Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour?
list Mario Valetti
Hi, Could someone please explain the exact behaviour when a host becomes unreachable? As I understand it, it works as follows... - Xymon pings each host only once, - if a reply is not received within a specified time (1sec), 3 ping requests are sent out, - from one of these three additional pings if a reply is received, the host is not indicated as being unavailable and things continue normally. If a reply is not received from these three additional requests, the host is marked as unavailable and four pings requests sent out every minute until a response is received. - Why do hosts show unavailable for 40s, 45s for example? Are the times above not fixed and rather work dynamically? Second question is regarding hosts that are shutdown for maintenance, for example... Usually, these are set to 'until ok' and the host marked blue with no alerts. However Xymon still sends an arp request / ping to check when the host becomes available. Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all? Thanks, Mario
list Henrik Størner
On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:52:55 +0200, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid>
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wrote:Could someone please explain the exact behaviour when a host becomes unreachable? As I understand it, it works as follows... - Xymon pings each host only once, - if a reply is not received within a specified time (1sec), 3 ping requests are sent out, - from one of these three additional pings if a reply is received, the host is not indicated as being unavailable and things continue normally. If a reply is not received from these three additional requests, the host is marked as unavailable and four pings requests sent out every minute until a response is received. - Why do hosts show unavailable for 40s, 45s for example? Are the times above not fixed and rather work dynamically?
Not quite, but the normal test and the extra test are scheduled independently (they are two different tasks in tasks.cfg). The only restriction is that they will not run simultaneously. So when the first test detects that the host is down, the extra test may run anywhere from 0 to 59 seconds after that.
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Second question is regarding hosts that are shutdown for maintenance, for example... Usually, these are set to 'until ok' and the host marked blue with no alerts. However Xymon still sends an arp request / ping to check when the host becomes available. Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?
No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ? Regards, Henrik
list Xymon User in Richmond
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On Wed, August 24, 2011 08:42, user-ce4a2c883f75@xymon.invalid wrote:
On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:52:55 +0200, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ?
Why would Xymon care about whether a host disabled for a specific period of time becomes OK during that time?
list Malcolm Hunter
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----- Original Message ----- From: Xymon User in Richmond Sent: 08/24/11 02:11 PM To: xymon at xymon.com Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour?
Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ?Why would Xymon care about whether a host disabled for a specific period of time becomes OK during that time?
But the original question started:
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Usually, these are set to 'until ok' and the host marked blue with no
alerts. However Xymon still sends an arp request / ping to check when
the host becomes available.
i.e. No mention of "period of time". Malcolm -- BBWin Development - The Windows client for Big Brother and Xymon http://bbwin.sourceforge.net http://xymon.sourceforge.net
list Darin D [eit] Dugan
Sounds like you're suggesting "disable until OK" should continue to test, but "disable for XX minutes/hours/days/weeks" should not test until the disable expires. I can see the argument for that, but I also see the argument that it's nice to drill into disabled tests and see what their current status would be if not disabled (current behavior). Personally I prefer the latter--continued testing while disabled. Does testing a disabled host cause a problem for you in some way? Do you have a lot of disabled hosts? Cheers.
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-----Original Message-----
From: xymon-bounces at xymon.com [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] On Behalf Of Xymon User in Richmond
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 8:11 AM
To: xymon at xymon.com
Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour?
On Wed, August 24, 2011 08:42, user-ce4a2c883f75@xymon.invalid wrote:On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:52:55 +0200, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ?
Why would Xymon care about whether a host disabled for a specific period of time becomes OK during that time?
list Bruce White
If testing a "disabled host" is so bad, then you can edit the bb-hosts file to have the "noping" option. The pings will then stop. However, you would need to edit it once again, to get the pings to start once again. ......Bruce Bruce White Senior Enterprise Systems Engineer | Phone: X-XXX-XXX-XXXX | Fax: XXX-XXX-XXXX | user-58f975e8bf9d@xymon.invalid | http://www.fellowes.com/ Disclaimer: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Fellowes, Inc.
