---
name: "checkservice"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "checkservice"
version: "1.1.0-11"
release: "Debian 6.0 (Squeeze)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/checkservice"
---

# checkservice(1)

checks the status of services on (remote) hosts

## NAME

checkservice - checks the status of services on (remote) hosts

## SYNOPSIS

**checkservice \[*OPTIONS*\]...**

## DESCRIPTION

Checkservice will get its information about what to do from the combination of a global configfile and host-specific files. It can scan either one host or  all hosts for which those host-specific configfiles are available. Checkservice provides two types of scans that are configurable for every separate service: *simple* and *extended*. For an *extended* service-check plugins are used. These will thoroughly check if the service is REALLY working. If no plugin is available for that service or the configuration for that service is set to do a *simple* check, Checkservice will perform a test if the port/ports given for that service is/are open.

Checkservice provides three types of output:

- **logfiles**

  Write the status of each service in a separate logfile for the specified host.

- **stdout**

  This is meant for the Checkservice php-script, the format is exactly like the configfile but with the status at then end.

- **mrtg**

  Simple form of output: print a *zero* if the specified host is up and all the services are working correctly, or a *one* if one of the services is failing the test or the host is down. This number is followed by the localtime (see also: **perlfunc** (1p) for the format).

## OPTIONS

- **-t**, **--targethost=STR**

  Specify the host to scan. A configfile for that host must be available in \<configdir\>/hosts. If *STR* is '\*', all hosts will be scanned for  which configfiles are available.

- **-c**, **--configdir=PATH**

  Specifies configdir, (default: /etc/checkservice).

- **-l**, **--logdir=PATH**

  Logdirectory where host-specific logs should be kept. If PATH is '-', Checkservice will print to stdout (default).

- **-m**, **--mrtg**

  Generate only a 0 (host is up & all services are ok) or 1 to stdout, followed by localtime. Using this option, logdir specification will be ignored. **NB**. The targethost option is compulsory!

- **-h**, **--help**

  Show this help and exit.

- **-v**, **--version=MODE**

  Show version (if MODE is 'short', only version number will be printed) and exit.

## FILES

- **/etc/checkservice/config**

  Global configfile.

- **/etc/checkservice/\*.mail**

  Template mail files, in which the following variables can be used:

*%t* time server/service went down.\
 *%h* host that either is unreachable or has a failing service.\
 *%s* service that went down (not available in the host unreachable-template).\
 *%p* portset defined for service.\

The subject is also configurable by adding a 'Subject: .....' line on top of the template, it will be stripped from the mail's contents. Variable  substitution is also performed to that Subject-line.

- **/etc/checkservice/hosts/\***

  Host-specific configfiles. Look at  [**checkservice**(5)](/checkservice/5.md) for the format. Note that directory structures are allowed to create a sort of groups (and subgroups, etc).

## AUTHOR

This manual page was written by Paul van Tilburg \<paul@linvision.com\>, for Linvision BV.

## REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to paul@linvision.com

## COPYRIGHT

This software is copyright © 2000, by Paul van Tilburg

You are free to distribute this software under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

## SEE ALSO

[**checkservice**(5)](/checkservice/5.md)