NodePing Ansible module

The NodePing Ansible module lets you create, get, update, and delete checks all from Ansible! This means as you're setting up or modifying servers, you can also manage your checks.

Getting Started

To use this module, you will have to place the nodeping.py file in your modules directory (the library variable in your ansible.cfg file). In addition, you will have to have the nodepingpy library installed on the system that will be handling your NodePing checks. You can install the library with pip:

# python3
pip3 install nodepingpy

# Alternate python3
python3 -m pip install nodepingpy

The repository can be found here

It is recommended that you configure your playbook to create/update/delete checks from the host you are running your playbooks from (shown in examples below). This is suggested for the simplicity and so your API token will not be sent to the various systems you are deploying over SSH.

Examples

Here are a couple examples below. There is also a sample playbook provided in this repository.

Running Locally

This method will allow you to run your playbooks, but you won't need the nodepingpy code installed on your target machines. This is done by delegating the nodeping tasks to localhost.

---
- hosts: test
  
  vars:
    nodeping_api_token: secret-token-here
    
  tasks:
    - name: Create a NodePing check for target host
      delegate_to: localhost
      nodeping:
        action: create
        checktype: PING
        target: "{{ ansible_default_ipv4.address }}"
        label: mytest ping
        enabled: False
        interval: 1
        token: "{{ nodeping_api_token }}"
        notifications:
        - group: My Contact Group
          notifydelay: 2
          notifyschedule: All the time
        - contact: 4QT82
          notifydelay: 0
          notifyschedule: All the time
        - notificationprofile: 201205050153W2Q4C-P-3JKXH

Running Remotely

This method doesn't require you to include the delegate_to for each nodeping task, but it will require that the Python nodepingpy is installed remotely on each machine.

- hosts: test

  vars:
    nodeping_api_token: secret-token-here
    
  tasks:
    - name: Install pip for your system
      package:
        name: python-pip
        state: present
        
    - name: Install nodepingpy
      pip:
        name: nodepingpy
        state: present
        
    - name: Test create a NodePing HTTP check
      nodeping:
        action: create
        checktype: HTTP
        target: "https://{{ ansible_default_ipv4.address }}"
        label: test http
        interval: 3
        token: "{{ nodeping_api_token }}"
        notifications:
        - group: testgroup
          notifydelay: 2
          notifyschedule: All the time
        - contact: 4QT82
          notifydelay: 0
          notifyschedule: All the time
        - name: I renamed this
          address: [email protected]
          notifydelay: 0
          notifyschedule: Nights

Getting a NodePing Check by Label

Sometimes you are required to get a NodePing check by a label. However, keep in mind you can have many NodePing checks with the same label, and there is no guarantee you will be working with the check you're thinking of. If you plan to manage NodePing checks by label, you have to ensure you have checks with no duplicate labels. Otherwise, it is most prudent to get NodePing checks by their ID.

- hosts: test

  vars:
    nodeping_api_token: secret-token-here
    
  tasks:
    - name: Get check by its label
      nodeping:
        action: get
        label: my-checks-label
        token: "{{ nodeping_api_token }}"

You can then register the result and use the information you retrieved. There is an example of this in the example playbook test_nodeping.yml

Getting a NodePing Check by ID

This is the recommended method of getting a NodePing check, since there are no two checks with the same ID.

- hosts: test

  vars:
    nodeping_api_token: secret-token-here
    
  tasks:
    - name: Get NodePing check by its ID
      nodeping:
        action: get
        checkid: your-nodeping-checkid
        token: "{{ nodeping_api_token }}"

NodePing Maintenance Module

There is also a separate nodeping_maintenance module provided so that you can create new ad-hoc or scheduled maintenances to disable your checks as you do a maintenance window.

Set up is just the same as described above in the Getting Started section. There are provided examples of how to use the maintenance module in the test_nodeping_maintenance.yml playbook.

For further information on NodePing Maintenance, you can refer to the documentation here