Getting Started¶

zenpacklib is a single Python module designed to be packaged with every ZenPack. There is a single file, zenpacklib.py that must be distributed with each ZenPack.

Downloading¶

Depending on what versions of Zenoss your ZenPack is supporting you may need to get a specific version of zenpacklib. See Compatibility for more information. Since the latest version of zenpacklib is usually compatible with recent versions of Zenoss it’s usually safe to get the most recent release. This can be done with the following commands.

su - zenoss
wget http://zenpacklib.zenoss.com/zenpacklib.py
chmod 755 zenpacklib.py

After downloading you can check the version by running the following command as the zenoss user.

./zenpacklib.py version

Creating a ZenPack¶

There are two ways to get started with zenpacklib. You can either use it to create a new ZenPack from the command line, or you can copy it into an existing ZenPack. We’ll start by creating a ZenPack from the command line.

Run the following command to create a new ZenPack.

./zenpacklib.py create ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter

This will print several lines to let you know what has been created. Note that the ZenPack’s source directory has been created, but it has not yet been installed.

Creating source directory for ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter:
  - making directory: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/ZenPacks/acme/Widgeter
  - creating file: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/setup.py
  - creating file: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/MANIFEST.in
  - creating file: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/ZenPacks/__init__.py
  - creating file: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/ZenPacks/acme/__init__.py
  - creating file: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/ZenPacks/acme/Widgeter/__init__.py
  - creating file: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/ZenPacks/acme/Widgeter/zenpack.yaml
  - copying: ./zenpacklib.py to ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/ZenPacks/acme/Widgeter

Now let’s take a look at zenpack.yaml. This is the file that will define what our ZenPack does.

name: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter

Add Monitoring¶

Let’s add a device class and a monitoring template to our ZenPack. Change zenpack.yaml to contain the following:

name: ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter

device_classes:
  /Server/ACME/Widgeter:
    zProperties:
      zDeviceTemplates:
        - WidgeterHealth

      templates:
        WidgeterHealth:
          description: ACME Widgeter monitoring.

          datasources:
            health:
              type: COMMAND
              parser: Nagios
              commandTemplate: "echo OK|percent=100"

              datapoints:
                percent:
                  rrdtype: GAUGE
                  rrdmin: 0
                  rrdmax: 100

          thresholds:
            unhealthy:
              dsnames: [health_percent]
              eventClass: /Status
              severity: Warning
              minval: 90

          graphs:
            Health:
              units: percent
              miny: 0
              maxy: 0

              graphpoints:
                Health:
                  dpName: health_percent
                  format: "%7.2lf%%"

Check for Correctness¶

Now that we have a more interesting zenpack.yaml, let’s have zenpacklib check that it’s correct. This can be done using the lint command.

cd ZenPacks.acme.Widgeter/ZenPacks/acme/Widgeter
./zenpacklib.py lint zenpack.yaml

Lint will print information about errors it finds in the YAML file. If nothing is printed, lint thinks the YAML is correct.

What Next?¶

You can either start with some Tutorials or jump right into the YAML Reference.