Microsoft Active Directory NSClient++ API

Pack assets

Templates

The Monitoring Connector Active Directory API brings a host template:

• Infra-ActiveDirectory-NSClient-05-Restapi-custom

The connector brings the following service templates (sorted by the host template they are attached to):

Infra-ActiveDirectory-NSClient-05-Restapi-custom

Service Alias	Service Template	Service Description
Ad-Domain-Controller	Infra-ActiveDirectory-Domain-Controller-NSClient05-Restapi-custom	This check runs diagnostics on the domain controller. It executes the "dcdiag" command

The services listed above are created automatically when the Infra-ActiveDirectory-NSClient-05-Restapi-custom host template is used.

Not attached to a host template

Service Alias	Service Template	Service Description
Dfsr-Backlog	Infra-ActiveDirectory-Dfsr-Backlog-NSClient05-Restapi-custom	Check the Distributed File Systems Replication backlog

The services listed above are not created automatically when a host template is applied. To use them, create a service manually, then apply the service template you want.

Collected metrics & status

Here is the list of services for this connector, detailing all metrics linked to each service.

Ad-Domain-Controller

Metric name	Unit
domain controller status	N/A

Dfsr-Backlog

Metric name	Unit
backlog.file.count	count

To obtain this new metric format, include --use-new-perfdata in the EXTRAOPTIONS service macro.

Prerequisites

Centreon NSClient++

To monitor a resource through NSClient++ API, install the Centreon packaged version of the NSClient++ agent. Please follow our official documentation and make sure that the Webserver / RESTApi configuration is correct.

Installing the monitoring connector

Pack

1. If the platform uses an online license, you can skip the package installation instruction below as it is not required to have the connector displayed within the Configuration > Monitoring Connector Manager menu. If the platform uses an offline license, install the package on the central server with the command corresponding to the operating system's package manager:

Alma / RHEL / Oracle Linux 8

dnf install centreon-pack-infrastructure-active-directory-nsclient-05-restapi

Alma / RHEL / Oracle Linux 9

dnf install centreon-pack-infrastructure-active-directory-nsclient-05-restapi

Debian 11 & 12

apt install centreon-pack-infrastructure-active-directory-nsclient-05-restapi

CentOS 7

yum install centreon-pack-infrastructure-active-directory-nsclient-05-restapi

2. Whatever the license type (online or offline), install the Active Directory API connector through the Configuration > Monitoring Connector Manager menu.

Plugin

Use the commands below according to your operating system's package manager:

Alma / RHEL / Oracle Linux 8

dnf install centreon-plugin-Operatingsystems-Windows-Restapi

Alma / RHEL / Oracle Linux 9

dnf install centreon-plugin-Operatingsystems-Windows-Restapi

Debian 11 & 12

apt install centreon-plugin-operatingsystems-windows-restapi

CentOS 7

yum install centreon-plugin-Operatingsystems-Windows-Restapi

Using the monitoring connector

Using a host template provided by the connector

1. Log into Centreon and add a new host through Configuration > Hosts.
2. Fill in the Name, Alias & IP Address/DNS fields according to your resource's settings.
3. Apply the Infra-ActiveDirectory-NSClient-05-Restapi-custom template to the host. A list of macros appears. Macros allow you to define how the connector will connect to the resource, and to customize the connector's behavior.
4. Fill in the macros you want. Some macros are mandatory.

Macro	Description	Default value	Mandatory
NSCPRESTAPILEGACYPASSWORD	Password used (configured in the prerequisites section)	PASSWORD
NSCPRESTAPIPROTO	Protocol used	https
NSCPRESTAPIPORT	Port used by the REST API NSClient++	8443
NSCPRESTAPIEXTRAOPTIONS	Any extra option you may want to add to every command (a --verbose flag for example). All options are listed here.

5. Deploy the configuration. The host appears in the list of hosts, and on the Resources Status page. The command that is sent by the connector is displayed in the details panel of the host: it shows the values of the macros.

Using a service template provided by the connector

1. If you have used a host template and checked Create Services linked to the Template too, the services linked to the template have been created automatically, using the corresponding service templates. Otherwise, create manually the services you want and apply a service template to them.
2. Fill in the macros you want (e.g. to change the thresholds for the alerts). Some macros are mandatory (see the table below).

Ad-Domain-Controller

Macro	Description	Default value	Mandatory
LANGUAGE	Set the language used in config file	en
CONFIGFILE	The command can be localized by using a configuration file. This parameter can be used to specify an alternative location for the configuration file.
EXTRAOPTIONS	Any extra option you may want to add to the command (a --verbose flag for example). Toutes les options sont listées ici.