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-----Original Message-----
From: xymon-bounces at xymon.com [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] On Behalf Of Malcolm Hunter
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 8:51 AM
To: xymon at xymon.com
Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour?
----- Original Message ----- From: Xymon User in Richmond Sent: 08/24/11 02:11 PM To: xymon at xymon.com Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour?
Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ?Why would Xymon care about whether a host disabled for a specific period of time becomes OK during that time?
But the original question started: Usually, these are set to 'until ok' and the host marked blue with no alerts. However Xymon still sends an arp request / ping to check when the host becomes available. i.e. No mention of "period of time". Malcolm -- BBWin Development - The Windows client for Big Brother and Xymon http://bbwin.sourceforge.net http://xymon.sourceforge.net
list Xymon User in Richmond
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On Wed, August 24, 2011 09:50, Malcolm Hunter wrote:
----- Original Message ----- From: Xymon User in Richmond Sent: Why would Xymon care about whether a host disabled for a specific period of time becomes OK during that time?But the original question started: Usually, these are set to 'until ok'
and the host marked blue with no alerts. Â However Xymon still sends an
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arp request / ping to check when the host becomes available.
i.e. No mention of "period of time".
Duh. I seem either to be partially blind this morning, or ready for tea with Pat Summitt. I always use time disablements for maintenance windows. "Until OK" re-enables the server if it bounces during the window, not desirable.
list Malcolm Hunter
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----- Original Message ----- From: Xymon User in Richmond Sent: 08/24/11 05:32 PM To: xymon at xymon.com Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour?
Duh. I seem either to be partially blind this morning, or ready for tea with Pat Summitt. I always use time disablements for maintenance windows. "Until OK" re-enables the server if it bounces during the window, not desirable.
Agreed, I only use "Until OK" if the service is already non-green (e.g. if I've just bounced a server and want to disable uptime until it goes green).
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Malcolm -- BBWin Development - The Windows client for Big Brother and Xymon http://bbwin.sourceforge.net http://xymon.sourceforge.net
list Mario Valetti
Thank you for
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:42:21 +0200 From: <user-ce4a2c883f75@xymon.invalid> To: <xymon at xymon.com> Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour? Message-ID: <04b91460cd235e5018e5179c06657153 at localhost> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
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On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:52:55 +0200, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Could someone please explain the exact behaviour when a host becomes unreachable? As I understand it, it works as follows... - Xymon pings each host only once, - if a reply is not received within a specified time (1sec), 3 ping requests are sent out, - from one of these three additional pings if a reply is received, the host is not indicated as being unavailable and things continue normally. If a reply is not received from these three additional requests, the host is marked as unavailable and four pings requests sent out every minute until a response is received. - Why do hosts show unavailable for 40s, 45s for example? Are the times above not fixed and rather work dynamically?Not quite, but the normal test and the extra test are scheduled independently (they are two different tasks in tasks.cfg). The only restriction is that they will not run simultaneously. So when the first test detects that the host is down, the extra test may run anywhere from 0 to 59 seconds after that.Second question is regarding hosts that are shutdown for maintenance, for example... Usually, these are set to 'until ok' and the host marked blue with no alerts. However Xymon still sends an arp request / ping to check when the host becomes available. Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ? Regards, Henrik
list Mario Valetti
Apologies, I'll try this again.... Thank you for all the responses to my orginal questions. In my environment, I try to minimize unecassary traffic. My second question seems answered by simply adding the 'noping' in the bb-hosts file. This would work for my needs. Regarding the first question, I'm currently using Xymon 4.3.0.0 beta 2. I'm assuming the tasks.cfg is used in the newer version(s) 4.3.3...? I'll also assume the behaviour you describe is the same with the [bbnet] and [bbretest] sections in the hobbitlaunch.cfg file in my version. Please let me know if I am wrong. Thanks again, Mario
