Me n my Space !

Opsview and Twitter Notification

2011-07-04T14:57:00.001+05:30

This article will help to post your host and service status messages from Opsview to your Twitter account. For configuring this you need to have access to the shell of your Opsview server. Note that I do not assume any responsibility if any of the steps below results in unexpected behavior of Opsview or your system. Comments and improvements are welcomed.

The service notifications from Opsview are posted to my Twitter account (@shib4u) as shown below...

My setup...

OS - CentOS release 5.5
Opsview community Version: 3.11.3
The server should be able to access the internet.

What is Opsview?
In a nutshell, Opsview is better Nagios. Nagios monitors your entire IT infrastructure to ensure systems, applications, services. In the event of a failure, Nagios can alert technical staff of the problem. Here we are using Twitter to notify us.

I am not going to cover the steps for CentOS or Opsview installation, as they can be found here.

To access Twitter from Opsview, I installed Tweepy. Tweepy is a Python library for accessing the Twitter API. It requires Python 2.5 or later, hence, I installed Python 2.6 as described in this blog.

# wget http://dagobah.ftphosting.net/yum/smartfile.repo -O /etc/yum.repos.d/smartfile.repo

Then you can use YUM to install python26 package:

# yum install python26 python26-distribute

To get a list of installed packages, do:

# yum list *python26* | grep -i installed

Installed Packages
python26.x86_64 2.6.5-6.el5 installed
python26-distribute.noarch 0.6.10-4.el5 installed
python26-libs.x86_64 2.6.5-6.el5 installed

Install Tweepy

/usr/bin/easy_install-2.6 tweepy

Next, I had to authenticate twitter from the command line. Jeff Miller has written an excellent blog about achieving this.

I suggest you create a new Twitter account which will be used to post the notifications. Do enable Tweet Privacy under Settings, in the Twitter account, so that posts are not made public. (You do not want others to know that your servers are erratic, do you !?!). After creating the Twitter account, check out the blog and register a new client app with Twitter (as shown in step 2 there).

Do Step 3 "Connect the app to your Twitter account" with a minor change in the first line.. write python26 instead of python

#!/usr/bin/env python26

import tweepy

CONSUMER_KEY = 'paste your Consumer Key here'
CONSUMER_SECRET = 'paste your Consumer Secret here'

auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET)
auth_url = auth.get_authorization_url()
print 'Please authorize: ' + auth_url
verifier = raw_input('PIN: ').strip()
auth.get_access_token(verifier)
print "ACCESS_KEY = '%s'" % auth.access_token.key
print "ACCESS_SECRET = '%s'" % auth.access_token.secret

Again, in step 4 "Create the command line script", change to python26. Do not forget to add your own keys.

#!/usr/bin/env python26

import sys
import tweepy

CONSUMER_KEY = 'paste your Consumer Key here'
CONSUMER_SECRET = 'paste your Consumer Secret here'
ACCESS_KEY = 'paste your Access Key here'
ACCESS_SECRET = 'paste your Access Secret here'

auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET)
auth.set_access_token(ACCESS_KEY, ACCESS_SECRET)
api = tweepy.API(auth)
api.update_status(sys.argv[1])

After step 5 "Send a test tweet from the command line" and if the test is successful, do the following.

Move the script to /usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/. I call the script as connect_twitter, hence my script is at /usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/connect_twitter
chown nagios:nagios /usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/connect_twitter
chmod +x /usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/connect_twitter

Create another script to be used by Opsview
/usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/notify-by-twitter

The script:

dt=`date '+%H:%M %d%b%y'`
if [ -n "$NAGIOS_SERVICEDESC" ]
then
msg=`echo @$NAGIOS__CONTACTTWITTERID Time:$dt. $NAGIOS_SERVICEDESC @ $NAGIOS_HOSTNAME,$NAGIOS_HOSTADDRESS is $NAGIOS_SERVICESTATE. $NAGIOS_SERVICEOUTPUT | cut -c 0-140`
/usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/connect_twitter "$msg"
unset msg
else
msg=`echo @$NAGIOS__CONTACTTWITTERID Time:$dt. $NAGIOS_HOSTNAME,$NAGIOS_HOSTADDRESS is $NAGIOS_HOSTSTATE. $NAGIOS_HOSTOUTPUT| cut -c 0-140`
/usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/connect_twitter "$msg"
unset msg
fi

Again, chown nagios:nagios /usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/notify-by-twitter

chmod +x /usr/local/nagios/libexec/notifications/notify-by-twitter

Log in to Opsview with an user with admin privileges.
Go to Advanced then Notification Methods from the drop down menu.
On the extreme top right, click Actions and then Create new Notification Method as following...

