mentat-dbmngr.py

This Mentat module is a script providing database management functions and features.

This script is implemented using the pyzenkit.zenscript framework and so it provides all of its core features. See the documentation for more in-depth details.

It is further based on mentat.script.fetcher module, which provides database fetching and message post-processing capabilities.

Usage examples

# Display help message and exit.
mentat-dbmngr.py --help

# Run in debug mode (enable output of debugging information to terminal).
mentat-dbmngr.py --debug

# Run with increased logging level.
mentat-dbmngr.py --log-level debug

# Perform initial database schema creation (both IDEA event and metadata dbs).
mentat-dbmngr.py --command init

# Reinitialize metadata database (drop and create, data destructive!).
mentat-dbmngr.py --command reinit-main

# Rebuild all IDEA event database indices.
mentat-dbmngr.py --command reindex-event

# Insert/remove demonstration data (accounts, groups, filters and networks).
mentat-dbmngr.py --command fixtures-add
mentat-dbmngr.py --command fixtures-remove

# Check IDEA event database for recently stored objects, send email warning
# in case no new objects were stored in configured time interval.
mentat-dbmngr.py --command watchdog-events
mentat-dbmngr.py --command watchdog-events --watchdog-delta 3600

# Same as above, only execute and produce output in Nagios plugin compatible
# mode.
mentat-dbmngr.py --command watchdog-events --nagios-plugin --log-level warning

# Add new user account to the database. Usefull for creating initial account
# after fresh installation. Note the use of double quotes to pass values
# containing spaces (name, organization) and the use of commas to pass multiple
# roles:
mentat-dbmngr.py --command user-add login=admin "fullname=Clark Kent" email=kent@dailyplanet.com "organization=Daily Planet, inc." roles=user,admin

Available script commands

init (default)

Perform necessary database initializations including creating all required indices.

fixtures-add

Populate database with demonstration objects - fixtures (user accounts and groups).

fixtures-remove

Remove demonstration objects from database - fixtures (user accounts and groups).

reinit-main

Reinitialize main database (drop whole database and recreate).

reindex-event

Rebuild event database indices (drop all indices and recreate).

user-add

Add new user account into the database.

watchdog-events

Check IDEA event database table for last message storage time and send out warning email in a case the last message stored is way too old. This simple watchdog should be able to detect issues in message processing chain. Optionally when used with --nagios-plugin option the direct warning mailing feature is suppressed and output and return code is in compliance with Nagios plugin development guidelines.

Custom configuration

Custom command line options

--watchdog-delta value

Time interval delta in hours for watchdog checks.

Type: integer, default: 2

--mail-subject value

Subject for the database watchdog emails.

Type: string, default: Mentat database watchdog alert

--mail-from value

Source email address for the database watchdog emails.

Type: string, default: root

--mail-to value

Target email address for the database watchdog emails.

Type: string, default: root

--nagios-plugin

Execute as Nagios plugin (flag).

Type: bool, default: False

Configuration

The application supports multiple means for adjusting the internal configurations. When appropriate the default values for each configuration is hardcoded in module source code. However there are several options to change the value:

  • Override the internal default value when instantinating the application object by passing different value to object constructor.

  • Pass the different value by configuration file.

  • Pass the different value by command line option.

The configuration values are assigned from the sources mentioned above in that particular order, so the value given by command line option overwrites the value written in configuration file.

Command line options

Configuration can be passed down to application by command line options. These options have the highest priority and will overwrite any other configuration values. Depending on the base object of the application different set of options is available.

Common application options

Following configuration options are available for all applications based on pyzenkit.baseapp:

--help

Display help and usage description and exit (flag).

--debug

Run in debug mode (flag).

Input various status information to stderr.

Type: boolean, default: False

--quiet

Run in quiet mode (flag).

Do not write anything to stdout or stderr.

Type: boolean, default: False

--verbose

Increase application output verbosity (flag, repeatable).

Type: boolean, default: False

--name alternative-name

Alternative name for application instead of default $0.

This value will be used to generate names for log, runlog, pid, status and other application files.

Type: string, default: $0

--config-file file-name

Name of the configuration file.

Type: string, default: autodetected

--config-file-silent

Do not complain in case given configuration file does not exist (flag).

Type: boolean, default: False

--config-dir file-name

Name of the configuration directory.

Type: string, default: autodetected

--config-file-silent

Do not complain in case given configuration directory does not exist (flag).

Type: boolean, default: False

--log-file file-name

Name of the log file.

Type: string, default: autodetected

--log-level level

Logging level [debug, info, warning, error, critical].

Type: string, default: info

--runlog-dir dir-name

Name of the runlog directory.

Type: string, default: autodetected

--runlog-dump

Dump runlog to stdout when done processing (flag).

Type: boolean, default: False

--runlog-log

Write runlog to logging service when done processing (flag)

Type: boolean, default: False

--pstate-file file-name

Name of the persistent state file.

Type: string, default: autodetected

--pstate-dump

Dump persistent state to stdout when done processing (flag).

Type: boolean, default: False

--pstate-log

Write persistent state to logging service when done processing (flag).

Type: boolean, default: False

--action action

Execute given quick action and exit. List of available actions can be displayed with --help option.

Type: string, default: None

--user name-or-id

Name/gid of the system user for process permissions.

Type: string, default: None

--group name-or-id

Name/gid of the system group for process permissions.

Type: string, default: None

Common script options

Following configuration options are available on top of common applicationsoptions for all applications based on pyzenkit.zenscript:

--regular

Operational mode: regular script execution (flag).

Conflicts with --shell option.

Type: boolean, default: False

--shell

Operational mode: manual script execution from shell (flag).

Conflicts with --regular option.

Type: boolean, default: False

--command name

Name of the script command to be executed.

Type: string, default: autodetected

--interval interval

Execution interval. This value should correspond with related cron script.

Type: string, default: daily

--adjust-thresholds

Round-up time interval threshols to interval size (flag).

Type: boolean, default: False

--time-high time

Upper time interval threshold.

Type: float, default: time.time

Configuration files and directories

Configuration can be passed down to application using a combination of configuration file or configuration directory.

The available configuration keys are very similar to command line options and the names differ only in the use of _ character instead of -. However there is a certain set of configuration keys that is available only through command line options and not through configuration file and vice versa.