[SOLVED] Tail the message log| grep " several words" play a sound when it's found.

Alan87i · 07-04-2011, 03:49 PM

I'm trying to write a script that will either tail or watch /var/log/messages for
the words

PHP Code:



signal Gone into alarm state

from this line below.

Jul 4 16:27:52 ZM-AL-desktop zma_m5[5961]: INF [signal: 48147 - Gone into alarm state]

I would then like the script execute: mpg123 /ping.mp3
And have run at start up.
I'm stuck with grep-ping only one word

PHP Code:



tail -f /var/log/messages | grep "signal"

Thanks for any help.
Allan

TB0ne · 07-04-2011, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan87i

I'm trying to write a script that will either tail or watch /var/log/messages for
the words

PHP Code:



signal Gone into alarm state

from this line below.

Jul 4 16:27:52 ZM-AL-desktop zma_m5[5961]: INF [signal: 48147 - Gone into alarm state]

I would then like the script execute: mpg123 /ping.mp3
And have run at start up.
I'm stuck with grep-ping only one word

PHP Code:



tail -f /var/log/messages | grep "signal"

All you've got to do is put the rest of the string in there...what have you tried??

Code:

tail -f /var/log/messages | grep "signal Gone into alarm state"

works fine. You could even put a "-i" for grep to make it case-insensitive on the string.

Alan87i · 07-04-2011, 04:14 PM

When I tried {tail -f /var/log/messages | grep "signal Gone into alarm state" } It just sits there and doesn't print anything.
Even though I know it's in alarm .
Thanks

Tinkster · 07-04-2011, 04:41 PM

Make it look further back than 10 lines then.

TB0ne · 07-04-2011, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan87i

When I tried {tail -f /var/log/messages | grep "signal Gone into alarm state" } It just sits there and doesn't print anything.
Even though I know it's in alarm .
Thanks

Your post hints at the fact you're wanting this in a program/script. Read the man page for tail...the "-f" will NEVER return, but keep looking at the log file. In a script, that won't ever come back. Try "tail -n 100" (or some number of lines), to look at the last 100 lines of the log for the pattern. Logwatch is also a good program to use, since its whole purpose is to look for patterns in log file(s).

Nominal Animal · 07-04-2011, 06:00 PM

Edit: Modified the expressions to match the given error string. Thanks, Diantre.

This snippet will keep watching /var/log/messages for future lines matching [signal:somethingGone into alarm state] (where something can contain numbers, dashes, and spaces), playing /usr/share/games/supertux2/sounds/bigjump.wav for each occurrence:

Code:

tail -n 0 -f /var/log/messages \
| grep -e '\[signal:[-0-9 ]*Gone into alarm state\]' \
| while read LINE ; do
        aplay /usr/share/games/supertux2/sounds/bigjump.wav
  done

Like TB0ne and Tinkster said, you can increase the number of existing lines tail will inspect (highlighted in red, above) before starting to watch for new lines.

Or, you can have the script stay running all the time, and have the sound play whenever the problem occurs.

If you simply want to know if there is such a string anywhere in the log file at this moment -- i.e. if this has happened recently, during this rotation of the log file --, use

Code:

grep -qe '\[signal:[-0-9 ]*Gone into alarm state\]' \
&& aplay /usr/share/games/supertux2/sounds/bigjump.wav

Diantre · 07-04-2011, 06:41 PM

Hi. I think that given the string the OP wants to match:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan87i

Jul 4 16:27:52 ZM-AL-desktop zma_m5[5961]: INF [signal: 48147 - Gone into alarm state]

The regular expression passed to grep won't match.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nominal Animal

Code:

grep -qe 'signal Gone into alarm state' /var/log/messages \
&& aplay /usr/share/games/supertux2/sounds/bigjump.wav

It would if the log message contains exactly the string 'signal Gone into alarm state', but it has a few characters right after the word 'signal'.

Replacing the space after the word 'signal' for .*, will match a log entry like the example the OP posted:

Code:

grep -qe 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' /var/log/messages

Alan87i · 07-05-2011, 04:43 AM

Thanks for all the replies !!

The system is Xubuntu 8.04.1 Lts . I'm running Zoneminder on it with a capture card and cctv cameras.
I need the script to play the sound when the camera called "signal" goes into alarm state so I know that someone has walked past that area being monitored.

I modified the code posted with the .* in the string and this part works for 1 entry,

Code:

allan@ZM-AL-desktop:~$ grep -qe 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' /var/log/messages \
 && aplay /ping.wav
Playing WAVE '/ping.wav' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 22050 Hz, Mono

When I tried it with the tail script I still get no response even though the camera is beside me and is in/out of alarm with my hand in front of it.