Next, in Opsview top bar, go to Configuration, then Contacts. Click on the contact you want to set twitter alerts for. Click the Notifications button. Add you Twitter id (this id will receive the Tweets).

Click on Submit and Edit Notification Profiles.

Click Actions, and Create new Notification Profile for user.

Create the profile and submit changes.
Reload your configuration (click on configuration status, top right, then Reload Configuration).

Reboot one of your server or stop a service which is added in Opsview. Note that Twitter allows 250 direct messages per day, do not cross this limit as tweets won't come in after you exceed this number.
The Tweets should start coming in.

Go Goa for T-Shirts

2010-07-15T17:33:00.014+05:30

Sorry folks, haven't been writing for a long time... pretty tied up with work and better part of the time goes playing with my kid... But I'll keep posting here, more of pictures and less of text. To start off, I post some of the pictures of t-shirts which were on sale at Goa, in a few shops on the road from Calangute to Baga (I went there Jan'10 end). There were a few shops selling those t-shirts. The tailor was doing the embroidery work there itself, in the shop. Amazing skill and designs...

Buying a Car - My experience

2009-08-04T21:00:00.007+05:30

Disclaimer: The article here is no way connected with any of the vehicle manufacturer or dealer mentioned here. As a consumer, i have reproduced here my car buying experience.

The seeds of driving were sown early in life (in class VII) when I started learning driving on my Dad's Govt provided Willys Jeep. The Willys was later replaced by a Mahindra, and then an Ambassador car. Later we bought the Premier Padmini (a Fiat) and that was the first time I went driving solo . Next came home the Maruti Omni, a Wagon R and a Mahindra Scorpio. The passion for driving has always been there and I tried my hands on whatever vehicle I could catch hold of (of friends and family members). I even owned a couple of 2-wheelers, a Kinetic Luna Super and a Bajaj Kawasaki 4S Champion. Coming back to the main topic, of buying a car... the procedure I followed is described below...

Narrow down your preferences and requirements - Find out for what you need a car for... daily commuting, in-city or long drives, parking space, your budget (how much you want to spend), running costs, how many people would you normally carry, family size, a practical vehicle or a style statement, etc etc... the list goes on. Then comes your personal preferences, the color you want, the accessories provided, the variant you'd like to choose, if you'd like some off-roading, etc. Then comes the big question, petrol or diesel... again, I feel it is a personal choice. Petrol engines are peppy, responsive, trouble-free, light. Modern diesel engines are catching up with petrol, main advantage of diesel is great savings on running costs. Hire a mathematician who will work out what is better, depending on your daily running, fuel bills, difference in car costs, the EMI difference, etc etc. I wanted to keep it simple, I wanted a petrol!

I didn't want a hatch, hence all the hatchbacks were not considered. The Chevy Aveo, Hyundai Verna, Fiat Linea, New Honda City, Maruti SX4 and the Ford Fiesta were in the fray.

Chevrolet Aveo - I had rented the Aveo in the USA when it was launched (in 2007). After driving the VW Jetta there, the Aveo didn't feel inspiring. Back in India, I felt General Motors tried to strip it down and make it cheap. Hence, the interiors were not up to the mark, the engine... nothing great, the looks... too plain! They had the 1.4L engine which is still available, a 1.6 is available too.

Hyundai Verna - A nice roomy car, good for XL and XXL sized people. Looks are subjective, some like it, some don't. I felt it is a very practical daily car if you want to go from point A to B. If I had wanted a diesel car, i think Hyundai Verna Diesel would be the one... awesome power, nicely built! And the diesel comes with automatic transmission too.

Fiat Linea - Fiat's re-entry into India has been with a bang. Fiat Linea has been a great launch, a successful one too. The car looks great, feels and drives quite good too, this is combined with practical pricing. All these factors have led to success for Fiat. The Linea (petrol) felt a bit under-powered and sluggish. Overall it is a good package, loaded with accessories, and seems value for money.

