How to perform active checks with a System Monitor such as Nagios/op5

Scope

• Nagios® is an Open Source System Monitor that is available at http://www.nagios.org. An ecosystem of more or less compatible System Monitors has evolved, e.g. op5®, that makes use of a similar design and configuration.
• 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 explained in this article are intended for Active Checks only.
• Passive Checks are initiated from JobScheduler and report individual execution results to a System Monitor.
  • The JobScheduler Monitoring Interface is a complete solution for the management of complex Passive Checks.

Download and Installation of the Plugins

Download

Two Plugins are available for download:

• JobScheduler Master (with tcp): https://download.sos-berlin.com/SystemMonitor/check_jobscheduler.pl
• JobScheduler Master via JOC Cockpit (with http(s)): https://download.sos-berlin.com/SystemMonitor/check_jobscheduler_with_joc.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 of the Plugins

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

• a System Monitor Command that specifies 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

Sample Configuration

# 'check_jobscheduler' command definition
define command {
    command_name                check_jobscheduler
    command_line                /opt/plugins/check_jobscheduler.pl -H $HOSTADRESS$ -p $ARG1$ -t $ARG2$ (-u $ARG3$)
}

 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!homer.sos!4444!0!!
 active_checks_enabled           1          
 passive_checks_enabled          0  
}

Parameterization

Example:

#JobScheduler running on a server 'test' using port 4444 and HTTP authentication (user and password 'test')
 
<path_to_plugins>/check_jobscheduler.pl -H test -p 4444 -t 30 -u test:test

Notes

• Perl > 5.8 is required and the Perl package NET::HTTP. You can download and install Perl packages from e.g. http://www.cpan.

JobScheduler Master Plugin via JOC Cockpit with HTTP(S)

Sample Configuration

# 'check_jobscheduler_with_joc' command definition
define command {
    command_name                check_jobscheduler_with_joc
    command_line                /opt/plugins/check_jobscheduler_with_joc.pl -j $ARG1$ -i $ARG2$ -a $ARG3$ -t $ARG4$
}

 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_with_joc!http://localhost:4446!myJobSchedulerId!test:test!5!
 active_checks_enabled           1          
 passive_checks_enabled          0  
}

Parameterization

Example:

#JobScheduler running with the id 'test' and JOC Cockpit has the url http://localhost:4446 where the account (user and password 'test') has access
 
<path_to_plugins>/check_jobscheduler_with_joc.pl -j http://localhost:4446 -i test -a test:test

Notes

• JOC Cockpit installation since 1.11.4 is required.

• Perl > 5.8 is required and some Perl packages are required. You can download and install Perl packages from e.g. http://www.cpan.

  • HTTP::Request

  • LWP::UserAgent

  • JSON

JobScheduler Agent Plugin

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

Sample Configuration

# '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/api/overview!'{totalTaskCount},{currentTaskCount}'!'{startedAt},{totalTaskCount},{currentTaskCount},{isTerminating}'!20

Parameterization

Notes

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

• Perl > 5.8 is required and some Perl packages are required. You can download and install Perl packages from e.g. http://www.cpan

  • HTTP::Request::Common

  • LWP::UserAgent

  • JSON

  • Data::Dumper

See also

• JS-684 - Getting issue details... STATUS
• JS-1480 - Getting issue details... STATUS
• JS-1715 - Getting issue details... STATUS

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