check_multi -f <config file> | -x command [-n name] [-t timeout] [-T TIMEOUT] [-r level] [-l libexec_path] [-s option=value] [-w <expr>] [-c <expr>] [-u <expr>] [-o <expr>] [-h][-v][-V]
config file(s) which contain(s) commands to be executed
See the special section for the format of this config file and compare the sample config file in the contrib directory.
- You can specify multiple config files:
-f `<file1>` -f `<file2>` ... - If
<file>is a directory, all*.cmdfiles in this directory are included and parsed in alphabetical order.
multi plugin name (shown in output)
default: none
This option can be used to do some descriptive tagging, e.g. SYSTEM, ORACLE, WEB etc.
timeout for one command
default: 10
This option defines the timeout for a child plugin. 10 seconds is a often used default in Nagios plugins. Normally this value does not have to be changed.
TIMEOUT for all commands
default: 60
This value (BIG T stands for the parent plugin, small t for the child plugins, please don't mix them ;-)) limits the overall plugin runtime.
Please note that Nagios itself has a timeout threshold for its service checks (service_check_timeout=60). After this timeout Nagios kills the service check.
If you specify a greater timeout for the check_multi (BIG T), you consequently have to increase the nagios value for service_check_timeout accordingly. Otherwise you wouldn't see the cause for the check_multi timeout, but instead only the nagios timeout message.
The overall timeout (BIG T) provides a proper cancelling handling
for the child plugins: if the parent plugin notices that a child
plugin with its (small t) timeout extends the overall (BIG T)
timeout, it does not execute it and reports this with the message
plugin cancelled due to global timeout. The child plugin then gets
the return code "UNKNOWN"
This mimic ensures the proper runtime of the parent plugin and a (at least UNKNOWN) result for all plugins.
path to plugin
default: /usr/local/nagios/libexec
specify level of details in output (level is binary coded, just add all options)
default: 13
Note: you can also specify a string with combined numbers separated by '+', which should be easier to read ;-).
Example -r 13 = -r 1+4+8
| Bit | Report-Option | Details / Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Service name | 24 plugins checked, 1 critical **(http)**, 1 warning **(disk_var)**, 0 unknown, 23 ok |
| 2 | HTML output | see also Screenshot extended info If you use this HTML output option, be sure to set escape_html_tags=0 in your cgi.cfg - otherwise you will see a lot of HTML tags ;-) |
| 4 | STDERR | If there is any STDERR output of the plugin it will be displayed in square brackets:[No such file or directory] |
| 8 | Performance data | Performance data is printed using Multi labels:disk_root_warning::check_disk::/=10549MB;6047;9675;0;12094 |
| 16 | Full state list | MULTI CRITICAL - 16 plugins checked, 1 critical (disk_root_warning), 0 warning, 0 unknown, 14 ok |
| 32 | standard performance labels | Uses standard performance labels without Multi extension. This option is an alternative to option 8 |
| 64 | State label | OK,UNKNOWN,WARNING,CRITICAL state label is shown in front of child check output |
| 128 | PNP action link | If there is some performance data available a PNP action URL (the star) is shown at each child check (HTML output option required) |
| 256 | XML data | Print the complete data of all checks in a structured XML tree. This data can be used in wrapper scripts to realize customized output |
| 512 | Nagios2 compatibility | All output is displayed in 1 lineMULTI CRITICAL, disk_root_warning DISK CRITICAL - free space: / 925 MB (8% inode=82%);, top top - 13:47:31 up 4 days, 21:35, 3 users, load average: 3.13, 3.01, 3.11 |
| 1024 | Notes Icon | Shows a notes icon before each child check. Use the option -s notes_url=URL to specify the correct URL to your documentation |
| 2048 | Service definition | helper function to define passive services to be feeded by check_multi |
| 4096 | send_nsca | send all child checks as passive checks to the central Nagios server via send_nsca |
| 8192 | checkresults | send child checks as passive checks directly to the checkresults directory (very fast and more reliable than NSCA / command pipe) |
| 16384 | encoded | print commands encoded (helper function) |
| 32768 | condensed | hide all OK state checks and print only non OK states |
set several options: --set `<option>`=`<value>```` or -s <option>=`````
If you need to set more than one option, do this by prepending each pair with its own -s phrase:
$ check_multi -s opt1=val1 -s opt2=val2 ...
