Network Status Page Scripts for UR CSUG and CS Networks

This is the magic behind the Network Status Page (NetSP), masterminded by Nate Book and modified slightly by Hassler Thurston, currently live here.

1. The main script, infobox.pl, runs on every computer on the network.
2. The current status is stored by this script in a world readable file, called the Data file, located at data.json in this directory. It is .gitignored because it will update frequently as each script modifies it.
3. When you visit netsp-csug.html, the current status interpreted from static-setup.json and data.json.
   • First, the page is constructed with static-setup.json which holds meta-data, including layout positions, for all devices to be shown.
   • Second, the statuses are retrieved once a minute (or more often by user request) from data.json and the tooltips are created by JavaScript.

Components:

• infobox.pl: The polling script. Tries to be idle as often as possible, updating data.json once every 60 seconds with the current device status. There is a "master" script running and checking for other computers' scripts' downtime (when they haven't updated data.json recently enough). If so, the offender is marked as "Down" and the script is attempted to be restarted. The master script checks the non-computer devices, such as drives, cameras, and printers. The rest are called "slaves" and only check themselves. The system is designed to have exactly one script running on each system.
• data.json: A dynamically-modified JSON file for the current status.
• static-setup.json: The network configuration, just containing the hosts on the network, their addresses, and how to lay out a page to display them.
• ../netsp-csug.html: The page that renders this NetSP by including netsp.js, style.css, a valid static-setup.json, a set of running devices with at least one computer running infobox.pl, one instance for each device, and a valid tag with the id div#netsp-link to replace.
• style.css: Stylesheet for elements of the NetSP.
• netsp.js: The JavaScript to run the NetSP.
• index.php: A short script that moves you up one level to the NetSP page.

Useful links:

• netsp-csug.html page, in Nate Book's CSUG-home repository
• GitHub home of Nate's CSUG-home repository