Managing Remote Actions
Last updated
Last updated
To access the Remote Actions administration page:
Select Remote Actions > Manage remote actions.
Nexthink offers a set of preconfigured remote actions that you can manually install from Nexthink Library. Go to the Nexthink Library module within your Nexthink instance to install, manage, and update predefined remote actions.
Refer to Nexthink Library documentation for more information.
Unlike remote actions installed from Library, you can freely edit and customize remote actions copied from Library to better suit your needs without the need to create one from scratch. Nexthink recommends using Library content as a starting point before attempting to create any custom remote actions.
Refer to Nexthink Library documentation for more information.
Creating a remote action from scratch allows you to define a variety of remote actions, from opening applications following certain campaign results to updating employee devices to remote troubleshooting.
Refer to Creating custom remote actions for more information. If you want to write your own remote action scripts, refer to Writing scripts for remote actions on Windows and Writing scripts for remote actions on Mac for more information.
To create a new remote action:
Select Remote Actions from the main menu.
Click on the New button at the top of the navigation menu.
Alternatively, create a new remote action through the Administration page:
Select Remote Actions > Manage remote actions.
Click on the New remote action button in the top-right corner of the page.
Fill in all necessary information and click on the Save Remote Action button.
The New remote action page includes 2 configuration tabs to define the remote action.
Enter the name, NQL ID, description, triggering options, and purpose of the remote action.
Select the triggering mechanisms for the remote action:
Manual: Trigger the remote action manually from the web interface.
API: Trigger the execution on selected devices via API.
Workflow: Enable the listing and execution of remote actions using the Remote action Thinklet workflow.
Schedule: Trigger the execution using an NQL query at the scheduled time.
Select the purpose for the remote action:
Data collection: The intent of the remote action is to collect data from the targeted device.
Remediation: The intent of the remote action is to perform an action on the targeted device.
Import a remote action script for Windows and macOS platforms. Once imported, fill in the Parameters field, and the Outputs information appears.
Use the Advanced Configuration option to select the context for executing the script, and the options available include local system, interactive user or service.
To save the remote action, you must add a Windows PowerShell or macOS Bash script.
Library-pack updates overwrite existing scripts and all configurations of the remote action, requiring you to re-sign it after the update. Therefore, for remote actions installed from the library and system remote actions, Nexthink recommends against making any modifications other than re-signing the script.
Refer to the Writing scripts for remote actions on Windows and Writing scripts for remote actions on Mac documentation for more information.
Remote action scripts have a 600 KB maximum size limit:
Up to 50 inputs with a maximum total of 30 KB characters.
Up to 50 outputs with value limits depending on the type.
You can specify up to 50 inputs required for the script's execution. You have the option to define a list of permitted parameter values and enable users to provide a custom value during execution.
Name: The name that appears to the user when the system asks for a parameter value.
Description: A meaningful description of the parameter.
Value: List of possible values for the parameter, one value per line. At least one value is required. The value on the first line is the default value option.
Allow the user to enter a custom value: Allow users to specify a custom parameter value other than those included in the list.
Define up to 50 outputs of the remote action.
Name: The name that appears when the system displays remote action outputs in investigations and dashboards.
Description: A meaningful description of the output parameter.
Type: The data type of the parameter.
Choose to run the script as a local system user (default), as an interactive user or as a service:
Local system user: Use this for tasks that require system rights, for example to uninstall software, or get the value of system information like drivers or registry keys.
Interactive user: Use this for actions executed for a specific user, like getting the size of their recycle bin, or closing an application using a campaign. If these were to be run as Local system user they would return the size of the system user recycle bin, or would try to close applications used by the system instead of the user logged into the device.
Service: Use this to configure the remote action to run within a dedicated service. For example, remote action can run on a Windows server (proxy) using a service account that has the necessary permissions to update Active Directory. Running as a service is only supported on Windows devices and requires the use of a Windows script (PowerShell). To use this feature, follow specific steps on the target device to create the service. In the service name field, you need to specify the value of the --service-name parameter used during service setup.
Set the time-out for the script (in seconds). If the remote action cannot complete its action within the allotted time the system will terminate the script.
Refer to the in-product documentation for more information. You can find it in the side panel menu.
The remote actions table lists all available remote actions.
The table is organized by:
Name: The name of the remote action.
Origin: An indication of where the remote action originates from:
Custom: A remote action created within the Remote Actions module.
Installed from Library: A remote action installed from the Nexthink Library module. You can configure the following fields:
Description
Triggering
Input Parameter Description
Input Parameter Value
Output Parameter Description
Custom Value
All fields in the Schedule tab Refer to the Nexthink Library documentation for more information on how to install a remote action.
Copied from library: A remote action copied from the Nexthink Library module. You can fully edit copied remote actions to fit your needs. Refer to the Nexthink Library documentation for more information on how to create a copy of a remote action.
Tags: Displays the list of tags assigned to each remote action.
Platforms: The platform for which a remote action was designed.
Triggers: The trigger method used to configure a remote action with the following options:
Manual: Trigger the remote action manually from the web interface, e.g., through Investigations or Device View.
API: Trigger the execution on selected devices via API.
Schedule: Trigger the execution using an NQL query on a recurring basis at a scheduled time.
Search field: A field that filters the table by searching for the name of a remote action.
Select a relevant remote action and click over the action menu on the right side of the table to view:
Details: Open the execution details page.
Configure: Change the configuration of a library remote action.
Edit: Edit a selected remote action.
Edit tags: Create, assign, and edit remote action tags. Refer to the Tagging remote action section.
Share: Grant permissions to other users to view or edit a remote action. Refer to the Sharing a remote action section.
Copy NQL ID: Copy the NQL ID of a remote action for use by the API.
Export: Export a remote action to a JSON file.
Delete: Remove a remote action from the system.
Create and associate tags with remote actions to quickly filter the results of the remote actions table.
A remote action can have a maximum of 10 tags associated with it.
Click the tags icon in the right-side menu to open the Tags panel.
Search for a specific tag at the top of the panel.
Select one or more tags to filter the remote actions table.
To add tags to a remote action: