Asynchronous execution of Windows plugins

Owned by Anastasios Thomaidis
Last updated: Nov 16, 2023 by Matthew Hierholzer
2 min read
Sometimes it is necessary to run plugins or local checks asynchronously. Here is guidance on how to achieve this!

LAST TESTED ON CHECKMK 2.1.0P1

Table of Contents

Step-by-step guide

Required settings

Set cache age for plugins and local checks

A cache age limit on plugins and local checks. If set, the output of plugins is cached and reused until this much time has passed.

Setup → Agents → Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX → Agent rules → Set cache age for plugins and local checks → Add rule
Screenshot of adding a new rule for Set cache age for plugins and local checks. The max cache age is set to 600 seconds.


Set execution mode for plugins and local checks

Some scripts are slow and can therefore stall the execution of the agent. To remedy this, such scripts may be run asynchronously. With this rule, asynchronous execution can be set on a per-script basis.

Setup → Agents → Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX → Agent rules → Set execution mode for plugins and local checks → Edit rule: Set execution mode for plugins and local checks

Screenshot of adding a new rule for set execution mode for plugins and local checks. Execution mode is set to Asynchronous.

Set timeouts for plugins and local checks

A timeout on plugins and local checks keeps those checks from stalling the whole agent. If no timeout is configured here, the default is 60 seconds.

Setup → Agents → Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX → Agent rules → Set timeouts for plugins and local checks → New rule: Set timeouts for plugins and local checks

Screenshot of adding a new rule for set timeouts for plugin and local checks. The timeout is set to 180 seconds.


Optional settings

Set retry count for plugins and local checks

If set, the plugin may be called repeatedly - up to this many times or until it finishes successfully.

Setup → Agents → Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX → Agent rules → Set retry count for plugins and local checks → New rule: Set retry count for plugins and local checks

Screenshot of adding a new rule for set retry count for plugins and local checks. The retry count is set to 60.


Please don't forget to set some conditions!

About the pattern: The pattern (wildcards supported) by which to select the affected scripts.

Recommended values for caching and timeout: >60 seconds


All options are explained here if you're not able to use agent bakery: https://docs.checkmk.com/latest/en/agent_windows.html#customizeexecution