Dfsr-Backlog

Macro	Description	Default value	Mandatory
SENDINGMEMBER	Name of the member that is sending the replication data.		X
REPLICATIONGROUP	Name for the replication group.		X
REPLICATEDFOLDER	Name for the replicated folder.		X
WARNINGBACKLOG	Warning threshold
CRITICALBACKLOG	Critical threshold
EXTRAOPTIONS	Any extra option you may want to add to the command (a --verbose flag for example). All options are listed here.

3. Deploy the configuration. The service appears in the list of services, and on the Resources Status page. The command that is sent by the connector is displayed in the details panel of the service: it shows the values of the macros.

How to check in the CLI that the configuration is OK and what are the main options for?

Once the plugin is installed, log into your Centreon poller's CLI using the centreon-engine user account (su - centreon-engine). Test that the connector is able to monitor a resource using a command like this one (replace the sample values by yours):

/usr/lib/centreon/plugins/centreon_nsclient_restapi.pl \
    --plugin=apps::nsclient::restapi::plugin \
    --mode=query \
    --hostname='10.0.0.1' \
    --port='8443' \
    --proto='https' \
    --legacy-password='PASSWORD'  \
    --command=check_centreon_plugins \
    --arg='apps::microsoft::activedirectory::local::plugin' \
    --arg='dfsr-backlog' \
    --arg=' \
    --sending-member="" \
    --replication-group="" \
    --replicated-folder="" \
    --warning-backlog="" \
    --critical-backlog="" '

The expected command output is shown below:

OK: Backlog File Count : 87 | 'backlog.file.count'=87;;;0;

Troubleshooting

Please find the troubleshooting documentation for the API-based plugins in this chapter.

Available modes

In most cases, a mode corresponds to a service template. The mode appears in the execution command for the connector. In the Centreon interface, you don't need to specify a mode explicitly: its use is implied when you apply a service template. However, you will need to specify the correct mode for the template if you want to test the execution command for the connector in your terminal.

All available modes can be displayed by adding the --list-mode parameter to the command:

/usr/lib/centreon/plugins/centreon_nsclient_restapi.pl \
    --plugin=apps::nsclient::restapi::plugin \
    --list-mode

The plugin brings the following modes:

Mode	Linked service template
dcdiag [code]	Infra-ActiveDirectory-Domain-Controller-NSClient05-Restapi-custom
dfsr-backlog [code]	Infra-ActiveDirectory-Dfsr-Backlog-NSClient05-Restapi-custom
netdom [code]	Not used in this Monitoring Connector

Available options

Generic options

All generic options are listed here:

Option	Description
--mode	Define the mode in which you want the plugin to be executed (see--list-mode).
--dyn-mode	Specify a mode with the module's path (advanced).
--list-mode	List all available modes.
--mode-version	Check minimal version of mode. If not, unknown error.
--version	Return the version of the plugin.
--pass-manager	Define the password manager you want to use. Supported managers are: environment, file, keepass, hashicorpvault and teampass.

Modes options

All available options for each service template are listed below:

Ad-Domain-Controller

Option	Description
--config	The command can be localized by using a configuration file. This parameter can be used to specify an alternative location for the configuration file.
--language	Set the language used in config file (default: 'en').
--dfsr	Specifies that SysVol replication uses DFS instead of FRS (Windows 2008 or later)
--noeventlog	Don't run the dc tests kccevent, frsevent and dfsrevent.
--nomachineaccount	Don't run the dc tests machineaccount.
--timeout	Set timeout time for command execution (default: 30 sec).

