May 2008 - Xymon - Xymon mailman web

Problems with hobbitping when the Network is unreachable (BUG)
by spa＠syntec.co.uk 23 May '08

23 May '08

Hi Henrik, I rebooted my hobbit server and it lost its default gateway, unbeknown to me. The only symptoms of something wrong was a purple in a network test is was supposed to be doing and a purple in the server's bbtest column. Now, I reckon one or other or both of these should have both gone red and not purple, and the reason that they did not is due to hobbitping going into a spin: what looks like a fairly tight loop. Hobbitping was using quite a lot of CPU (I saw it at well over 30%) and server/tmp/ping-stdout.1407 was empty but server/tmp/ping-stderr.5499 was getting many (about 60) "Failed to send ICMP packet: Network is unreachable" written to it every second. I reckon this message should have been in the report of the connection test it was trying to do (although you could argue that the colour should be clear and not red, since one doesn't want dozens of alarms for a problem that is actually on the network-test server). It took me some time to figure out what was wrong because hobbit didn't report this problem in any of its logs (presumably because hobbitping never returned and so bbtest-net never returned its status) (and hobbitd_client stopped working for some other reason (core dump) yesterday and, although restarted, remains not reporting with nothing in the logs). Kind regards, Sebastian

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Java and C# agent library
by Oskar.Hannesson＠landsbanki.is 23 May '08

23 May '08

Hello. I have several Java and c# daemons running some missinon critical tasks and I want to monitor those daemons with Hobbit. I heard that I could use the HTTP POST command to post heartbeats to the Hobbit but I cant seem to find any dicumentation about this. Can anyone give me a hint here where I could find some documentation about this? Are there maybe some existing Java or C# libraries out there? ___________________________________________ Óskar Hannesson Landsbankinn Financial Markets IT Department oskar.hannesson at landsbanki.is<mailto:oskar.hannesson at landsbanki.is> www.landsbanki.is<http://www.landsbanki.is> Fyrirvari/Disclaimer http://www.landsbanki.is/disclaimer

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Remove square brackets from Alerts
by allan＠zandahar.net 23 May '08

23 May '08

Hi, Ive had a bit of a hunt around for this but didnt find anything. We're in the process of looking at a new email-to-sms provider and just found out that square brackets and a bunch of others are not supported so I need to know if I can remove them from the alert code or somehow generate the message in a way that it doesnt send them. Currently I basically have the following HOST=* SCRIPT /home/monitor/server/bin/smsalert.sh 04xxxxxxxx reapt=15m duration=>10m recovered format=sms and the smsalert.sh echo "${BBALPHAMSG:0:160}" | gnokii --sendsms "$RCPT" It all works fine and comes out as host.domain.com:svcs red [ackcode[ which is where the problem is. I had a plan originally to be able to reply back to the msg and ack the alert but currently its not being used so removing the ack code is an option but my preference is to remove the brackets if possible. If anyone could assist it would be greatly appreciated Cheers Allan

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[hobbit] Random hobbit newbie questions
by bewhite＠fellowes.com 22 May '08

