PowerShell

Nodinite enables you to monitor, automate, and empower users with custom PowerShell scripts on your Windows Servers. With this feature, you can run scripts for advanced monitoring, automate routine tasks, and provide secure self-service actions for end-users—all from a single, unified platform.

✅ Execute virtually any PowerShell script for custom monitoring and automation
✅ Empower end-users to run scripts as Remote Actions on demand
✅ Centralize script management and execution for security and compliance

Info

Learn how to utilize your own PowerShell scripts for custom monitoring, enabling end-users to execute them through self-service enabled Nodinite Monitor Views.

This mermaid diagram shows how PowerShell script resources are configured, monitored, and evaluated in Nodinite, including remote actions for troubleshooting and automation.

This diagram illustrates how Nodinite executes PowerShell scripts both locally and remotely, enabling flexible monitoring and automation across your infrastructure.

Note

⚠️ You must have WMF 5.1 or later.
⚠️ WinRM must be enabled on remote Windows Server if you are using the PowerShell feature with a remote target.

This page outlines how Nodinite monitors the PowerShell Category using one or more role-based Monitor Views. You can configure state evaluation based on user-defined logic—globally or for specific scripts. Remote commands (Actions) are available to help you swiftly address reported problems. All implemented Remote Actions are detailed below.

Example list of monitored 'PowerShell' resources in a Monitor View.

Monitoring Features

• Administrators manually manage your PowerShell configurations. Sharing insights is easy with Monitor Views.
• State Evaluation – Based on script output: Write-Warning for Warnings, Write-Error for Errors.
• Category-based monitoring – Group monitored Resources by Categories for streamlined management.

State evaluation for PowerShell-based monitoring

Nodinite displays each monitored PowerShell configuration as a Resources. For example, if you have 2 Windows Server configurations with 2 and 3 PowerShell scripts, you will have 5 'PowerShell' resources in Nodinite.

• The Resources name matches the name of the PowerShell configuration.

• The 'PowerShell' resource belongs to the following Category:

  Category	Description
  PowerShell	Ensure PowerShell configurations stay within user-defined monitoring thresholds

  
  List of PowerShell-related resources in a Monitor View.

• The Application name is the Display Name of the Windows Server:
  
  Example using the Application filter option in a Nodinite Monitor View.

Each item (presented in Nodinite as a Resource) is evaluated with a state: OK, Warning, Error, or Unavailable.

You can reconfigure state evaluation at the Resources level using the Expected State feature.

Note

Depending on the user-defined synchronization interval for the Windows Server Monitoring Agent, there may be a delay before Nodinite Web Client/Monitor Views reflect changes. Click Sync All (or use the dropdown for individual agent selection) to force a resynchronization.

Option to force Nodinite to request a resynchronization with the Monitoring Agent.

PowerShell Monitoring

For the PowerShell category, Nodinite evaluates the monitored state as described below:

Remote Actions for PowerShell

The following Remote Actions are available for the PowerShell Category:

• Details
• Show Action Scripts

Available remote actions for the PowerShell category.

Details

View details for any PowerShell resource by clicking the Action button and selecting Details in the 'Control Center' section.

Open details modal using the 'Details' action.

Next, click the option to open the modal.

Example of the 'Details' modal.

Show Action Scripts

Manage and execute scripts for any PowerShell resource by clicking the Action button and selecting Show Action Scripts in the 'Control Center' section.

Open the scripts modal using the 'Show Action Scripts' action.

Next, click the option to open the modal.

Example of the 'Action Scripts' modal.

Click the Execute button to run the script on demand.

The user must confirm the intent to execute the script.

The output is presented at the bottom of the modal.

Example of the result from the operation.

Configuration

Use Remote Configuration to manage PowerShell configuration.

PowerShell tab

Click the PowerShell tab to manage PowerShell monitoring options.

Example of the 'PowerShell' configuration tab.

Important

Output Formatting for Objects and Tables: All PowerShell operations that return objects, tables, or non-string results SHOULD use | Out-String to ensure proper output formatting in Nodinite.

Examples requiring | Out-String:

# Table results
Get-Process | Select-Object -First 5 | Out-String

# Object properties
Get-Service -Name "Spooler" | Format-List | Out-String

# System information
Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object CsName, OsVersion | Out-String

Without | Out-String, object output may not display correctly in the Nodinite Web Client or Remote Actions results.

Click the Add button to add a new entry. This will become the Resource as seen in Monitor Views.

PowerShell General tab

This is the monitoring entry.

• Enabled – When checked, this PowerShell Script is monitored
• Display Name – The user-friendly name of this resource as provided to end-users within Monitor Views
• Description – User-friendly description for the PowerShell Script resource
• PowerShell Script – The script to use for monitoring
  
  Example of the PowerShell configuration General tab.

User Action Scripts

This entry allows the System Administrator to provide a script collection for end-users with permission to execute content as Remote Actions.

Example of the PowerShell User Script Collection tab.

Click the Add button for each script to include in the script collection.

Example of a PowerShell User Script entry.

PowerShell Authentication

Set authentication options for executing the PowerShell script.

Example of the PowerShell configuration Authentication tab.

Check the checkbox to execute the script on another target host.

• Is remote server – When checked, these PowerShell Scripts run on a remote server.
  • Address – The address for the remote server.
• Use authentication – When checked, authenticate to the remote server or impersonate a user locally via the username and password fields below.
  • Domain User – The name of the Windows user account. Format: DOMAIN\User.
  • Password – The password for the provided domain user.

Example of the PowerShell configuration Authentication fields.

PowerShell Script Examples

Below are practical examples demonstrating state evaluation and proper output formatting for common monitoring scenarios.

