NetCDF time checker

A Sensu plugin written in Python which checks the last recorded time in a local or remote NetCDF dataset against a threshold time.

Requirements

The plugin requires the Python package sensu_plugin and netCDF4.

Invocation/options

Set up the sensu checks to point at netcdf_time_monitor.py

Command line arguments for this module are

-d, --dataset A required string argument with either a local file path to a netCDF file or a remote OPeNDAP dataset. -w --warntime A floating point number representing the number of hours before the present time is reported as the warn state. Defaults to 12 hours if left unspecified. -c --crittime A floating point number representing the number of hours before the present time is reported as the warn state. Defaults to 24 hours if left unspecified. -v --variable A string with the desired time variable name to check. Defaults to 'time' if left unspecified.

Example invocation

./netcdf_time_monitor.py -d 'http://data.oceansmap.com/thredds/dodsC/ndbc_agg/ygnn6/ygnn6.ncml' -w 12 -c 6 -v 'time'

Retrieves the aggregated THREDDS dataset from http://data.oceansmap.com/thredds/dodsC/ndbc_agg/ygnn6/ygnn6.ncml, sets the warn threshold to 12 hours, sets the critical threshold to 6 hours, and uses the variable named 'time' to compare against the current time.

Known issues/quirks

Setting critical time less than or equal to warn time will make warning state unreachable.