behavior.
The syntax of this config file is similar to the config file of the famous
-B<Apache Webserver>. Each line contains either a key-value-pair or a
-section-start or -end. Empty lines and everything after the hash-symbol `#' is
-ignored. Values are either string, enclosed in double-quotes,
-(floating-point-)numbers or a boolean expression, i.E<nbsp>e. either B<true> or
-B<false>. String containing of only alphanumeric characters and underscores do
-not need to be quoted. Lines may be wrapped by using `\' as the last character
-before the newline. This allows long lines to be split into multiple lines.
-Quoted strings may be wrapped as well. However, those are treated special in
-that whitespace at the beginning of the following lines will be ignored, which
-allows for nicely indenting the wrapped lines.
-
-The configuration is read and processed in order, i.E<nbsp>e. from top to
-bottom. So the plugins are loaded in the order listed in this config file. It
-is a good idea to load any logging plugins first in order to catch messages
-from plugins during configuration. Also, the C<LoadPlugin> option B<must> occur
-B<before> the C<E<lt>Plugin ...E<gt>> block.
+I<Apache> webserver. Each line contains either an option (a key and a list of
+one or more values) or a section-start or -end. Empty lines and everything
+after a non-quoted hash-symbol (C<#>) is ignored. I<Keys> are unquoted
+strings, consisting only of alphanumeric characters and the underscore (C<_>)
+character. Keys are handled case insensitive by I<collectd> itself and all
+plugins included with it. I<Values> can either be an I<unquoted string>, a
+I<quoted string> (enclosed in double-quotes) a I<number> or a I<boolean>
+expression. I<Unquoted strings> consist of only alphanumeric characters and
+underscores (C<_>) and do not need to be quoted. I<Quoted strings> are
+enclosed in double quotes (C<">). You can use the backslash character (C<\>)
+to include double quotes as part of the string. I<Numbers> can be specified in
+decimal and floating point format (using a dot C<.> as decimal separator),
+hexadecimal when using the C<0x> prefix and octal with a leading zero (C<0>).
+I<Boolean> values are either B<true> or B<false>.
+
+Lines may be wrapped by using C<\> as the last character before the newline.
+This allows long lines to be split into multiple lines. Quoted strings may be
+wrapped as well. However, those are treated special in that whitespace at the
+beginning of the following lines will be ignored, which allows for nicely
+indenting the wrapped lines.
+
+The configuration is read and processed in order, i.e. from top to bottom. So
+the plugins are loaded in the order listed in this config file. It is a good
+idea to load any logging plugins first in order to catch messages from plugins
+during configuration. Also, the C<LoadPlugin> option B<must> occur B<before>
+the appropriate C<E<lt>Plugin ...E<gt>> block.
=head1 GLOBAL OPTIONS
If enabled, collectd will export all global symbols of the plugin (and of all
libraries loaded as dependencies of the plugin) and, thus, makes those symbols
available for resolving unresolved symbols in subsequently loaded plugins if
-that is supported by your system. By default, this is disabled.
+that is supported by your system.
-This is useful (or possibly even required), e.E<nbsp>g., when loading a plugin
-that embeds some scripting language into the daemon (e.E<nbsp>g. the C<perl>
-or C<python> plugins). Scripting languages usually provide means to load
+This is useful (or possibly even required), e.g., when loading a plugin that
+embeds some scripting language into the daemon (e.g. the I<Perl> and
+I<Python plugins>). Scripting languages usually provide means to load
extensions written in C. Those extensions require symbols provided by the
-interpreter, which is loaded as a dependency of the respective collectd
-plugin. See the documentation of those plugins (e.E<nbsp>g.,
-L<collectd-perl(5)> or L<collectd-python(5)>) for details.
+interpreter, which is loaded as a dependency of the respective collectd plugin.
+See the documentation of those plugins (e.g., L<collectd-perl(5)> or
+L<collectd-python(5)>) for details.
+
+By default, this is disabled. As a special exception, if the plugin name is
+either C<perl> or C<python>, the default is changed to enabled in order to keep
+the average user from ever having to deal with this low level linking stuff.
=back
</Plugin>
In the B<Plugin> block, there may be one or more B<URL> blocks, each defining a
-URL to be fetched via HTTP (using libcurl). Within each B<URL> block there are
+URL to be fetched using libcurl. Within each B<URL> block there are
options which specify the connection parameters, for example authentication
information, and one or more B<XPath> blocks.
=item B<User> I<Username>
Username to use when connecting to the database. The user does not have to be
-granted any privileges (which is synonym to granting the C<USAGE> privilege).
-Any existing MySQL user will do.
+granted any privileges (which is synonym to granting the C<USAGE> privilege),
+unless you want to collectd replication statistics (see B<MasterStats> and
+B<SlaveStats> below). In this case, the user needs the C<REPLICATION CLIENT>
+(or C<SUPER>) privileges. Else, any existing MySQL user will do.
=item B<Password> I<Password>
=item B<SlaveStats> I<true|false>
-Enable the collection of master / slave statistics in a replication setup.
+Enable the collection of master / slave statistics in a replication setup. In
+order to be able to get access to these statistics, the user needs special
+privileges. See the B<User> documentation above.
