---
title: "Install a Netprobe on a shared drive"
description: ""
url: "https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/netprobe/installation/install-netprobe-on-shared-drive/index.html"
---
## Overview

The data collected by the Netprobe depends on the plug-ins you choose to run. For most cases, the Netprobe needs to be installed onto the machine or server to be monitored.

It is possible to install a Netprobe on a shared drive, then have it run on multiple nodes. However, there are a few considerations if a Netprobe installation on a shared drive is going to be used by multiple nodes simultaneously.

## Log files

If the Netprobes record their log output to the shared drive, then you must check that each one is writing to a unique file.

The Netprobes may crash if more than one Netprobe attempts to write to the same file. This can happen if, for example, a shared script is being used to set up the environment and launch the Netprobe on a set of Linux machines, and this script sets the `LOG_FILENAME` to the same file on the shared drive.

In this example, you can address the logging by updating the script. For example:

```
setenv LOG_FILENAME netprobe.out.`hostname`
```

This generates a log file which includes the hostname as a suffix to the log file name, thus giving the Netprobe running on each machine a separate log file.

## Message Tracker plug-in

The Message Tracker plug-in writes a file in the Netprobe directory which ensures that no data is lost if the probe stops. This file follows the name format `<managedEntity>.<samplerName>.cache`, by default. The file name can be changed using the configuration option called [persistenceFile in Message Tracker plugin](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/message-tracker-config/index.html#persistencefile).

Multiple Netprobe instances that share the same installation directory and use the Message
 Tracker plug-ins can overwrite each other's data. Therefore, check that each Message Tracker sampler has a unique **persistenceFile** setting.

## Next steps

Once you have determined to install a Netprobe on a shared drive, you may proceed to do so:

- [Quickstart: Linux and other platforms](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/netprobe/installation/quickstart-linux-and-other-platforms/index.html)
- [Quickstart: Windows](https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/7.11.0/collection/netprobe/installation/quickstart-windows/index.html)