[ViewVC] Annotation of: i-scream/projects/cms/source/host/ihost-perl/README

i-scream ihost README file
==========================

URL: http://www.i-scream.org.uk/

$Id: README,v 1.2 2001/03/27 08:46:27 pjm2 Exp $


What is ihost?
--------------

ihost is a "host" application for the i-scream distributed central monitoring
system. The job of a host is to harvest data from the machine on which it is
running and then send this data to a central server for processing.

The ihost performs this task on Solaris, Linux and FreeBSD, and is written in
the Perl programming Language.

How do I use ihost?
-------------------

Fortunately, ihost is pretty easy to get started. Once you have downloaded and
extracted the archive, you just need to run the program. This is done as shown
here: -

    ./ihost.pl <i-scream_filtermanager> <port>

The ihost should then start and configure itself, providing some debugging
information.

What does the output mean?
--------------------------

The first few lines simply tell you what has happened during the configuration
stage. These are pretty self explanatory. The configuration documentation will
explain how to alter the setup of the host.

Once the ihost has started an output similar to the following will be given;

-----^-----^-----^-----^--- etc

The - indicates a data packet has been sent to the server over UDP, and in a
similar way ^ indicates a heartbeat has occured.

At any time you may see the host reconfigure itself. This happens if the system
configuration has been changed.

How can I find out where the filtermanager is?
----------------------------------------------

The filtermanager is the section of the server that handles host configuration
and assignment to filters. Please contact the person(s) who setup this section
of the system for the hostname and port number.

I'm concerned about security!
-----------------------------

Although we have not taken (yet) any particular steps to make the system
secure, we are pretty certain ihost is not a problem. It only sends data, and
does not have any open ports on the machine it's run on. It does not send any
data which is highly sensitive, although you should review the documentation
to find out exactly what is sent.

Can I expand ihost?
-------------------

Yes, of course. ihost is written in perl and is pretty easy to follow. It is
split into two sections;

statgrab.pl - responsible for collecting the data from the system
ihost.pl    - responsible for encapsulating (in XML) and sending the data

If you are proficient in Perl you would start by alterting statgrab.pl to read
the new data from your system. Once this is done and tested, you would modify
statgrab to add this data to an outgoing packet.

A more indepth discussion is available in the maintenance documentation for
the ihost.

Where can I get the latest ihost?
---------------------------------

Please review the website for details of ihost downloads. There will be an
explanation of what is available, and what you need to download.


Thank-you for using the i-scream distributed central monitoring system.

Regards,

The i-scream team,
dev@i-scream.org.uk

Revision:	1.3
Committed:	Fri Mar 28 16:30:30 2003 UTC (21 years, 5 months ago) by tdb
Branch:	MAIN
CVS Tags:	HEAD
Changes since 1.2:	+1 -1 lines
State:	*FILE REMOVED*
Log Message:	Removed some un-used code from CVS. We can always resurrect this later if someone feels they want to work on it. Gone are the old perl ihost which isn't needed now, winhost which is broken and shows no sign of being fixed, and DBReporter. If someone wants to revive them, I'll undelete them :-)
#	User	Rev	Content
1	tdb	1.1	i-scream ihost README file
2			==========================
3
4			URL: http://www.i-scream.org.uk/
5
6	tdb	1.3	$Id: README,v 1.2 2001/03/27 08:46:27 pjm2 Exp $
7	tdb	1.1
8
9			What is ihost?
10			--------------
11
12			ihost is a "host" application for the i-scream distributed central monitoring
13	pjm2	1.2	system. The job of a host is to harvest data from the machine on which it is
14			running and then send this data to a central server for processing.
15	tdb	1.1
16			The ihost performs this task on Solaris, Linux and FreeBSD, and is written in
17			the Perl programming Language.
18
19			How do I use ihost?
20			-------------------
21
22	pjm2	1.2	Fortunately, ihost is pretty easy to get started. Once you have downloaded and
23	tdb	1.1	extracted the archive, you just need to run the program. This is done as shown
24	pjm2	1.2	here: -
25	tdb	1.1
26	pjm2	1.2	./ihost.pl <i-scream_filtermanager> <port>
27	tdb	1.1
28			The ihost should then start and configure itself, providing some debugging
29			information.
30
31			What does the output mean?
32			--------------------------
33
34			The first few lines simply tell you what has happened during the configuration
35			stage. These are pretty self explanatory. The configuration documentation will
36			explain how to alter the setup of the host.
37
38			Once the ihost has started an output similar to the following will be given;
39
40			-----^-----^-----^-----^--- etc
41
42			The - indicates a data packet has been sent to the server over UDP, and in a
43			similar way ^ indicates a heartbeat has occured.
44
45			At any time you may see the host reconfigure itself. This happens if the system
46			configuration has been changed.
47
48			How can I find out where the filtermanager is?
49			----------------------------------------------
50
51			The filtermanager is the section of the server that handles host configuration
52			and assignment to filters. Please contact the person(s) who setup this section
53			of the system for the hostname and port number.
54
55			I'm concerned about security!
56			-----------------------------
57
58			Although we have not taken (yet) any particular steps to make the system
59			secure, we are pretty certain ihost is not a problem. It only sends data, and
60			does not have any open ports on the machine it's run on. It does not send any
61			data which is highly sensitive, although you should review the documentation
62			to find out exactly what is sent.
63
64			Can I expand ihost?
65			-------------------
66
67			Yes, of course. ihost is written in perl and is pretty easy to follow. It is
68			split into two sections;
69
70			statgrab.pl - responsible for collecting the data from the system
71			ihost.pl - responsible for encapsulating (in XML) and sending the data
72
73			If you are proficient in Perl you would start by alterting statgrab.pl to read
74			the new data from your system. Once this is done and tested, you would modify
75			statgrab to add this data to an outgoing packet.
76
77	pjm2	1.2	A more indepth discussion is available in the maintenance documentation for
78			the ihost.
79	tdb	1.1
80			Where can I get the latest ihost?
81			---------------------------------
82
83			Please review the website for details of ihost downloads. There will be an
84			explanation of what is available, and what you need to download.
85
86
87			Thank-you for using the i-scream distributed central monitoring system.
88
89			Regards,
90
91			The i-scream team,
92			dev@i-scream.org.uk
93