The document discusses automating Windows application testing and problem resolution using tools such as AutoIt and Selenium within the Nagios framework. It outlines the integration and functionality of these automation scripts, including event handlers for service management and web application testing. Key points include the ease of use, customization options, and potential limitations of automation in maintaining system performance and reliability.

1. Automating Windows Application Testing
and
Problem Resolution With Nagios
Sam Lansing

2. Introduction
What I do at Nagios
Member of the Technical Support team at Nagios.
I work on documentation and quality assurance,
implementation of automated problem solutions into the
Nagios family of software.
Example projects:
AutoIT Timer Plugin, Program Timer, Host Service Restart
Event Handler, Selenium integration, and Selenium Nagios
XI interface checks.
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3. What is this automation thing?
Automation, the asset
Eliminates the hassle of terminal usage when an issue
occurs
Precise and efficient testing
Less 3 o'clock AM calls
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4. As far as the eye can see!
Possibilities and limitations
➢ Autonomous problem solutions
➢ Usable for simple things such as service restarting, to
intricate expansive uses such as mass distribution
➢ Main limitation is user interface interference
➢ Advisable to cron scripts as to not over lap actions
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5. Solutions, what works?
AutoIT and Selenium
➢ Currently tested and implemented with maximum capability
➢ Large user base and support team
➢ Easily molded to your needs
Triggered Scripts
➢ Event Handler driven
➢ Simple yet effective
➢ Easily Editable
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6. Event Handlers, what are they?
Triggered when a Host or Service changes state
➢ Restarting a service
➢ Entering helpdesk tickets
➢ Logging database information
Intermediary between Nagios and a remote host
➢ Can be used to run a script “if state is”
➢ Most efficient way to tie in AutoIT scripts otherwise the
automation scripts may overlap, or continue running.
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7. Event Handler example
Using XI Windows Monitoring Wizards
➢ A monitored service goes into a critical state and the
servicerestart.sh script is triggered
➢ Servicerestart.sh sends a command directly to the Windows
Host to net stop/start “service name”
➢ On the next check the service is determined to be running
and the check returns to an OK state
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8. AutoIT What is it?
AutoIT is actually has numerous parts
➢ AutoIt Recorder: Will record mouse gestures, and keyboard
use and output as AutoIt script
➢ SciTE Editor: The provided program with which to create and
edit AutoIt scripts
➢ Aut2Exe: A converter which may be used to create
executable files from AutoIt scripts
➢ AutoItX: DLL and COM control, allowing you to add AutoIt
features to your favorite scripting language.
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9. AutoIT Purpose
Originally designed to configure massive amounts of PCs, and has
over time become a very powerful scripting language supporting
complex expressions, loops, user functions, and just about everything
in between.
➢ Easy to learn syntax
➢ Manipulation of processes and windows
➢ Use standard windows controls
➢ Creation of GUIs
➢ Unicode support
➢ Works with Windows User Account Control and much more
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10. AutoIT Purpose Cont.
Small and stand-alone, no registry entries or .dll's required which
makes it easy to use on servers.
Scripts can be compiled into stand-alone executables for security
reasons.
AutoIT is now fully Unicode aware and supports both 32, and 64-bit
versions for it's main components.
AutoIT gives you full window support, windows are referenced by title,
text, size, position, class, and internal Win32 API handles.
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11. The Rule of the Automated Monitoring Road
Maintain control
Automation is great but use caution when over automating
You could end up making more work for yourself cleaning up
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12. Integration With Nagios
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13. Check Page Load Time
Checks the complete time a web page takes to load from the firefox
browser.
Sends the data via NRPE through NSClient++ to Nagios
Nagios outputs the data on the XI web UI in a clear format
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14. Check Page Load Time
Example video of AutoIT Recorder
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15. Check Page Load Time
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16. The Good, The Batch, And The Ugly
When the cron comes up for Nagios XI to run this check a remote
batch file is executed.
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17. Check Page Load Time
AutoIT script in the SCITE editor.
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18. Check Page Load Time
AutoIT script cont.
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19. Check Page Load Time
AutoIT script cont.
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20. Check Page Load Time
The Batch file dumps text from the notepad created file to Nagios
The Nagios Server receives this as a long text string
The string is converted into a friendly readable format
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21. Check Page Load Time
Check Program Load Time
AutoIT Timer Plugin Exchange Page
Integrating autoIT With Nagios Documentation
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22. Windows Service Restart Event Handler
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23. Event Handlers, what are they?
Triggered when a Host or Service changes state
➢ Restarting a service
➢ Entering helpdesk tickets
➢ Logging database information
Intermediary between Nagios and a remote host
➢ Can be used to run a script “if state is”
➢ Most efficient way to tie in AutoIT scripts otherwise the
automation scripts may overlap, or continue running.