22 May '08

I think it is based on the result of a uname -s command. So Redhat comes back as Linux, HPUX is HP-UX, Solaris is SunOS, etc. I believe this also then matches the actual client script the hobbit client runs as in hobbitclient-hp-ux.sh. .....Bruce _____ From: Linder, Doug (SABIC Innovative Plastics, consultant) [mailto:Doug.Linder at sabic-ip.com] Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:49 AM To: hobbit at hswn.dk Subject: [hobbit] Random hobbit newbie questions Hi Everyone, I'm relatively new to Hobbit. I like it a lot, but I do have a few random questions. I've been reading the documentation a lot and haven't found the answers, so I hope the answers don't turn out to be "see the man page". :) I have to say I really like the documentation to Hobbit. At first glance it seems a bit short, but on reading it I find that it manages to be packed with information which is written in a nice concise, efficient, jargon-free, and human-readable way. The comments in the config files are also excellent, although sometimes the information in there is slightly different from what's in the documentation page for that file - sometimes there's info in one place that isn't in the other. I wish more documentation in the IT field were written like this. My only suggestion is that it would be helpful for us new folks to have some kind of general overview that describes (or better yet, shows in a flowchart) how data flows between client, server, the various tests, the web server, how the various config files fit in, and so on. The information is currently in there but it takes a good bit of reading and experimenting before you really start to "get it". Questions: 1) In the hobbit-clients.cfg file, I this is in the comments: # Defaults: MEMPHYS warnlevel=100 paniclevel=101 (i.e. it will never go red) # MEMSWAP warnlevel=50 paniclevel=80 # MEMACT warnlevel=90 paniclevel=97 # Note: The words "PHYS", "ACT" and "SWAP" are also recognized. And then later on, there is this bit: # These are the built-in defaults. # SWAP 20 40 # MEMSWAP 50 80 Is there a difference between MEMSWAP and SWAP? If not, why is it listed twice in the defaults? If so, what is the difference? 2) In the documentation page for hobbit-clients.cfg, there is this statement: "CLASS=classname - Rule match by the client class-name. You specify the class-name for a host when starting the client through the "--class=NAME" option to the runclient.sh script. If no class is specified, the host by default goes into a class named by the operating system." Unfortunately I can't find any details about what the default names of the "classes named by the operating system" are, so I don't know which strings to put after "CLASS=" in my hobbit-clients.cfg file. Is there a list somewhere? 3) There are a couple columns in the default configuration that I don't want, like "files". On the page in question, the status icon for every system is "clear" (white). I want to use the "drop" option to the bb command to do this. I issued this command for every host on the page in question: bb localhost "drop <hostname> files" That works for a minute or two. On the next page refresh, almost all of the hosts have the column empty (just a dash), but a few of them are back to "clear" already. After one or two refreshes, all the systems are back at clear status. How can I get hobbit to drop the column forever, permanently, completely, without leaving old history files around and stuff? Thanks for any tips! --- Doug Linder UNIX Systems Administrator CompuCom Systems, Inc. SABIC Innovative Plastics T: 413 448 7563 D: *838 7563 E: doug.linder at sabic-ip.com <mailto:doug.linderrdoug.linder at sabic-ip.com> ---------------------------------------------------- Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Fellowes, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------

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[hobbit] paging for single process
by bewhite＠fellowes.com 22 May '08

22 May '08

OOOOOPPPS! Never mind. I didn't look far enough down the man page. You learn something new every day! -----Original Message----- From: White, Bruce Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:49 AM To: 'hobbit at hswn.dk' Subject: RE: [hobbit] paging for single process How does the group parameter on the "files" test allow you to page one group if one process is down and another if a different process is down. This is a function of how the status is set for the "procs" column. From your link: "You can have multiple "PROC" entries for the same host, all of the checks are merged into the "procs" status and the most severe check defines the color of the status." If any monitored process is down, then the status changes to the color you set and then your paging rules kick in. There is no way to subdivide the processes within the "procs" test for paging purposes. If you wrote a special test which looks for a specific process, then the paging rules could be written to page when that new test alarms. .....Bruce -----Original Message----- From: Stef Coene [mailto:stef.coene at docum.org] Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 4:40 PM To: hobbit at hswn.dk Subject: Re: [hobbit] paging for single process On Wednesday 21 May 2008, Gavin Leonard wrote: > Can you set up and alert to page a certain group on a single failed > process? Right now I only know how to page all processes to a group.. I > have a server that runs the door swipes on the campus.. I would like the > facilities dept to get pages when a proc called card goes down.. but not > other processes.. thanks in advance.. You can use the GROUP parameter: http://www.hswn.dk/hobbit/help/manpages/man5/hobbit-clients.cfg.5.html#lbAO Stef To unsubscribe from the hobbit list, send an e-mail to hobbit-unsubscribe at hswn.dk ---------------------------------------------------- Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Fellowes, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the hobbit list, send an e-mail to hobbit-unsubscribe at hswn.dk ---------------------------------------------------- Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Fellowes, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------

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[hobbit] Random hobbit newbie questions
by bewhite＠fellowes.com 22 May '08

