Files
shopdb-flask/agent/README.md
benjamin.baker d6bd7b5f54 Fix endpoint user-context collection running in the wrong session
Mapped drives reported Unavailable on endpoints where the operator could
see them fine. The data path was intact; the collection was running under
the wrong token. Mapped drives are per logon token, so an elevated probe
enumerates a different drive table than the interactive user.

Collection:
- Pin the user-context spool path so the probe and service agree on one
  location, and persist/overwrite it instead of deleting on read.
- Refuse to collect while elevated (exit code 2) rather than emitting a
  confident wrong answer, and stamp elevated/username on the spool.
- Reject spools stamped elevated or from an unexpected account on read,
  so an admin run cannot masquerade as valid.
- Log netuse/smbmapping/userlistener counts so each run leaves evidence
  of what it actually saw.

Install and launch context:
- Move collection to a 'ShopDB user-context probe' scheduled task under
  S-1-5-32-545 at RunLevel Limited, the only mechanism that reliably runs
  in the operator's own session. Verify registration and record it in the
  install ledger.
- Stop starting the tray as a child of the elevated installer; explorer.exe
  de-elevates without changing ACCOUNT, so an admin install produced an
  admin tray. The Run key only fires at logon, which left the tray dead on
  a machine already signed in, so add a transient 'ShopDB tray first launch'
  task that starts it once in the existing session and unregisters itself.
- Hide the console window during --collect-usercontext. The agent is a
  console exe; the tray used to mask this with CreateNoWindow, but the
  scheduled task invokes it directly and flashed a window every cycle.

Installer edits are in _install_script() in plugins/endpoints/api/siteagent.py,
which generates the install.ps1 that actually ships. The standalone
agent/installer/install-shopdbagent.ps1 was never shipped once the package
moved to the UI builder and is deleted here to stop the divergence that
caused an earlier fix to land in a file no endpoint ever ran.

Versions: agent 1.10.1, tray 1.3.0. These share the pinned spool path and
must be deployed together.

Pre-existing test failures unrelated to this work (8, identical on a clean
tree): docs publishable/versions, plugin contract symlink scan, import
guard tamper check, security headers upload sandbox, and three endpoint
timestamp tests.
2026-09-05 17:32:03 -04:00

