}} plugin:
{noformat}./check_nrpe -H <host> -c show_os -a 127.0.0.1{noformat}
The output you get should look something like:
{noformat}OK - Microsoft Windows XP Professional, SP 2.0{noformat}
You have just executed the same {{verify_wmi_status.vbs}} plugin but through the {{NRPE_NT}} service from your Nagios server.

h6. Examples

The following example Nagios command and service definitions assume you have Nagios 2.x or later installed with a version of {{check_nrpe}} compatible with {{NRPE_NT}} v0.8b. They also assume that {{$USER1$}} points to the directory containing {{check_nrpe}}, and that {{$USER21$}} is the address of the host on which {{NRPE_NT}} is installed\! Download information about both Nagios 2.x (or later) and NRPE_NT v0.8b is available in the install document referenced below.

{noformat}
define command {
command_name check_wmi_mssql_transactions
command_line $USER1$/check_nrpe -t 60 -H $USER21$ -c \\
get_mssql_transactions -a "$HOSTADDRESS$" "$ARG1$" \\
"$ARG2$" "$ARG3$"
}

define service {
name wmi_mssql_transactions
check_command check_wmi_mssql_transactions!Name=_Total!10!20
#.
#. other parameters as desired for service definition
#
}
{noformat}
{noformat}
define command {
command_name check_wmi_cpu
command_line $USER1$/check_nrpe -t 60 -H "$USER21$" -c \\
get_cpu -a "$HOSTADDRESS$" "$ARG1$" "$ARG2$"
}

define service {
name wmi_cpu
check_command check_wmi_cpu!_Total!80,90
#.
#. other parameters as desired for service definition
#.
}
{noformat}
{noformat}
define command {
command_name check_wmi_mem
command_line $USER1$/check_nrpe -t 60 -H $USER21$ -c \\
get_mem -a "$HOSTADDRESS$" "$ARG1$" "$ARG2$"
}

define service {
name wmi_mem_ram
check_command check_wmi_mem!RAM!80,90
#.
#. other parameters as desired for service definition
#.
}
{noformat}
{noformat}
define command {
command_name check_wmi_net_io
command_line $USER1$/check_nrpe -t 60 -H $USER21$ -c \\
get_netio -a "$HOSTADDRESS$" "$ARG1$" "$ARG2$" "$ARG3$"
}

define service {
name wmi_net_io_loopback
check_command check_wmi_net_io!"MS TCP Loopback Interface" \\
!BytesReceivedPerSec,BytesSentPerSec!300,1000
#.
#. other parameters as desired for service definition
#.
}
{noformat}

For a list of further examples refer to the {{NRPE_NT}} configuration file available for download below. One key point is that you can reverse warning and critical thresholds and have match in the reverse sense, (e.g., If you set \-w 80 \-c 50 and the returned value is 90 the return code will be 0 (OK)).

h6. Downloads