Dfsr-Backlog

Option	Description
--mode	Define the mode in which you want the plugin to be executed (see--list-mode).
--dyn-mode	Specify a mode with the module's path (advanced).
--list-mode	List all available modes.
--mode-version	Check minimal version of mode. If not, unknown error.
--version	Return the version of the plugin.
--pass-manager	Define the password manager you want to use. Supported managers are: environment, file, keepass, hashicorpvault and teampass.
--verbose	Display extended status information (long output).
--debug	Display debug messages.
--filter-perfdata	Filter perfdata that match the regexp. Example: adding --filter-perfdata='avg' will remove all metrics that do not contain 'avg' from performance data.
--filter-perfdata-adv	Filter perfdata based on a "if" condition using the following variables: label, value, unit, warning, critical, min, max. Variables must be written either %{variable} or %(variable). Example: adding --filter-perfdata-adv='not (%(value) == 0 and %(max) eq "")' will remove all metrics whose value equals 0 and that don't have a maximum value.
--explode-perfdata-max	Create a new metric for each metric that comes with a maximum limit. The new metric will be named identically with a '_max' suffix). Example: it will split 'used_prct'=26.93%;0:80;0:90;0;100 into 'used_prct'=26.93%;0:80;0:90;0;100 'used_prct_max'=100%;;;;
--change-perfdata --extend-perfdata	Change or extend perfdata. Syntax: --extend-perfdata=searchlabel,newlabel,target[,[newuom],[min],[m ax]] Common examples: Convert storage free perfdata into used: --change-perfdata='free,used,invert()' Convert storage free perfdata into used: --change-perfdata='used,free,invert()' Scale traffic values automatically: --change-perfdata='traffic,,scale(auto)' Scale traffic values in Mbps: --change-perfdata='traffic_in,,scale(Mbps),mbps' Change traffic values in percent: --change-perfdata='traffic_in,,percent()'
--extend-perfdata-group	Add new aggregated metrics (min, max, average or sum) for groups of metrics defined by a regex match on the metrics' names. Syntax: --extend-perfdata-group=regex,namesofnewmetrics,calculation[,[ne wuom],[min],[max]] regex: regular expression namesofnewmetrics: how the new metrics' names are composed (can use $1, $2... for groups defined by () in regex). calculation: how the values of the new metrics should be calculated newuom (optional): unit of measure for the new metrics min (optional): lowest value the metrics can reach max (optional): highest value the metrics can reach Common examples: Sum wrong packets from all interfaces (with interface need --units-errors=absolute): --extend-perfdata-group=',packets_wrong,sum(packets_(discard |error)_(in|out))' Sum traffic by interface: --extend-perfdata-group='traffic_in_(.*),traffic_$1,sum(traf fic_(in|out)_$1)'
--change-short-output --change-long-output	Modify the short/long output that is returned by the plugin. Syntax: --change-short-output=pattern~replacement~modifier Most commonly used modifiers are i (case insensitive) and g (replace all occurrences). Example: adding --change-short-output='OK~Up~gi' will replace all occurrences of 'OK', 'ok', 'Ok' or 'oK' with 'Up'
--change-exit	Replace an exit code with one of your choice. Example: adding --change-exit=unknown=critical will result in a CRITICAL state instead of an UNKNOWN state.
--range-perfdata	Rewrite the ranges displayed in the perfdata. Accepted values: 0: nothing is changed. 1: if the lower value of the range is equal to 0, it is removed. 2: remove the thresholds from the perfdata.
--filter-uom	Mask the units when they don't match the given regular expression.
--opt-exit	Replace the exit code in case of an execution error (i.e. wrong option provided, SSH connection refused, timeout, etc). Default: unknown.
--output-ignore-perfdata	Remove all the metrics from the service. The service will still have a status and an output.
--output-ignore-label	Remove the status label ("OK:", "WARNING:", "UNKNOWN:", CRITICAL:") from the beginning of the output. Example: 'OK: Ram Total:...' will become 'Ram Total:...'
--output-xml	Return the output in XML format (to send to an XML API).
--output-json	Return the output in JSON format (to send to a JSON API).
--output-openmetrics	Return the output in OpenMetrics format (to send to a tool expecting this format).
--output-file	Write output in file (can be combined with json, xml and openmetrics options). E.g.: --output-file=/tmp/output.txt will write the output in /tmp/output.txt.
--disco-format	Applies only to modes beginning with 'list-'. Returns the list of available macros to configure a service discovery rule (formatted in XML).
--disco-show	Applies only to modes beginning with 'list-'. Returns the list of discovered objects (formatted in XML) for service discovery.
--float-precision	Define the float precision for thresholds (default: 8).
--source-encoding	Define the character encoding of the response sent by the monitored resource Default: 'UTF-8'.
--sending-member	Name of the member that is sending the replication data. (mandatory)
--receiving-member	Name of the member that is receiving the replication data. (NOT Mandatory)
--replication-group	Name for the replication group. (mandatory)
--replicated-folder	Name name for the replicated folder. (mandatory)
--timeout	Timeout in seconds for the command (default: 30).
--warning-backlog	Warning threshold.
--critical-backlog	Critical threshold.

All available options for a given mode can be displayed by adding the --help parameter to the command:

/usr/lib/centreon/plugins/centreon_nsclient_restapi.pl \
    --plugin=apps::nsclient::restapi::plugin \
    --mode=query \
    --help