Custom solutions for system monitoring and control
Just Right
Off-the-rack monitoring tools often offer too many functions or fail to offer precisely what you need, but shell scripts let you create individual monitoring routines.
Trust is good, but keeping the thumb screws on is better: This is the principle by which IT services and functions are monitored. Although you can find many tools to accomplish this job, tailor-made monitoring doesn't actually need these giants. Simple shell scripts will take you where you need to go just as well.
Whether you need to monitor and control a web server, database system, network connections, users, fans, or computer temperatures, simple shell routines are typically reliable and fast. Once created, scripts can be modified for different distributions and scenarios.
Monitoring needs to be considered carefully, however: In the case of monitoring a web server, it is not just a question of checking that the service is running – the question lacks precision. Is the hardware running? To determine this, all you need is a simple ping. A positive response, however, by no means signifies that the web server daemon is working. To discover this, you need to query the process status locally on the server; that is,
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