22 May '08

Or use the NOCOLUMNS option in the bb-hosts file: "NOCOLUMNS:column[,column] Used to drop certain of the status columns generated by the Hobbit client. column is one of cpu, disk, files, memory, msgs, ports, procs. This setting stops these columns from being updated for the host. Note: If the columns already exist, you must use the bb(1) utility to drop them, or they will go purple." ....Bruce -----Original Message----- From: Benjamin P. August [mailto:baugust at stanford.edu] Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 12:08 PM To: hobbit at hswn.dk Subject: Re: [hobbit] Random hobbit newbie questions 3) Try a "group-except files <group-name>" in your bb-hosts file. That's what I did for my files test anyway. -- --Ben Benjamin P. August System Administrator - VPUE Stanford University Quoting "Linder, Doug (SABIC Innovative Plastics, consultant)" <Doug.Linder at sabic-ip.com>: > Hi Everyone, I'm relatively new to Hobbit. I like it a lot, but I do > have a few random questions. I've been reading the documentation a lot > and haven't found the answers, so I hope the answers don't turn out to > be "see the man page". :) > > I have to say I really like the documentation to Hobbit. At first > glance it seems a bit short, but on reading it I find that it manages to > be packed with information which is written in a nice concise, > efficient, jargon-free, and human-readable way. The comments in the > config files are also excellent, although sometimes the information in > there is slightly different from what's in the documentation page for > that file - sometimes there's info in one place that isn't in the other. > I wish more documentation in the IT field were written like this. My > only suggestion is that it would be helpful for us new folks to have > some kind of general overview that describes (or better yet, shows in a > flowchart) how data flows between client, server, the various tests, the > web server, how the various config files fit in, and so on. The > information is currently in there but it takes a good bit of reading and > experimenting before you really start to "get it". > > Questions: > > 1) In the hobbit-clients.cfg file, I this is in the comments: > > > # Defaults: MEMPHYS warnlevel=100 paniclevel=101 (i.e. it > will never go red) > # MEMSWAP warnlevel=50 paniclevel=80 > # MEMACT warnlevel=90 paniclevel=97 > # Note: The words "PHYS", "ACT" and "SWAP" are also recognized. > > And then later on, there is this bit: > > # These are the built-in defaults. > # SWAP 20 40 > # MEMSWAP 50 80 > > Is there a difference between MEMSWAP and SWAP? If not, why is it > listed twice in the defaults? If so, what is the difference? > > > 2) In the documentation page for hobbit-clients.cfg, there is this > statement: > > "CLASS=classname - Rule match by the client class-name. You specify the > class-name for a host when starting the client through the > "--class=NAME" option to the runclient.sh script. If no class is > specified, the host by default goes into a class named by the operating > system." > > Unfortunately I can't find any details about what the default names of > the "classes named by the operating system" are, so I don't know which > strings to put after "CLASS=" in my hobbit-clients.cfg file. Is there a > list somewhere? > > > 3) There are a couple columns in the default configuration that I don't > want, like "files". On the page in question, the status icon for every > system is "clear" (white). I want to use the "drop" option to the bb > command to do this. I issued this command for every host on the page in > question: > > bb localhost "drop <hostname> files" > > That works for a minute or two. On the next page refresh, almost all of > the hosts have the column empty (just a dash), but a few of them are > back to "clear" already. After one or two refreshes, all the systems > are back at clear status. How can I get hobbit to drop the column > forever, permanently, completely, without leaving old history files > around and stuff? > > Thanks for any tips! > > > --- > Doug Linder > UNIX Systems Administrator > CompuCom Systems, Inc. > > SABIC Innovative Plastics > T: 413 448 7563 > D: *838 7563 > E: doug.linder at sabic-ip.com > <mailto:doug.linderrdoug.linder at sabic-ip.com> > > > To unsubscribe from the hobbit list, send an e-mail to hobbit-unsubscribe at hswn.dk ---------------------------------------------------- Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Fellowes, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------

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[hobbit] paging for single process
by bewhite＠fellowes.com 22 May '08

