data-sets is available in the B<types.db> file. See L<types.db(5)> for a
description of the format of this file.
-The I<OptionList> is an optional list of I<Options>, where each option if a
+The I<OptionList> is an optional list of I<Options>, where each option is a
key-value-pair. A list of currently understood options can be found below, all
-other options will be ignored.
+other options will be ignored. Values that contain spaces must be quoted with
+double quotes.
I<Valuelist> is a colon-separated list of the time and the values, each either
-an integer if the data-source is a counter, of a double if the data-source if
+an integer if the data-source is a counter, or a double if the data-source is
of type "gauge". You can submit an undefined gauge-value by using B<U>. When
submitting B<U> to a counter the behavior is undefined. The time is given as
epoch (i.E<nbsp>e. standard UNIX time).
=item B<message=>I<Message> (B<REQUIRED>)
Sets the message of the notification. This is the message that will be made
-accessible to the user, so it should contain some useful information. This
-option must be the last option because the rest of the line will be its value,
-even if there are spaces and equal-signs following it! This option is
-mandatory.
+accessible to the user, so it should contain some useful information. As with
+all options: If the message includes spaces, it must be quoted with double
+quotes. This option is mandatory.
=item B<severity=failure>|B<warning>|B<okay> (B<REQUIRED>)
or B<type_instance> without B<type> doesn't make much sense and should be
avoided.
-Please note that this is the same format as used in the B<unixsock plugin>, see
-L<collectd-unixsock(5)>.
+=back
=back
+Please note that this is the same format as used in the B<unixsock plugin>, see
+L<collectd-unixsock(5)>.
+
When collectd exits it sends a B<SIGTERM> to all still running
child-processes upon which they have to quit.
=back
+=head1 ENVIRONMENT
+
+The following environment variables are set by the plugin before calling
+I<exec>:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item COLLECTD_INTERVAL
+
+Value of the global interval setting.
+
+=item COLLECTD_HOSTNAME
+
+Hostname used by I<collectd> to dispatch local values.
+
+=back
+
=head1 USING NAGIOS PLUGINS
Though the interface is far from perfect, there are tons of plugins for Nagios.
The user, the binary is executed as, may not have root privileges, i.E<nbsp>e.
must have an UID that is non-zero. This is for your own good.
+=item
+
+Early versions of the plugin did not use a command but treated all lines as if
+they were arguments to the I<PUTVAL> command. When the I<PUTNOTIF> command was
+implemented, this behavior was kept for lines which start with an unknown
+command for backwards compatibility. This compatibility code has been removed
+in I<collectdE<nbsp>5>.
+
=back
=head1 SEE ALSO