=item B<SlaveNotifications> I<true|false>
multicast group is C<239.192.74.66>. The default I<UDP> port is B<25826>.
Both, B<Server> and B<Listen> can be used as single option or as block. When
-used as block, given options are valid for this socket only. For example:
+used as block, given options are valid for this socket only. The following
+example will export the metrics twice: Once to an "internal" server (without
+encryption and signing) and one to an external server (with cryptographic
+signature):
<Plugin "network">
+ # Export to an internal server
+ # (demonstrates usage without additional options)
Server "collectd.internal.tld"
+
+ # Export to an external server
+ # (demonstrates usage with signature options)
<Server "collectd.external.tld">
SecurityLevel "sign"
Username "myhostname"
=item B<MaxPacketSize> I<1024-65535>
Set the maximum size for datagrams received over the network. Packets larger
-than this will be truncated. Defaults to 1452E<nbsp>bytes.
+than this will be truncated. Defaults to 1452E<nbsp>bytes, which is the maximum
+payload size that can be transmitted in one Ethernet frame using IPv6E<nbsp>/
+UDP.
+
+On the server side, this limit should be set to the largest value used on
+I<any> client. Likewise, the value on the client must not be larger than the
+value on the server, or data will be lost.
+
+B<Compatibility:> Versions prior to I<versionE<nbsp>4.8> used a fixed sized
+buffer of 1024E<nbsp>bytes. Versions I<4.8>, I<4.9> and I<4.10> used a default
+value of 1024E<nbsp>bytes to avoid problems when sending data to an older
+server.
=item B<Forward> I<true|false>
This plugin sends a desktop notification to a notification daemon, as defined
in the Desktop Notification Specification. To actually display the
notifications, B<notification-daemon> is required and B<collectd> has to be
-able to access the X server.
+able to access the X server (i.E<nbsp>e., the C<DISPLAY> and C<XAUTHORITY>
+environment variables have to be set correctly) and the D-Bus message bus.
The Desktop Notification Specification can be found at
L<http://www.galago-project.org/specs/notification/>.
=head2 Plugin C<swap>
The I<Swap plugin> collects information about used and available swap space. On
-Solaris, it is possible to collect information on physical swap devices and the
-view of the virtual memory subsystem on the matter. On I<Solaris>, the
-following options are available:
+I<Solaris>, the following options are available:
=over 4
-=item B<ReportPhysical> B<combined>|B<separate>|B<false>
+=item B<ReportByDevice> B<false>|B<true>
-Configures how to report physical swap devices. If B<combined> is used (the
+Configures how to report physical swap devices. If set to B<false> is used (the
default), the summary over all swap devices is reported only, i.e. the globally
-used and available space over all devices. If B<separate> is configured, the
-used and available space of each device will be reported separately. B<false>
-deactivates collection of physical swap information (only valid if collection
-via L<kstat(3KSTAT)> is available).
+used and available space over all devices. If B<true> is configured, the used
+and available space of each device will be reported separately.
This option is only available if the I<Swap plugin> can use the L<swapctl(2)>
mechanism under I<Solaris>.
-=item B<ReportVirtual> B<false>|B<true>
-
-Configures whether or not to report the view of the virtual memory subsystem on
-swap space. This information is used under Solaris if L<swapctl(2)> is not
-available and was the default behavior under I<Solaris> in I<collectdE<nbsp>4>.
-
-This option is only available if the I<Swap plugin> can use L<swapctl(2)> and
-L<kstat(3KSTAT)> to collect swap statistics under I<Solaris>. It defaults to
-B<false>.
-
=back
=head2 Plugin C<syslog>
=back
+=head1 THRESHOLD CONFIGURATION
+
+Starting with version C<4.3.0> collectd has support for B<monitoring>. By that
+we mean that the values are not only stored or sent somewhere, but that they
+are judged and, if a problem is recognized, acted upon. The only action
+collectd takes itself is to generate and dispatch a "notification". Plugins can
+register to receive notifications and perform appropriate further actions.
+
+Since systems and what you expect them to do differ a lot, you can configure
+B<thresholds> for your values freely. This gives you a lot of flexibility but
+also a lot of responsibility.
+
+Every time a value is out of range a notification is dispatched. This means
+that the idle percentage of your CPU needs to be less then the configured
+threshold only once for a notification to be generated. There's no such thing
+as a moving average or similar - at least not now.
+
+Also, all values that match a threshold are considered to be relevant or
+"interesting". As a consequence collectd will issue a notification if they are
+not received for B<Timeout> iterations. The B<Timeout> configuration option is
+explained in section L<"GLOBAL OPTIONS">. If, for example, B<Timeout> is set to
+"2" (the default) and some hosts sends it's CPU statistics to the server every
+60 seconds, a notification will be dispatched after about 120 seconds. It may
+take a little longer because the timeout is checked only once each B<Interval>
+on the server.
+
+When a value comes within range again or is received after it was missing, an
+"OKAY-notification" is dispatched.
+
+Here is a configuration example to get you started. Read below for more
+information.
