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Simple Ping Test from a node/server

9 messages in this thread

list Patrick Nixon · Thu, 9 Feb 2017 14:21:23 -0500 ·
Hey all,
  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test
outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces
on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet
connection.

 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be
part of the main server display?
 Solutions I've considered so far:
 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test
results to go back to the main server.
 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that
does the work
 - something else I missed?

Thanks!
list Paul Root · Thu, 9 Feb 2017 20:07:31 +0000 ·
I don’t see why you would need a server. A client would do everything you need.
quoted from Patrick Nixon

From: Xymon [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Nixon
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 1:21 PM
To: xymon at xymon.com
Subject: [Xymon] Simple Ping Test from a node/server

Hey all,
  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet connection.

 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be part of the main server display?
 Solutions I've considered so far:
 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test results to go back to the main server.
 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that does the work
 - something else I missed?

Thanks!

This communication is the property of CenturyLink and may contain confidential or privileged information. Unauthorized use of this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the communication and any attachments.
list Patrick Nixon · Thu, 9 Feb 2017 15:20:12 -0500 ·
I want the ping test to originate from the PI and exit out the back up
internet connection.   If the test runs off the main server, it will go out
the primary/active internet connection.

Last I checked, xymon clients can't originate a ping test by themselves.

On Thu, Feb 9, 2017 at 3:07 PM, Root, Paul T <user-76fdb6883669@xymon.invalid>
quoted from Paul Root
wrote:
I don’t see why you would need a server. A client would do everything you
need.


*From:* Xymon [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] *On Behalf Of *Patrick
Nixon
*Sent:* Thursday, February 09, 2017 1:21 PM
*To:* xymon at xymon.com
*Subject:* [Xymon] Simple Ping Test from a node/server


Hey all,

  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test
outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces
on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet
connection.


 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be
part of the main server display?

 Solutions I've considered so far:

 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test
results to go back to the main server.

 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that
does the work

 - something else I missed?


Thanks!
This communication is the property of CenturyLink and may contain
confidential or privileged information. Unauthorized use of this
communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have
received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender
by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the communication and any
attachments.
list Kris Springer · Thu, 9 Feb 2017 12:37:53 -0800 ·
I built something similar just this week using a Raspberry Pi.  I set it up as it's own standalone Xymon server and put it inside a client's network to monitor things from the inside, and then I'm monitoring the Pi from the outside using my primary Xymon server.  I'm not having the Pi Xymon server duplicate it's stats on my outside primary Xymon server, but it can be configured that way since the man pages talk about doing it.

http://xymon.sourceforge.net/xymon/help/manpages/man5/hosts.cfg.5.html
Scroll down near the bottom of the man page to the 'SENDING SUMMARIES TO REMOTE XYMON SERVERS' section.


Thank you.

------------------------------------------------

Kris Springer

quoted from Patrick Nixon
On 2/9/2017 11:21 AM, Patrick Nixon wrote:
Hey all,
  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet connection.

 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be part of the main server display?
 Solutions I've considered so far:
 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test results to go back to the main server.
 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that does the work
 - something else I missed?

Thanks!



Xymon@xymon.com

list Paul Root · Thu, 9 Feb 2017 20:40:40 +0000 ·
Summary doesn’t duplicate stats, it sends a single status of the overall status of all the clients on that server. IE if all the clients are green, the summary is green. Otherwise, worst color is sent.
quoted from Kris Springer


From: Xymon [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com] On Behalf Of Kris Springer
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 2:38 PM
To: Patrick Nixon; xymon at xymon.com
Subject: Re: [Xymon] Simple Ping Test from a node/server

I built something similar just this week using a Raspberry Pi.  I set it up as it's own standalone Xymon server and put it inside a client's network to monitor things from the inside, and then I'm monitoring the Pi from the outside using my primary Xymon server.  I'm not having the Pi Xymon server duplicate it's stats on my outside primary Xymon server, but it can be configured that way since the man pages talk about doing it.

http://xymon.sourceforge.net/xymon/help/manpages/man5/hosts.cfg.5.html
Scroll down near the bottom of the man page to the 'SENDING SUMMARIES TO REMOTE XYMON SERVERS' section.


Thank you.


Kris Springer
On 2/9/2017 11:21 AM, Patrick Nixon wrote:
Hey all,
  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet connection.

 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be part of the main server display?
 Solutions I've considered so far:
 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test results to go back to the main server.
 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that does the work
 - something else I missed?

Thanks!


