The Ultimate Guide to High Availability with MariaDB
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Common Monitor Parameters

Common Monitor Parameters

This document lists optional parameters that all current monitors support.

Parameters

user

Username used by the monitor to connect to the backend servers. If a server defines the monitoruser parameter, that value will be used instead.

password

Password for the user defined with the user parameter. If a server defines the monitorpw parameter, that value will be used instead.

Note: In older versions of MaxScale this parameter was called passwd. The use of passwd was deprecated in MaxScale 2.3.0.

monitor_interval

Defines how often the monitor updates the status of the servers. The default value is 2 seconds. Choose a lower value if servers should be queried more often. The smallest possible value is 100 milliseconds. If querying the servers takes longer than monitor_interval, the effective update rate is reduced.

The default value of monitor_interval is 2000 milliseconds.

monitor_interval=2500ms

The interval is specified as documented here. If no explicit unit is provided, the value is interpreted as milliseconds in MaxScale 2.4. In subsequent versions a value without a unit may be rejected.

backend_connect_timeout

This parameter controls the timeout for connecting to a monitored server. The interval is specified as documented here. If no explicit unit is provided, the value is interpreted as seconds in MaxScale 2.4. In subsequent versions a value without a unit may be rejected. Note that since the granularity of the timeout is seconds, a timeout specified in milliseconds will be rejected, even if the duration is longer than a second. The minimum value is 1 second and the default value for this is 3 seconds.

backend_connect_timeout=3s

backend_write_timeout

This parameter controls the timeout for writing to a monitored server. The timeout is specified as documented here. If no explicit unit is provided, the value is interpreted as seconds in MaxScale 2.4. In subsequent versions a value without a unit may be rejected. Note that since the granularity of the timeout is seconds, a timeout specified in milliseconds will be rejected, even if the duration is longer than a second. The minimum value is 1 second and the default value for this is 3 seconds.

backend_write_timeout=3s

backend_read_timeout

This parameter controls the timeout for reading from a monitored server. The timeout is specified as documented here. If no explicit unit is provided, the value is interpreted as seconds in MaxScale 2.4. In subsequent versions a value without a unit may be rejected. Note that since the granularity of the timeout is seconds, a timeout specified in milliseconds will be rejected, even if the duration is longer than a second. The minimum value is 1 second and the default value for this is 3 seconds.

backend_read_timeout=3s

backend_connect_attempts

This parameter defines the maximum times a backend connection is attempted every monitoring loop. The default is 1. Every attempt may take up to backend_connect_timeout seconds to perform. If none of the attempts are successful, the backend is considered to be unreachable and down.

backend_connect_attempts=1

disk_space_threshold

This parameter duplicates the disk_space_threshold server parameter. If the parameter has not been specified for a server, then the one specified for the monitor is applied.

That is, if the disk configuration is the same on all servers monitored by the monitor, it is sufficient (and more convenient) to specify the disk space threshold in the monitor section, but if the disk configuration is different on all or some servers, then the disk space threshold can be specified individually for each server.

For example, suppose server1, server2 and server3 are identical in all respects. In that case we can specify disk_space_threshold in the monitor.

[server1]
type=server
...

[server2]
type=server
...

[server3]
type=server
...

[monitor]
type=monitor
servers=server1,server2,server3
disk_space_threshold=/data:80
...

However, if the servers are heterogeneous with the disk used for the data directory mounted on different paths, then the disk space threshold must be specified separately for each server.

[server1]
type=server
disk_space_threshold=/data:80
...

[server2]
type=server
disk_space_threshold=/Data:80
...

[server3]
type=server
disk_space_threshold=/DBData:80
...

[monitor]
type=monitor
servers=server1,server2,server3
...

If most of the servers have the data directory disk mounted on the same path, then the disk space threshold can be specified on the monitor and separately on the server with a different setup.

[server1]
type=server
disk_space_threshold=/DbData:80
...

[server2]
type=server
...

[server3]
type=server
...

[monitor]
type=monitor
servers=server1,server2,server3
disk_space_threshold=/data:80
...

Above, server1 has the disk used for the data directory mounted at /DbData while both server2 and server3 have it mounted on /data and thus the setting in the monitor covers them both.

disk_space_check_interval

With this parameter it can be specified the minimum amount of time between disk space checks. The interval is specified as documented here. If no explicit unit is provided, the value is interpreted as milliseconds in MaxScale 2.4. In subsequent versions a value without a unit may be rejected. The default value is 0, which means that by default the disk space will not be checked.

Note that as the checking is made as part of the regular monitor interval cycle, the disk space check interval is affected by the value of monitor_interval. In particular, even if the value of disk_space_check_interval is smaller than that of monitor_interval, the checking will still take place at monitor_interval intervals.

disk_space_check_interval=10000ms

script

This command will be executed on a server state change. The parameter should be an absolute path to a command or the command should be in the executable path. The user running MaxScale should have execution rights to the file itself and the directory it resides in. The script may have placeholders which MaxScale will substitute with useful information when launching the script.

The placeholders and their substitution results are:

  • $INITIATOR -> IP and port of the server which initiated the event
  • $EVENT -> event description, e.g. "server_up"
  • $LIST -> list of IPs and ports of all servers
  • $NODELIST -> list of IPs and ports of all running servers
  • $SLAVELIST -> list of IPs and ports of all slave servers
  • $MASTERLIST -> list of IPs and ports of all master servers
  • $SYNCEDLIST -> list of IPs and ports of all synced Galera nodes
  • $PARENT -> IP and port of the parent of the server which initiated the event. For master-slave setups, this will be the master if the initiating server is a slave.
  • $CHILDREN -> list of IPs and ports of the child nodes of the server who initiated the event. For master-slave setups, this will be a list of slave servers if the initiating server is a master.

