Cactid 0.86c & d changing backslashes to forward slashes

[Brashquido]

Hi All,

Sorry if this is a newbie question (which I have little doubt it won't be), but I am having trouble with cacti altering the syntax of the command line options given to a perl script I am trying to run. I've created my data input method, and have specified the two input fields that it needs.

Wether I run it via poller.php or cactid, the same things happens where specific characters are stripped or changed. Below is an example of the output from running cactid;

D:\cactid>cactid
CACTID: Using cactid config file [cactid.conf]
CACTID: Windows Environment, root permissions not required for ICMP Ping
CACTID: Version 0.8.6d starting
CACTID: Host[2] PING: Result UDP: Host is Alive
CACTID: Host[2] ERROR: Empty result [127.0.0.1]: 'perl D:/cacti/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl "C:PerfLogsada.csv" "/ADA-1048Processor(_Total)/Processor Time"'
CACTID: Host[2] WARNING: Result from SCRIPT not valid. Partial Result: U...
CACTID: Host[2] SCRIPT: perl D:/cacti/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl "C:PerfLogsada.csv" "/ADA-1048Processor(_Total)/Processor Time", output: U
CACTID: Execution Time: 0.6240 s, Threads: 1, Hosts: 1

D:\cactid>

If you look at line 6 that cacti is trying to execute;

perl D:/cacti/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl c:/Perflogs/cpu-usage.csv "/ADA-1048Processor(_Total)/% Processor Time"

The syntax I need Cacti to use is this;

perl D:/cacti/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl "C:\PerfLogs\ada.csv" "\\ADA-1048\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time"

The only other options in the input fields are for regex and special type code, both of which I have no idea about. Could someone help me out with this one?

[Brashquido]

Is there anything I can do to force Cacti to use backslashes? This is a bit of a brick wall for me as my script will not work without backslashes.

[BSOD2600]

I have no problems with cacti converting the \ to /. It works just fine with logging and accessing what it needs locally. As for remote computers, I use their full DNS name (i.e. mycomputer.mydomain.mywebsite.com), which does not require the netbios usage.

Might want to set up your HOSTS file with the computers you need to you can access them via the dns name instead of netbios.

[Brashquido]

Everything is being done locally on my test machine at the moment. The second argument to the command is not looking for a share or path, it is looking for a name in the specified CSV file.

perl D:/cacti/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl "C:\PerfLogs\ada.csv" "\\ADA-1048\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time"

The first argument to this ("C:\PerfLogs\ada.csv") defines the physical location of the file. Here I am able to change the baclslashes for forward slashes without a problem. The second argument ("\\ADA-1048\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time") is looking for this exact text string in the CSV file, which it then outputs the value of.

You are not able to alter the names of performance counters in Windows which is why for this script to work I need to be able to look for the literal string that the counter is named.

[Brashquido]

Would I be right in thinking that script_server.php is where these backslashes are being stripped out and replaced?

[Brashquido]

Ok, I think I am pretty much stumped . I'll try and clearly summarise what I'm trying to do in the hope someone can help me:

1) I have set my Windows performance monitor to log CPU usage in CSV format, updated every minute. Windows performance monitor identifies the counter name in this format;

\\<computername>\<performance object>(<counter instance>)\<counter item>

So in the case of monitoring the total CPU usage as a percentage on my machine (ADA-1048), this is what the Performance monitor name looks like;

\\ADA-1048\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time

2) I have a small perl script that you parse the logfile location and performance monitor name to which then returns the most recent (last entry) value for that counter. This is the syntax;

w32_perfmon.pl <path to CSV log file> <full performance monitor name as in CSV log>

Running this from the command line manually in the scripts directory of my cacti install works without a problem.

3) I setup a data input method in Cacti with the Input Type of "Script/Command". I also created two input fields called <perflog> for the Performance monitor log path, and <perfcount> for the Performance monitor counter name. The input string looks like;

perl <path_cacti>/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl <perflog> <perfcount>

I also have created an output field with the "Update RRA" enabled.

4) I then created a data template, and under the custom fields section I placed;

c:\Perflogs\cpu-usage.csv

for the performance monitor logfile location value, and;

"\\ADA-1048\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time"

for the performance monitor counter name value.

This should create a script command line of;

perl D:/cacti/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl c:\Perflogs\cpu-usage.csv "\\ADA-1048\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time"

5) However, when cacti runs the script, according to the Cacti log file it is being executed as;

perl D:/cacti/scripts/w32_perfmon.pl c:Perflogscpu-usage.csv "/ADA-1048Processor(_Total)/% Processor Time"

From this you can see that all the backslashes have been stripped, and in a few places replaced by forward slashes.


