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Custom Platform Packages

Nanitor's built-in collector already supports common network devices out of the box (see Common Network device checks for Nanitor collector). Custom Platform Packages, added in v7.2.0, are for everything else: SSH-accessible devices Nanitor doesn't natively support, such as less common switches, firewalls, load balancers, or other network appliances.

What it is

A Custom Platform Package is a small, self-authored definition that tells a Nanitor collector which SSH commands to run against a device and how to read the output into inventory fields (hostname, firmware version, serial number, IP addresses, and similar attributes). Customers and partners write these themselves using nandev, a command-line tool for building, validating, and testing packages, then deploy them to a collector.

This is opt-in and per collector. It's disabled by default, and nothing changes for existing devices or built-in platforms unless you turn it on.

What it's for today

Right now, Custom Platform Packages cover inventory and information collection only. Think "what device is this, what firmware is it running, what's its serial number," not compliance or hardening checks.

This is the first phase of a larger effort. We're working with partners to expand this over time, both in terms of how a collector can talk to a device (for example, adding HTTP/API-based collection alongside SSH) and what a package can check (for example, compliance and hardening checks in addition to inventory data).

Where to learn more

  • Custom Platform Packages in the Nanitor User Guide has the full setup guide: prerequisites, installing nandev, authoring and testing a package, and enabling it on a collector.
  • The nanitor-platforms GitHub repository hosts the nandev CLI releases, the authoring guide, and an example package.
  • See the v7.2.0 release notes for what shipped.