The expanded variable value can be an empty string if no servers match the variable's requirements. For example, if no masters are available $MASTERLIST will expand into an empty string. The list-type substitutions will only contain servers monitored by the current monitor.

script=/home/user/myscript.sh initiator=$INITIATOR event=$EVENT live_nodes=$NODELIST

The above script could be executed as:

/home/user/myscript.sh initiator=[192.168.0.10]:3306 event=master_down live_nodes=[192.168.0.201]:3306,[192.168.0.121]:3306

See section Script example below for an example script.

Any output by the executed script will be logged into the MaxScale log. Each outputted line will be logged as a separate log message.

The log level on which the messages are logged depends on the format of the messages. If the first word in the output line is one of alert:, error:, warning:, notice:, info: or debug:, the message will be logged on the corresponding level. If the message is not prefixed with one of the keywords, the message will be logged on the notice level. Whitespace before, after or between the keyword and the colon is ignored and the matching is case-insensitive.

Currently, the script must not execute any of the following MaxCtrl calls as they cause a deadlock:

  • alter monitor to the monitor executing the script
  • stop monitor to the monitor executing the script
  • call command to a MariaDB-Monitor that is executing the script

script_timeout

The timeout for the executed script. The interval is specified as documented here. If no explicit unit is provided, the value is interpreted as seconds in MaxScale 2.4. In subsequent versions a value without a unit may be rejected. Note that since the granularity of the timeout is seconds, a timeout specified in milliseconds will be rejected, even if the duration is longer than a second. The default value is 90 seconds.

If the script execution exceeds the configured timeout, it is stopped by sending a SIGTERM signal to it. If the process does not stop, a SIGKILL signal will be sent to it once the execution time is greater than twice the configured timeout.

events

A list of event names which cause the script to be executed. If this option is not defined, all events cause the script to be executed. The list must contain a comma separated list of event names.

events=master_down,slave_down

The following table contains all the possible event types and their descriptions.

Event Name Description
master_down A Master server has gone down
master_up A Master server has come up
slave_down A Slave server has gone down
slave_up A Slave server has come up
server_down A server with no assigned role has gone down
server_up A server with no assigned role has come up
lost_master A server lost Master status
lost_slave A server lost Slave status
new_master A new Master was detected
new_slave A new Slave was detected

journal_max_age

The maximum journal file age. The interval is specified as documented here. If no explicit unit is provided, the value is interpreted as seconds in MaxScale 2.4. In subsequent versions a value without a unit may be rejected. Note that since the granularity of the max age is seconds, a max age specified in milliseconds will be rejected, even if the duration is longer than a second. The default value is 28800 seconds.

When the monitor starts, it reads any stored journal files. If the journal file is older than the value of journal_max_age, it will be removed and the monitor starts with no prior knowledge of the servers.

Monitor Crash Safety

Starting with MaxScale 2.2.0, the monitor modules keep an on-disk journal of the latest server states. This change makes the monitors crash-safe when options that introduce states are used. It also allows the monitors to retain stateful information when MaxScale is restarted.

For MySQL monitor, options that introduce states into the monitoring process are the detect_stale_master and detect_stale_slave options, both of which are enabled by default. Galeramon has the disable_master_failback parameter which introduces a state.

The default location for the server state journal is in /var/lib/maxscale/<monitor name>/monitor.dat where <monitor name> is the name of the monitor section in the configuration file. If MaxScale crashes or is shut down in an uncontrolled fashion, the journal will be read when MaxScale is started. To skip the recovery process, manually delete the journal file before starting MaxScale.

Script example

Below is an example monitor configuration which launches a script with all supported substitutions. The example script reads the results and prints it to file and sends it as email.

[MyMonitor]
type=monitor
module=mariadbmon
servers=C1N1,C1N2,C1N3
user=maxscale
password=password
monitor_interval=10000
script=/path/to/maxscale_monitor_alert_script.sh --initiator=$INITIATOR --parent=$PARENT --children=$CHILDREN --event=$EVENT --node_list=$NODELIST --list=$LIST --master_list=$MASTERLIST --slave_list=$SLAVELIST --synced_list=$SYNCEDLIST

File "maxscale_monitor_alert_script.sh":

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#!/usr/bin/env bash

initiator=""
parent=""
children=""
event=""
node_list=""
list=""
master_list=""
slave_list=""
synced_list=""

process_arguments()
{
   while [ "$1" != "" ]; do
      if [[ "$1" =~ ^--initiator=.* ]]; then
         initiator=${1#'--initiator='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--parent.* ]]; then
         parent=${1#'--parent='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--children.* ]]; then
         children=${1#'--children='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--event.* ]]; then
         event=${1#'--event='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--node_list.* ]]; then
         node_list=${1#'--node_list='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--list.* ]]; then
         list=${1#'--list='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--master_list.* ]]; then
         master_list=${1#'--master_list='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--slave_list.* ]]; then
         slave_list=${1#'--slave_list='}
      elif [[ "$1" =~ ^--synced_list.* ]]; then
         synced_list=${1#'--synced_list='}
      fi
      shift
   done
}

process_arguments $@
read -r -d '' MESSAGE << EOM
A server has changed state. The following information was provided:

Initiator: $initiator
Parent: $parent
Children: $children
Event: $event
Node list: $node_list
List: $list
Master list: $master_list
Slave list: $slave_list
Synced list: $synced_list
EOM

# print message to file
echo "$MESSAGE" > /path/to/script_output.txt
# email the message
echo "$MESSAGE" | mail -s "MaxScale received $event event for initiator $initiator." mariadb_admin@domain.com
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