IP address in bb-host file
Please comment on pros/cons to using 0.0.0.0 for "all" hosts vs. the actual IP address in the bb-hosts file?
Background info:
I see I can use 0.0.0.0 for an IP and Xymon will lookup the IP address.
As an IP changes, which happens infrequently, I am hoping to only need to change DNS, not also remember to change the bb-hosts file (others will be doing various network work and could forget.) 90% of hosts are PCs or printers. Servers and network equipment are the remaining 10%.
I have done very little with Xymon since installed. Running basic "conn" tests to all hosts. My servers (2 unix, 2 windows) are monitoring mail, dns, ftp, etc. I do not have advanced stats running besides what comes "out of the box". No bbwin client running. Yes, I would like to get to those, but have other fish to fry at the moment. I am currently trying to get pre-reqs required to compile the current version of Xymon.
The question comes up because I changed the IP of a router and changed it in bb-hosts, but not DNS yet. I thought something was incorrect until I realized it was using DNS to lookup the IP. So, if it uses DNS for network tests why not use it for all testing? Granted, if DNS fails, then all testing fails. But, if DNS fails, I have a major issue and not worried about the monitoring at that point.
Thanks, Mike
On Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:30:34 -0800, "Mike Cavanagh" <mike at terrapintesting.com> wrote:
Please comment on pros/cons to using 0.0.0.0 for "all" hosts vs. the actual IP address in the bb-hosts file? I see I can use 0.0.0.0 for an IP and Xymon will lookup the IP address.
Xymon will do a DNS lookup on the hostname, unless you explicitly use the "testip" tag on a host.
The presence of an IP in the hosts.cfg / bb-hosts file is a remnant from the days when Xymon was an add-on to the "Big Brother" system - this system relied on the IP in the bb-hosts file for network testing. Although Xymon has evolved a lot, it has retained much of the configuration file format from the Big Brother days, including this.
Currently, the only advantage of having the IP in the bb-hosts file is that this will be used as a "fall-back" IP in case the DNS lookup fails. So there really is no problem in just having "0.0.0.0" as the IP.
I have some plans to re-do the configuration system for Xymon v5, and one of the changes that will happen is probably that the mandatory IP-address in hosts.cfg will disappear, so you only need to specify it when it will actually be used.
Regards, Henrik
Henrik, Thanks for the reply Mike
-----Original Message----- From: xymon-bounces at xymon.com [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] On Behalf Of henrik at hswn.dk Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 1:01 AM To: xymon at xymon.com Subject: Re: [Xymon] IP address in bb-host file
On Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:30:34 -0800, "Mike Cavanagh" <mike at terrapintesting.com> wrote:
Please comment on pros/cons to using 0.0.0.0 for "all" hosts vs. the actual IP address in the bb-hosts file? I see I can use 0.0.0.0 for an IP and Xymon will lookup the IP address.
Xymon will do a DNS lookup on the hostname, unless you explicitly use the "testip" tag on a host.
The presence of an IP in the hosts.cfg / bb-hosts file is a remnant from the days when Xymon was an add-on to the "Big Brother" system - this system relied on the IP in the bb-hosts file for network testing. Although Xymon has evolved a lot, it has retained much of the configuration file format from the Big Brother days, including this.
Currently, the only advantage of having the IP in the bb-hosts file is that this will be used as a "fall-back" IP in case the DNS lookup fails. So there really is no problem in just having "0.0.0.0" as the IP.
I have some plans to re-do the configuration system for Xymon v5, and one of the changes that will happen is probably that the mandatory IP-address in hosts.cfg will disappear, so you only need to specify it when it will actually be used.
Regards, Henrik
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