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Reprobate - continuous assertion monitoring

Quick start (if you already know what this is)

Install:

  1. download and unzip current binary
  2. chmod +x reprobate.sh
  3. ./reprobate.sh start
  4. browse to http://localhost:8473
  5. that's it!

Configure your own checks:

  1. edit checks.csv
  2. ./reprobate.sh restart
  3. that's it!

Migrating between versions:

  1. install new version
  2. copy checks.csv and state.json from previous version
  3. that's it!

What is it?

  • A simple lightweight monitor that loops through a supplied list of "checks", alerting you in suitably annoying fashion should any checks fail. Ideally displayed on a huge monitor, for all to see.

Why would I use it?

  • You have a stack of applications/services and need to know they are working all the time.
  • You want to be notified of production problems before your users report them
  • You need to "keep it up without touching it" (tm) - you probably work for an investment bank and enjoy segregation of duties etc
  • Generally we check our assertions only run at dev/build time - why wouldn't you want to run them all the time?
  • Easy integration with other monitoring tools and blink(1)

What is a check?

  • An assertion or invariant of your system, exposed as a JSON endpoint - adhering to the following contract:

    GET {host}/check/xxx e.g. GET http://localhost:8080/check/alive

  • check successful, return an empty list of failures:

    {"failures":[]}

  • check unsuccessful, return a list of (one or more) failures:

    {"failures":["I am not alive"]}

What constitutes a good check?

  • One expressed in business terms e.g. check/reports/valid/today or check/can/price/trade
  • Calling it frequently should not negatively impact the application/service. If your check is expensive, abstract the expensive bit into another thing and have your check query that other thing.

How do I configure it?

  • see the examples in checks.csv in your reprobate installation (it is created on first run)

Can I make is more/less shouty?

  • see instructions for 'defcon level' in checks.csv

All my checks fail when I deploy new versions of my stack...

  • have your deployment scripts send a broadcast message to reprobate

  • supply a message, environment and duration (in seconds) for the deploment

  • reprobate will disable any probes running against that environment for the duration of the release

  • e.g.

    APP="app"
    VERSION="version"
    MACHINE_NAME="machine"
    DEPLOYER=`id -u -n`
    MESSAGE="(${APP}) ${VERSION} deployed to ${MACHINE_NAME} by ${DEPLOYER}"
    
    wget --timeout=15 --no-proxy -O- --header=Content-Type:application/json
    	--post-data="{\"messages\":[\"${MESSAGE}\"] \"env\":\"UAT\" \"durationSeconds\": 30}" "http://localhost:8473/broadcast"
    
    Or
    
    curl --connect-timeout 15 -H "Content-Type: application/json"
    	-d "{\"messages\":[\"${MESSAGE}\"] \"env\":\"UAT\" \"durationSeconds\": 30}" http://localhost:8473/broadcast
    
    

Does reprobate have an API?

  • Reprobate hosts a 'check' for that - http://{hostname}:8473/check/probes/ok/{query}

    e.g. (query is optional)

     http://localhost:8473/check/all/ok
     http://localhost:8473/check/all/ok/prod
    
  • all checks successful:

    {"failures":[]}

  • some checks unsuccessful:

     {
       "failures":[
       	"PROD Failure active between 10am and 1pm (Demo): I always let myself down",
       	"PROD Failure @ defcon 3 (Demo): I always let myself down"
       ]
     }
    
  • This is useful if you have multiple stacks monitored by reprobate you can aggregate them all into one uber reprobate

  • Integrating with other monitoring tools.

How do I integrate with my blink(1)?

  • Configure blink-control to poll the following endpoint - http://{hostname}:8473/blink1/status/{query}

    e.g. (query is optional)

     http://localhost:8473/blink1/status
     http://localhost:8473/blink1/status/prod
    
  • Reprobate will return an appropriate colour to reflect the overall status


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