Overview

The Linux/SSH Process Event Monitor lets you keep track of processes running on your Linux-based systems. It can perform overall checks for total CPU and memory usage or it can focus on important processes that you select and report only on those. It also has options to warn if specified processes are present or missing and can include a list of all detected processes in alerts and notifications.

Use Cases

• Keeping tabs on how many processes are running
• Making sure specific processes aren't taking up too much CPU

Monitoring Options

This event monitor provides the following options:

Alert with [Info/Warning/Error/Critical] if the device cannot be contacted

Use this option to control whether or not you will be notified if the event monitor is unable to establish an SSH connection.

Alert if more than a specified number of processes are running

This option lets you select thresholds based on the total number of processes that are running and get alerts when any of the thresholds have been exceeded.

Alert if total CPU usage is greater than a specified percent

This option calculates the total CPU usage of all processes and alerts based on the thresholds that you choose.

Alert if [any process|this process] is using more than a specified percent of CPU time

Use this option to get alerts about processes that are using the most CPU time. Or you can select to watch any individual process that you want to monitor.

Alert if total memory usage is more than a specified value

This option measures the total amount of memory used by all processes and alerts you based on the thresholds that you choose.

Alert if [any process|this process] is using more than a specified amount of memory

Use this option to get alerts about the processes that are using the most memory. Or you can select to watch any individual process and alert about its memory usage.

Alert with [Info/Warning/Error/Critical] if specified processes are found to be running

Use this option to be notified if selected processes are running.

Process Names

Enter the names of the processes that the event monitor will look for. To get the exact name, use the option below to include a list of running processes in all notifications. To specify multiple processes, separate them with commas.

Only warn if more than [count] instances of a process are found

In some cases, it is normal to have a few instances of a specific process running but having too many of them can indicate a problem. Use this option to only get alerts if there are more than a certain number of instances of the same process running.

Alert with [Info/Warning/Error/Critical] if specified processes are not found to be running

If you have critical processes that must be running all the time, use this option to get alerts if they are not found. To specify multiple processes, separate them with commas.

Include a list of running processes in all notifications

When this option is selected the event monitor will include a list of all detected processes in each alert and notification. It's a great way view and select the exact process names to be used in other settings for the event monitor.

Connect on port number

The default port for SSH connections is 22 but if your servers are using a non-standard port you can specify it here.

Authentication and Security

The account used for authentication must have interactive login rights via SSH. Additionally, the account must have permission to run the following:

• free -b
• sysctl -a
• cat /proc/cpuinfo
• ps -eo

Protocols

Data Points

This event monitor generates the following data points:

Data Point	Description
Process Count	The number of processes detected.
CPU Usage (Total)	The total time the CPU is in use.
Memory Usage (Total)	The amount of memory used in total.

Sample Output

Tutorial

To view the tutorial for this event monitor, click here.