Frequently Asked Questions
**************************

1.  Q: Where can I find documentation for <insert name> plugin?

    A: All plugins that comply with minimal development guideline for
    this project include internal documentation.  The documentation
    can be read executing plugin with the '-h' option ('--help' if
    long options are enabled).  If the '-h' option does not work, that
    is a bug.

2.  Q: What version of <insert name> plugin am I running?

    A: All plugins that comply with minimal development guideline for
    this project include detailed version information.  When executed
    with the '-V' option, a version string will be printed:

    check_radius (netsaint-plugins 1.3.0-alpha1) 1.11

    Note that this string include both the assigned package release
    name and the CVS-generated revision for the individual plugin.
    Authors hould strictly adhere to this format.  All bug reports
    and help requests should reference this information.

3.  Q: What information do I need to include when asking for help or
    submitting a bug report?

    A: At a minimum, the output from 'uname -a' and the version string
    from '<plugin_name> -V' and, of course, a description of the
    problem and any solution/patch.

4.  Q: I'm using Redhat Linux (or some other RPM-based distribution).
    Which packages should I install?

    A: The package netsaint-plugins-<version>.<arch>.rpm contains only
    those plugins that should work on any POSIX compliant system.  In
    other words, you should be able to install this package on your
    system, no matter what else is or in not installed.

    However, most of us have more complex systems than barebones
    POSIX.  We tried creating a variety of separate packages so
    each dependency could be installed cleanly, but many people
    found that this resulted in too many packages.  So in the end,
    all the non-POSIX plugins were folded into one RPM 
    (netsaint-plugins-<version>.<arch>.rpm).  Most people will need to
    use RPM's '--nodeps' option to install this package.

5.  Q: My sysem uses the .deb package format. What pacakges should I
    install?

    A: We strive for cooperation between all packagers and developers.
    The answers for .deb are the same as for RPM, afetr changing the
    package name suffixes accordingly.

6.  Q: I prefer to build my own RPMs. Do I need to install all of the
    various dependencies?

    A: Beginning with the 1.2.9-1 release, you may run

      rpm --define 'custom 1' -ta netsaint-plugins-<release>.tar.gz

    In prior releases, you must unpack the tarball and build the
    RPM using netsaint-custom.spec with 'rpm -ba'.

7.  Q: I get an error like

      Warning: Return code of 127 for check of service 'PING' on host 'anyhost' was out of bounds.

    when I run netsaint. (Often check_ping runs just fine on the
    command line).

    A: Commonly, system adminitrators will make security as tight as
    possible on the monitoring system. Sometimes this includes OS
    options or hardening scripts that prevent unpriveleged users from
    running the ping command. Netsaint runs with no more priveleges
    than 'nobody' -- check to be sure that the netsaint user can
    actually run check ping.  (This can also happen with other binaries
    executed by netsaint, but ping seems to be far and away the biggest
    offender.)

8.  Q: Check_procs seems to run, but does not return all (or any) of the
    processes I am interested in. When run as root, the processes are 
    reported, but when netsaint runs it, they are not.

                 -- or --

> my nscgi.cfg has the following line:
> 
> netsaint_check_command=/usr/lib/netsaint/plugins/check_netsaint -F /usr/local/netsaint/var/status.log -e 5 -C /usr/local/netsaint/bin/netsaint
> 
> All the netsaint cgi's say that the "NetSaint process may not be running!", yet when
> I type the command shown above as root, I get:
> 
> NetSaint ok: located 2 processes, status log updated 6 seconds ago
> 
> Anybody know what's wrong?  Thanks

    A: The basic cause is exactly as noted for Q7 -- system security.
    Some systems, inculding Mandrake-secure, will not allow ordinary
    users to access the processes entries of other users. Possible 
    solutions, in no particular order, include:

     - run a less secure kernel
     - run check_netsaint and check_procs suid

    If you don't need check_procs, you may also:

     - changing the internal logic of check_netsaint
     - run daemonchk.cgi in place of check_netsaint (untested, but
       should work because the entries in the /proc file system
       are often still visible, only the contents are hidden)