Honda City - The 2009 Honda City has one of the best figures in India, the arrow-shot shape is killing. But Honda disappoints big-time on the features, accessories and the interiors of the car. The premium that Honda charges for its badge is very disappointing. The car is good on maneuverability, pulls along nicely and is fuel efficient.

Maruti SX4 - This is a value for money car, good for tall adults. It has decent performance, good handling. It is a bit low on fuel-efficiency though. The design and the looks are subjective, but I found the A-pillar obstructs the view. Also the high tail made me uneasy while reversing.

Ford Fiesta - A fun to drive, loaded with features, great handling car from Ford. It has won accolades for its great driving and is the most involving driver's car in India.

Start off with a test-drive - The first step is to try your hands on the cars you have short listed. Do make a point to list down the likes and dislikes about the car. Also, get the price quotes for the different variants, ask for special pricing, corporate discounts, etc. Having all these data will help you pin down the Make/Model.
Weigh the price and feature of the cars. Combine this with your personal driving experience as well as your preferences. For e.g. I am a young driver, I needed something sporty, which would look good and stand out in a crowd, fun for city as well as highway drive, moderately fuel-efficient.
Pricing - After you shortlist 2-3 cars, find out what the best price the dealer can offer. Also ask for freebies/accessories which will be given. Ask the pricing of extra accessory if something is not standard, e.g. alloy wheels or music system. I got a 58k corporate discount on the Fiesta. As Linea and City were newly launched, the discount was too low. Do check with pricing from other dealers in the city. For insurance premium rates, check out some sites like Apnainsurance. Also, refuse to pay additional charges like depot charges, etc.
Before finalising on the deal, go for another round of test drive, preferably with a close friend/relative or with your family.
Loan - Most of us go for a auto-loan. Check out for a good deal with your preferred bank or your salaried-bank. My salary bank gave me a loan, the interest of which was 1% less than the prevailing rates. Check out with nationalised banks like SBI, although they take a lot more time and paperwork than private banks. Loan comparison can be done at Apnaloan.

The final outcome: I decided to buy a Ford Fiesta 1.6S... why...

b'cos I got a good deal, 7.3Lacs on-road Mumbai (no real discounts on the Linea or the City)
b'cos the car came fully loaded at this price, with 6-spaker CD-mp3-aux-in audio system, 15" alloy wheels, side skirts, rear spoiler (top-end City doesn't even come with alloys, all others have 14" tyres)
b'cos it has a 1600cc engine (1300cc in Linea, 1500cc in City)

A word of caution: Find a bit about the dealer, check the promptness in service, make a visit to the service center too. I am not having a good time with SC Ford, Malad, Mumbai. The delivery was very much delayed, the sales-guy was un-responsive, they charged me extra at the last moment (for using a credit-card), registration took over a week, etc etc.

But finally I am very happy with my car, great pickup, nice handling, feels safe... the most imp part is that I enjoy every bit when I am in my car... and that matters most!

Hope this will help all potential car buyers. Comments welcomed !

Photo tour of California

2009-07-14T16:42:00.010+05:30

^ Diving around in a Ford Focus

^ Flowers in full bloom

^ The White Focus

^ El Camino Real, Sunnyvale

^ Sun Microsystems and Webex, Silicon Valley

^ Yahoo!

^ In front of Intel

^ Union Bank of California

^ Adobe

^ A church in San Jose Dwntown

^ San Jose Museum of Art

^ San Jose Downtown

^ San Jose Museum of Art

^ USC road-show

^ San Jose Downtown

^ A trip to Half Moon Bay

^ Half Moon Bay

^ Country Roads

^ Flying back into Mumbai

^ Mumbai meri jaan!

Dhauligiri Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneswar

2009-07-14T16:01:00.010+05:30

The Dhauligiri Shanti Stupa, also known as The Peace Pagoda, is less than 10 kms from Bhubaneswar.

It was here at Dhauli by the side of Daya River that emperor Ashok laid down the weapons of violence and accepted a life of Ahimsa in the form of Buddhism after the Kalinga war. This stupa as selected by Fujii guruji is a symbol of peace for the future generation to come.

