Re: very simple exec usage

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007, Dave Shield wrote:

> On 20/04/07, Charles Sprickman <[email protected]> wrote:
>> If I really want to have certain lines in a script that returns multiple
>> lines be reported as integers, is there *anything* I can do to force that?
>> 
>> Is there something beyond exec and extend that would make more sense?
>
> Let's take a step back.
> Fundamentally, there are two possible approaches to reporting information
> via SNMP.   Either the data must be munged into a form that matches the
> MIB, or a MIB must be written that matches the format of the data.

Got it.

> The "simple script" extension mechanisms ("exec" and "extend") use the
> first approach.  We've defined a MIB structure that is flexible enough to
> handle arbitrary script output.   Which means that it can't make assumptions
> about the format of this output, hence treating everything as text strings.
> (That doesn't handle binary output very well, but never mind).

Also understood.

> If you're needing to report multiple integer values, then you probably need
> to take the second approach, and define and implement a suitable MIB for
> your data.  The simplest way to implement this would probably be using
> the "pass" directive, which also invokes a shell-script - though this would
> need to be tailored suitably.

This sounds very interesting, as I'm sure this won't be the last thing 
where I need to cook up something special.  I had a look at the manpage 
and the brief wiki entry, but I'm wondering if anyone has a nice, simple 
example of implementing "pass" that I could stare at, hack up and 
hopefully learn something.

> The other possibility it to hack the code of the 'extend' module, and 
> have it report integer values rather than strings.  That's not something 
> we can do globally, since it wouldn't be appropriate for many 
> situations.  But if this is a private setup, then you can tweak things 
> to your heart's content. (That's the beauty of Open Source, after all!)

While tempting, I'd rather stick with a standard, unhacked install so that 
anyone following me won't get lost. :)

Thanks again,

Charles


> Dave
>

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