178 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown

# ShopDB Endpoint Agent
A Windows telemetry agent that reports endpoint state to a ShopDB server's
`endpoints` plugin. It runs as a Windows service in production and as a console
app for development and testing.
## Projects
- `ShopDbEndpointAgent.Core` - contracts, config, logging, collection, and the
resilient collector HTTP client. No host concerns; unit-testable.
- `ShopDbEndpointAgent` - the service host (generic host + Windows service
lifetime). Composes Core through DI. This is the telemetry runtime.
- `ShopDbEndpointAgent.Tray` - interactive user-session tray app: a system-tray
icon with "Send Status now" (on-demand report) and the 5-click issue reporter
(ServiceNow flow is still a scaffold). Separate process from the service,
because a SYSTEM service cannot draw a tray icon in a user session.
## Configuration
Runtime config is layered. Non-secret defaults live in `appsettings.json`
(shipped with the build). The collector key and base URL are provisioned out of
band in the registry and win over `appsettings.json`, so a distributed build
never carries the secret and the site can rotate the key without a rebuild.
### Registry (production)
Create these values under `HKLM\SOFTWARE\GE\ShopDB` (64-bit view):
| Value | Type | Meaning |
|----------------|--------|--------------------------------------------------|
| `BaseUrl` | String | `https://shopdb.example.net` (server root) |
| `CollectorKey` | String | The endpoint agent key from Settings -> Endpoints -> Key management |
Example (elevated PowerShell):
```
New-Item -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\GE\ShopDB' -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\GE\ShopDB' -Name 'BaseUrl' -Value 'https://shopdb.example.net'
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\GE\ShopDB' -Name 'CollectorKey' -Value '<paste the generated key>'
```
### appsettings.json (all environments)
| Key | Default | Meaning |
|-------------------|-------------|------------------------------------------------|
| `baseurl` | "" | Dev fallback for the server root (registry wins). |
| `apikey` | placeholder | Dev fallback for the collector key (registry wins). |
| `cadenceseconds` | 900 | Report interval (15 min). |
| `jitterseconds` | 60 | Random +/- spread on the interval (anti-herd). |
| `adoptonfirstrun` | true | Send `adopt=true` on first contact only. |
| `utilitiespath` | "" | Directory of site PowerShell "agent utilities". |
| `logpath` | "" | Override the rolling log directory. |
For a dev box, set `baseurl` and `apikey` here and skip the registry.
## Running
Console (dev), one report then exit:
```
dotnet run --project ShopDbEndpointAgent -- --once
```
Console (dev), continuous cadence loop:
```
dotnet run --project ShopDbEndpointAgent -- --console
```
## Install as a Windows service
Publish self-contained, then register with `sc.exe` (elevated):
```
dotnet publish ShopDbEndpointAgent -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained -o C:\ProgramData\ShopDB\EndpointAgent\bin
sc.exe create "ShopDBEndpointAgent" binPath= "C:\ProgramData\ShopDB\EndpointAgent\bin\shopdb-endpoint-agent.exe" start= auto DisplayName= "ShopDB Endpoint Agent"
sc.exe description "ShopDBEndpointAgent" "Reports endpoint telemetry to ShopDB."
sc.exe start "ShopDBEndpointAgent"
```
The service runs as LocalSystem by default, which it needs to read the Security
event channel and system WMI.
## Tray app (system-tray icon)
The tray is a per-user process, not a service, so it starts at sign-in rather
than under `sc.exe`. The generated `install.ps1` handles it: it copies
`shopdb-endpoint-tray.exe` next to the agent and registers a machine-wide logon
autostart (`HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ShopDbEndpointTray`,
64-bit view). The installer deliberately does NOT start the tray itself: it runs
elevated, so any process it starts inherits an admin token, and mapped drives are
per logon token - an elevated tray probes the wrong drive table. The Run key only
fires at logon, which would leave the tray dead until sign-out on a machine
someone is already using, so the installer also registers a transient
`ShopDB tray first launch` scheduled task under `S-1-5-32-545` at `RunLevel
Limited`, runs it once, and unregisters it. That task is the only mechanism that
can reach into an existing interactive session without carrying the installer's
token. Pass `-NoTray` for a headless, service-only install.
User-context collection does not depend on the tray. The installer registers a
`ShopDB user-context probe` scheduled task against the Users group at
`RunLevel Limited`, which runs `shopdbagent.exe --collect-usercontext` in the
operator's own session at logon and every 30 minutes.
Right-click the tray icon for:
- `Send Status now` - reports this PC to ShopDB immediately so the monitor page
refreshes without waiting for the next cadence tick. It shells out to
`shopdbagent.exe --once`, reusing the exact production collection path; the
tray holds no collector key. A balloon tip reflects success or failure (on
failure, see the rolling agent log).
- `Report an issue...` - the ServiceNow ticket flow (scaffold; submission path
is an open decision).
A desktop shortcut to `shopdb-endpoint-tray.exe` can be added later for an
explicitly launchable ServiceNow surface.
## WebUI command execution model (security context)
The WebUI can send an endpoint an allowlisted command (server source of truth:
`plugins/endpoints/commands.py`; agent handler: `CommandExecutor`). The agent
service runs as LocalSystem, but not every command runs in that context. The
launch context is chosen per action so processes surface to the operator while
privileged operations keep the token they need:
- Generic `process_start` (for example DncMain, UDC) launches into the ACTIVE
CONSOLE USER's session at medium integrity, so the app is visible on the
operator's desktop. CyberArk/EPM brokers any elevation afterward.
- Generic `process_stop` / `process_status` run as SYSTEM (kill and probe).
- `service_start` / `service_stop` / `service_status` run as SYSTEM, because
service control requires the admin/SYSTEM token.
- `mtconnect_start` / `mtconnect_stop` / `mtconnect_status` all run as SYSTEM,
because MTConnect is the "UDC MTConnect Agent" Windows service and service
control requires the admin/SYSTEM token. `mtconnect_start` runs `install.bat`
(`Agent.exe install`) to install or repair the service, then ensures it is
running; `mtconnect_stop` stops the service; `mtconnect_status` queries it.
`run.bat` (`agent.exe run agent.cfg`) is a foreground TESTING launcher and is
deliberately NOT used by the agent.
- `system_restart` runs as SYSTEM and reboots the machine immediately via
`shutdown.exe /r /t 0` (no grace timer). It is a fixed action with no target,
gated server-side by the dedicated `endpoints.restart` permission on top of
`endpoints.command`, and fronted by a WebUI confirmation gate.
Do not route MTConnect through the generic `process_start` user-session path or
service control breaks. MTConnect is intentionally absent from the
`process_start` launch map for the same reason; the fixed `mtconnect_*` handler
owns it.
Behavior note for redeploys: the MTConnect service-control model is a runtime
change, so the agent must be rebuilt and redeployed for it to take effect.
Server-side command/allowlist/RBAC changes are picked up by the container
rebuild; rebuild and redeploy the agent whenever the runtime launch/control
logic itself changes.
## Diagnostics
- Rolling file log: `%ProgramData%\ShopDB\EndpointAgent\logs\YYYYMMDD-agent.log`
(14-day retention).
- Windows Event Log: agent runtime failures and unhandled exceptions are written
to the `Application` log under source `ShopDB Endpoint Agent`. The source is
created on first elevated run (or by the installer). Filter Event Viewer by
that source to see agent/system interop failures.
## Agent utilities (PowerShell seam)
If `utilitiespath` points at a directory, the runtime runs each `*.ps1` there
per report, parses its JSON stdout, and merges the result into the report. This
is the seam the future server-side "Agent configuration" settings page uses to
push site-authored collectors down. Scripts must be code-signed and
allow-listed before this is enabled in the field (rollout concern).
## Logging extensibility
All runtime code logs through `Microsoft.Extensions.Logging` (`ILogger`). Adding
a sink later (a ShopDB HTTP sink, Seq, syslog) is a host-builder change in
`Program.cs::ConfigureLogging` with no changes to the worker, collector, or
client.