Configuring remote actions

Remote actions allow you to run a command on a remote device. Remote actions can only be triggered from the TrueSight Infrastructure Management Server and not from any other remote source. 

Following creation and configuration of remote actions, you can trigger them from the TrueSight console, as described in Performing remote actions on events from the TrueSight console.

Protocols supported by remote actions

• xCmd protocol
  The xCmd protocol enables an application to run a command on a remote host and does not require a port number. The xCmd protocol requires a remote user name and password. xCmd is only supported on Windows servers.

  The xCmd protocol requires local administrative privileges to the network shares.

• ssh (Secure Shell) protocol
  
  The ssh protocol provides secure, encrypted connections for logging on to remote computers, transferring files, setting up encrypted tunnels, and running remote commands without manual authentication. The ssh protocol requires a remote user name, password, and a port. ssh is the recommended protocol on Windows, Linux, and Solaris servers. 

• telnet protocol
  
  The telnet protocol can pass on the data it has received to many other types of processes including the remote logon server. Communication is established using TCP/IP and is based on a Network Virtual Terminal (NVT). The telnet protocol requires a remote user name, user password, system prompt, and a port.

   

  Note

  You must change the protocol if you have used a different protocol after upgrading to the recent version of Infrastructure Management.

  Also see, Properties files that control remote actions.

Types of remote actions

There are two types of remote actions in TrueSight Infrastructure Management. To access remote actions, select the event and click .

Remote actions that are defined from the Administration Console and used in the remote action policy

Remote actions that are defined from the administrator console and used in the remote action policy must be used to remotely run scripts (for example) on remote devices. Therefore, you must set up the credentials for any device that such remote actions are going to run on. For more information, see Creating remote actions on the administrator console.

Remote actions that run on the cell

Remote actions that run on the cell can execute a command from the computer in which the cell is running (typically, the TrueSight Infrastructure Management Server). These remote actions are defined in the pw/server/etc/cellName/kb/bin/mc_actions.mrl file. The following example is the definition of the 'ping EVENT mc_host_address' action:

action 'Ping EVENT mc_host_address' :
{
    ['Full 
Access','BPPM Administrators','Cloud Administrators', 'Data Collection 
Administrator','BPPM Monitoring Administrators', 'Event Administrator', 
'Event Operator','BPPM Operators', 'Data Collection Operator', 'Event 
Operator Supervisor', 'Data Collection Supervisor','BPPM Supervisors', 
'Service Administrators','BPPM Model Administrators']
} : EVENT($EV)
    mc_ping []
END

You can trigger these remote actions from the KB rules using the perform primitive. These remote actions cannot be triggered using a policy.