Dhauligiri is a pilgrimage site for Buddhists. It is said to have been blessed by all those who have attained Buddhahood. It is closely associated with Padmasampa, who brought the great Buddhist liberation to Tibet.

Dhauli hill has vast open space adjoining it, and has major Edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock, by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill. Dhauli hill is presumed to be the area where Kalinga War was fought.

Club Mahindra review - the real cost

2009-04-09T13:26:00.006+05:30

Club Mahindra - A good concept, great facilities, but run by rogues !

Guys, think twice before thinking of enrolling with Club Mahindra. Don't get lured by the attractive schemes and advertisements, the picturesque presentation and the sweet-talk of the sales-guy. There are a lot of fine prints and hidden rules, which I'll try to let you all know, about which, the sales-person will never let you know.

1. The newspaper advertisement says "Holidays made un"interest"ing", and means that EMIs will be interest free. The truth is, you have to make 15% downpayment upfront for all the schemes. The 0% EMI scheme applies only if you avail 6 EMI or 12 EMI options. The interest rates for other EMI options are 24 EMI (16%), 36 (16.75%), 48 (17.5%), 60 (18.5%).

2. Ad says "At attractive EMIs of Rs 3481"... The price is for a Studio apartment which can be availed in the Blue season (60 EMI, 18.5% interest) (blue season means the lowest season, for e.g. at the Goa resort, the blue season is March or June-July when they get the lowest tourists). The same EMI for the Purple season (peak season, dec end) would be Rs 8000+. Hence, you will get holidays in bad weather, or when your children/office won't have vacations.

For a 60 EMI package, you can go on a holiday to a resort only after 18 months. Your 7 days of promised holiday starts after 18 months. So after paying 15% and next 17 EMI (for next 17 months, u get nothing), you will be able to start your dream holiday... quite a distant dream indeed!

3. Ad says "Sign up now and get 81cm Samsung LCD TV Free"... Nothing comes free in life, you get what you pay for. Some of my friends have opted out of the free TV offer and got cash discounts on the package. I wanted to buy a LCD TV hence got caught in the bait. Even after 4 months of registration, with 15% down payment and the 3rd EMI paid, there is no scent of the TV. The catch was "I should pay at least 2 EMI and wait for 45 days after this for the TV to get delivered". This was never disclosed at the time of registration. Also, i got a email a week back, informing that the Samsung model will be replaced with a Sony.

Ad says "Holiday 7 days a year, for 25 years"... Not for free. Even after paying all your EMIs or the full fees, you will still have to pay Annual Subscription Fee (ASF) every year (irrespective of usage). The ASF for 2008 was 2Bedroom-Rs14592, 1BR-Rs10402, Studio-Rs7408. Note that this value will keep increasing every year, with inflation.

Free RCI Membership - They will provide you RCI membership for 3 years, but if you want to avail of any RCI Hotel for stay, you will have to pay the Hotel charges... then what is the use of this membership?

Considering Club Mahindra has only 23 resorts, i am not amazed by people complaining that they don't get reservations. Club Mahindra has not disclosed any numbers on the amount of members they have now. Moreover, I'd request people not to get into new memberships so that existing members can at least get something out of their hard earned money, at least we can hope we will have a good holiday for the next 25 years.

When asked about all the negative reviews Club Mahindra has got, the sales-guy says it is normal to have 1-2% grievances in the service industry, and that those who have applied late and not got reservations have bad-mouthed about them. But here i am, writing about them, even after booking my holiday with them!

Not everything is bad about Club Mahindra, those who have visited the resorts, have been fully satisfied and happy. Great locations, nice hospitality. But one has to have a lot of patience and early-planning (5-6 months in advance), then go through lot of un-cooperative and unresponsive sales-guys, customer support professionals. In the end, you do feel cheated, and as a customer, it is a bitter pill to swallow!

I am going for my first holiday with Club Mahindra in Sept'09, will surely update this page with my experience. Thanks for reading, stay away from Club Mahindra!

Update:20th Apr’09

I received my Sony Bravia LCD TV yesterday. Thanks to Club Mahindra! But my feedback for them is, please please please improve your Customer Service. You have started a good concept, a good company, you could have avoided all my complaints and everyone else’s, so why not pull up your socks a bit!