22 May '08

How does the group parameter on the "files" test allow you to page one group if one process is down and another if a different process is down. This is a function of how the status is set for the "procs" column. From your link: "You can have multiple "PROC" entries for the same host, all of the checks are merged into the "procs" status and the most severe check defines the color of the status." If any monitored process is down, then the status changes to the color you set and then your paging rules kick in. There is no way to subdivide the processes within the "procs" test for paging purposes. If you wrote a special test which looks for a specific process, then the paging rules could be written to page when that new test alarms. .....Bruce -----Original Message----- From: Stef Coene [mailto:stef.coene at docum.org] Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 4:40 PM To: hobbit at hswn.dk Subject: Re: [hobbit] paging for single process On Wednesday 21 May 2008, Gavin Leonard wrote: > Can you set up and alert to page a certain group on a single failed > process? Right now I only know how to page all processes to a group.. I > have a server that runs the door swipes on the campus.. I would like the > facilities dept to get pages when a proc called card goes down.. but not > other processes.. thanks in advance.. You can use the GROUP parameter: http://www.hswn.dk/hobbit/help/manpages/man5/hobbit-clients.cfg.5.html#lbAO Stef To unsubscribe from the hobbit list, send an e-mail to hobbit-unsubscribe at hswn.dk ---------------------------------------------------- Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Fellowes, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------

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paging for single process
by gleonard＠progrexion.com 22 May '08

22 May '08

Can you set up and alert to page a certain group on a single failed process? Right now I only know how to page all processes to a group.. I have a server that runs the door swipes on the campus.. I would like the facilities dept to get pages when a proc called card goes down.. but not other processes.. thanks in advance.. Gavin Leonard [cid:image001.gif at 01C8BB2B.8F4DD650] Director, Systems-Network Engineering T 801-828-1735 F 801-828-1704 E gleonard at progrexion.com<mailto:gleonard at progrexion.com> Research | Marketing | Sales Generation www.progrexion.com<http://www.progrexion.com/> This email and its contents are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, delete this email and do not use or disclose the information within this email or its attachments. Thank you.

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wake up call
by gleonard＠progrexion.com 22 May '08

22 May '08

Every morning at 7am I get pages from every host I monitor including the display server, that its connection recovered.. the it runs great for the next 23hrs. looking at hobbit web page I see no down time nor do the servers show any down time. But when I click on the historical web link to see the info.. I get this.. I really love hobbit.. but I am not a Web guy at all and I think it might be apache related... Internal Server Error The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server administrator, root at localhost and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error. More information about this error may be available in the server error log. ________________________________ Apache/2.0.54 (Yellowdog) Server at misery.pgx.local Port 80 Gavin Leonard [cid:image001.gif at 01C8B9B2.A49DC760] Director, Systems-Network Engineering T 801-828-1735 F 801-828-1704 E gleonard at progrexion.com<mailto:gleonard at progrexion.com> Research | Marketing | Sales Generation www.progrexion.com<http://www.progrexion.com/> This email and its contents are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, delete this email and do not use or disclose the information within this email or its attachments. Thank you.

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[hobbit] paging for single process
by bewhite＠fellowes.com 21 May '08

21 May '08

Gavin, I think would need to create a custom test for that and have it named something other than procs. ....Bruce _____ From: Gavin Leonard [mailto:gleonard at progrexion.com] Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 11:15 AM To: hobbit at hswn.dk Subject: [hobbit] paging for single process Can you set up and alert to page a certain group on a single failed process? Right now I only know how to page all processes to a group.. I have a server that runs the door swipes on the campus.. I would like the facilities dept to get pages when a proc called card goes down.. but not other processes.. thanks in advance.. Gavin Leonard Director, Systems-Network Engineering T 801-828-1735 F 801-828-1704 E <mailto:gleonard at progrexion.com> gleonard at progrexion.com Research | Marketing | Sales Generation <http://www.progrexion.com/> www.progrexion.com This email and its contents are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, delete this email and do not use or disclose the information within this email or its attachments. Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------- Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Fellowes, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------

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