0.9.12

[mickem]

A summary of all changes since 0.8.0 which was the latest released version, if you have been using pre-releases then there are no changes.

REST API updates

Removed some old (deprecated) rest API endpoints.
The oldest REST apis (endpoints starting without /api) were not stable as they exposed an JSON representation of the internal NSClient++ messages.
To mitigate this the newer endpoints (which is found in the documentation) starting with /api/v1 or /api/v2 were added several years ago.
Many of these old endpoints have now been removed which allowed us to migrate from the outdated JSON library to a more modern one.

Note: The old check endpoints have NOT been removed to retain compatibility with Icinga and similar tools.

In addition to this I have also added numerous integration test to help to keep the APIs stable.

Installer improvments

The installer has been updated a lot to behave more predictably and in general work better.
I have also added numerous tests to the installer to ensure less accidental breaking changes in the future.

Should not impact anything but instead of a dedicated Json library we now use boost to reduce number of dependencies.
Removed sample config from installer (as you can easily generate the config i removed it from the installer).

Documentation for installer config options have also been updated.

One of the biggest changes now is that how keys are overridden behave more predictably:

1. The tool (generic or op5) set the value
2. Any existing configuration file will override the value set by the tool
3. Any property (command-line or UI change) will override the value set previously
4. Any value which is not same as config or default will be written during install.

It will also handle rest settings and boot.ini properties correctly.

Web UI improvements

The web interface has gotten a medium overhaul improving settings and queries.

You can now change setting under modules.
Settings now have widgets for boolean settings
Settings view now show all settings not just changed ones.
You can now use " in queries when executing from the Web UI so "filter=1 > 2" is now possible,
Improved settings and log widgets

Updated installer (fixed overriding keys from command line)
Added test cases for installer

Restored Linux builds

This is still a work in progress but for now you can build and run NSClient++ on Linux (there are pipelines as well for this).
"Soon(TM)" I will add some packages and config files and such to make it more usable.

Various other bugfixes:

• Fixed https settings caching when using http(s) settings.
• Fixed lots of compiler warnings and linting
• Fixed indexing in arrays in lua
• Fixed help screen typo by @vanitysys28 in Fixed help screen typo #965
• Installed should not place op5.ini config in subfolder (like since 0.6.x)
• Settings now have a type (string, int, bool, etc)
• Fixed: Hostname should not be lowercased
• Change log level for connection closed when reading request to debug
• Added signatures to exe files by @mickem in Added signatures to exe files #981
  In this release nscp.exe and check_xxx.exe are digitally signed making using them hopefully a bit simpler on secured machines.

Full Changelog: 0.9.10...0.8.0

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This discussion was created from the release 0.9.12.

[krysstof]

cannot reproduce on other machine, I only have 1 to test server here, but I had a 0.9.8 installed previously, customized .ini and a few script
set up failed during "starting service"
Fix / workaround: uninstall nsclient 0.9.8, renamed the program files\nsclient++ folder
ran the install 0.9.12(custom, no op5, all default options)
stopped the service, and put back my .ini and custom scripts, started the service with no issues.

(if no previous version was present I don't have problem, installer works fine)

I could reproduce on the same machine the issue multiple time with multiple scenario
uninstall nsclient, clean program files, reinstall 0.9.8, (generic, custom, next... all default option), started the service
ran the 0.9.12 installer, fails during starting the service
tried a few time with the nsclient service stopped before running the installer, to no avail.

unininstalling previous version and not cleaning up the folder does not fail during the "starting service" of the installer

also when I say "fail" it is not really a failure : it simply stop the progress and some time later here is the error

I wish I could provide logs or more information, I could find this event log from the windows "Application" log when this error appears
event id 1920 : (source msiinstaller)
Product: NSClient++ (x64) -- Error 1920. Service 'NSClient++ Monitoring Agent' (nscp) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.

for sanity purpose I installed a 0.9.11 fresh, no previous installation, then upgraded to 0.9.12, same failur
I trie upgrading from 0.9.8 to 11, same error

I went and downloaded all version from 0.9.8 to 12, any upgrade result in the same error

finally I went back on 0.9.7, this one caused no issues and was able to be overwritten by 0.9.12.
(did other test, from 0.9.7 to any version above works, upgrading to any version 8->12 to a version above up to 12 fails, same symptoms)

just hoping the issue is only for 0.9.8->11, I was waiting for the stable version to be released and deploy that, so I don't have other servers with 0.9.x, just hoping this was just me and upgrading above 0.9.13 in the future won't require unininstalling the existing version

[mickem]

It should not require uninstalling.
So if this is reproducible on other machines as well... then we need to look into it...

