[Xymon] F5 monitoring script (WAS RE: Xymon vs Solarwinds)

Fri Oct 21 21:54:21 CEST 2011

For those of you who wanted it, here is the F5 monitoring script I wrote.  I'm sure there is room for improvement as I'm not the world's best scripter, but it works well and has been 100% maintenance free for me since I put it in production.  Basic instructions are in the top of the file.  Make sure you satisfy all the dependencies and set all the environment variables before you run it the first time or it will fail badly.  This was written for F5 software version 10.2; I don't have access to other versions so I'm not sure what if any other versions will work.  There's a good chance that other versions should work though, they don't generally modify the MIB very much from version to version, and I don't rely too heavily on the MIB anyway except to translate the OIDS into something easier to read.  As long as the top level of each part of the MIB stays the same (where I start doing snmpwalks) the rest should be OK.

Feedback on how it's working for you, F5 software version, improvements, etc. would be appreciated.

Waiting on permissions for the Xymonton page so I can post it.

Scot Kreienkamp
skreien at la-z-boy.com

-----Original Message-----
From: xymon-bounces at xymon.com [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] On Behalf Of Allan Jacobsen
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 2:35 AM
To: Xymon mailinglist
Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon vs Solarwinds

Hi Scott

I would very much like to be able to monitor our F5s if I could get a copy of your scripts.

Best regards
Allan Jacobsen
Danske Spil A/S

> -----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
> Fra: xymon-bounces at xymon.com [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] På
> vegne af Scot Kreienkamp
> Sendt: 20. oktober 2011 15:11
> Til: Gore, David W (David); Vernon Everett; Xymon mailinglist
> Emne: Re: [Xymon] Xymon vs Solarwinds
>
> I've used both, although I've got little experience with Solarwinds.  From
> what I know of it you already hit the nail on the head.  Great for SNMP, and
> that's the only way to poll.  So if you have a system where you can't turn on
> SNMP, or the stats you want are unavailable via SNMP, then you can't
> monitor it.  Solarwinds is like any commercial product.  You can do what they
> allow you to do and that's about it.  Xymon is infinitely extendable due to
> Henrik's efforts in many areas and his early design decisions.  That's why I run
> it.  Specifically in my case, there is no built in way to monitor an F5 load
> balancer in Solarwinds.  While that is also true of Xymon, I did spend a few
> days writing a script that would interrogate an F5 and report all kinds of
> information back on its nodes, pools, and VIPs.  That would be MUCH more
> difficult to integrate with Solarwinds.  Also, while nobody has asked on the
> list yet, I would offer it if someone did.  Community is a good thing to have
>  .  On the other hand, the lack of professional support is frustrating at times,
> so I wouldn't completely discount them wanting a product with professional
> support.
>
> Also, it looks like at least one company has endeavored to professionally
> support Xymon, so that may be one way to nullify the support argument.
>
> http://www.xymonmonitoring.com
>
> Scot Kreienkamp
> skreien at la-z-boy.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xymon-bounces at xymon.com [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com]
> On Behalf Of Gore, David W (David)
> Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 7:35 AM
> To: Vernon Everett; Xymon mailinglist
> Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon vs Solarwinds
>
> May be a bit beyond the point at this time Vernon but you may want to point
> your client to this page:
>
> http://support.sas.com/rnd/emi/Xymon/index.html
>
> If Xymon is good enough for a billion dollar company perhaps it is good
> enough for your client.  Perhaps making smart decisions on how they spend
> their money is part of the reason they are billion dollar company.
>
> I have never heard of SolarWinds but we are just a support group with no
> money so there is no reason to look beyond Xymon.
>
> ~David
>
>
> From: xymon-bounces at xymon.com [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com]
> On Behalf Of Vernon Everett
> Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 03:17
> To: Xymon mailinglist
> Subject: [Xymon] Xymon vs Solarwinds
>
> Hi guys
>
> I have a client that dislikes open source software. They feel it's "out of
> control", there's no support, and no backup.
> They prefer something where they can get "professional" support, and
> licensed software and all the crap we have all heard before.
> Somebody at the top, decided that SolarWinds is the corporate standard.
> From what I have read, it's SNMP based, so great for network, and stuff
> running SNMP, but not so good for anything else.
>
> Has anybody had any hands-on experience with both Solarwinds and Xymon,
> who can give me a short breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of
> Solarwinds compared to Xymon?
>
> Regards
>     Vernon
>
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