Device Classes¶

Device classes are the functional categorization mechanism for Zenoss devices. Everything about how a device is modeled and monitored is controlled by its device class unless the device class configuration is overridden specifically for the device.

Example device classes that are a default part of every Zenoss system:

/Discovered
/Network
/Server

Device classes are one of the most common items a ZenPack would add to Zenoss.

Adding Device Classes¶

To add a device class to your ZenPack you must include a device_classes section to your YAML file. The following example shows an example of adding a device class.

device_classes:
  /Server/ACME/Widgeter:
    remove: true

The remove field controls whether the device class will be removed from Zenoss if the ZenPack is removed. It defaults to false. In this example we set it to true because we do want our custom device class removed if the ZenPack that supports it is removed.

Each device class listed in device_classes will be created when the ZenPack is installed. The device classes will be created recursively if necessary. Meaning that if the /Server or /Server/ACME device classes don’t already exist, they will be automatically created.

Setting zProperties¶

You can also set zProperty values for each device class. These values will be set each time the ZenPack is installed.

device_classes:
  /Server/ACME/Widgeter:
    remove: true
    zProperties:
      zWidgeterEnable: true
      zWidgeterInterval: 60

The referenced zProperties must already exist in the Zenoss system, or be added by your ZenPack via a global zProperties entry.

Adding Monitoring Templates¶

Within each device class entry you can add monitoring templates. See the following example for adding a simple monitoring template with a single COMMAND datasource.

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

    templates:
      Device:
        description: ACME Widgeter monitoring.

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

            datapoints:
              percent: {}

        graphs:
          Phoniness:
            units: percent
            miny: 0
            maxy: 100

            graphpoints:
              Phoniness:
                dpName: phony_percent
                format: "%7.2lf%%"
                lineType: AREA

This Device monitoring template will be added to the /Server/ACME/Widgeter device class each time the ZenPack is installed. This doesn’t explicitly bind the monitoring template to the device class. To do that you need to set zDeviceTemplates as shown in the example.

See Monitoring Templates for more information on creating monitoring templates.

Device Class Fields¶

The following fields are valid for a device class entry.

path

Description:	Path (e.g. /Server/ACME/Widgeter). Must begin with “/”.
Required:	Yes
Type:	string
Default Value:	(implied from key in device_classes map)

remove

Description:	Should the device class be removed when the ZenPack is removed?
Required:	No
Type:	boolean
Default Value:	false

zProperties

Description:	zProperty values to set on the device class.
Required:	No
Type:	map<name, value>
Default Value:	{} (empty map)

templates

Description:	Monitoring templates to add to the device class.
Required:	No
Type:	map<name, Monitoring Template>
Default Value:	{} (empty map)