I helped a customer with this a while back, and he asked me to write it up.
For a node-down alert, we can send the node's IP address and/or network name to a batch file that runs ping and/or trace-route. I do not have a way to include this in the alert email or NPM event log, but this is better than nothing.
1. Create a batch file in a location of your choosing. I will use the "C:\bat\" directory, and my batch file will be named "nodedown.bat".
2. Enter this text into the batch file:
@echo off
cd c:\bat
rem: This sends the Orion variables to a text file for later analysis. This overwrites existing files of the same name.
echo %* > %2.txt
rem: This appends a ping to the text file. This appends to the current file.
ping %1 >> %2.txt
rem: This appends a tracert to the text file. This appends to the current file.
tracert %1 >> %2.txt
3. Add the "Execute an external program" action.
4. In the "Program to execute" line, enter:
c:\bat\nodedown.bat ${IP_Address} ${NodeName}
(Substitute your directory and batch file name)
5. Click "OK".
Note that tracert can take several seconds to complete. If this node comes back up and goes back down while either ping or tracert are still executing, the text file may have alternating lines from the first and second down event. While this is unlikely, a long-running tracert could still be running when the node goes down again (depending on polling settings).
This batch file (and any executables it launches) will be executed under the Local System account. It should have no problem running this batch file. However, if you modify the batch file to do other things, you may need to also modify the SolarWinds Alerting Engine to run under a different account, or to modify that account to grant permission to perform the action you need.
