# Output format: value
PendingUpdates.ps1
param($action, $configPath) function Init # Load config if needed return $true softprober plugins
function Update # Use COM object to query Windows Update $Session = New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.Session $Searcher = $Session.CreateUpdateSearcher() $SearchResult = $Searcher.Search("IsInstalled=0") $PendingCount = $SearchResult.Updates.Count # Output format: value PendingUpdates
function Cleanup return $true switch ($action) "init" Init "update" Update "cleanup" Cleanup Unlike heavier solutions like PRTG or Nagios, SoftProber
Introduction: What is SoftProber? Before diving into its plugin architecture, it is essential to understand the host application. SoftProber is a powerful, real-time system and network monitoring utility designed primarily for Windows environments, though its agents and probes can extend to Linux, macOS, and network devices via SNMP. Unlike heavier solutions like PRTG or Nagios, SoftProber is lightweight, agent-based, and highly visual, offering a dashboard that updates live with CPU loads, memory usage, disk I/O, network throughput, and process-level details.
Write a one-line PowerShell plugin that returns Get-Random -Min 0 -Max 100 . Configure it to update every second. Watch SoftProber draw a live random walk graph. Then replace that random number with your most critical business metric — and you’ll never look at static dashboards the same way again.