NSClient++ Help (#1) - proxy with arguments not passing on arguments in alias (#463) - Message List

Hi,

I've installed nsclient++ v0.3.6 on a number of Windows servers (a mix of Win32 and x64) and it works very well for most of what we need it for.

However, I'm having a problem with the (admittedly "extreme beta") proxy feature. I've allows arguments in [NRPE] and [External Scripts] sections, I've set up a number of aliases in the [NRPE Handlers] section that can be called from nagios which proxy through to a hidden server.

This works, as long as I don't supply any arguments. When I do, none of the arguments appear to be passed correctly by nsclient++. However, when I run the equivalent call from the command-line, it works!

I have 3 servers in this test, a linux nagios host (say on 192.168.10.10), a 64-bit windows server (dual-homed on 192.168.10.11 and 192.168.0.3) sitting in the middle, and another 64-bit windows server (on 192.168.0.2) sitting on the far side of the middle host.

The NSC.ini file on the middle (dual-homed) host looks like this (with commented-out bits elided for readability and minor changes for security):

[modules]
;# NSCLIENT++ MODULES
;# A list with DLLs to load at startup.
FileLogger.dll
CheckSystem.dll
CheckDisk.dll
NSClientListener.dll
NRPEListener.dll
CheckEventLog.dll
CheckHelpers.dll
CheckWMI.dll
;
; Script to check external scripts and/or internal aliases.
CheckExternalScripts.dll
;
; Check other hosts through NRPE extreme beta and probably a bit dangerous! :)
NRPEClient.dll
[Settings]
;# PASSWORD
password=secret-password
;
;# ALLOWED HOST ADDRESSES
allowed_hosts=192.168.10.10
[log]
[NSClient]
[NRPE]
;# COMMAND ARGUMENT PROCESSING
allow_arguments=1
[Check System]
[EventLog]
buffer_size=524288
[External Scripts]
[External Alias]
[NSCA Agent]
[NSCA Commands]
[NRPE Handlers]
;# REMOTE NRPE PROXY COMMANDS
[NRPE Client Handlers]
proxy_alias_echo0=-H 192.168.0.2 -c alias_echo -a $ARG1$ $ARG2$ $ARG3$
proxy_alias_echo1=-H 192.168.0.2 -c alias_echo

The NSC.ini file on the hidden server looks like this (again, elided for readability and changes for security):-

[modules]
;# NSCLIENT++ MODULES
;# A list with DLLs to load at startup.
FileLogger.dll
CheckSystem.dll
CheckDisk.dll
NSClientListener.dll
NRPEListener.dll
CheckEventLog.dll
CheckHelpers.dll
CheckWMI.dll
;
; Script to check external scripts and/or internal aliases.
CheckExternalScripts.dll
[Settings]
;# PASSWORD
password=secret-password
;
;# ALLOWED HOST ADDRESSES
allowed_hosts=192.168.0.3
[log]
[NSClient]
[NRPE]
;# COMMAND ARGUMENT PROCESSING
allow_arguments=1
[Check System]
[EventLog]
buffer_size=524288
[External Script]
;# COMMAND ARGUMENT PROCESSING
allow_arguments=1
[External Scripts]
alias_echo=scripts\echo_args.bat $ARG1$ $ARG2$ $ARG3$
[External Alias]
[NSCA Agent]
[NSCA Commands]
[NRPE Handlers]
;# REMOTE NRPE PROXY COMMANDS
;  A list of commands that check other hosts.
;  Used by the NRPECLient module
[NRPE Client Handlers]
check_other=-H 192.168.0.1 -p 5666 -c remote_command -a arguments

The "scripts\echo_args.bat" on the hidden server just echoes its arguments as follows:-

@echo OK: "%1" "%2" "%3" "%4" "%5" "%6" "%7" "%8" "%9"
@exit 0

Running nsclient in test mode (nsclient++ -test) on the middle host, I test the commands as follows:-

proxy_alias_echo0 1 2 3
d NSClient++.cpp(1034) Injecting: proxy_alias_echo0: 1, 2, 3
d \NRPEClient.cpp(225) >>>length: 1036
d \NRPEClient.cpp(229) <<<length: 1036
d NSClient++.cpp(1070) Injected Result: OK 'OK: "$ARG1$" "$ARG1$" "$ARG3$" "" ""
 "" "" "" ""'
d NSClient++.cpp(1071) Injected Performance Result: ''
OK:OK: "$ARG1$" "$ARG1$" "$ARG3$" "" "" "" "" "" ""
proxy_alias_echo0 1 2
d NSClient++.cpp(1034) Injecting: proxy_alias_echo0: 1, 2
d \NRPEClient.cpp(225) >>>length: 1036
d \NRPEClient.cpp(229) <<<length: 1036
d NSClient++.cpp(1070) Injected Result: OK 'OK: "$ARG1$" "$ARG1$" "$ARG3$" "" ""
 "" "" "" ""'
d NSClient++.cpp(1071) Injected Performance Result: ''
OK:OK: "$ARG1$" "$ARG1$" "$ARG3$" "" "" "" "" "" ""

However, if I test it from the command line, I get the following:

C:\Program Files\NSClient++>nsclient++ -noboot NRPEClient --host 192.168.0.2 -c alias_echo -a 1 2 3
l NSClient++.cpp(600) NSCLient++ - 0.3.6.816 2009-06-14 Started!
OK: "1" "2" "3" "" "" "" "" "" ""
l NSClient++.cpp(713) NSCLient++ - 0.3.6.816 2009-06-14 Stopped succcessfully

As you can see, when I run it through the alias, it fails to pass the command parameters correctly, despite appearing to do so, whereas doing it via the command line does pass the parameters successfully!

Am I'm just doing something wrong, or is it an issue with the proxy code?

While I'm at it, I've noticed that the proxy functionality seems to add a zero to the end of an IP address if it can't connect to the IP address the first time (e.g. when 192.168.0.2 was firewalled, it reported that it couldn't connect to 192.168.0.20). Is that a bug in the error report or does it somehow assume that you've made a mistake and append a zero to the IP address and try again?