How to perform active checks with Nagios/op5

Scope

• Nagios is an Open Source System Monitor that is available at http://www.nagios.org.
• You can monitor JobScheduler by use of Plugins that check the availability of the daemon/service.

Active Checks and Passive Checks

• Active Checks are initiated from the System Monitor server and are performed on a regular basis, e.g. every 5 minutes.
  • The only purpose of Active Checks is to verify the availability of the JobScheduler application. 
  • This type of check does not provide information about the execution status of individual jobs.
  • The System Monitor Plugins provided with this article are intended for Active Checks only.
• Passive Checks are initiated from JobScheduler and report individual execution results to the System Monitor.
  • The JobScheduler Monitoring Interface is a complete solution for the management of Passive Checks.

Download and Configuration of the Plugins

Download

Two Plugins are available for download:

• JobScheduler Master: https://download.sos-berlin.com/SystemMonitor/check_jobscheduler.pl
• JobScheduler Universal Agent: https://download.sos-berlin.com/SystemMonitor/check_jobscheduler_agent.pl

Installation

Copy the files to the plugin directory of your System Monitor installation.

Configuration

The configuration for the JobScheduler Master and Agent Plugins includes to define

• a System Monitor Command that defines the parameterization of the Plugin and
• a System Monitor Service which is the visible point of control in the System Monitor console.

JobScheduler Master Plugin

# 'check_jobscheduler' command definition
define command\{
    command_name                check_jobscheduler
    command_line                /opt/plugins/check_jobscheduler.pl -i $ARG1$ -H $HOSTADDRESS$ -p $ARG2$ -m $ARG3$ -j $ARG4$ -c  $ARG5$
\}

 define service\{
 use                             generic-service                 
 host_name                       localhost
 service_description             JobScheduler
 is_volatile                     0
 check_period                    24x7
 max_check_attempts              1
 normal_check_interval           1
 retry_check_interval            1
 contact_groups                  admins
 notification_options            w,u,c,r
 notification_interval           960
 notification_period             24x7
 check_command     check_jobscheduler!prodscheduler!4444!0!blacklist,test/job3!!
 active_checks_enabled           1          
 passive_checks_enabled          0  

JobScheduler Agent Plugin

A service Command has to be declared before configuring the System Monitor Service that makes use of this Command.

# 'check_jobscheduler_agent' command definition
define command\{
    command_name                check_jobscheduler_agent
    command_line                /opt/plugins/check_jobscheduler_agent.pl -u $ARG1$ -a $ARG2$ -o $ARG3$ -t $ARG4$
\}

When configuring the System Monitor Service then Command parameters have to be specified that are separated by exclamation marks, e.g.

http://galadriel.sos:4445/jobscheduler/agent/overview!'{totalProcessCount},{currentProcessCount}'!'{startedAt},{totalProcessCount},{currentProcessCount},{isTerminating}'!20

Explanations

• First argument is the URL for the HTTP connection that addresses the Agent via host (galadriel.sos) and port 4445 that the Agent is listening to followed by a fixed path (/jobscheduler/agent/overview).
• Second argument is the list of attributes that are used to check the Agent availability. The specified attributes are recommended to check if the Agent answer if formally correct.
• Third argument is the list of attributes that are used for output of the script and that will be displayed in the System Monitor.
  • startedAt: point in time when the Agent was started.
  • totalProcessCount: total number of jobs that have been executed during the lifetime of the Agent.
  • currentProcessCount: number of jobs that are currently executed by the Agent.
  • isTerminating: indicates whether the Agent is currently shutting down. Depending on the shutdown command that has been used an Agent will let run currently executed jobs before terminating.
• Fourth argument is the timeout for the connection to the Agent.

Notes

• Consider the use of the HTTPS protocol instead of the HTTP if the Agent is configured for use with Secure HTTPS communication