ledcontrol.conf - configuration file for ledd's default startup
script
DESCRIPTION
The file
ledcontrol.conf
is the configuration file for
startup.sh(8),
the default startup script for
ledd(8),
part of the ledcontrol package.
ledcontrol.conf
configures under what circumstances what LEDs are lighted. It is
parsed by startup.sh as a shell script, so blank lines and lines
with a number sign (``#'') are ignored. It can therefore also include
normal shell commands for more complex actions. Everything written to
standard output is parsed by ledd as commands and everything
written to standard error is logged via the chosen logging mechanism
on a warning level.
The default file is pretty well commented, so you should be able to
configure it just by looking at it.
The configuration itself is done by setting environment variables. The
format is ``VARIABLE="option"''. All options should be set.
GENERAL CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
STARTUP_ANIM=[YES|NO]
If set to YES, a short animation (about 1 second) is flashed when
starting ledd. It is ignored if started in X, as this might
leave the LEDs in an incorrect state. It is done in the background, so
it doesn't slow the booting.
USE_BACKGROUNDING=[YES|NO]
If set to YES, then some slow tests (eg. pinging a remote host that
isn't responding) are done in the background so as not to delay other
checks. This is automatically disabled if using bash 2.x.x as it has a
bug that makes it freeze. It is safe to leave this on.
MINIMUM_DELAY=VALUE
Sleep VALUE seconds at minimum between the checks. This gives
the resolution of the check timings (a scheduled check can be delayed
at most VALUE seconds). 5 is a reasonable value.
Note that you will probably get a disk-access every VALUE
seconds (see
startup.sh(8)
section
SILENCING
for details).
DEFAULT_SETTINGS="command"
These settings are set at the beginning. (See
ledd(8)
section COMMANDS)
TEST CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
The different tests are defined by four variables per test. Each one
is suffixed with an underscore and a number. The numbers have to rise
from 1 up (you're not allowed to skip numbers). The variables are as
follow:
COMMAND_nn
Command to test the condition. This can be any command available on
the system or a build-it check (see
BUILT-IN CHECKS
below). It should not print anything to stdout (except in special
conditions, see
WRITING SCRIPTS
below). Errors may be printed to stderr.
SUCCESS_nn
Command to give ledd if COMMAND_nn returns successfully
(exit code 0). If an arbitrary number is to be indicated (using
commands "frequency" or "dutycycle", see
ledd(8)),
the last argument (the value) should be
omitted.
FAILURE_nn
Command to give ledd if COMMAND_nn returns
unsuccessfully (exit code non-zero). If an arbitrary value is to be
indicated this variable may be ignored, but must be present
(eg. "nop").
DELAY_nn
Minimum time between tests. The resolution of this is determined by
MINIMUM_DELAY.
BUILT-IN CHECKS
Ledcontrol offers certain common checks built-in. The command names
are prefixed with led_. They can be used in the checks as any
other commands. The following checks are boolean checks.
led_ppp
Check for a PPP-link. Returns true if a network interface with the
name ppp0 to ppp9 is found.
led_pinghost
Returns true if host replies to a ping packet.
ping(8)
must be available on the machine. This function uses backgrounding, if
available.
led_filefile(s) ...
Returns true if every one of file(s) exist. file(s) may
contain wildcards (in that case at least one file has to match each
pattern).
led_sizefilemin [max]
Returns true if file exists and its size is greater or equal to
min and (optionally) less than max. This can be used to
detect mail in someone's mailbox.
The following checks set the LED to indicate a number. The
SUCCESS_nn command should be either type "set xxx frequency"
or "set xxx dutycycle", where the last argument (the value) is
omitted.
led_load
Indicate the current system load (1 minute
average). FAILURE_nn is ignored, but must be
present.
led_netloadifacetype
Indicate current network load on interface iface. type may
be "IN", "OUT", or "BOTH" for inbound traffic, outbound traffic or
both together. The value is given as kB/s (kilobytes per second). The
longer DELAY_nn is, the more accurate the value. Returns
false if no such interface exists.
