[Xymon] Ways to graph stats from BIND

[John Thurston]

In an effort to get some performance and utilization information from 
our BIND servers, I've been exploring ways to get that data into rrds 
and graphed in Xymon.

I am aware of two mechanisms for extracting statistical data from BIND.

A) In the "old" way, BIND appends lines to a statically named text file. 
This is done by inserting lines like the following into the BIND 
configuration file:
> zone-statistics yes;
> statistics-file "/var/log/named.stats";
And then asking BIND to add new information to that file by using the 
"rndc stats" command.

B) The "new" way is to publish statistics in an XML file over HTTP on a 
specific network port. This is done by inserting lines like the 
following into the BIND configuration file:
> statistics-channels {
>         inet * port 8888 ;
> };
And then querying http://localhost:8888/xml/v2 to receive a whole bunch 
of information in an XML file.

Jeremy Laidman shared his script "xymon-rnamedstats" (thank you for 
sharing, Jeremy!) 
http://tools.rebel-it.com.au/xymon-rnamedstats/xymon-rnamedstats.sh 
which depends on Method-A. I've adjusted his script just enough to get 
it running on Solaris, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to adjust it 
further to handle the counters and fields I want to have graphed. But 
before I invest more time customizing a solution dependent on Method-A, 
I'd like to explore Method-B.

Has anyone already explored parsing the BIND-statistics XML file into 
RRDs? Do you have any comments or suggestions?

How about generically parsing and selecting data from XML files and 
using it to add information to RRDs? Do you have suggestions of tools or 
techniques?

-- 
    Do things because you should, not just because you can.

John Thurston    907-465-8591
John.Thurston at alaska.gov
Enterprise Technology Services
Department of Administration
State of Alaska