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How to add a new service for chkservd to monitor

Axel Cervera
  • Updated

Introduction

The chkservd driver monitors the status of services to determine if they are online or if a restart is required for the service. The chkservd driver also allows you to add your own custom service for monitoring.

 

Procedure

 

1) Add the service to the configuration

  • Open /etc/chkserv.d/chkservd.conf via a text editor of your choice.
  • Add the service you wish to monitor in the following format: $SERVICE:1 (1 indicates the service should be monitored)
  • Example: ftpd:1

2) Create a service configuration file

  • Inside the directory /etc/chkserv.d/ create a service file.
  • touch /etc/chkserv.d/$SERVICE

3) Configure the service file

 

There are 3 methods of monitoring that chksrvd can perform, so select the one that fits your custom service the best.

 

  • Connection-based monitoring: With connection-based monitoring, the chksrvd driver will attempt to connect to the specified port and issue a command. If a proper response is received then the service is considered to be online.

Using the FTP service as an example:

 

service[ftpd]=21,QUIT,220,/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_ftpserver

 

In this example the values represent the following:
  • ftpd represents the service to monitor.
  • 21 represents the port through which the chkservd driver will attempt to connect to the service.
  • QUIT represents the command that the chkservd driver will send to check the service’s connection.
  • 220 represents the server’s expected response to the command.
  • /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_ftpserver represents the service’s restart command.

 

  • Process-based monitoring: With process-based monitoring, chksrvd will search for the specified process to determine if the service is online.

Using the FTP service as an example:

 

service[ftpd]=x,x,x,/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_ftpserver.service,ftpd,root
 

In this example the values represent the following:

  • ftpd represents the service to monitor.

  • x,x,x directs the system to use process-based tracking.

  • /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv/ftpserver represents the service’s restart command. To enter more than one restart command, separate each command with a semicolon (;) in the order that the chkservd driver will execute them.

  • ftpd represents the service to restart.

  • root represents the user who owns the monitor process.

  • Make certain to separate multiple users with a pipe (|) character.

 

  • Combined connection-based and process-based monitoring: This method will utilize both process and connection-based monitoring to determine the status of the service.

Using the FTP service as an example:

 

service[ftpd]=21,QUIT,220,/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_ftpserver,ftpd,root
 

In this example the values represent the following:

  • ftpd represents the service to monitor.

  • 21 represents the port through which the chkservd driver will attempt to connect to the service.

  • QUIT represents the command that the chkservd driver will send to check the service’s connection.

  • 220 represents the server’s expected response to the command.

  • /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restartsrv_ftpserver represents the service’s restart command.

  • ftpd represents the service to restart.

  • root represents the user who owns the monitor process. Make certain to separate multiple users with a pipe (|) character.

 

4) Restart chksrvd

  • After these modifications have been performed, restart the service to have your changes take effect.
  • /scripts/restartsrv_chkservd

     

For more information, visit our official documentation.

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