---
title: "Shell Execution Test"
slug: "shell-execution"
tags: ["Synthetic Monitoring"]
updated: 2026-02-23T19:17:31Z
published: 2026-02-23T19:17:31Z
canonical: "support.controlup.com/shell-execution"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.controlup.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Shell Execution Scout

You can create a Shell Execution Scout that executes a user-defined shell command from a Custom Hive. This allows you to use Synthetic Monitoring to automatically perform custom scripted actions.

## Prerequisites

You must allow Custom Hives to run Shell Execution Scouts before creating the Scout. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the Custom Hive configuration window on the machine where the Custom Hive is installed.
2. Select the **Advanced** tab.
3. Select **Allow shell execution scouts**. ![Allow Shell execution scouts](https://cdn.document360.io/098100b7-b9da-4bea-b4b9-017140ab863e/Images/Documentation/Allow%20Shell%20execution%20scouts.png)

## Create a Shell Execution Scout

1. In the Synthetic Monitoring top bar, click **Create Scout** to open the **Add New Scout** window.
2. From the **Infrastructure** tab, select **Shell Execution** as the Scout **Type**.
3. Select the locations (**Hives**) from which you want to run the shell command. This Scout can only be run from Custom Hives.
4. Enter a **Name** for the Scout.
5. Enter the process name of the command line interpreter in the **Command** field.
6. Enter the command line arguments in the **Arguments** field. ![shell Command Line Example](https://cdn.document360.io/098100b7-b9da-4bea-b4b9-017140ab863e/Images/Documentation/shell%20Command%20Line%20Example.png)
7. Select a run interval for the test using the **Run Every** slider. For the first 10 minutes of the run, you can choose intervals of 1 to 10 minutes. After that, you can choose increments of 5 minutes up to 60 minutes (5, 10, 15, 20, and so on).
8. Optionally, add **Tags** to your Scout. Tags are key-value pairs which can be used to organize your Scouts. To learn more about tags, visit [Centralized Tags Management](/v1/docs/centralized-tags-management).
9. Click **Show additional parameters** to configure the following:
  - **Working Directory.** Sets the working directory where the command line interpreter can be found.
  - **Timeout.** Sets the maximum wait time for the Scout to finish executing the command.
  - **Exit Codes.** Sets a range of exit codes that the Scout considers successful. You can add multiple ranges.
10. Click **Next: Alert Policy** to set up alerts and notifications on the Scout before saving it. For more information, visit [Alert Policies](/tim-reorg/docs/alert-policies).

> [!NOTE]
> Note
> 
> You can attach Shell diagnostic output to alert emails as a diagnostic .txt file whenever alert conditions are met and triggered. To learn more, visit [Alert Policies.](https://support.controlup.com/v1/docs/alert-policies#shell-output-email-attachments)

## Test Results

After you have saved the Scout, await the results of the first tests. You can view the results by clicking **View All Tests**.

A list of all completed tests is displayed. Click a test to see the details of the shell execution.

In the **Test Details** window, you can see the executable and arguments, as well as the returned exit code and standard output (**STDOUT Body**) of the test.