N-able N-central Service Self-Healing

Last Modified

Tue May 15 18:58 GMT 2018

Description

The Self-Healing feature refers to pre-configured responses and actions to specific types of service failures. When a specified failure type occurs, N-able N-central will automatically restart the service or execute a script that has been configured by the administrator to try to resolve the issue. The system will then verify whether the issue has been resolved and will send the appropriate notifications.

Limitations:

  1. Services monitored directly by the N-able N-central server (Monitored By: N-able N-centralServer) cannot use Self-Healing.
  2. Self-Healing at the device level is only available under the following conditions:
    • The device on which the service has been added has a Professional license.
    • The operating system of the device is a Microsoft Windows variant.
    • The device on which the service has been added is being monitored by a Windows Agent or a Windows Probe.
  3. Self-Healing can not be applied to services that are in Service Groups.

Environment

  • N-able N-central version 10.0 or newer.

Solution

Applying Self-Healing

Self-Healing can be applied to individual services and also through Service Templates. For more information on how service templates can be used to configure services, refer to Service Templates.

To configure a service to use Self-Healing at the device level

  1. In the navigation pane, click Views -> All Devices.
  2. In the Name column of the All Devices view, click the device for which you would like to configure a service to use Self-Healing.
  3. Go to the Monitoring -> Status tab in the Device screen.
  4. In the Service column, click the service that you want to configure.
  5. Click the Self-Healing tab at the top of the screen.
  6. Modify the Self-Healing configuration to suit your specific requirements. (See Self-Healing Properties).
  7. Click OK.

To configure a service to use Self-Healing through service templates

  1. In the navigation pane, click Configuration -> Monitoring -> Service Templates.
  2. In the Name column of the Service Templates screen, click the service template that you would like to edit.
  3. In the Name column under Service Template Services, click the service that you want to configure.
  4. Click the Self-Healing tab in the Service Configuration screen.
  5. Modify the Self-Healing configuration to suit your specific requirements. (See Self-Healing Properties).
  6. Click Save.
  7. Click Save at the Template level as well.
Self-Healing Properties:

Self-Healing functionality includes the following properties:

Trigger Tab

 
PropertyDescription
When the status changesSelect the status in the left-hand column that will start Self-Healing.
Click > to move the status to the right-hand column.
Tip:Click >> to move all of the items from the left column to the right or << to move all of the items from the right column to the left. You can also use Ctrl-click to deselect an item from either column.
The subsequent options will not be available until status criteria are configured.
BEFORE SELF-HEALING ACTION
Retry MonitoringSelect this option to have Self-Healing attempt to renew monitoring of the service before continuing with any configured Self-Healing actions.
Scan the serviceType a numeric value in the times field to indicate the number of attempts N-able N-central will make to re-monitor the service before continuing with any configured Self-Healing actions.
Wait between each scanType a numeric value in the seconds field to indicate how long N-able N-central will wait before attempting to re-monitor the service.
SELF-HEALING
Execute Self-Healing actionSelect this option to have Self-Healing perform a configured action if the status change criteria have been met.
AFTER SELF-HEALING ACTION
After executing Self-Healing waitType a numeric value in the Minutes field to indicate how long N-able N-central will wait before scanning the service to determine that the Self-Healing action was successful.
Scan the serviceType a numeric value in the times field to indicate the number of attempts N-able N-central will make to scan the service to determine that the Self-Healing action was successful.
Wait between each scanType a numeric value in the seconds field to indicate how long N-able N-central will wait before attempting to scan the service.
Action Tab
PropertyDescription
SCHEDULE
Limit number of Self-Healing actions toType a numeric value in the times per field to indicate the limit of attempts to perform the configured Self-Healing action.
Select either Hour or Day to determine the time period in which attempts to perform the configured Self-Healing action will be made.
Execution TimeoutSelect the number of hours after which N-able N-central will discontinue attempting to perform the configured Self-Healing action.
CREDENTIALS
Credentials to UseSelect the security credentials that N-able N-central will use in order to perform the configured Self-Healing action from one of the following:
Use Local System credentials - the user name and password of the Local System Account.
Use Device credentials - the user name and password already configured on the Properties tab of the device.
Custom credentials - a user name and password specifically configured for Self-Healing.
SELF-HEALING ACTION
Self-Healing ActionSelect the type of Self-Healing action to be performed from one of the following:
Restart Windows Service
Execute Script
Execute Automation Policy
If Restart Windows Service is selected:
Select how the Windows Service Name will be determined from:
By Service Caption
By Service Name
Monitored Service (only for Windows services)
Note:Selecting Monitored Service will use the task identifier that has been configured for the monitored service to determine the service name. For example, this option could be selected in a Service Template that may be applied to multiple services in order to be able to determine the names of each of the associated services.
From the drop-down menu that is displayed, select the Windows service to be restarted.
Note:If By Service Caption is selected, the Matching Service Name will be displayed. If By Service Name is selected, the Matching Service Caption will be displayed.
If Execute Script is selected:
Select the Location of the script as either From N-able N-central's Script Repository or From My Computer.
If From N-able N-central's Script Repository was selected, use the Repository Item drop-down menu to select the script.
If From My Computer was selected, type a Name and the File Location (or use Browse) to locate the script.
Type any additional Command Line Parameters that are required. You can click Append Monitored Service Parameters to add a variable to the command line that will insert the task identifier for the monitored service.
Example: When selecting Windows Service - Start/Stop from the repository, instead of using the Command Line ParametersGeneric_Service_Control.bat "Windows Firewall" stop, you can use Generic_Service_Control.bat serviceParameter stop.
 
If Execute Automation Policy is selected:
Select the Policy to be used from the Select Automation Policy drop-down menu.
Depending on the Policy that is selected, use the Text Input field to type custom input parameters or select Monitored Service Parameter to have the Policy use the specific value for the monitored service.
Example:When selecting the CHKDSK Policy, you can type C: as the Text Input value or select Monitored Service Parameter to have the Policy use the task identifier that has been configured for the monitored service.
Notification Tab
PropertyDescription
After Self-HealingSelect a notification rule from one of the following:
Notify me that a Self-Healing attempt occurred, even if successful, and then follow standard notification rules to receive a notification about every Self-Healing action.
Notify me only if Self-Healing fails and then follow standard notification rules to receive a notification when Self-Healing actions are unsuccessful.
Follow standard notification rules to use the current notification settings.
RecipientsSelect a recipient to receive Self-Healing notifications from the Available Recipients column.
 
 

Results Tab

The Self-Healing Results tab will display the results of the last Self-Healing action whether it was restarting a Windows Service, running a Script, or running an Automation Policy.

Only the last Self-Healing action will be displayed.