[hobbit] RE: NCV variable for custom RRD's

[Henrik Stoerner]

On Fri, May 26, 2006 at 11:11:30PM +0200, Ivan Verbeeck wrote:
> 
> I still have two questions about this NCV system :
> - Is it possible to define a graph in hobbitgraph.cfg for rrd files with
> "variable" datasets. By example when i send status messages for
> different temperature sensors of a network switch (chassis, power
> supply, ...) the data in the (single) rrd looks good whith the different
> ds names. So if it is possible to just graph all the existing datasets
> in the rrd, i can use a single rrd-config for the temperature of
> different switchen, servers, ..., otherwise i need a different
> "temp"-testname for all the different devices.

Currently the NCV system bundles all datasets into one RRD file, and
therefore you need one graph definition for each of the dataset
combinations you will get.

That is obviously not very smart for the kind of data you mention. It
would be nice to have some option to split it into one dataset per RRD
file - like what Hobbit does for disk graphs - but that is not possible
right now.

> - How can i send graph data to hobbit for a "cpu" test for switches. Can
> this send by using a status message, or do i need to send a data message
> (like hobbitclient)? If it must be with a data message, i found in de
> man pages  "data HOSTNAME.DATANAME<newline><additional text>", what is
> the DATANAME for the cpu data, and is there a minimum data that must be
> send ([date],[uname],[uptime],..). I know i can just rename the "cpu"
> test to something else, but "cpu" says it all :-)

You can send it as "status" or "data" - but if you want it to show up on
the webpage as a status-column, you must use "status". If you want to
track the cpu utilisation in a graph, the simplest way is if you can
format the status message so it looks like a status message from either
a Unix- or a Windows-client; then the graph data will automatically be
picked up by Hobbit.

If that is not possible, then things begin to get difficult. You would
have to write your own Hobbit server module to pick up the status
messages, and have it parse the "cpu" reports you send into it like
the "hobbitd_rrd" task currently does.



Regards,
Henrik