network check does not allow "program" configs

[Henning Bopp]

The manual example on network is:

 check network eth0 with interface eth0
       start program = '/sbin/ipup eth0'
       stop program = '/sbin/ipdown eth0'
       if failed link then restart

as soon as I add a "* program" entry monit does not startup with

$ ./monit -c monitrc 
[...]/monitrc:10: syntax error '='

monitrc is as simple as

set daemon  60
set log syslog

set httpd port 2812 and
    use address localhost
    allow localhost
    allow admin:monit

check network net-test with interface eth0
    start program = '/usr/bin/touch /tmp/start-eth0'
    stop program = '/usr/bin/touch /tmp/stop-eth0'

I tested it with the latest git (pasted outputs are from this version @ 5.25.3, cloned 2018-09-09 15:00), on arch-linux (community package @ 5.25.2-1), and the current debian/testing version (default repo @ 5.25.2)

---

After some more testing I found out the following:

Omitting the spaces or the keyword "program =" makes monit to start up with errors:

check network net-test with interface eth0
    start program='/usr/bin/touch /tmp/start-eth0'
    stop '/usr/bin/touch /tmp/stop-eth0'

This shows:

$ ./monit -c monitrc
/home/boppy/Code/monit-src/monit-dev/monitrc:10: Program does not exist: 'program='
/home/boppy/Code/monit-src/monit-dev/monitrc:11: Program does not exist: ''/usr/bin/touch /tmp/stop-eth0''
Starting Monit 5.25.3 daemon with http interface at [localhost]:2812

Web Frontend states:

Then I shortened my program call to a script without a space in its name (it's still just a touch on a tmp-file):

check network net-test with interface eth0
    start /home/boppy/Code/monit-src/test.sh

This will "do the trick" and will also work from the web frontend button! But the syntax might need some improvements... ;)

PS: git version is 5.25.3, but this version is not (yet) present in the Version dropdown.

[Massimo Sala]

With monit 5.25.2 we can use, for example

check process folium with pidfile /var/run/folium.pid start program = "/etc/init.d/folium start" stop program = "/etc/init.d/folium stop"

Did you try the double quotes ?

p.s.: I am just a monit user

[Henning Bopp]

This problem does not persist to other types; it's with network only. For processes everything is working fine.

[Massimo Sala]

Ok now I understand.

Program does not exist: 'program

Just to be sure, did you try the double quotes around the commands ?

In some circumstances I found monit a little picky about the syntax, while parsing the definitions...

[Henning Bopp]

Oh dear, you got me! I totally owe you a beer! ;)

It really is the double quotes.

PS: After checking all my configs, that in fact was the only place I used single quotes.