From the top of my head it seems strange if the error is starting NSClient++.
As starting the service is not really related to the installer (apart from config updated done during installer).
So one option if you have old config is something wrong with the config (or a combination of old config and updates)?

What would be helpful is the log from the MSI and the log from NSClient++.

[krysstof]

I started from a "generic, custom, next, next...." clic button install, no tweak, no script, no prexisting folder for the first installation, not using registry keys, I tried to be in the most easily reproductible setup)

nsclient generate no log during the update phase, and for msi don't know how to ge log outside the windows application log where msi logs things

i'll be able to access more vm, I think I forgot to say this test server is a version 2025

[krysstof]

I managed to deploy a few new servers on a lab, all windows 2025 datacenter, (all my 2022/2019 templates are pre installed with nsclient 0.5 from centreon, I didn't have the time to make a fresh OS install)

I could reproduce the exact same symptoms (installation option/method described above)
fresh 0.9.7->11 : ok
upgrading from 7 to 8->12 : ok
upgrading from any 8->11 to 12 : KO

any ko state, uninstall, install v12 : ok

the nsclient.log has only 2 lines when it starts the first time
2025-07-30 17:55:51: error:D:\a\nscp\nscp\modules\NRPEServer\NRPEServer.cpp:110: Certificate not found: C:\Program Files\NSClient++/security/certificate.pem (generating a default certificate)
2025-07-30 17:55:51: error:D:\a\nscp\nscp\modules\NRPEServer\NRPEServer.cpp:110: CA not found: C:\Program Files\NSClient++/security/ca.pem (generating a default CA)

no other logs are written when the service stops and start (or fail to start)

I did more try, like running msiexec /i from an elevated shell, no difference
also when the wizard is failed and i don't cancel, when I try to run service that does not start

I checked the registry for the nscp service, no difference or change, same permission and settings
I tried running manually nscp.exe while the setup was waiting for me to cancel

on the first 2 lines, the nscp.exe is v0.9.12 and does not return anything (right clic, properties on the binary works fine, signature is ok, version is ok, but it simply doesn't "work" and so the service is not starting.)
on the 3rd command it is after rollback and 0.9.8 is restored by msi, and all is fine

I never saw this behaviour

[mickem]

Reiterating just so I am sure I understand...
It is just when you upgrade from 0.9.8 to 0.9.11 and then when you upgrade to 0.9.12 it fails?

I shall try and see if I can replicate that, could be an issue with 0.9.8 or 0.9.11 then I guess...
Do you have any existing config or use any MSI install options?

In terms of 0.9.11 and 0.9.12 they are identical code wise just a new build and new release note.

[krysstof]

yes for the update path

as stated, no config, fresh windows install, fresh msi install, 0 option, "Generic" (not op5), next, "custom", next, leavin the ip and password as is, check boxes as is, next, next finish

when upgrading there is this message,

I also tried stopping the service manually before runing the setup, no change
i havent tried a "silent" installation in command line

[krysstof]

i'll try to get a log today

[krysstof]

hello
i sent you some logs by mail with a few explanations.

I did a comparison for a failed upgade and a successful upgrade from 0.9.8; the successful upgrade was made after installing the vc++ redistributable from microsoft.

on the left the installer that fails remove vc dll from system32, on the right the successul installer does not remove vc dll

[krysstof]

these DLL are included in the "registration" process, but not on in the install file process in 0.9.12 when upgrading from 0.9.8
I can see them in the installfile process for 0.9.7 and 0.9.8 :
InstallFiles: File: msvcp140.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 557728
InstallFiles: File: msvcp140_1.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 35952
InstallFiles: File: msvcp140_2.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 280200
InstallFiles: File: msvcp140_atomic_wait.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 50304
InstallFiles: File: vccorlib140.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 352384
InstallFiles: File: vcruntime140.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 124544
InstallFiles: File: vcruntime140_1.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 49792
InstallFiles: File: vcruntime140_threads.dll, Directory: C:\WINDOWS\system32, Size: 38528

[mickem]

Looking at the logs the issue is "permissions" but not sure that accurate as often error codes in MSI are generic.

But from your explanation in them email it sounds like there is an issue with the vc redist and windows 2025?
VC redists are "strange" since windows 2015 or some such as they have a "big bundle of everything" and I am using an old version so could be it is not compatible with a modern windows version.

I will see if I can get a windows 2025 machine up and running in azure to confirm this.

[mickem]

Sorry for the late reply. Was harder than I thought to find this (and silly easy to fix)... But hopefully https://github.com/mickem/nscp/releases/tag/0.10.1 will fix the upgrade issue in Windows 2025.