This communication is the property of CenturyLink and may contain confidential or privileged information. Unauthorized use of this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the communication and any attachments.
list Paul Root · Thu, 9 Feb 2017 20:41:26 +0000 ·
But you could write a ping test and put it in ext.
quoted from Patrick Nixon


From: Patrick Nixon [mailto:user-1f2406f832af@xymon.invalid]
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 2:20 PM
To: Root, Paul T
Cc: xymon at xymon.com
Subject: Re: [Xymon] Simple Ping Test from a node/server

I want the ping test to originate from the PI and exit out the back up internet connection.   If the test runs off the main server, it will go out the primary/active internet connection.

Last I checked, xymon clients can't originate a ping test by themselves.

On Thu, Feb 9, 2017 at 3:07 PM, Root, Paul T <user-76fdb6883669@xymon.invalid<mailto:user-76fdb6883669@xymon.invalid>> wrote:
I don’t see why you would need a server. A client would do everything you need.

From: Xymon [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com<mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com>] On Behalf Of Patrick Nixon
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 1:21 PM
To: xymon at xymon.com<mailto:xymon at xymon.com>
Subject: [Xymon] Simple Ping Test from a node/server

Hey all,
  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet connection.

 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be part of the main server display?
 Solutions I've considered so far:
 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test results to go back to the main server.
 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that does the work
 - something else I missed?

Thanks!
This communication is the property of CenturyLink and may contain confidential or privileged information. Unauthorized use of this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the communication and any attachments.

This communication is the property of CenturyLink and may contain confidential or privileged information. Unauthorized use of this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the communication and any attachments.
list Christian Hettler · Fri, 10 Feb 2017 09:44:32 +0100 ·
Did you try a xymon-proxy setup?

Christian
quoted from Paul Root

On Thu, Feb 09, 2017 at 08:41:26PM +0000, Root, Paul T wrote:
But you could write a ping test and put it in ext.


From: Patrick Nixon [mailto:user-1f2406f832af@xymon.invalid]
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 2:20 PM
To: Root, Paul T
Cc: xymon at xymon.com
Subject: Re: [Xymon] Simple Ping Test from a node/server

I want the ping test to originate from the PI and exit out the back up internet connection.   If the test runs off the main server, it will go out the primary/active internet connection.

Last I checked, xymon clients can't originate a ping test by themselves.

On Thu, Feb 9, 2017 at 3:07 PM, Root, Paul T <user-76fdb6883669@xymon.invalid<mailto:user-76fdb6883669@xymon.invalid>> wrote:
I don’t see why you would need a server. A client would do everything you need.

From: Xymon [mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com<mailto:xymon-bounces at xymon.com>] On Behalf Of Patrick Nixon
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2017 1:21 PM
To: xymon at xymon.com<mailto:xymon at xymon.com>
Subject: [Xymon] Simple Ping Test from a node/server

Hey all,
  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet connection.

 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be part of the main server display?
 Solutions I've considered so far:
 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test results to go back to the main server.
 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that does the work
 - something else I missed?

Thanks!
This communication is the property of CenturyLink and may contain confidential or privileged information. Unauthorized use of this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the communication and any attachments.

This communication is the property of CenturyLink and may contain confidential or privileged information. Unauthorized use of this communication is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the communication and any attachments.
list Henrik Størner · Fri, 10 Feb 2017 11:08:06 +0100 ·
 

Hi, 

If the PI can connect back to your Xymon server, then the
easiest solution would be to install the "xymonnet" utility on the PI,
configure it to run a limited set of network tests, and send the status
messages back to the Xymon server. 

If you use pre-packaged
installations of Xymon, then you would install the "server" package on
the PI, but disable everything in tasks.cfg except the client and
xymonnet tasks (note that by default the xymonnet task has a dependency
on xymond - you need to remove this when disabling xymond). 

The key
configuration items are: 

 	* Configure xymonserver.cfg on the PI with
the IP of the normal Xymon server in XYMSRV setting, so all status
messages go to the normal Xymon server
 	* Use the "NET" tag in
hosts.cfg (on the normal Xymon server) to distinguish network tests
which run on the PI from those running on your normal Xymon server. You
can either add a "NET:primary" and "NET:backup" to all of the network
tests, or use the "--test-untagged" option with xymonnet on the normal
server and only add a "NET:backup" for the tests which should run on the
PI.
 	* Configure XYMONNETWORK=backup in xymonserver.cfg on the PI so it
will run the network tests tagged with "NET:backup" (if you put a
"NET:primary" on the normal tests, then of course also add a
XYMONNETWORK=primary setting on the primary server).
 	* Run Xymon on
the PI.

