doc::Smokeping::probes::CurlSmokePdoc::Smokeping::probes::Curl(3)



NAME
       Smokeping::probes::Curl - a curl(1) probe for SmokePing

OVERVIEW
       Fetches an HTTP or HTTPS URL using curl(1).

SYNOPSIS
        *** Probes ***

        +Curl

        binary = /usr/bin/curl
        forks = 5
        offset = 50%
        step = 300

        # The following variables can be overridden in each target section
        agent = User-Agent: Lynx/2.8.4rel.1 libwww-FM/2.14 SSL-MM/1.4.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6c
        extraargs = -6 --head --user user:password
        extrare = / /
        follow_redirects = yes
        include_redirects = yes
        insecure_ssl = 1
        interface = eth0
        pings = 5
        ssl2 = 1
        timeout = 20
        urlformat = http://%host%/ # mandatory

        # [...]

        *** Targets ***

        probe = Curl # if this should be the default probe

        # [...]

        + mytarget
        # probe = Curl # if the default probe is something else
        host = my.host
        agent = User-Agent: Lynx/2.8.4rel.1 libwww-FM/2.14 SSL-MM/1.4.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6c
        extraargs = -6 --head --user user:password
        extrare = / /
        follow_redirects = yes
        include_redirects = yes
        insecure_ssl = 1
        interface = eth0
        pings = 5
        ssl2 = 1
        timeout = 20
        urlformat = http://%host%/ # mandatory

DESCRIPTION
       (see curl(1) for details of the options below)

VARIABLES
       Supported probe-specific variables:

       binary
           The location of your curl binary.

           Default value: /usr/bin/curl

       forks
           Run this many concurrent processes at maximum

           Example value: 5

           Default value: 5

       offset
           If you run many probes concurrently you may want to
           prevent them from hitting your network all at the same
           time. Using the probe-specific offset parameter you
           can change the point in time when each probe will be
           run. Offset is specified in % of total interval, or
           alternatively as 'random', and the offset from the
           'General' section is used if nothing is specified
           here. Note that this does NOT influence the rrds
           itself, it is just a matter of when data acqusition is
           initiated.  (This variable is only applicable if the
           variable 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General'
           section.)

           Example value: 50%

       step
           Duration of the base interval that this probe should
           use, if different from the one specified in the
           'Database' section. Note that the step in the RRD
           files is fixed when they are originally generated, and
           if you change the step parameter afterwards, you'll
           have to delete the old RRD files or somehow convert
           them. (This variable is only applicable if the vari-
           able 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General' sec-
           tion.)

           Example value: 300

       Supported target-specific variables:

       agent
           The "-A" curl(1) option.  This is a full HTTP User-
           Agent header including the words "User-Agent:". Note
           that it does not need any quotes around it.

           Example value: User-Agent: Lynx/2.8.4rel.1 lib-
           www-FM/2.14 SSL-MM/1.4.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6c

       extraargs
           Any extra arguments you might want to hand to curl(1).
           The arguments should be separated by the regexp speci-
           fied in "extrare", which contains just the space char-
           acter (" ") by default.

           Note that curl will be called with the resulting list
           of arguments without any shell expansion. If you need
           to specify any arguments containing spaces, you should
           set "extrare" to something else.

           As a complicated example, to explicitly set the
           "Host:" header in Curl requests, you need to set
           "extrare" to something else, eg. "/;/", and then spec-
           ify "extraargs = --header;Host: www.example.com".

           Example value: -6 --head --user user:password

       extrare
           The regexp used to split the extraargs string into an
           argument list, in the "/regexp/" notation.  This con-
           tains just the space character (" ") by default, but
           if you need to specify any arguments containing
           spaces, you can set this variable to a different
           value.

           Example value: / /

           Default value: / /

       follow_redirects
           If this variable is set to 'yes', curl will follow any
           HTTP redirection steps (the '-L' option).  If set to
           'no', HTTP Location: headers will not be followed. See
           also 'include_redirects'.

           Example value: yes

           Default value: no

       include_redirects
           If this variable is set to 'yes', the measurement
           result will include the time spent on following any
           HTTP redirection steps. If set to 'no', only the last
           step is measured. See also 'follow_redirects'.

           Example value: yes

           Default value: no

       insecure_ssl
           The "-k" curl(1) option. Accept SSL connections that
           don't have a secure certificate chain to a trusted CA.
           Note that if you are going to monitor https targets,
           you'll probably have to either enable this option or
           specify the CA path to curl through extraargs below.
           For more info, see the curl(1) manual page.

           Example value: 1

       interface
           The "--interface" curl(1) option.  Bind to a specific
           interface, IP address or host name.

           Example value: eth0

       pings
           How many pings should be sent to each target, if dif-
           ferent from the global value specified in the Database
           section. Note that the number of pings in the RRD
           files is fixed when they are originally generated, and
           if you change this parameter afterwards, you'll have
           to delete the old RRD files or somehow convert them.

           Example value: 5

       ssl2
           The "-2" curl(1) option.  Force SSL2.

           Example value: 1

       timeout
           The "-m" curl(1) option.  Maximum timeout in seconds.

           Example value: 20

           Default value: 10

       urlformat
           The template of the URL to fetch.  Can be any one that
           curl supports.  Any occurrence of the string '%host%'
           will be replaced with the host to be probed.

           Example value: http://%host%/

           This setting is mandatory.

AUTHORS
        Gerald Combs <gerald [AT] ethereal.com>
        Niko Tyni <ntyni@iki.fi>

NOTES
       You should consider setting a lower value for the "pings"
       variable than the default 20, as repetitive URL fetching
       may be quite heavy on the server.

       The URL to be tested used to be specified by the variable
       'url' in earlier versions of Smokeping, and the 'host'
       setting did not influence it in any way. The variable name
       has now been changed to 'urlformat', and it can (and in
       most cases should) contain a placeholder for the 'host'
       variable.

SEE ALSO
       curl(1), <http://curl.haxx.se/>



2.0.9                       2006-0doc::Smokeping::probes::Curl(3)
