Processes can be monitored using check-procs from the official check plugins pack. For more on how to install the official check plugin pack, refer to Using the official check plugin pack for check monitoring.
Example: monitoring the cron process
To monitor cron, first write the following item in mackerel-agent.conf and then restart mackerel-agent.
[plugin.checks.check_cron] command = ["check-procs", "--pattern", "crond"]
In the --pattern option, specify a regular expression that will match the target process. With this arrangement, an alert will occur if crond suspends operations and will close automatically when the process is restored.
The same description can be used for Windows Servers, but note the following regarding the target process specified in the --pattern option.
- Specify a process name that can be obtained with the command
tasklist. - If thetasklistcommand output includes an extension such asfoobar.exe, remove the extension and specify.
[plugin.checks.check_foobar] command = ["check-procs","--pattern","foobar"]
Monitoring the number of processes
check-procs has the following available options, and it’s possible to configure thresholds for the number of processes. This is convenient when you want to monitor the number of worker processes.
-w,--warn-over- warning alert will be opened if the configured value is exceeded
-c,--critical-over- critical alert will be opened if the configured value is exceeded
-W,--warn-under- warning alert will be opened if the processes drop below the configured value
-C,--critical-under- critical alert will be opened if the processes drop below the configured value
The following configurations would be made, for example, when you want to monitor with the number of Nginx workers included.
[plugin.checks.check_nginx_worker]
command = ["check-procs", "-p", "nginx", "-W", "8", "-w", "10", "-C", "1", "-c", "30", "--user", "nginx"]
In this example, if the number of Nginx workers is less than 8 or more than 10, a Warning alert will be raised. If the number is less than 1 or greater than 30, a Critical alert will be generated. We have designated the executive user with the --user option and made configurations to more accurately collect the number of workers.
There are additional options for check-procs such as for monitoring the execution time and the status of processes. For more information please refer to check-procs --help and the README.
Source code
The source code for check-procs is publicly available via the URL below.
https://github.com/mackerelio/go-check-plugins/tree/master/check-procs
