12

I'm trying to use the Percona Apache Monitoring [Cacti] Template for Memcached.

They do indeed warn that you can't use the openbsd version of the package and provide a solution for Ubuntu/Debian users, i.e.:

You need nc on the server. Some versions of nc accept different command-line options. You can change the options used by configuring the PHP script. If you don’t want to do this for some reason, then you can install a version of nc that conforms to the expectations coded in the script’s default configuration instead. On Debian/Ubuntu, netcat-openbsd does not work, so you need the netcat-traditional package, and you need to switch to /bin/nc.traditional...

Since the RHEL 6.x version indeed comes from openbsd (confirmed by rpm -qi nc) how does one go about getting this installed on RHEL/CentOS?

Anyone else running these Percona templates on RHEL/CentOS? What did you do? alien the Debian package?

Update 1: FWIW, I tried to use GNU netcat by compiling it from source but it doesn't seem to have the exact options required by the Cacti template either (i.e. there is no analogy for -C or -q1 so it seems)

Update 2: I alien[ed] the netcat-traditional_1.10-38_amd64.deb package to make a .tgz and it does produce a binary "nc.traditional" and that version has the -q option but no -C

Update 3: I alied[ed] netcat-openbsd_1.89-3ubuntu2_amd64.deb as suggested by cjc and although it provides the -C and -q options it does not appear to work with the template. I also removed the -q1 option from the nc_cmd as suggested by quanta. Still doesn't graph or produce output from the commandline.

Update 4: I built the source RPM as suggested by dmourati and left out the -q1 as suggested by quanta and still it doesn't graph or produce output from the commandline. Maybe the source RPM solution and/or not passing -q1 works on RHEL 5.x, I dunno. At this point I admit defeat.

Cheers

HTTP500
  • 4,827
  • 4
  • 22
  • 31
  • Hmm. Here's a "netcat traditional" rpm for 5.x: http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/4/idpl/2392833/dir/redhat_5.x/com/netcat-1.10-1.i386.rpm.html You might be able to do something with the SRPM, in terms of building it on RHEL/CentOS 6.x. – cjc Jun 26 '12 at 18:37
  • @cjc, see my Update 2 I expect the same issue with that RPM. – HTTP500 Jun 26 '12 at 19:09
  • hmm, looking more closely at the nc installed on my Ubuntu 10.04 box, I see that the version that has both "-C" and "-q1" is the openbsd one, version 1.89-3ubuntu2. The nc.traditional one does not. Try to alien netcat-openbsd maybe? – cjc Jun 26 '12 at 19:40
  • @cjc alien[ing] that Ubuntu package does produce a nc capable of passing -C and -q but Cacti isn't graphing and I can't produce any output from running the script commandline either :-(. But if you want to make your comment an answer and collect the bounty go for it since it does meet the criteria I laid out even if it doesn't work. – HTTP500 Jun 26 '12 at 20:59
  • 2
    http://code.google.com/p/mysql-cacti-templates/issues/detail?id=185 – quanta Jun 27 '12 at 03:09
  • 4
    It's almost like the template makers are trolling on purpose. "Installing this template is easy! Just make sure your netcat has both -C and -q options available. " – Janne Pikkarainen Jun 27 '12 at 10:54
  • What''s wrong with "You can change the options used by configuring the PHP script", the _first_ suggestion in the docs you've quoted, to which installing an alternate `nc` is given as an alternative? – mattdm Oct 31 '12 at 14:14

5 Answers5

2

please install package the called nmap-ncat and check it.

Manoj K
  • 77
  • 4
-1

Here's a partial (and opposite) solution that addresses the -C but not the -q.

I started here:

http://www.reidea.hu/netcatcrlf/

That at least explains what the -C option is supposed to do, provide a CRLF.

That page lead me to an ancient bugzilla:

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=203931

There you can find a patched SRPM for the -C issue.

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/attachment.cgi?id=134827

Download that SRPM, rebuild it (works fine in my CentOS 6 RPM build environment) and you can install the resulting nc. Check the man page, voila, support for -C.

-C Send CRLF as line-ending

For my own edification, what does the -q1 option do?

EDIT: Ah, I see the -q1 is to quit after 1 second. For the netcat above, the option is "-w" for timeout. You may be able to make that simple change to the percona script and get your graphs working. Pass a EOF as necessary.

dmourati
  • 24,720
  • 2
  • 40
  • 69
  • 1
    My impression is that the "-q1" differs from the "-w" timeout. The latter is the timeout to establish a connection. The former, at least according to the docs, is a delay in closing an established connection. – cjc Jun 27 '12 at 09:29
-1

On my Ubuntu 10.04 box, I see that the version that has both "-C" and "-q1" is the openbsd one, version 1.89-3ubuntu2. The nc.traditional one in fact does not.

Try to alien netcat-openbsd package, maybe?

Interestingly, the various sources for netcat around the Internet don't have the complete featureset offered by the Ubuntu version. I haven't looked at the Ubuntu package manifest to see what they did.

cjc
  • 24,533
  • 2
  • 49
  • 69
  • Awarded bounty as it met the posted criteria but note that this solution does not work for the broader problem (i.e. with the Percona Cacti Memcached template) so not awarding best answer. – HTTP500 Jun 27 '12 at 19:56
-3

Alternatively you can write your own wrapper what use the correct options and ignore all the other. Saving it and use it in the percona monitoring plugins. How does it sounds ?

Dodger Web
  • 1
  • A wrapper would not be able to implement the functionality provided by these options. Unless you are suggesting he rewrites netcat itself. – chutz Oct 31 '12 at 14:22
-6
yum install nc
up2date install nc

and change the script if you need it

GioMac
  • 4,444
  • 3
  • 24
  • 41
  • 1
    You read the note where I said that the version that comes from Red Hat uses the openbsd version of nc right? – HTTP500 Jun 14 '12 at 19:53
  • "You can change the options used by configuring the PHP script", and change the script if you need it – GioMac Jun 14 '12 at 19:57
  • The option used by the script that is not present in RHEL version is -q1 . Can you suggest an analogous option(s)? Thanks! – HTTP500 Jun 14 '12 at 20:41
  • Oh, probably I would find source code for netcat I need and create RPM, or compile it and install directly (make, make install). – GioMac Jun 15 '12 at 06:37