Question about graphs and templates

[johnvirg]

I was under the impression that you can create RRD graphs and integrate servhceck results into the main graphs view. I would like my team to be able to view the servcheck results without having to go into Management to see results/history. I realize that it is based on webseer and not natively integrated to cacti that way, but I thought the readme said you generate rrd data. Is there a way to create a data and graph template based on the servcheck results? If so, how please? Thank you for your work on this plugin.

[xmacan]

If I understand correctly, you want each servcheck test to generate a graph with the results? Will the graph show the test results and response time?

[TheWitness]

Well, I'm thinking two graphs.

1 - Graph the breach status 0/1, when the Service Check was in Breach
2 - Response times, and possibly number of retries to get a response.

Simple Script Server Data Query I think to get the live status from the database.

[xmacan]

@TheWitness - I have an idea. It is not yet possible to add data from the REST API as input to Cacti. Servcheck can do this. For example, I have a backup system that can use the REST API to tell me how many backups have been completed successfully and how many have failed in the last 24 hours. If the test included a checkbox "Propagate the returned value to Cacti," the corresponding data source would be created and it would be possible to graph it, use a threshold on it, etc.

It's something like a stream plugin, which I'm waiting for.

[TheWitness]

Yea, I need to get back to that. I've been focusing as you know on the core of late. It's on my list.

[xmacan]

Well, I'm thinking two graphs.

1 - Graph the breach status 0/1, when the Service Check was in Breach 2 - Response times, and possibly number of retries to get a response.

Simple Script Server Data Query I think to get the live status from the database.

@TheWitness - I would like to add these graphs. I need some advice from you:

• servcheck test is not connected with any cacti host now. Is it necessary to connect it?
• simple data query for live status from database. Ok, I can prepare it, but how to connect it with specific test?

[TheWitness]

Just select the rows from the service check table. The index will be the auto increment is. The you can query the name of the service check, and I think there are all sorts of curl stats you can chart besides the 0/1 status.

[johnvirg]

If I understand correctly, you want each servcheck test to generate a graph with the results? Will the graph show the test results and response time?

So what I was thinking was the response-time graph you show under "Management," but instead of creating an RRD graph that shows up under a site in the graph view. Pardon my terminology, I'm a bit of a newbie with Cacti setup.

[TheWitness]

You create a Special Host called "Service Checks" with a hostname of localhost. This is why we changed from 'hosts' to 'devices'. A device can represent things other than a host. Then, you create your dataquery that scans the database for all the service checks, their id's and names, and anything else that should be on the graph.

Finally, you add that data query to Cacti. If you have stand alone service check agents, you may have to setup a simple API and some additional metadata at the host level that helps your connect it to Cacti. I did not know that service check ran standalone. I thought if you had multiple servers, they would first be remote pollers.

[TheWitness]

If they are remote pollers, then you could create a host for each remote data collector or simply make that one of the columns from the over-arching list of service checks:

ALTER TABLE blah ADD COLUMN poller_id ...;

[TheWitness]

I get it now. Yes, we can add it as a data source. We could also siphon data from Prometheus for the same.

[TheWitness]

We would have to formalize credential management. Let's discuss in next week's meeting.