+
+ <Threshold>
+ <Type "foo">
+ WarningMin 0.00
+ WarningMax 1000.00
+ FailureMin 0.00
+ FailureMax 1200.00
+ Invert false
+ Instance "bar"
+ </Type>
+
+ <Plugin "interface">
+ Instance "eth0"
+ <Type "if_octets">
+ FailureMax 10000000
+ DataSource "rx"
+ </Type>
+ </Plugin>
+
+ <Host "hostname">
+ <Type "cpu">
+ Instance "idle"
+ FailureMin 10
+ </Type>
+
+ <Plugin "memory">
+ <Type "memory">
+ Instance "cached"
+ WarningMin 100000000
+ </Type>
+ </Plugin>
+ </Host>
+ </Threshold>
+
+There are basically two types of configuration statements: The C<Host>,
+C<Plugin>, and C<Type> blocks select the value for which a threshold should be
+configured. The C<Plugin> and C<Type> blocks may be specified further using the
+C<Instance> option. You can combine the block by nesting the blocks, though
+they must be nested in the above order, i.E<nbsp>e. C<Host> may contain either
+C<Plugin> and C<Type> blocks, C<Plugin> may only contain C<Type> blocks and
+C<Type> may not contain other blocks. If multiple blocks apply to the same
+value the most specific block is used.
+
+The other statements specify the threshold to configure. They B<must> be
+included in a C<Type> block. Currently the following statements are recognized:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item B<FailureMax> I<Value>
+
+=item B<WarningMax> I<Value>
+
+Sets the upper bound of acceptable values. If unset defaults to positive
+infinity. If a value is greater than B<FailureMax> a B<FAILURE> notification
+will be created. If the value is greater than B<WarningMax> but less than (or
+equal to) B<FailureMax> a B<WARNING> notification will be created.
+
+=item B<FailureMin> I<Value>
+
+=item B<WarningMin> I<Value>
+
+Sets the lower bound of acceptable values. If unset defaults to negative
+infinity. If a value is less than B<FailureMin> a B<FAILURE> notification will
+be created. If the value is less than B<WarningMin> but greater than (or equal
+to) B<FailureMin> a B<WARNING> notification will be created.
+
+=item B<DataSource> I<DSName>
+
+Some data sets have more than one "data source". Interesting examples are the
+C<if_octets> data set, which has received (C<rx>) and sent (C<tx>) bytes and
+the C<disk_ops> data set, which holds C<read> and C<write> operations. The
+system load data set, C<load>, even has three data sources: C<shortterm>,
+C<midterm>, and C<longterm>.
+
+Normally, all data sources are checked against a configured threshold. If this
+is undesirable, or if you want to specify different limits for each data
+source, you can use the B<DataSource> option to have a threshold apply only to
+one data source.
+
+=item B<Invert> B<true>|B<false>
+
+If set to B<true> the range of acceptable values is inverted, i.E<nbsp>e.
+values between B<FailureMin> and B<FailureMax> (B<WarningMin> and
+B<WarningMax>) are not okay. Defaults to B<false>.
+
+=item B<Persist> B<true>|B<false>
+
+Sets how often notifications are generated. If set to B<true> one notification
+will be generated for each value that is out of the acceptable range. If set to
+B<false> (the default) then a notification is only generated if a value is out
+of range but the previous value was okay.
+
+This applies to missing values, too: If set to B<true> a notification about a
+missing value is generated once every B<Interval> seconds. If set to B<false>
+only one such notification is generated until the value appears again.
+
+=item B<Percentage> B<true>|B<false>
+
+If set to B<true>, the minimum and maximum values given are interpreted as
+percentage value, relative to the other data sources. This is helpful for
+example for the "df" type, where you may want to issue a warning when less than
+5E<nbsp>% of the total space is available. Defaults to B<false>.
+
+=item B<Hits> I<Number>
+
+Delay creating the notification until the threshold has been passed I<Number>
+times. When a notification has been generated, or when a subsequent value is
+inside the threshold, the counter is reset. If, for example, a value is
+collected once every 10E<nbsp>seconds and B<Hits> is set to 3, a notification
+will be dispatched at most once every 30E<nbsp>seconds.
+
+This is useful when short bursts are not a problem. If, for example, 100% CPU
+usage for up to a minute is normal (and data is collected every
+10E<nbsp>seconds), you could set B<Hits> to B<6> to account for this.
+
+=item B<Hysteresis> I<Number>
+
+When set to non-zero, a hysteresis value is applied when checking minimum and
+maximum bounds. This is useful for values that increase slowly and fluctuate a
+bit while doing so. When these values come close to the threshold, they may
+"flap", i.e. switch between failure / warning case and okay case repeatedly.
+
+If, for example, the threshold is configures as
+
+ WarningMax 100.0
+ Hysteresis 1.0
+
+then a I<Warning> notification is created when the value exceeds I<101> and the
+corresponding I<Okay> notification is only created once the value falls below
+I<99>, thus avoiding the "flapping".
+
+=back
+
=head1 FILTER CONFIGURATION
Starting with collectd 4.6 there is a powerful filtering infrastructure
projects / collectd.git / blobdiff