Allow invoking CMD/PowerShell via Automate instead of Control

[jasonrush]

There is the known issue where the Control API does not support 2FA/MFA authentication, which limits a reasonable number of people from using the Invoke-ControlCommand function. We have the ability to implement similar functionality (though maybe not as efficient execution) via the Automate Computers/$computerID/CommandPrompt endpoint.

This can be assigned to me, as I intend to work on implementing this.

[dkattan]

A few things to consider on that endpoint:

1. It’s slow
2. I think you can break it by having !!!! in your script
3. Automate doesn’t have MFA for their endpoints either

[dkattan]

How would you guys feel about creating a custom extension for Automate and/or Control that would allow us to create our own auth methods and bypass a lot of the issues we encounter?

[jasonrush]

For what I'm doing/needing, I'm fine with slow and inefficient if slow and inefficient in terms of PS/Automate is still substantially faster than using Control to manually log into each server, open a powershell prompt, paste code that stores results to file/etc, copy results back to local computer, and compile all the results manually.

Are you saying a single ! or specifically 4x !!!!? Either way, something with a few limitations at this point is better than me doing everything manually.

And what do you mean regarding Automate not having MFA for their endpoints either? I'm new to the plugin architecture, but my understanding is that the Control plugin doesn't give a way to provide MFA tokens, but depending on configuration may require MFA to actually do the actions you've told it. With the built-in Automate functionality, it's using your Automate API session and no further MFA tokens/etc are required while the session is active.

Ultimately this project is up to you guys for decisions/etc, I just want to provide my feedback on where my use cases may vary. If you guys ultimately decide not to include this functionality, I'll just maintain my own separate plugin that extends this one, and will still help with improvements to the main plugin here where I'm able.

[gavsto]

I am adding this as a feature request because I absolutely think it should be done, even if it is slow.

[DarrenWhite99]

This is being developed and will be committed publicly "soon".

[DarrenWhite99]

This functionality is available in the "AutomateCommand" branch.