[Xymon] DATA messages

[Japheth Cleaver]

On 9/28/2015 2:04 PM, Boldt, David wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Pardon the newbie questions.
>
> I can't seem to find any references on the format for "data messages".
> Have tried sending the following, and no rrd file appears on the server:
>
> data igskahcmasmx01,cr,usgs,gov.msgRate
> messageRate:  1.3980
>
>

Hi David,

No worries :)

Your "data" message syntax is correct, however that by itself isn't 
sufficient to generate an RRD file. For that, you generally need to tell 
something that listens to the "data" channel that there's something it 
should do with "msgRate" data messages. This is typically done with a 
configuration in xymonserver.cfg that indicates a) to listen for the 
msgRate message, and b) that it's (probably) in a NameColonValue (NCV) 
format.

As a shortcut, and for advanced uses when you want more control over the 
specifics of how the RRDs are build, you can use a special "trends" message

The mechanics for both of these are detailed at 
https://www.xymon.com/help/howtograph.html

>
> A second question is on best practices; How should one launch the data 
> collecting program, with respect to the definition of the associated 
> test? Below are the current pair of definitions I am using 
> in clientlaunch.cfg:
>
> [msgRate]
>         ENVFILE $XYMONCLIENTHOME/etc/xymonclient.cfg
>         CMD $XYMONCLIENTHOME/ext/msgRate
>         LOGFILE $XYMONCLIENTLOGS/msgRate.log
>         INTERVAL 5m
>
> [msgRate.data]
>         ENVFILE $XYMONCLIENTHOME/etc/xymonclient.cfg
>         CMD $XYMONCLIENTHOME/ext/data/msgRate
>         LOGFILE $XYMONCLIENTLOGS/msgRate-data.log
>         INTERVAL 5m
>
>
>
> I'm assuming that I can't run multiple "CMD"s in a single task definition.
> Similarly I'm assuming that I can't reuse the same task identifier.

This is correct, each identifier must be unique and is represented by a 
single CMD.

Your script, however, is not simply returning data on STDOUT, but is 
probably executing the $XYMON command itself to send a message. 
Depending on the data collection you're doing, there's likely little 
that would stop you from sending both of the messages from a single 
script, though.

Especially if these are related messages or concept, it's often simpler 
to keep collection, evaluation, and other bits relating to a single 
logical unit together in one script. Doubly-so if they'd be running at 
the same interval anyway.


HTH

-jc

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