the answer is mostly 'yes' to both.
the upcoming 8.6.1G maintenance release will bring an extended node_admin tool that makes changing just a few properties easier (the current one requires a sequence of 'save node X config to json, modify said json, update node Xfrom json'). this release will likely go out later this week.
Is it available to:
without logging to each host , edit it and change active to false?
Thanks in advance
Regards,
Johny