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 variable 'concurrentprobes' is set in the 'General' section.)

           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 libwww-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 specified in "extrare", which contains just the space
           character (" ") 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 specify "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 contains 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 different 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/>