Probe Services?

[Luca Gabrielli]

Hi
I can't understand what probe services are.
I 've heard about perl script that probe tcp services but.Can anyone explain me what is a probe in a simple mode?
Thank you

Luca

[Ivan Ferreira · Accepted solution]

Normally, services probes are used to identify when an important service is down so an action can be done. What the service probe do is to run a test to identify if the service is listening for connections or is available.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

Probe services, sounds a bit sinister.

I could use nmap to probe what network services are available, e.g. what ports are open on the firewall.

This would give me an idea what services are running if I were running a security audit or doing something nastier. Which I'd never do.

SEP

[Yogeeraj_1]

hi luca,

Monitoring-entitled systems can have probes applied to them that constantly confirm their health and full operability.

below a quote from the Redhat knowledge base ( http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/RHNetwork/ref-guide/4.0/ap-probes-monitoring.html )
The following general guidelines outline the meaning of each probe state, and provide guidance in setting thresholds for your probes.

The following list provides a brief description of the meaning of each probe state:

Unknown
=======
The probes that cannot collect the metrics needed to determine probe state. Most (though not all) probes enter this state when exceeding their timeout period. Probes in this state may be configured incorrectly, as well.

Pending
=======
The probes whose data has not been received by the RHN Satellite Server. It is normal for new probes to be in this state. However, if all probes move into this state, your monitoring infrastructure may be failing.
OK

The probes that have run successfully without error. This is the desired state for all probes.

Warning
=======
The probes that have crossed their WARNING thresholds.
Critical

The probes that have crossed their CRITICAL thresholds or reached a critical status by some other means. (Some probes become critical when exceeding their timeout period.)

hope this helps!

kind regards
yogeeraj

[Luca Gabrielli]

thank's to all of you.
Can you give me an example of http probing?
Which command can I use to test http services?

[Yogeeraj_1]

hi Luca,

There is one product called HP Openview Internet Service Probe Builder.

Product features include service level monitoring, proactive alarms that directly reflect end user experience, and reporting for capacity planning and service compliance.

for more information see:
http://devresource.hp.com/drc/unifieddev/probe.jsp

there are also open source software on which you may wish to look into:

NMAP


see also:
http://insecure.org/nmap/
http://members.dodo.net.au/~ps2man/Nmap/nmap.html


kind regards
yogeeraj

[Ivan Ferreira]

This tool will help you in your needs:

http://www.rfxnetworks.com/sim.php