[Xymon] purple pages

[John Thurston]

On 8/3/2017 11:46 AM, Frank wrote:
> Is there something that can be done, automated process to
> compare what is in the data files against the hosts file and then remove
> any inconsistencies.

On an old instance of Big Brother, our business requirements include 
just destroying everything purple. We use the following (extremely 
crude) sledge hammer:
> /usr/bin/rm -f `/usr/bin/grep -l "^purple " /opt/bb/bbvar/logs/*`
In our old BB, we run it with crond. On Xymon, it could be just another 
xymon task.


On our production instance of Xymon, we don't simply remove entries from 
the hosts.cfg file. We use a script with following syntax:

   Syntax: RetireXY hostname [[hostname]...]

It runs through the offered hostnames and confirms each exists in the 
hosts.cfg. It then inserts a new display group (with today's date) in a 
file called retired_hosts.cfg, moves in all original lines for the 
offered hostnames _as comments_, and creates a new line with for each 
with all tests suppressed. It then enables any disabled tests for the 
named hosts.

The above script doesn't destroy data in Xymon. It preserves the 
original test settings, and all test results for the host so we could 
include those in reports. It puts the "retired" hosts on an obscure page 
in Xymon, while giving us a straight forward timeline of retirements.



Every now and then (one a year?), we run another script with identical 
syntax, called
    DestroyRetired
It confirms all of the offered hostnames have been retired, and removes 
their lines (and comments) from retired_hosts



We have yet another script with the following syntax:

   Syntax: CleanupPurple hostname testname [[ testname]...]

which our admins can use to blast purple splotches from the screen. It 
confirms the hostname exists in hosts.cfg, and the requested tests are 
purple. It then submits the correct "drop" commands to xymon for the 
specific host and test combinations. This saves us from someone 
accidentally submitting a "drop foobar.com" command, when they meant to 
submit "drop foo.bar.com http" :p  {raises hand}


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

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