All --set options are stored in environment as MULTI_<varname> and can be reused either as environment variable $MULTI_<varname> or as check_multi variable
Special meaning (defaults bold):
| option | value | comment |
|---|---|---|
| action_mouseover | 1:true 0:false | mouse triggers PNP popup chart |
| checkresults_dir | <nagiosdir>/var/spool/checkresults |
path to Nagios checkresults directory (direct insertion of checkresults) |
| child_interval | 0s | time in seconds to sleep between child_checks, may be fraction of seconds |
| cmdfile_update_interval | 86400 | update local config file copy (if config file is drawn via HTTP/FTP/...) |
| collapse | 1:true, 0:false | provide JavaScript tree collapse for recursive HTML views |
| config_dir | <nagiosdir>/etc/check_multi |
path to check_multi configuration directory |
| cumulate_max_rows | 5 | number of rows which cumulate [ TAG ] shall display |
| cumulate_ignore_zero | 1:true 0:false | shall cumulate ignore zero values? |
| empty_output_is_unknown | 1:true 0:false | shall empty plugin output be flagged as UNKNOWN? |
| extinfo_in_status | 1: true, 0: false | Prints multi view also on Nagios Status view (status.cgi). Note: this only works with HTML mode '-r 2' |
| file_extension | cmd | standard file extension for check_multi configuration files |
| ignore_missing_cmd_file | 1: true, 0: false | complain if command file not found? |
| illegal_chars | '\r' | characters to be cleaned up from command files |
| image_path | /nagios/images | relative URL to Nagios images, needed e.g. for PNP link icon |
| indent | ' ' | string to indent child checks |
| indent_label | 1:true 0:false | determines if multi label length indentation should be used in recursive HTML view 0: only check number width will be indented |
| libexec | <nagiosdir>/libexec |
directory where plugins reside, will be added to search PATH |
| livestatus | <nagiosdir/var/rw/live | path to livestatus socket (Unix or TCP socket) |
| loose_perfdata | 1: true, 0: false | accept non-standard performance data, e.g. german commata |
| name | "" | label to be shown in output, <name> OK```, ... |
| no_checks_rc | **UNKNOWN ** | which RC should be provided if no checks are defined |
| notes_url | URL | see Nagios notes_url |
| persistent | 1: true, 0: false | run check_multi in persistent mode |
| pnp_url | /nagios/pnp |
relative URL to PNP path, needed for PNP action URL |
| pnp_version | 0.6, 0.4 | PNP version (needed for mouseover paths) |
| send_nsca | <nagiosdir>/bin/send_nsca |
/path/to/send_nsca binary |
| send_nsca_cfg | <nagiosdir>/etc/send_nsca.cfg |
path to send_nsca.cfg configuration file |
| send_nsca_srv | <NSCA server> |
name/IP address of NSCA server |
| send_nsca_port | <port number> |
port number of NSCA server |
| send_nsca_timeout | 10s | timeout of NSCA transmission |
| send_nsca_delim | ':' | delimiter between NSCA fields |
| service_definition_template | <path> |
/path/to/template file where definition for passive feeded services is stored |
| status_dat | <nagiosdir>/var/status.dat |
/path/to/status.dat |
| style_plus_minus | <HTML definition > |
HTML style definition for blue '+' / '-' characters |
| suppress_perfdata | tag1,tag2,tag3... | analogue to Nagios option process_perf_data: the performance data of all commands which are listed here will not be reported |
| suppress_service | tag1, tag2, tag3... | suppress report for services tag1, tag2, tag3 ... |
| tag_notes_link | URL | notes URL as link in the child checks TAG (caveat: quoting!) |
| target | _self | HTML target window to open HTML links |
| tmp_dir | /tmp/check_multi | directory for temporary check_multi files |
| tmp_dir_permissions | octcal 1777 | permissions for the creation of the check_multi tmp_dir |
| tmp_etc | /tmp/check_multi/etc | directory for the local copies of remotely drawn configuration files |
| verbose | 0-3, 0 | verbosity level, higher values than 1 are only recommended for debugging |
specify all commands on cmdline:
-x 'command [ procs ] = check_procs'
-x 'statusdat [ webserver ] = web*:apache*'
This is just a 1:1 copy of the command definition or eval definition or any other line of the config file.
definition of the criteria for the WARNING state
see state definition
definition of the criteria for the CRITICAL state
see state definition
definition of the criteria for the UNKNOWN state
see state definition
definition of the criteria for the OK state
see state definition
print detailed help screen\
- -h - major help options
- -hh - more detailed help options
- -hhh - all help options
shows debug output
(multiple -v creates additional output)
print version information