[Xymon] Where to put client extension state files?

[J.C. Cleaver]

On Tue, September 16, 2014 11:45 am, Steve Coile wrote:
> I've written a client extension script that wants to maintain state
> between
> runs, essentially to know where it left off after the last run.  Where is
> the "proper" place to keep such state files?  On our install,
> ~xymon/client/tmp is a symlink to /tmp, which seems like a bad choice.
>
> --


I think it really depends on your specific use-case, including how
"resilient" the test needs to be against local problems, and whether the
state needs to persist across a reboot. In addition, how it's been
packaged plays a role.

I tend to be a fan of client runtime-dependent files (such as the .msg
file the standard client builds) on tmpfs -- typically /dev/shm on Linux.
That ensures we can still report even if the silly Dell controller has
dropped us into read-only mode. OTOH, that's a bad place for keeping track
of a nightly-rotated-logfile state unless you're okay with losing state
after a crash or reboot (and potentially getting alerted again).


If it needs to be kept around, I'd suggest /var/tmp/ or /var/tmp/xymon/
(if present. If neither is writable or easily derived, $XYMONCLIENTLOGS
(potentially ~xymon/client/logs) is simple enough to use, and should be
basically reliable.

Regards,

-jc