Example 1: Simple OK State

Returns a success message without warnings or errors:

# Monitor disk space - OK state
$drive = Get-PSDrive C
$freeSpaceGB = [math]::Round($drive.Free / 1GB, 2)

Write-Output "Drive C: has $freeSpaceGB GB free space available"

Expected State: OK

Example 2: Warning State

Triggers a warning when a threshold is approached:

# Monitor disk space - Warning when below 20%
$drive = Get-PSDrive C
$freeSpacePercent = [math]::Round(($drive.Free / $drive.Used) * 100, 2)

if ($freeSpacePercent -lt 20) {
    Write-Warning "Drive C: is running low on space: $freeSpacePercent% free"
} else {
    Write-Output "Drive C: has sufficient space: $freeSpacePercent% free"
}

Expected State: Warning (when below 20%)

Example 3: Error State

Triggers an error when a critical threshold is exceeded:

# Monitor disk space - Error when below 10%
$drive = Get-PSDrive C
$freeSpacePercent = [math]::Round(($drive.Free / $drive.Used) * 100, 2)

if ($freeSpacePercent -lt 10) {
    Write-Error "CRITICAL: Drive C: is critically low on space: $freeSpacePercent% free"
} elseif ($freeSpacePercent -lt 20) {
    Write-Warning "Drive C: is running low on space: $freeSpacePercent% free"
} else {
    Write-Output "Drive C: has sufficient space: $freeSpacePercent% free"
}

Expected State: Error (when below 10%)

Example 4: Table Output with Out-String

Displays service status in a formatted table (demonstrates | Out-String):

# Monitor multiple Windows Services with table output
$services = @('W3SVC', 'WinRM', 'MSSQLSERVER')
$results = foreach ($serviceName in $services) {
    $service = Get-Service -Name $serviceName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    
    if ($null -eq $service) {
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            Service = $serviceName
            Status = 'NotFound'
            State = 'Error'
        }
        Write-Error "Service '$serviceName' not found on this server"
    } elseif ($service.Status -ne 'Running') {
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            Service = $serviceName
            Status = $service.Status
            State = 'Warning'
        }
        Write-Warning "Service '$serviceName' is not running (Status: $($service.Status))"
    } else {
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            Service = $serviceName
            Status = $service.Status
            State = 'OK'
        }
    }
}

# Output table with proper formatting
$results | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-String

Expected State: Varies based on service status (OK if all running, Warning/Error otherwise)
Key Point: | Out-String ensures the table displays correctly in Nodinite Web Client

Example 5: System Information with Out-String

Retrieves system information with proper formatting:

# Monitor server uptime and basic info
$os = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem
$uptime = (Get-Date) - $os.LastBootUpTime

$info = [PSCustomObject]@{
    ServerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
    'Uptime (Days)' = [math]::Round($uptime.TotalDays, 2)
    'OS Version' = $os.Caption
    'Free Memory (GB)' = [math]::Round($os.FreePhysicalMemory / 1MB, 2)
}

# Check if uptime is too long (e.g., > 90 days)
if ($uptime.TotalDays -gt 90) {
    Write-Warning "Server has not been rebooted in $([math]::Round($uptime.TotalDays, 0)) days"
}

# Output formatted information
$info | Format-List | Out-String

Expected State: Warning (if uptime > 90 days)
Key Point: | Out-String formats object properties for readable output

Example 6: Multiple Checks with Combined States

Performs multiple checks and combines state evaluation:

# Comprehensive server health check
$errorCount = 0
$warningCount = 0

# Check 1: CPU Usage
$cpu = Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Measure-Object -Property LoadPercentage -Average
if ($cpu.Average -gt 90) {
    Write-Error "CPU usage is critically high: $($cpu.Average)%"
    $errorCount++
} elseif ($cpu.Average -gt 70) {
    Write-Warning "CPU usage is elevated: $($cpu.Average)%"
    $warningCount++
}

# Check 2: Memory Usage
$os = Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem
$memoryUsedPercent = [math]::Round((($os.TotalVisibleMemorySize - $os.FreePhysicalMemory) / $os.TotalVisibleMemorySize) * 100, 2)
if ($memoryUsedPercent -gt 95) {
    Write-Error "Memory usage is critically high: $memoryUsedPercent%"
    $errorCount++
} elseif ($memoryUsedPercent -gt 85) {
    Write-Warning "Memory usage is elevated: $memoryUsedPercent%"
    $warningCount++
}

# Check 3: Critical Services
$criticalServices = @('W3SVC', 'WinRM')
foreach ($serviceName in $criticalServices) {
    $service = Get-Service -Name $serviceName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $service -or $service.Status -ne 'Running') {
        Write-Error "Critical service '$serviceName' is not running"
        $errorCount++
    }
}

# Summary output
$summary = [PSCustomObject]@{
    'Server' = $env:COMPUTERNAME
    'CPU Usage %' = $cpu.Average
    'Memory Usage %' = $memoryUsedPercent
    'Errors' = $errorCount
    'Warnings' = $warningCount
}

$summary | Format-List | Out-String

if ($errorCount -eq 0 -and $warningCount -eq 0) {
    Write-Output "All health checks passed successfully"
}

Expected State: Varies based on multiple conditions
Key Point: Demonstrates combining multiple checks with proper state evaluation and formatted output

Next Step

Add or manage Monitor View

Related Topics

Windows Server Monitoring Agent Resources Monitoring Monitor Views SQL Server - SQL Statements - Similar monitoring approach using custom TSQL scripts How to Monitor a Clustered Windows Service - PowerShell example for clustered service monitoring