Smokeping::probes::Curl - a curl(1) probe for SmokePing

Fetches an HTTP or HTTPS URL using curl(1).

 *** Probes ***

 +Curl

 binary = /usr/bin/curl
 forks = 5
 offset = 50%
 step = 300

 # The following variables can be overridden in each target section
 agent = User-Agent: Lynx/2.8.4rel.1 libwww-FM/2.14 SSL-MM/1.4.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6c
 extraargs = -6 --head --user user:password
 extrare = / /
 insecure_ssl = 1
 interface = eth0
 pings = 5
 ssl2 = 1
 timeout = 20
 urlformat = http://%host%/ # mandatory

 # [...]

 *** Targets ***

 probe = Curl # if this should be the default probe

 # [...]

 + mytarget
 # probe = Curl # if the default probe is something else
 host = my.host
 agent = User-Agent: Lynx/2.8.4rel.1 libwww-FM/2.14 SSL-MM/1.4.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6c
 extraargs = -6 --head --user user:password
 extrare = / /
 insecure_ssl = 1
 interface = eth0
 pings = 5
 ssl2 = 1
 timeout = 20
 urlformat = http://%host%/ # mandatory

(see curl(1) for details of the options below)

Supported probe-specific variables:

binary

The location of your curl binary. Default value: /usr/bin/curl

forks

Run this many concurrent processes at maximum Example value: 5 Default value: 5

offset

If you run many probes concurrently you may want to prevent them from hitting your network all at the same time. Using the probe-specific offset parameter you can change the point in time when each probe will be run. Offset is specified in % of total interval, or alternatively as 'random', and the offset from the 'General' section is used if nothing is specified here. Note that this does NOT influence the rrds itself, it is just a matter of when data acqusition is initiated. (This variable is only applicable if the variable 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General' section.) Example value: 50%

step

Duration of the base interval that this probe should use, if different from the one specified in the 'Database' section. Note that the step in the RRD files is fixed when they are originally generated, and if you change the step parameter afterwards, you'll have to delete the old RRD files or somehow convert them. (This variable is only applicable if the variable 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General' section.) Example value: 300

Supported target-specific variables:

agent

The -A curl(1) option. This is a full HTTP User-Agent header including the words User-Agent:. Note that it does not need any quotes around it. Example value: User-Agent: Lynx/2.8.4rel.1 libwww-FM/2.14 SSL-MM/1.4.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6c

extraargs

Any extra arguments you might want to hand to curl(1). The arguments should be separated by the regexp specified in extrare, which contains just the space character ( ) by default. Note that curl will be called with the resulting list of arguments without any shell expansion. If you need to specify any arguments containing spaces, you should set extrare to something else. As a complicated example, to explicitly set the Host: header in Curl requests, you need to set extrare to something else, eg. /;/, and then specify CWextraargs = --header;Host: www.example.com. Example value: -6 --head --user user:password

extrare

The regexp used to split the extraargs string into an argument list, in the /regexp/ notation. This contains just the space character ( ) by default, but if you need to specify any arguments containing spaces, you can set this variable to a different value. Example value: / / Default value: / /

insecure_ssl

The -k curl(1) option. Accept SSL connections that don't have a secure certificate chain to a trusted CA. Note that if you are going to monitor https targets, you'll probably have to either enable this option or specify the CA path to curl through extraargs below. For more info, see the curl(1) manual page. Example value: 1

interface

The --interface curl(1) option. Bind to a specific interface, IP address or host name. Example value: eth0

pings

How many pings should be sent to each target, if different from the global value specified in the Database section. Note that the number of pings in the RRD files is fixed when they are originally generated, and if you change this parameter afterwards, you'll have to delete the old RRD files or somehow convert them. Example value: 5

ssl2

The -2 curl(1) option. Force SSL2. Example value: 1

timeout

The -m curl(1) option. Maximum timeout in seconds. Example value: 20 Default value: 10

urlformat

The template of the URL to fetch. Can be any one that curl supports. Any occurrence of the string '%host%' will be replaced with the host to be probed. Example value: http://%host%/ This setting is mandatory.

 Gerald Combs <gerald [AT] ethereal.com>
 Niko Tyni <ntyni@iki.fi>

You should consider setting a lower value for the CWpings variable than the default 20, as repetitive URL fetching may be quite heavy on the server.

The URL to be tested used to be specified by the variable 'url' in earlier versions of Smokeping, and the 'host' setting did not influence it in any way. The variable name has now been changed to 'urlformat', and it can (and in most cases should) contain a placeholder for the 'host' variable.

curl(1), <http://curl.haxx.se/>