That should work. In the "old days", you would have to somehow
get the hosts.cfg file across from the normal Xymon server to the PI (or
have separate hosts.cfg files on each), but these days xymonnet will
fetch hosts.cfg from the normal server instead of reading a local copy,
so it should work and you only have to maintain the normal hosts.cfg
file. 

You can run a test on the PI to see what network tests it will
perform - "xymoncmd xymonnet --no-update" will run the tests without
sending any data to the server, so you can verify that the PI only runs
the tests you intend it to. 

The xymon.com installation has this setup,
since xymon.com is hosted on a public server in Germany (at Hetzner),
and my home network is behind a firewall but uses xymon.com to collect
data from the home network. So you can look at the configuration files
on xymon.com and see how I have a "NET:hetzner" and "NET:home" setting.


Regards,
Henrik 
quoted from Patrick Nixon

On 09-02-2017 20:21, Patrick Nixon wrote: 
Hey
all, 
I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping
test outbound is fine). I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual
interfaces on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup
internet connection. 

What's the best way to implement a ping test
from the PI and have it be part of the main server display? 
Solutions
I've considered so far: 
- set up the PI as a xymon server and figure
out how to get the test results to go back to the main server. 
• setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that
does the work 
- something else I missed? 

Thanks!
list Patrick Nixon · Sun, 12 Feb 2017 22:26:25 -0500 ·
Thanks for the all the responses and especially Henrik!    As usual, he
connected all the pieces that were in my head and made a simple solution.

Have a great week!
quoted from Henrik Størner

On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 5:08 AM, Henrik Størner <user-ce4a2c883f75@xymon.invalid> wrote:
Hi,

If the PI can connect back to your Xymon server, then the easiest solution
would be to install the "xymonnet" utility on the PI, configure it to run a
limited set of network tests, and send the status messages back to the
Xymon server.

If you use pre-packaged installations of Xymon, then you would install the
"server" package on the PI, but disable everything in tasks.cfg except the
client and xymonnet tasks (note that by default the xymonnet task has a
dependency on xymond - you need to remove this when disabling xymond).

The key configuration items are:

   1. Configure xymonserver.cfg on the PI with the IP of the normal Xymon
quoted from Henrik Størner
   server in XYMSRV setting, so all status messages go to the normal Xymon
   server

   2. Use the "NET" tag in hosts.cfg (on the normal Xymon server) to
quoted from Henrik Størner
   distinguish network tests which run on the PI from those running on your
   normal Xymon server. You can either add a "NET:primary" and "NET:backup" to
   all of the network tests, or use the "--test-untagged" option with xymonnet
   on the normal server and only add a "NET:backup" for the tests which should
   run on the PI.

   3. Configure XYMONNETWORK=backup in xymonserver.cfg on the PI so it
quoted from Henrik Størner
   will run the network tests tagged with "NET:backup" (if you put a
   "NET:primary" on the normal tests, then of course also add a
   XYMONNETWORK=primary setting on the primary server).

   4. Run Xymon on the PI.
quoted from Henrik Størner

That should work. In the "old days", you would have to somehow get the
hosts.cfg file across from the normal Xymon server to the PI (or have
separate hosts.cfg files on each), but these days xymonnet will fetch
hosts.cfg from the normal server instead of reading a local copy, so it
should work and you only have to maintain the normal hosts.cfg file.

You can run a test on the PI to see what network tests it will perform -
"xymoncmd xymonnet --no-update" will run the tests without sending any data
to the server, so you can verify that the PI only runs the tests you intend
it to.

The xymon.com installation has this setup, since xymon.com is hosted on a
public server in Germany (at Hetzner), and my home network is behind a
firewall but uses xymon.com to collect data from the home network. So you
can look at the configuration files on xymon.com and see how I have a
"NET:hetzner" and "NET:home" setting.

Regards,
Henrik

On 09-02-2017 20:21, Patrick Nixon wrote:

Hey all,
  I want to monitor my backup internet connection (simple ping test
outbound is fine).   I'm going to throw a raspberry pi with dual interfaces
on the network, one on the main network and one on the backup internet
connection.

 What's the best way to implement a ping test from the PI and have it be
part of the main server display?
 Solutions I've considered so far:
 - set up the PI as a xymon server and figure out how to get the test
results to go back to the main server.
 - setup the PI as a xymon client and write some sort of ping test that
does the work
 - something else I missed?

Thanks!