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On 25/08/2011, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Thank you forDate: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:42:21 +0200 From: <user-ce4a2c883f75@xymon.invalid> To: <xymon at xymon.com> Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour? Message-ID: <04b91460cd235e5018e5179c06657153 at localhost> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:52:55 +0200, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Could someone please explain the exact behaviour when a host becomes unreachable? As I understand it, it works as follows... - Xymon pings each host only once, - if a reply is not received within a specified time (1sec), 3 ping requests are sent out, - from one of these three additional pings if a reply is received, the host is not indicated as being unavailable and things continue normally. If a reply is not received from these three additional requests, the host is marked as unavailable and four pings requests sent out every minute until a response is received. - Why do hosts show unavailable for 40s, 45s for example? Are the times above not fixed and rather work dynamically?Not quite, but the normal test and the extra test are scheduled independently (they are two different tasks in tasks.cfg). The only restriction is that they will not run simultaneously. So when the first test detects that the host is down, the extra test may run anywhere from 0 to 59 seconds after that.Second question is regarding hosts that are shutdown for maintenance, for example... Usually, these are set to 'until ok' and the host marked blue with no alerts. However Xymon still sends an arp request / ping to check when the host becomes available. Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ? Regards, Henrik
list Mario Valetti
Last question... Does this mean though, that the 'extra' test / bb-retest runs every minute but only sends out a ping/test if a host has been marked as unreachable?
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Mario
On 25/08/2011, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Apologies, I'll try this again.... Thank you for all the responses to my orginal questions. In my environment, I try to minimize unecassary traffic. My second question seems answered by simply adding the 'noping' in the bb-hosts file. This would work for my needs. Regarding the first question, I'm currently using Xymon 4.3.0.0 beta 2. I'm assuming the tasks.cfg is used in the newer version(s) 4.3.3...? I'll also assume the behaviour you describe is the same with the [bbnet] and [bbretest] sections in the hobbitlaunch.cfg file in my version. Please let me know if I am wrong. Thanks again, Mario On 25/08/2011, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Thank you forDate: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:42:21 +0200 From: <user-ce4a2c883f75@xymon.invalid> To: <xymon at xymon.com> Subject: Re: [Xymon] Xymon Network Tests - Behaviour? Message-ID: <04b91460cd235e5018e5179c06657153 at localhost> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:52:55 +0200, Mario Valetti <user-07d8eb56dcf0@xymon.invalid> wrote:Could someone please explain the exact behaviour when a host becomes unreachable? As I understand it, it works as follows... - Xymon pings each host only once, - if a reply is not received within a specified time (1sec), 3 ping requests are sent out, - from one of these three additional pings if a reply is received, the host is not indicated as being unavailable and things continue normally. If a reply is not received from these three additional requests, the host is marked as unavailable and four pings requests sent out every minute until a response is received. - Why do hosts show unavailable for 40s, 45s for example? Are the times above not fixed and rather work dynamically?Not quite, but the normal test and the extra test are scheduled independently (they are two different tasks in tasks.cfg). The only restriction is that they will not run simultaneously. So when the first test detects that the host is down, the extra test may run anywhere from 0 to 59 seconds after that.Second question is regarding hosts that are shutdown for maintenance, for example... Usually, these are set to 'until ok' and the host marked blue with no alerts. However Xymon still sends an arp request / ping to check when the host becomes available. Is it possible to disable a host in a way that avoids Xymon checking for the host at all?No. How would Xymon detect that the host becomes OK without trying to ping it ? Regards, Henrik
list Henrik Størner
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On 25-08-2011 16:25, Mario Valetti wrote:
Does this mean though, that the 'extra' test / bb-retest runs every minute but only sends out a ping/test if a host has been marked as unreachable?
Correct. The "normal" (once every 5 minutes) test drops a file in the Xymon "tmp" directory, with the servers that had some sort of failure for the network tests. The extra test picks up this file and retries the failed tests. Regards, Henrik