Watch.pl is a Perl script that periodically scans the service ports on a given list of servers to determine whether the services are functioning. If an error is detected, an alert is generated in the form of a Microsoft® Windows NT® event.
All Site Server services can be monitored by Event Viewer and Performance Monitor. However, it is tricky to program a set of alerts that will consistently detect the difference between a failed service and a fully functional but inactive service. Portwatch was created to confirm periodically that the services are still answering.
Portwatch consists of three files:
The default installation of Watch.pl should be run from the \Reskit\Code\Portwatch directory. Otherwise you must modify your system path.
In addition to generating Windows NT events, Watch.pl sends status updates to the screen while the script is running. This allows you to monitor service status visually when Event Viewer is not running .
Note You must edit the Watch.pl file to include your server’s IP address (hostip) and machine name (hostname).
Watch.pl is a sample Perl script that pings specified ports and reports on the status of ports described in Watch.lst. When used with the Rptevent.exe utility (also included with the Site Server 3.0 Commerce Edition Resource Kit), Watch.pl can generate custom alerts and post them to the Microsoft® Windows NT® Event Log.
Note Watch.pl is configured to run Rptevent.exe, which is only available for platforms with Intel® processors; it is not available for DEC Alpha platforms at this time.
The Watch.pl sample script provides one example of how custom scripts can be used with Windows NT to address site management issues. To install the Perl interpreter, refer to the instructions in the Microsoft Windows NT Resource Kit, or visit http://www.perl.com.
The Watch.pl file includes inline comments that explain the various portions of the script. You must replace the HostName and HostIP information with your own server-specific information.
The general flow of the script is as follows:
read in list of servers & ports to monitor
do
for each service/port
try to open port : alert if failed to connect
if "send string" send it
read response from service
check response with "expect string" : alert if string is not found
send a 'heartbeat' status event with up/down report
sleep n seconds
until stopped
The configuration file contains five fields, which are separated by colons. The Watch.lst file is a sample, and the data fields must be changed to reflect your server-specific information.
The fields are:
<IP Address>:<Netbios Name>:<IP Port>:<Send String>:<Expect String>:
<Failure Notice>
Rptevent.exe is a program that "reports events." That is, it generates a Windows NT event in the application logs. Watch.pl calls Rptevent.exe to generate events concerning the status of ports described in Watch.lst.
Note This program is not available on the DEC Alpha platform. In addition, when using Site Server 3.0 Service Pack 2, Rptevent.exe does not record events in the Event Viewer when the Watch.pl Perl script detects a failed service.
To use this tool, open a command prompt and navigate to the \Reskit\Code\Portwatch folder of your Resource Kit installation directory. From there, use the following syntax to run the tool.
If you run Rptevent.exe without any parameters, the following message is displayed:
usage : rptevent source I|W|R <message>
There is actually an error in this message, because there is no "R" option. However, it appears to have been replaced by the "E" option, which generates an Error event.
The Rptevent.exe command-line syntax is:
rptevent source type "message"
I = Informational (blue "i" in the event log)
W = Warning (yellow "!" in the event log)
E = Error (red "Error" in the event log)
When a service doesn't answer properly, Watch.pl builds a command string like this one:
rptevent watch_pl E "watch.pl Server:Smtpusr01(10.4.13.137) Port: 25 Alert: SMTP Service Appears To Be Down"
Note When you use the Windows NT Event Viewer to view events generated with Watch.pl, you can ignore messages like this that are displayed in the Description box when you choose Details on the View menu. The text after this message contains the detail information from Watch.pl.
The description for Event ID ( ..... ) in Source ( watch_pl) could not be found. .....
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