Remediating device issues with self-service portals
Last updated
Last updated
To help you get started, review the NQL examples for typical self-service use cases.
To provide employees with basic information and troubleshooting options related to their devices, leverage Nexthink data to retrieve device information and launch specific remediations to:
Fix disk space issues using Remote actions.
Troubleshoot Microsoft Teams using Workflows.
Order a new battery to remediate low battery health.
Before you start integrating your self-service portal with Nexthink, ensure that you have the following in place:
Nexthink license
Administrator permissions
Configure API features in the Nexthink web interface. Nexthink recommends following the sequence in which the features are listed, as some are interdependent. Nonetheless, you have the flexibility to navigate between different solutions according to your needs.
Install the following remote actions from Nexthink Library:
Get Startup Impact
Get Battery Status
When you complete this step, save the NQL ID of both remote actions to use in the next steps.
NQL ID's:
get_startup_impact_windows
get_battery_status
Install the Disk Cleanup remote action from Nexthink Library. If already Installed, copy it and configure it as follows:
Select API for the remote action trigger.
When you complete this step, save the remote action's NQL ID for use in the next steps.
NQL ID: disk_cleanup
According to the designed scenario, you need to create three NQL API queries:
Get user devices based on the username of the user—Stage 1: Identify device.
Get device data to perform diagnostics for the current topic—Stage 2: Diagnosie device.
Get the remote action status and results—Stage 4: Follow up on the fix.
See details of each NQL API query.
When you complete this step, save the NQL ID's of all NQL API queries to use them in the next steps.
NQL ID's:
#get_device_basic_infos
#diagnose_device_bad_health
#get_remote_action_result
After configuring all necessary API features within Nexthink, move on to implementing API calls.
Consider performing a regular data export based on an NQL query to extract key user information.
Use the #get_remote_action_result NQL API query that you previously created to get the remote action status and results.
Nexthink recommends making a call to get the remote action results no earlier than 1 minute after triggering the remote action with the API.
For real-time feedback and if supported by your self-service portal development, consider using a webhook to be notified when the remote action completes instead.
Input from the previous step
To help you get started with self-service portal integration, find examples of topics that you can use in typical chatbot conversations. Each topic includes:
Prerequisite data collection remote actions. All remote actions referred to in this section are available in Nexthink Library and you must configure them beforehand:
Choose the trigger type Schedule active for data collection remote action and set the schedule to hourly or daily, depending on the required frequency.
A diagnostic NQL query.
Logic on how to interpret the diagnostic query results.
Possible remediations for each diagnostic.
RELATED TOPIC
| Interaction stage | API technology |
|---|
Schedule the executions to occur daily. Refer to for more information
Set default input parameter values that are in line with your self-service portal needs. See the table below.
| Input | Recommended value |
|---|
Matching is based on the username. For alternative approaches, see the section.
Set default input parameter values that are in line with your self-service portal needs. See the table below.
Create API credentials in the Nexthink web interface to establish secure communication between Nexthink and the self-service portal. Select Remote Actions API and NQL API in the Permissions section. Refer to the documentation for more information.
Prior to executing the following API calls, you first need to retrieve a valid authentication token. Refer to the documentation on how to obtain a valid OAuth token using your generated .
To identify the device, use the #get_device_basic_infos NQL API query that you created under .
If the status code is not 200, the request either failed or the rate limit was exceeded. Refer to the documentation for details.
For larger organizations, Nexthink recommends relying on your CMDB to identify which devices are used by which employees. Leverage Nexthink data to enrich and fix your CMDB data using the Data exporter. Refer to the following documentation on how to set up or for ServiceNow.
To get device information after the user has selected their device, use the #diagnose_device_bad_health NQL API query that you created previously under.
If the status code is not 200, the request either failed or the rate limit was exceeded. Refer to the documentation for further details.
For data platform fields, the field is not supported by the platform. Please refer to the documentation for more information.
Use Remote Action API to execute the Disk Cleanup remote action that you configured in the previous step and remedy the problem after an employee clicks on the button in their self-service widget—see .
If the status code is anything other than 200, then the request failed or the rate limit was reached. Refer to the documentation for more information.
You retrieved the request_id in via the Remote action API call.
in_progress if the system has not yet completed the execution. Refer to the documentation for more information about the various states of remote actions.
If the status code is anything other than 200, then the request failed or the rate limit was reached. Refer to the documentation for further information.
Choose the trigger type API active for the remediation remote action. Refer to the documentation for more information.
Implement the examples using a similar flow to the , assuming you have identified the device name beforehand.
As shown in the , configure generic queries in order to perform basic tasks that can be useful across all use cases:
| Task | NQL queries |
|---|
Step 1: Authenticate communication | Configure API credentials and collect a token via the API. |
Step 2: Identify the device | Use NQL API to allow the self-service portal widget to identify devices based on |
Step 3: Diagnose the device | Use NQL API (or Data Exporter) to retrieve device performance data and outputs of the Get Startup Impact and Get Battery Status remote actions. |
Step 4: Remediate the issue | Use Remote Actions API to trigger the Disk Cleanup remote action on a user device. |
Step 5: Follow up on the fix | Use NQL API to get the remediation status and details and inform the user about the remediation results. |
| If you want to display a campaign, use the Nexthink Library campaign If you don’t want a campaign confirmation pop-up to appear, enter value 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 |
| If you want to display a campaign, use the Nexthink Library campaign If you don’t want a campaign notification pop-up to appear, enter value 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 |
| Default value from Nexthink Library (7) |
| Default value from Nexthink Library (30) |
| Choose the cleanup level, Light or Deep. This field works only if you do not to use a campaign and involve the employee in choosing the cleanup level. Otherwise, an employee’s choice takes precedence. |
Retrieve device of a user | Query ID: #get_device_basic_infos - matching based on the You can adjust the where clause
Adjust the timeframe if you want to consider devices on which the user has been active during a period of time other than 7 days. Replace both |
Retrieve the status and outputs of remediation remote actions | Query ID: #get_remote_action_result |
