Sensors

Sensors in the OneSite Platform can be deployed to endpoints to gather data from, or perform tasks on, multiple endpoints simultaneously at scale. There are a variety of built-in sensors or you can create your own to retrieve almost any kind of data.

Most sensors return data that doesn't change very often (hardware information, BIOS version etc.), however some sensor data can have frequent changes, such as running processes or system uptime.

Sensors are primarily used to evaluate membership to Business Units or Groups based on custom criteria. Membership can be dynamically based on Sensor scopes, where a device could move based on Sensor results. For example, you can apply Windows Feature Updates based on the version number reported by the Windows operating system.

Sensors Overview

Sensor Types

• Java - These sensors are built-in and cannot be authored manually. They perform activities that interact directly with the Adaptiva Client on the device.

• PowerShell - These sensors will run a specified PowerShell script on the device and output data using return parameters that are specified within the script itself.

• Visual Basic Script(VBS) - These sensors will execute a specified Visual Basic Script (vbs) on the device and output data using WScript.Echo commands specified within the script itself.

• WMI - These sensors allow you to specify either a WMI query or class to pull data from. The specified query or class will be interrogated from the Windows Management Instrumentation on the device and the respective rows will be returned.

• Workflow - These sensors allow you to specify an Adaptiva Workflow to execute to return data. The Sensor system will leverage the ResultArrayOfRows property on the End node of the workflow to collect data. Workflows used as Sensors must add any return data as Row objects to the ResultArrayOfRows property. To do this, workflows must use the RowOperations workflow activity.

Logs

Logs for the Sensors feature are available on the server and client.

• Server logs: SensorOfflineCache.log

• Client Logs: SensorExec.log, SensorOfflineCache.log

For detailed information on these logs, see Server and Client Logs.

Create a custom Sensor

Creating a custom sensor is an advanced topic. If you have an idea for a sensor you'd like to create, please reach out to our Support Team

The following example creates a sensor that queries a client and returns the current state of Microsoft Defender Antivirus. In particular, we want to know how Defender is running and whether it's the active antivirus and if real-time protection is currently enabled. This is useful to troubleshoot if you have

For additional information regarding the commands used in this guide, please see Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows Overview.

1. Select + to expand Platform Features > Sensors from the side navigation.

2. Click + New.

3. Enter the following under the General Info section:

   • Name - DefenderStatus.

   • Description - Displays whether Microsoft Defender Antivirus is active and whether real-time protection is currently enabled on the device.

   • Sensor Type - Select PowerShell, this will only select Windows as the Supported Platform.

4. Enter the following script under Sensor Settings:

   Get-MpComputerStatus | select AMRunningMode, RealTimeProtectionEnabled

   
5. Create a Sensor Output Schema by adding the two columns of the data you'd like to have returned when the sensor executes.

   • AMRunningMode - Text

   • RealTimeProtectionEnabled - Boolean

   
6. (Optional) If you'd like to create custom column names, you can map them to the default column names created in the Sensor Output Schema section.

Only two sensor types allow you to autogenerate input parameters or output schemas. These buttons will become active if the following are selected:

• Workflow - Autogenerate Input Parameters

• WMI - Autogenerate Output Schema

Once these buttons are clicked, it will run the WMI query or Workflow script and populate the respective table.

Add custom sensor to Group or Business Unit

Please see Groups or Business Units for full instructions on how to create a Group or Business Unit.

1. Create a new Group.

2. Click Sensors > + Add Sensor Scope under the Scopes section.

3. Enter the Scope Name and enter a description (optional).

4. Click Browse next to Sensor and select the sensor you created in steps above.

   
5. Click OK.

6. Click the ellipses (...) next to Filter Condition and select Add Operating Condition and choose:

   • Data Column - AMRunningMode.

   • Operating Condition - Any.

   • Value - Not Running.

7. Click OK > OK.

8. Add an additional sensor scope:

   • Data Column - RealTimeProtectionEnabled.

   • Operating Condition - Any.

   • Value - True.

9. Click OK > OK.