X-Git-Url: https://git.octo.it/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=src%2Fcollectd-exec.pod;h=81b3a2ecc07ecb11302b7ede4d2e26f87e72f0d8;hb=535d74438fc722d0ac1720103a289feb77ceb3ed;hp=fe2fd6303d4e3dc34eece8ca3201fedacc289840;hpb=f41b91ae32d98ee0fbbb96659c778e44218fee81;p=collectd.git

diff --git a/src/collectd-exec.pod b/src/collectd-exec.pod
index fe2fd630..81b3a2ec 100644
--- a/src/collectd-exec.pod
+++ b/src/collectd-exec.pod
@@ -55,21 +55,6 @@ run at once if multiple notifications are received.
 See L<NOTIFICATION DATA FORMAT> below for a description of the data passed to
 these programs.
 
-=begin comment
-
-=item C<NagiosExec>
-
-The executable is treated as a Nagios plugin. That means that the first line
-printed to C<STDOUT> by this program is used as the text of a notification and
-the severity of the notification depends on the exit status of the executable
-only.
-
-For information on how to write Nagios plugins please refer to the Nagios
-documentation. If a plugin works with Nagios but not with collectd please
-complain on the collectd mailing list instead.
-
-=end comment
-
 =back
 
 =head1 EXEC DATA FORMAT
@@ -98,12 +83,13 @@ plugin within collectd. I<type> identifies the type and number of values
 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).
@@ -154,10 +140,9 @@ Valid options are:
 =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>)
 
@@ -186,11 +171,13 @@ table. All the options are optional, but B<plugin_instance> without B<plugin>
 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.
 
@@ -200,17 +187,19 @@ The notification executables receive values rather than providing them. In
 fact, after the program is started C<STDOUT> is connected to C</dev/null>.
 
 The data is passed to the executables over C<STDIN> in a format very similar to
-HTTP-headers: There is one line per field. Every line consists of a field name,
-ended by a colon, and the associated value until end-of-line. The input is
-ended by two newlines immediately following another.
+HTTP: At first there is a "header" with one line per field. Every line consists
+of a field name, ended by a colon, and the associated value until end-of-line.
+The "header" is ended by two newlines immediately following another,
+i.E<nbsp>e. an empty line. The rest, basically the "body", is the message of
+the notification.
 
 The following is an example notification passed to a program:
 
   Severity: FAILURE
   Time: 1200928930
   Host: myhost.mydomain.org
-  Message: This is a test notification to demonstrate the format
-  <newline>
+  \n
+  This is a test notification to demonstrate the format
 
 The following header files are currently used. Please note, however, that you
 should ignore unknown header files to be as forward-compatible as possible.
@@ -227,15 +216,54 @@ The time in epoch, i.E<nbsp>e. as seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.
 
 =item B<Host>
 
-Name of the host concerned.
+=item B<Plugin>
 
-=item B<Message>
+=item B<PluginInstance>
 
-Message of the notification. This message should be made accessible to the
-user somehow.
+=item B<Type>
+
+=item B<TypeInstance>
+
+Identification of the performance data this notification is associated with.
+All of these fields are optional because notifications do not B<need> to be
+associated with a certain value.
 
 =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.
+You can use these plugins with collectd by using a simple transition layer,
+C<exec-nagios.px>, which is shipped with the collectd distribution in the
+C<contrib/> directory. It is a simple Perl script that comes with embedded
+documentation. To see it, run the following command:
+
+  perldoc exec-nagios.px
+
+This script expects a configuration file, C<exec-nagios.conf>. You can find an
+example in the C<contrib/> directory, too.
+
+Even a simple mechanism to submit "performance data" to collectd is
+implemented. If you need a more sophisticated setup, please rewrite the plugin
+to make use of collectd's more powerful interface.
+
 =head1 CAVEATS
 
 =over 4