X-Git-Url: https://git.octo.it/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=src%2Fcollectd.pod;h=bc65f57d5031c7d82c8cf3fff1b965dc8ac458b5;hb=9ac1de503689f86a1fff10c152d273251acb9fa9;hp=96c3fcdb43632cb9460c64a138be11ce1ee63375;hpb=35248bcc734467e1f1ae39b4a6470849e57624bf;p=collectd.git

diff --git a/src/collectd.pod b/src/collectd.pod
index 96c3fcdb..bc65f57d 100644
--- a/src/collectd.pod
+++ b/src/collectd.pod
@@ -219,6 +219,39 @@ Successful spam checks (e.g. "BAYES_99", "SUBJECT_DRUG_GAP_C", ...):
 Each line is limited to 256 characters (including the newline character). 
 Longer lines will be ignored.
 
+=head2 exec
+
+The C<exec> plugin forks of an executable and reads back values that it writes
+to C<STDOUT>. The executable is forked kind of as L<init> does: It is forked
+once and not again until it exits. If it exited, it will be forked again after
+at most I<Interval> seconds. It is perfectly legal for the executable to run
+for a long time and continuously write values to C<STDOUT>.
+
+The forked executable is expected to print values to C<STDOUT>. The expected
+format is as follows:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item
+
+Each line beginning with a C<#> (hash mark) is ignored.
+
+=item
+
+Any other line must be of the form C<I<type>,I<type-instance>,I<value>>, where
+I<type> is either B<counter> or B<gauge>, I<type-instance> may not contain
+C<,> (comma), C</> (slash) and C<\0> (null byte) and I<value> is either an
+integer (if I<type> is B<counter>) or a floating-point number (if I<type> is
+B<gauge>).
+
+=back
+
+The values are always considered to be "fresh", i.E<nbsp>e. the time is set to
+"now".
+
+When collectd exits it sends a B<SIGTERM> to all still running
+child-processes upon which they have to quit.
+
 =head2 mysql
 
 Requires B<mysqlclient> to be installed. It connects to the database when