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24. Service Restart Event Handler
The Nagios Service is checking the existence of a running Windows
Service
The Service goes down and Nagios see's this on its routine check
The Service was set up with a event handler to restart the Service
and it is triggered
The Windows Service is restarted and Nagios switches the Service
back to an Ok status
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25. Service Restart Event Handler
Yes...another batch file.
Simple yet effective, you don't want to get your hands tied if
something goes wrong.
Injects a Administrator provided argument from Nagios instead of
being hard coded due to security reasons.
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26. Service Restart Event Handler
Sending the command via NRPE from the Nagios Terminal
Providing a argument for the Service we desire to be restarted
The nice thing about the simplicity of the batch file is it only does two
things
It stops the Service if it is running, if not it starts the Service, a simple
on and off switch
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27. Service Restart Event Handler
Example of the Event Handler script
Since the check only looks at two things “If the service is up or if it is
down” We will only trigger this if it is in a Critical or Downed State
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28. Possible uses for Event Handler driven AutoIT
scripts
Using check_windowsupdates to check for new updates. When a
certain value is met, say... 5 security updates, the event handler is
triggered which starts an AutoIT script to update Windows
Cron Windows to run a system defrag, then when it has been run an
event handler triggers a script to open a performance graphing
program to see the difference so it is ready for you Monday morning
when you walk in with your coffee
Since AutoIT is not available for Linux distributions, you could use a
terminal running on Windows to send commands to a Linux system,
if, say NRPE goes down and you want to tail a log after you restart it
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29. Service Restart Event Handler
Host Service Restart Event Handler
Event Handler Exchange Page
Service Restart Event Handler Documentation (Windows)
Service Restart Event Handler Documentation (Linux) - Alex Griffin
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30. Using Selenium for Web Based Testing and
Resolutions
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31. Selenium
Selenium automates browsers. What you do with that power is
entirely up to you. Primarily it is for automating web applications for
testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that. Boring web-
based administration tasks can also be automated as well.
Selenium has the support of some of the largest browser vendors
who have taken (or are taking) steps to make Selenium a native part
of their browser. It is also the core technology in countless other
browser automation tools, APIs and frameworks.
Support for over 10 different language packs such as Java, C#, Ruby,
Python, and Perl.
Selenium also includes an easy to use web recorder, with the ability
to edit the script as you go.
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32. Selenium
The four core Selenium Projects:
➢ Selenium IDE: Firefox add-on for recording and playback of
tests in Firefox 2+, also able to generate code to run tests
with the RC
➢ Selenium Remote Control (RC): Server system for controlling
browsers locally or remotely including almost every
programming language and framework for testing
➢ WebDriver: Natively drive browsers remotely or locally
➢ Grid: Mass deployment of Selenium tests across multiple
servers
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33. Check_Selenium
Check_selenium is a Nagios friendly check designed to pass
selenium Perl scripts through to a remote system. In this way you can
control web based automation and testing through Selenium via
Nagios. The checks return all performance data in a way readable by
Nagios Core, and Nagios XI.
Examples are in Perl
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34. Check_Selenium
Example of Selenium IDE, User friendly, loads of under the hood
options
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35. Check_Selenium
This check periodically opens a remote Firefox browser and performs
a functionality check of the Nagios.com website
It runs through each of the drop down menu items to make sure none
of those link are broken
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36. Check_Selenium
Results of our test on the Nagios Terminal, Selenium RC reports
each test live on separate lines so you can see an issue as it occurs.
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37. Check_Selenium
Output on the Nagios XI Web UI in a short, friendly manner
Output on the Nagios Terminal
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38. Check_Selenium
Selenium Example Video
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39. Check_Selenium
Error from example video
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40. Check_Selenium
Perl Selenium check
Selenium Integration Document
Perl check_selenium Exchange Page
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41. Other Options?
Besides the programs and methods shown here, what other options
do I have?
WinAutomation by Softmotive, Ltd.
➢ Has the added benefit of everything combined into one UI, it
does offer you more control over intricate things like mouse
movement coordinates
➢ Clean, clear UI with images to assist you in seeing what your
script is actually doing
➢ Combines the effectiveness of Selenium, AutoIT and Event
Handlers into one, but is difficult to incorporate with Nagios
because of this “togetherness”
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42. Other Options Cont.
Automate by Network Automation, Inc
➢ Interactive drag and drop work flow design much in the same
fashion as WinAutomation
➢ Has a tight non scripting attitude about their software, which
could be good or bad.
➢ Both of these solutions would be good local problem solvers
to a Windows environment as you can trigger localized
Event Handlers based on the software and a set of events.
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43. Thank you!
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