
                           The Minotaur user manual
                                       
[1]Gilles Lamiral

   v0.3, 15 September 1999
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   This document describes the Minotaur user interface called by your
   browser [2]minotaur.cgi. 
     _________________________________________________________________
   
1. Principles

   The Mon software is a general scheduler executing periodic tests on a
   set of services and triggers alarms when a problem occurs.
   
   The scheduler can be consulted upon a simple textual protocol on a
   predefined port.
   
   The interface is based on this protocol. The CGI script (Common
   Gateway Interface) consults the scheduler and presents the results on
   a HTML way.
   
   To understand the web interface, you need to think about the following
   hierarchy:
   
     * The scheduler supervises groups.
     * Groups are made up with items.
     * Those items can be hosts presented by their name or their IP
       address, or everything else, directories for example.
     * Upon each items group, the scheduler supervises one or more
       services.
     * With each service, the scheduler can trigger one or more alarms.
       
2. General presentation

     * A configuration table called ``Server: ...''. This table is always
       present. The ``...'' is the Mon server name contacted.
     * A status table called ``Status: ...''. The ``...'' is the date
       when the Mon server was polled.
     * An vross view table called ``CrossView''. The Minotaur
       administartor may have change this name to ``Aliases'' or
       ``Clients''.
     * An historic table called ``Historic''. This is the alert historic.
     * A link bar upon each table. To surf from one table to another and
       read this documentation.
       
3. The top table

   [INLINE]
   
   CAPTION: The configuration
   
   With the refresh popup you select the time refresh time of the whole
   page.
   
   With the language popup you select the user interface language.
   
   With the check-boxes named ``Status'', ``Historic'', ``CrossView'',
   you select the tables you want to see.
   
4. The status table

   [INLINE]
   
   CAPTION: The status table
   
   The host colomn.
          This colomn contains the list of all hosts. The disabled hosts
          are selected. You can select or deselect some hosts but it
          won't do anything. The disable mechanism is not yet coded.
          
   The ``group'' colomn.
          The group colomn just names the group.
          
   The ``Members'' colomn.
          The members colomn contains the group host lists, one in each
          cell, one for each ``group'' colomn cell.
          
   The ``Service'' colomn.
          The service colomn just names the services. There can be
          several services for each group.
          
   The ``Last at'' and ``Next in'' colomn.
          The ``Last at'' colomn tells you when the last test was done.
          The ``Next in'' colomn tells you the waiting time untill the
          next test.
          
   The ``Status'' colomn.
          The status colomn gives the service status, one cell for each
          service. If the tests were good then you see the string
          "succeeded" alone. Else, you see the string "failed" followed
          by an summary information, typically the host that failed the
          tests.
          
   Behevior.
          When a service is red or blue, the group is upped at the top of
          the table. The sort order is red, then blue. With this feature,
          you just have to look at the top part of the table. If you
          select an automatic refresh and the url [3]minotaur.cgi#status
          then the view is always pertinent. You can put this url on a
          big screen and get worried only if red color happens.
          
   Color legend.
          
          + When everything is good the services are not colored.
          + When a service is ``down'' the service and its group are red.
            The up-brother services (in the same group) are green.
          + When a service is not yet tested, at the Mon reset or
            starting, it is yellow.
          + When a service is disabled (none alarm is triggered), it is
            blue.
          + The sorting rule to present the groups is : red, blue,
            yellow, alphanumeric.
          + The sorting rule to present services in a group is : red,
            blue, yellow, alphanumeric.
            
5. The CrossWiew table

   [INLINE]
   
   CAPTION: The empty aliases table
   
   By default, the crossview table lists the aliases in the first column
   but does not detail each alias.
   
   [INLINE]
   
   CAPTION: The non-empty aliases table
   
   To see the alias details, just select it in the List column and click
   on a submit button. You can do a multiple selection.
   
   [INLINE]
   
   CAPTION: The full aliases table
   
   To see all the aliases, just select the all radio button and click on
   a submit button.
   
6. The historic table

   [INLINE]
   
   CAPTION: The historic table
   
   In red, the alerts. In green, the up-alerts and the start-alerts.
   
   You choose the number of line you want to see with the No column
   text-field. You filter the last happenned events with the Filter
   popup. The last alerts within the interval are displayed with a broken
   blank background. You can filter with the date. You can filter which
   services or groups you wan to see. All those criteria are used with a
   ``logical and''.
   
7. License

   I put this documentation under the [4]opencontent license. This means
   this document is given without any warranty. You can use it,
   redistribute it, modify it, by respecting the following conditions:
   You have to clearly specify the nature and the content of the
   modifications, their date and keep the opencontent license in case of
   redistribution. If you sell it, you sell the medium, not the content.
   This is a summary, read the license to get more details.

References

   1. mailto:lamiral@mail.dotcom.fr
   2. file://localhost/home/gilles/public_html/minotaur-0.03/cgi-bin/minotaur.cgi
   3. file://localhost/home/gilles/public_html/minotaur-0.03/cgi-bin/minotaur.cgi#status
   4. http://www.opencontent.org/opl.shtml
