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NRPE
The NRPE (Nagios Remote Plugin Executor) protocol is commonly used by Nagios monitoring software to execute plugins and commands on remote hosts. This facilitates centralized monitoring by enabling a Nagios server to assess the health and status of multiple networked devices through locally-run scripts on each monitored host..
NRPE (Nagios Remote Plugin Executor) is an agent that allows a remote Nagios server to communicate with and execute scripts or plugins on remote Linux or Unix machines. It extends Nagios’ monitoring capabilities by enabling remote execution of service checks, especially useful for gathering data that is only available on the target host and not directly accessible via network protocols.
NRPE uses a simple request-response model where the Nagios server connects to the NRPE daemon running on the client. The server sends a command or plugin name, which the client executes locally. The output from the execution is then transmitted back to the Nagios server. This approach enables centralized health and performance monitoring with minimal exposure of remote systems' internal metrics.
Typically, NRPE communicates over TCP port 5666 and relies on its own simple protocol rather than relying on SSL/TLS by default, although encryption can be enabled. It supports access control based on IP restrictions configured on the agent, complementing monitoring workflows across complex infrastructures.