X-Git-Url: https://git.octo.it/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=src%2Fcollectd-exec.pod;h=81b3a2ecc07ecb11302b7ede4d2e26f87e72f0d8;hb=b81104a423234c04f0eb4ace0ec5e93a363c917a;hp=9882601b81213a3a58054aded34e2977af3e020b;hpb=1584314f015f98abc61e74fdd6e47e200c8d02aa;p=collectd.git

diff --git a/src/collectd-exec.pod b/src/collectd-exec.pod
index 9882601b..654db408 100644
--- a/src/collectd-exec.pod
+++ b/src/collectd-exec.pod
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+=encoding UTF-8
+
 =head1 NAME
 
 collectd-exec - Documentation of collectd's C<exec plugin>
@@ -15,7 +17,7 @@ collectd-exec - Documentation of collectd's C<exec plugin>
 
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
-The C<exec plugin> forks of an executable either to receive values or to
+The C<exec plugin> forks off an executable either to receive values or to
 dispatch notifications to the outside world. The syntax of the configuration is
 explained in L<collectd.conf(5)> but summarized in the above synopsis.
 
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@ time and continuously write values to C<STDOUT>.
 See L<EXEC DATA FORMAT> below for a description of the output format expected
 from these programs.
 
-B<Warning:> If the executable only writes one value and then exits I will be
+B<Warning:> If the executable only writes one value and then exits it will be
 executed every I<Interval> seconds. If I<Interval> is short (the default is 10
 seconds) this may result in serious system load.
 
@@ -83,15 +85,16 @@ 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).
+epoch (i.E<nbsp>e. standard UNIX time) or B<N> to use the current time.
 
 You can mix options and values, but the order is important: Options only
 effect following values, so specifying an option as last field is allowed, but
@@ -115,12 +118,8 @@ case you're confused.
 
 Since examples usually let one understand a lot better, here are some:
 
-  leeloo/cpu-0/cpu-idle N:2299366
-  alice/interface/if_octets-eth0 interval=10 1180647081:421465:479194
-
-Since this action was the only one supported with older versions of the C<exec
-plugin> all lines were treated as if they were prefixed with B<PUTVAL>. This is
-still the case to maintain backwards compatibility but deprecated.
+  PUTVAL leeloo/cpu-0/cpu-idle N:2299366
+  PUTVAL alice/interface/if_octets-eth0 interval=10 1180647081:421465:479194
 
 =item B<PUTNOTIF> [I<OptionList>] B<message=>I<Message>
 
@@ -139,10 +138,9 @@ 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>)
 
@@ -171,11 +169,26 @@ 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)>.
+=item B<type:key=>I<value>
+
+Sets user defined meta information. The B<type> key is a single character
+defining the type of the meta information.
+
+The current supported types are:
+
+=over 8
+
+=item B<s> A string passed as-is.
+
+=back
 
 =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.
 
@@ -188,13 +201,13 @@ The data is passed to the executables over C<STDIN> in a format very similar to
 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.
+i.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
+  Time: 1200928930.515
   Host: myhost.mydomain.org
   \n
   This is a test notification to demonstrate the format
@@ -210,7 +223,9 @@ Severity of the notification. May either be B<FAILURE>, B<WARNING>, or B<OKAY>.
 
 =item B<Time>
 
-The time in epoch, i.E<nbsp>e. as seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.
+The time in epoch, i.e. as seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC. The value
+currently has millisecond precision (i.e. three decimal places), but scripts
+should accept arbitrary numbers of decimal places, including no decimal places.
 
 =item B<Host>
 
@@ -228,6 +243,23 @@ 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.
@@ -254,6 +286,14 @@ to make use of collectd's more powerful interface.
 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
@@ -266,6 +306,6 @@ L<fork(2)>, L<exec(3)>
 
 =head1 AUTHOR
 
-Florian Forster E<lt>octo@verplant.orgE<gt>
+Florian Forster E<lt>octo@collectd.orgE<gt>
 
 =cut