Templates

A template is a named fetch kept in your config: which items, from which server, over what time range, in which format. Once you have one, repeating the fetch is one short command:

zabgrab fetch -t particles -o

Saving a fetch as a template

The easiest way to make a template is to add --save-template NAME to a fetch:

zabgrab fetch -s lab -i "host=lab*,name=Particles *" \
    --from "24 hours ago" --to now --save-template particles

This saves the settings given on the command line and your answers to any questions, exactly as given: patterns rather than the item IDs they matched, and relative times (24 hours ago) rather than dates, so the template fetches new items and the latest data each time. Settings from your [defaults] aren’t copied, so changing them later still applies.

It works with --dry-run and --explain too, so you can save a template without fetching anything. Templates go in your user config, unless --save-to says project, system or a file path. zabgrab only replaces an existing template with --force, and otherwise leaves the file as it was, comments included.

Writing templates

Templates are [templates.NAME] tables in your config (zabgrab config edit). They take items, an optional description, and any setting of fetch (written as in [defaults], see Configuration):

[templates.particles]
description = "Particle counts in the labs"
server = "lab"
items = [
  { host = "lab*", name = "Particles *" },
  { itemid = 12345 },
]
from = "24 hours ago"
to = "now"
format = "h5"

[templates.network-weekly]
items = [{ host = "router1", key = "net.if.in[*]" }]
from = "7 days ago"
to = "now"
resolution = "1h"
agg = ["avg", "max"]

Items are item specs written as tables. List your templates, with everything else in your config, with zabgrab config show.

Overriding a template

Options on the command line override the template, which overrides [defaults]. zabgrab says when an option overrides a template’s value:

$ zabgrab fetch -t particles --from "7 days ago" -o week.h5
--from '7 days ago' overrides '24 hours ago' from template 'particles'.

--item adds items to the template’s. --explain shows where each setting came from. A fetch uses one template at a time.

Choices

Some settings can be a choice instead of a single value, written as { choices = [...], select = ... }. select says how to choose:

prompt (the default)

Ask which one to use, each time. When zabgrab can’t ask, it’s an error (with the option that gives the answer).

all

Use all of them.

first

Use the first that works.

Choices are allowed for:

server (prompt only)

Ask which server to fetch from. --server picks one without asking.

server = { choices = ["lab", "office"] }

format

Ask for the format, or save every format with all.

format = { choices = ["h5", "csv"], select = "all" }

host (in item specs)

Ask which host, fetch from every host (all), or use the first host that has matching items (first), e.g. for a spare that takes over from a failed machine.

items = [
  { host = { choices = ["switch-a", "switch-b"], select = "first" }, name = "Uptime" },
]