KBI 312077 Best Ways To Monitor Linux Servers

Version

Argent Omega and Argent Advanced Technology versions 2.2A-2307-B or newer

Date

Friday, 15 September 2023

Summary

Monitoring Linux servers is important to ensure your applications and services are alive and healthy

Argent Omega and Argent AT support both complex and simple monitoring – this article details the simple yet arguably most important questions – is the Linux server alive, and if it goes offline when did it come back online?

Technical Background

To answer this question there are two basic inquiries

1. Can I ping the Linux server?

• If you can successfully ping the Linux server, you know that it is currently alive and available

• Conversely if you cannot ping it, that tells you the Linux server is currently offline

For this we have the rule named ‘SCP_LINUX_EXECUTOR_PING’ which will allow you to verify if the system is down

2. Has the Linux server restarted recently?

Knowing if the Linux server has restarted recently will allow you to confirm several things:

• Did a Linux server restart successfully, has the server come back online yet?

• Has the Linux server been unexpectedly restarted? If the Linux server restarts for any reason, this Rule will catch it

For this use case we have a brand-new Rule, ‘SCP_LINUX_JUST_REBOOT’ available in versions 2.2A-2307-B or newer

Lines 142 through 148 provide guidance on using this Rule

Line 153 sets the ‘recently restarted’ threshold in minutes

For example, using the default setting of 10 minutes means that when this Rule is ran in a Relator, it will check to see if the Linux server has been restarted within the last 10 minutes – If it has, the alert will fire off

Couple this with your Relator as appropriate, make sure that your Relator executes more frequently than your set Threshold

Resolution

By combining these two Linux rules together into Relators, you will automatically be notified of when a Linux server goes offline, and when it comes back online

This is only a small portion of Argent’s capabilities in monitoring Linux – to discuss the more advanced features, contact sales@Argent.com or existing customers can use the below Instant Help feature to speak to a Field Engineer at any time

For further assistance, please contact Argent on Instant Help at
https://Instanthelp.Argent.com/