Using the SSH Action

This action connects to remote devices via SSH to execute commands or scripts.

To configure an SSH Action:

1. Go to the Action Library:
   • From the web interface, click GO. The GO menu appears.
   • If the WhatsUp section is not visible, click WhatsUp. The WhatsUp section of the GO menu appears.
   • Select Configure > Action Library. The Action Library appears.

     - or -

   • From the main menu bar of the console, select Configure > Action Library. The Action Library appears.
2. In the Action Library, do one of the following:
   • Click New, then select SSH Action.

     - or -

   • Select an existing SSH Action, then click Edit.
3. Enter or select the appropriate information in the following fields.
   • Name. Enter a name for the action. This name is displayed in the Action Library.
   • Description. Enter a short description for the action. This description is displayed next to the action name in the Action Library.
   • IP address. Enter the IP address of the device to which you want to connect using SSH.

   Note: You can enter %Device.Address into the IP Address field, however, an SSH action that doesn't specify a specific IP address in this field is not available in the Recurring Actions wizard.

   • Command to run. Enter the command to be ran and executed on the remote device. This command can be anything that the device can interpret and run; for example, a basic Unix command or a Perl script.

   Note: If you create a script to run on the remote device, the script must be developed, tested, and/or debugged on the remote machine. WhatsUp Gold does not support manipulation of the remote script.

   • SSH credential. Select the appropriate SSH credential that WhatsUp Gold will use to connect to the remote device. If you select Use the device SSH credential, WhatsUp Gold uses the SSH credential assigned to the device for which the IP address is listed above. If the appropriate SSH credential is not listed, or the device has no SSH credentials assigned, browse (...) to the WhatsUp Gold Credentials Library to configure a set of credentials.
4. Click Advanced, the SSH Advanced Settings dialog appears.
5. Enter or select the appropriate information in the following fields.
   • User prompt. Enter the exact user prompt used to login to the remote machine. After WhatsUp Gold sees the appropriate user prompt, it knows it is safe to send the username associated with the remote machine's SSH credentials. The default user prompt is login as:.

     Important: User prompts are specific to each machine. Verify the remote machine's user prompt before entering text in this field. If the text entered here varies from the user prompt used on the specific machine to which you are attempting to connect, WhatsUp Gold is unable to log in to the machine to perform the specified task.

   • Password prompt. Enter the exact password prompt used to login to the remote machine. After WhatsUp Gold sees the appropriate password prompt, it knows it is safe to send the password associated with the remote machine's SSH credentials. The default password prompt is password:.

     Important: Password prompts are specific to each machine. Verify the remote machine's password prompt before entering text in this field. If the text entered here varies from the password prompt used on the specific machine to which you are attempting to connect, WhatsUp Gold is unable to log in to the machine to perform the specified task.

   • Command prompt (regular expression). Enter the regular expression that signifies the command prompt for which WhatsUp Gold should look. When WhatsUp Gold sees the appropriate character, it knows that it is time to execute the command specified in the monitor or action. The default value is (>|#|]|\$|~\$), meaning, the last character in the command line prompt can end in ">" or "#" or "]" or "$" or "~$".
6. Click OK to return to the action properties dialog.
7. Click OK to save changes.