README for NodeWatch

Copyright (C) 1998 Patrick Ryan.  All rights reserved.

-----------------
Document Contents
-----------------

    - Document Contents
    - Introduction
    - Obtaining the Software
    - Installing NodeWatch
    - Using NodeWatch
    - Companion Software
    - Support
    - Feedback
    - License Information


------------
Introduction
------------

NodeWatch is an open source TCP/IP network monitoring tool written in Perl
for UNIX.  It will watch, i.e. poll, a set of network nodes and react to node
connectivity changes by making entries to the syslog or executing user defined
commands.  NodeWatch was written from the perspective of a network manager; it
only keeps track of the node's ability to respond to ICMP echo request
datagrams with ICMP echo reply datagrams.


----------------------
Obtaining the Software
----------------------

NodeWatch is available at "http://junebug.fhcrc.org/nodewatch/".
It requires, minimally, the following packages:

    - Perl 5.001 or later
      http://www.perl.com/
    - Time::Period
      http://www.perl.com/CPAN-local/modules/by-module/Time/
    - fping
      ftp://ftp.stanford.edu/pub/packages/fping/


--------------------
Installing NodeWatch
--------------------

Place the files in places which suit your tastes.  For example, place
nodewatch in /usr/local/bin/, nodewatch.1 in /usr/local/man/man1/,
and all the configuration files in /usr/local/etc/nodewatc/.  Make sure
nodewatch is either executable or that it will get fed to Perl somehow.


---------------
Using NodeWatch
---------------

1.
Read the manual page for NodeWatch.

2.
Edit NodeWatch to set the location of the configuration file and to set
reasonable default values.

2.
Edit the configuration files.

3.
Start NodeWatch and place it in the background.

Example:

    root# nodewatch&


------------------
Companion Software
------------------

Companion software is included on an experimental basis.  They are used
at the organization that developed NodeWatch, and are fairly rough pieces
of software.  Please read the source code if you wish to use them.  There
are several tools included in the distribution: nodewatch_up, n_status_watch,
n_httpd, and n_httpd_up.  Two tools, nodewatch_up and n_httpd_up, make sure
that NodeWatch is running and that n_httpd is running.  The n_httpd tool is
a simple and ugly HTTP based daemon that reports on the state of the nodes
under NodeWatch's eye.  And finally, one tool, n_status_watch, monitors the
syslog to make sure NodeWatch status messages are getting through.


-------
Support
-------

The foremost support is the manual page, comments in the configuration files,
and the daemon itself.  There will be a mailing list soon; check the
distribution site to see if the mailing list is operational.  Also, the
author, Patrick Ryan <pryan@fhcrc.org>, will respond.


--------
Feedback
--------

Comments or questions regarding NodeWatch are welcome.  Please direct feedback
to the author, Patrick Ryan <pryan@fhcrc.org>.


-------------------
License Information
-------------------

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA

