Agent Plugins
=============

These plugins can be installed in the plugins directory of the Linux agent
in /usr/lib/check_mk_agent/plugins/. Please only install the plugins that
you really need.

If you want a plugin to be run asynchronously and also in
a larger interval then the normal check interval, then you can copy it to
a subdirectory named after a number of *seconds*, e.g.:

/usr/lib/check_mk_agent/plugins/60/mk_zypper

In that case the agent will:

 - Run this plugin in the background and wait not for it to finish.
 - Store the result of the plugin in a cache file below /etc/check_mk/cache.
 - Use that file for one hour before running the script again.

How to write a parametrized Agent Plugin
----------------------------------------

For a working Agent Plugin you need:

 * an Agent Plugin
   The `Agent Plugin` and a `configuration file` will be deployed to the monitored machine.
 * a Bakery Plugin - this creates the `configuration file` by using the `WATO Rule` to get the data from the user.
 * a WATO rule - to define the shape and set of data which the Agent Plugin needs

The format in which the Bakery-Plugin writes and the Agent-Plugin reads the configuration is not specified, but
for new Plugins a `ConfigParser` solution would be preferable.

You should also create an example configuration in ``agents/cfg_examples/`` so
users of checkmk raw edition know how to configure the Agent-Plugin without
being able to bake agents.

Recent Examples:

  * mk_docker.py
  * mk_mongodb.py