Finally my question . Why is it that Cacti strips these backslashes, and what do I have to do so that Cacti does not do it?

[BSOD2600]

It probably has something to do with its Linux compatability.

Here is the example of a perl script I use for network machines:

Code: Select all

Script: perl c:/auntie/cacti/scripts/w32_query_OperatingSystem.pl ares.zeus.mydomain.com get TotalVirtualMemorySize

1) why won't you use forward slashes for your paths? They work just fine (well at least on win2k3)

2) Since you're accessing the computer localy, why not just use localhost or 127.0.0.1 for the computer name?

[Brashquido]

I can use forward slashes for the logfile path name without a problem, it is the second argument specifying the countername that I need to be able to use back slashes for. This is because the second argument is specifying a literal string in the CSV log file to look for. If I try swaping forward slashes for back slashes then this alters the literal string my perl script is looking for, which won't exist.

[TheWitness]

Cacti does convert backslashes to forward slashes. Don't know why we did it, it had to be for a reason some time ago. Possibly a cygwin thing in Windows. I am not entirely cretain what function it's in right now. Maybe in the PM on Monday I can look into this. Time for beddie by.

TheWitness

[Brashquido]

No worries, thanks witness. I'd be very grateful for any help you can give me .

[Brashquido]

OK, I think I've found what is causing this, but due to the fact I'm using Turck I still seem to be stuck for a total solution.

I started again from scratch, and instead of creating data or graph templates I just created a data source for my data input method, and then created a graph from that. What I found was;

1) If I use cactid then all backslashes are converted to forward slashes.

2) If I use cmd.php mode then the backslashes remain as backslashes, and the command is executed correctly and I get my graph

3) However, as I use Turck everytime the poller.php is run I get errors saying Turck MMcache was unable to create shared memory area. From what I've read this is because Turck MMCache can't be run in command line mode. I tried using the -c option with php.exe to specify a different php.ini file which did not have Turck loaded which didn't work either, as it seems that php.exe is called by cacti internally twice other than what I specify in my shedueled task.

However, I am pretty confident this would work IF you were able to set cacti to use command line options for php.exe. The reason I think this is;

1) If I set the cacti poller to cmd.php, and set a scheduled task to run "php.exe x:/cacti/poller.php" then I am present with 3 warning windows saying Turck MMcache was unable to create shared memory area when the scheduled task is executed.

2) However, if I set the cacti poller to cmd.php, but set a scheduled task to run the extra command line option to specify php.exe to use an alternate php.ini file where Turck is not loaded, such as "php.exe -c x:/path/to/alternate/php.ini x:/cacti/poller.php" then I am presented with only 2 warning windows saying Turck MMcache was unable to create shared memory area when the scheduled task is executed. This meaning that when php is initially executed, the correct php.ini file with Turck not loaded is being used and I don't get a warning window. However, somewhere else along the line Cacti must execute php.exe twice more, but without the alternate php.ini file being used which is then using the default php.ini file which does have Turck loaded, causing the errors.

I have tried adding the additional command line options to the path section of the settings area in Cacti, but when I do that I am just given a waiting for poller 1/1 message which just loops.



So the crux of it is when I try and use cactid 0.8.6d (which I would prefer to use) the backslashes are converted to forward slashes, making it unusable for me, but the command is executed witout error apart from the altered syntax in my data source. When I use cmd.php mode the backslashes are not altered and the scripts are executed without a problem and data is graphed, but the use of Turck MMcache means that I am unable to execute php.exe in command line mode without specifically telling php not to load Turck through the use of an alternate php.ini file. Problem here being that cacti will not accept command line options to php.exe when called inernally from Cacti.


Any ideas?

[Brashquido]

I've fixed this for now by disabling Turck MMcache in my main php.ini file. However, I would still MUCH rather be using cactid over the cmd.php method as I am going to be wanting to monitor CPU, Disk I/O and Memory usage with 1 minute averages on 30 or so Windows XP machines.

I would love to help find a fix for cactid for this......

[TheWitness]

Please copy the attached files to your cactid source directory and remake. Should correct your problem.

Please post results.

Thanks,

TheWitness

[TheWitness]

If you need binary, please post as well.

[Brashquido]

Sorry for my Windows lameness, but I will need binary .