ANNOUNCE: moodss-17.4 and moomps-2.6

I apologize for this post on a monitoring application, but since it now includes Oracle database support, I thought some of you might be interested.

### CHANGES ###

• moodss 17.4 and moomps 2.6 ---
  • added Oracle database support
  • in moodss GUI:
    • use BWidget tree instead of BLT tree implementation
    • use arrow mouse cursor in all help windows
    • no longer exit on database connection failures when starting recording history or loading from database
    • help message for empty viewer was stuck when creating bar graphs or pie charts by a direct data cell drop into their iconic drop site
  • trying to store data cell history from a module without options no longer generates an error
  • added optional debugging code (commented out) in database layer source code
  • in snmp and smithy modules, use full OID in dotted notation for sysUpTime in order to avoid MIB lookup
  • successfully tested with mysqltcl version 2.20
  • added support for 3.23.57 MySQL server version in myvars module
  • Linux modules successfully tested against kernel 2.4.21
  • requires BWidget latest version 1.6

### README ### This is moodss (Modular Object Oriented Dynamic SpreadSheet) version 17.4 and moomps (Modular Object Oriented Multi-Purpose Service) version 2.6.

For Unix Review, moodss is "a must-have application for today's network and systems administrators".
Moodss won in the Best System Admin Technology category (Tcl Tips and Tricks, Valuable Real World Programming Examples) at the O'Reilly Tcl/Tk 1999 Conference.
Linux Magazine calls it a "lifesaver".
Tucows gives it 5 stars (cows or penguins :-).

Moodss is a modular application. It displays data described and updated in one or more modules, which can be specified in the command line or dynamically loaded or unloaded while the application is running. Data is originally displayed in tables. Graphical viewers (graph, bar, 3D pie charts, ...), summary tables (with current, average, minimum and maximum values) and free text viewers can be created from any number of table cells, originating from any of the displayed viewers. The display area can be extended by adding pages with notebook tabs. Thresholds can be set on any number of cells.

Moomps (shipped with moodss) is a monitoring daemon which works using configuration files created by moodss. Thresholds, when crossed, create messages in the system log, and eventually trigger the sending of email alert messages and the execution of user defined scripts. It is also possible to use a database as a storage mean, so that data history is for example available for presentations and graphs, via commonly available spreadsheet software.

Specific modules can easily be developed in the Tcl, Perl and Python scripting languages or in C.

A thorough and intuitive drag'n'drop scheme is used for most viewer editing tasks: creation, modification, type mutation, destruction, ... and thresholds creation. Table rows can be sorted in increasing or decreasing order by clicking on column titles. The current configuration (modules, tables and viewers geometry, ...) can be saved in a file at any time, and later loaded at the user's convenience, thus achieving a dashboard functionality.

The module code is the link between the moodss core and the data to be displayed. All the specific code is kept in the module package. Since module data access is entirely customizable (through C code, Tcl, Perl, Python, HTTP, ...) and since several modules can be loaded at once, applications for moodss become limitless.

For example, thoroughly monitor a dynamic web server on a single dashboard with graphs, using the Apache, MySQL, ODBC, cpustats, memstats, ... modules. If you have replicated servers, dynamically add them to your view, even load the snmp module on the fly and let your imagination take over...

Along with a core trace module, arp, cpustats, disks, interrupts, kernmods, log, memstats, minimal, mounts, netdev, partitions, pci, ps, random, route, sensors, system modules for Linux, MySQL (myerrorlog, myhealth, myprocs, myquery, myreplication, mystatus, myvars), odbcquery, ping, snmp, snmptrap for UNIX, apache and apachex, Minimal and Random Perl modules, minipy and randpy Python modules are included. Running "wish moodss ps cpustats memstats" mimics the "top" application with a graphic edge and remote monitoring capability.

Thorough help is provided through menus, widget tips, a message area, a module help window and a global help window with a complete HTML documentation.

Moodss is multi-lingual thanks to Tcl internationalization capabilities. So far only English and partially French are supported. Help with other languages will be very warmly welcomed.

Development of moodss is continuing and as more features are added in future versions, backward module code compatibility will be maintained.

Whether you like it (or hate it), please let me know. I would like to hear about bugs and improvements you would like to see. I will correct the bugs quickly, especially if you send me a test script (module code with a data trace would be best).

###

you may find it now at my homepage:

http://jfontain.free.fr/moodss-17.4.tar.bz2
http://jfontain.free.fr/moodss-17.4.zip
http://jfontain.free.fr/moodss-17.4-1.i386.rpm
http://jfontain.free.fr/moomps-2.6-1.i386.rpm
http://jfontain.free.fr/moodss-17.4-1.spec