WRITING SCRIPTS
If you want to use the scriptability to the full extent, I suggest you
write custom "built-in" functions. This can be done either by adding
it to /usr/share/ledcontrol in a file ending in .sh (it doesn't
have to be executable) or by writing it in ledcontrol.conf. In
both cases it is sourced by startup.sh at startup. Read the
existing scripts for examples.
Environment variables in functions
The following environment variables are available to the function:
LEDDSCRIPTS
Directory in which all the scripts should be located, including
startup.sh.
SUCCESS
The command to be given on successful exit value. The function may
change this to give another command (it is restored between calls).
FAILURE
The command to be given on unsuccessful exit values. The function may
change this to give another command.
COMMAND
The whole command that was executed to start the function. Note that
command line arguments are also available in $1, $2, etc.
COUNT
Number part of COMMAND_nn. Can be used to store variables
between calls (see
Storing variables between calls
below). This must not be changed!
USE_BACKGROUNDING
Set to YES if slow checks should be backgrounded (see
Backgrounding
below).
Arbitrary number indication
If you want to make a script that outputs an arbitrary number, you
should append the number to the environment variable SUCCESS and
return 0 (for example load.sh, netload.sh).
Storing variables between calls
The function may use almost any variables internally, but must not
depend on them staying same between calls, as there might be several
tests using the function. Instead you can use variables beginning with
the function name and with $COUNT appended to it. This can be done as
follows (other means exist in new versions of bash):
# Read previously saved value to $LOCAL
eval 'LOCAL=LED_NAME_DESC_'$COUNT
# Store value from $LOCAL for future use
eval 'LED_NAME_DESC_'$COUNT'=$LOCAL'
Backgrounding
Tests which may take many seconds to complete (eg. ping when remote
host is not responding) should check whether the variable
USE_BACKGROUNDING is set to "YES" and in that case make the test
in a background process. The function itself should set SUCCESS to
"nop" and return successfully and the subprocess check the condition
and echo $SUCCESS or $FAILURE depending on the result. Note that when
making the background process, you should always check whether
the old process is still running.
The background process can be made by
# Retrieve old PID
if test -z "$PID" -o ! -e "/proc/$PID" ; then
( commands ) &
PID=$!
fi
# Store PID
Examples of scripts
Look at the existing scripts. For basic boolean checks, see
eg. file.sh, size.sh and ppp.sh. For examples of
arbitrary number indication, see load.sh, or a more complex
example with variable storing in netload.sh. For an example of
backgrounding, see ping.sh.
EXAMPLE
Example configuration file:
# Give startup animation
STARTUP_ANIM=YES
# Use backgrounding (automatically disabled if dangerous)
USE_BACKGROUNDING=YES
# Minimum delay of 5 seconds is reasonable
MINIMUM_DELAY=5
# We use Caps Lock and Scroll Lock, so set them off.
DEFAULT_SETTINGS="set c1s1 off"
# Two tests:
# Scroll Lock indicates the current system load
# Caps Lock is lighted when a ppp-link is up and blinks when
# "somehost.example" responds.
COMMAND_1="led_load"
SUCCESS_1="set s5 frequency 0.8 1000 1.9 100"
FAILURE_1="nop" # Ignored, but must be present.
DELAY_1=10 # Not so critical check.
COMMAND_2="led_ppp"
SUCCESS_2="set c4 on"
FAILURE_2="set c4c6 normal" # We assume that if this fails,
# ping will also fail.
DELAY_2=5 # For immediate response
COMMAND_3="led_ping somehost.example"
SUCCESS_3="set c6 blink 500"
FAILURE_3="set c6 normal"
DELAY_3=20 # Not so critical check.
FILES
/etc/ledcontrol.conf
default configuration file location
/usr/share/ledcontrol/
location of the default startup script startup.sh and other
scripts
bash
version 2.xx.xx has a bug in it that causes startup.sh to lock
up if backgrounding is used. From version 0.5.0 up this has been
checked by startup.sh and if a bad version of
bash
is being used the variable USE_BACKGROUNDING is automatically
set to "NO".
The default startup script may cause a disk-access every
MINIMUN_DELAY seconds. See
startup.sh(8)
for more info.