Extending NetCrunch desktop console with diagnostic tools
Execute on-demand custom remote actions on any node directly in NetCrunch. No hassle with switching windows and tools - fast and sweet.
When NetCrunch generates a critical alert, the clock starts ticking and it is crucial to diagnose and find the problem node, service, or application fast. Executing a diagnostic action is an obvious part of the troubleshooting process, but switching between tools and windows can take valuable time and is prone to errors. Here's how you can simplify it.
Examples of running diagnostic tools from NetCrunch
Open SSH console to the selected node directly in NetCrunch
Imagine that there is a problem on your machine, e.g. a Linux, where you are monitoring zombie processes. You have an alert that you can see in the Node Status of your node, in the Alerts tab (counter for this alert is available in Linux performance counters). You want to quickly get access to a given machine, to check directly in the SSH console which processes are zombie now, and then to eventually fix a given problem (also using the SSH console).
You could of course save the IP of the machine on which the alert occurred, then minimize the NetCrunch Console, turn on e.g. Putty, then enter the previously saved IP in Putty, click Open and it's ready, you can log in to your device via ssh.
Sounds simple right? Apparently so, but you have to take a lot of unnecessary steps. How about making it easier? What if it was possible to open the SSH console directly from NetCrunch, from the menu of the node on which the alert occurred? Well, actually it is possible.
NetCrunch allows you to open an SSH console directly in its UI.
To do this, all you need to do is:
- In the top-right corner of the Node Status window click on the hamburger menu
- Select Tools SSH
And that's all. The SSH console with a connection to the machine that triggered the alert is open. Now you can find these pesky zombie processes and fix the issue:
- In the SSH console: `ps aux | egrep "defunct|Z"
- Find PID's
- Kill and then start the process
WWW is for website diagnostics
Another good example to use external tools in NetCrunch is troubleshooting website issues. Let's assume you are monitoring your website with a Web Page sensor. Suddenly, you see an alert for 'Content changed' generated for this page. The alert message doesn't provide much information about what exactly has been changed and how, so you want to see it for yourself. Maybe it is a kind of attack on your "window to the world"?
How to open your webpage quickly?
- In the top-right corner of the Node Status window click on the hamburger menu
- Select Tools WWW
Your webpage is opened in the Browser. Now you can check if the content changed intentionally or if it is an attack.
Remote Desktop
The third example to use external tools in NetCrunch is a situation when the program alerts you that there is a problem with insufficient free disk space on one of your Windows machines. With NetCrunch you can quickly open Remote Desktop to a machine that generates an alert.
How to do it?
- In the top-right corner of the Node Status window click on the hamburger menu
- Select Tools Remote Desktop
Now you can log in to the machine and remove unnecessary files to solve the issue.