Code:

allan@ZM-AL-desktop:~$ tail -n 0 -f /var/log/messages \
> | grep -e 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' \
> | while read LINE ; do
>         aplay /ping.wav
>   done

I have to close the terminal window to stop it. I also tried with numbers other than 0 and get the same result.

Alan87i · 07-05-2011, 05:05 AM

Just tried only part of the script and this much seems to work

Quote:

allan@ZM-AL-desktop:~$ tail -n 2 -f /var/log/messages \
> | grep -e 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' \
>
Jul 5 06:03:33 ZM-AL-desktop zma_m5[5034]: INF [signal: 22766 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 5 06:03:48 ZM-AL-desktop zma_m5[5034]: INF [signal: 22839 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 5 06:04:02 ZM-AL-desktop zma_m5[5034]: INF [signal: 22911 - Gone into alarm state]

So I put this into a file called it playalarm.sh made it executable and executed it.

Quote:

tail -n 2 -f /var/log/messages \
| grep -e 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' \
| while read LINE ; do
aplay /ping.wav
done

Went to make a coffee and when I walked back in I heard the ping.wav playing over and over and over then 10 seconds in it stopped. a few minutes later it started up again ran 5 or 6 times and stopped. I'll leave it for a while and try to time the intervals .

Edit
It just played again 8 or more times. It's been about 20 minutes or so. 1 minute later it played 11 more times. Weird <<< I wonder if I executed the script twice. But it does not do it when the camera is actually in alarm. Will restart the box.

Alan87i · 07-05-2011, 11:09 AM

Quote:

allan@ZM-AL-desktop:~$ tail -n 0 -f /var/log/messages | grep -qe 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' && aplay /ping.wav
Playing WAVE '/ping.wav' : Unsigned 8 bit, Rate 22050 Hz, Mono
allan@ZM-AL-desktop:~$

Now I've been playing around the above works but 1 time only.
How can I make it loop?

colucix · 07-05-2011, 11:18 AM

Use the --line-buffered option of grep to correctly stream the I/O through the pipe chain:

Code:

tail -f /var/log/messages | grep --line-buffered 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' | while read line; do aplay /ping.wav; done

Alan87i · 07-05-2011, 11:33 AM

Thanks colucix that seems to do the trick , Excellent I added the script file to start up applications rebooted and BAM I hear the sound each time the camera goes into alarm.

Thanks again to all who helped!
Allan

Alan87i · 07-06-2011, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colucix

Use the --line-buffered option of grep to correctly stream the I/O through the pipe chain:

Code:

tail -f /var/log/messages | grep --line-buffered 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' | while read line; do aplay /ping.wav; done

Another question I made a second script but changed out the word (signal) for the name of a different monitor. I also told this new script to aplay /dog1.wav instead of ping.wav.
My plan was to have 2 cameras each play there own sound on alarm. Problem is both play the same sound dog1.wav

Is there a way to run both lines in the same script?
Thanks
Allan

colucix · 07-06-2011, 10:36 AM

You can try to put the processes in background:

Code:

tail -f /var/log/messages | grep --line-buffered 'signal.*Gone into alarm state' | while read line; do aplay /ping.wav; done &
tail -f /var/log/messages | grep --line-buffered 'something.*Gone into alarm state' | while read line; do aplay /dog1.wav; done &

Take in mind that in this case the script terminates almost immediately but leaves the two tail processes in background. If you want to terminate them, you have to kill them manually, e.g.

Code:

pkill -9 tail

Alan87i · 07-07-2011, 08:02 AM

I managed to get it working with two scripts , I changed one monitor name and modified 1 script to match. Things work fine now.

I have been messing with grep trying to figure out how to grep between 06:00 and 21:30 ignoring the date So when a critter turns on the motion light and makes my camera go into alarm I don't get smacked by the Wife LOL at 2 AM .
I can't seem to 3get the syntax correct. The cat is printed below is missing 15 or more alarms from July 6 in the 17's 18's up to 21:45

Code:

allan@allan-cameras:~$ cat /var/log/messages | grep -e 'frontdoor.*Gone into alarm state' | grep -E '(0[0-9]:[0-9][0-9]|21:30)'

Jul 6 10:05:59 allan-cameras zma_m11[19842]: INF [frontdoor: 038 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 11:05:32 allan-cameras zma_m11[25239]: INF [frontdoor: 2234 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 11:05:44 allan-cameras zma_m11[25239]: INF [frontdoor: 2292 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 14:02:20 allan-cameras zma_m11[5238]: INF [frontdoor: 46279 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 14:02:34 allan-cameras zma_m11[5238]: INF [frontdoor: 46351 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 14:06:38 allan-cameras zma_m11[5238]: INF [frontdoor: 47567 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 14:08:58 allan-cameras zma_m11[5238]: INF [frontdoor: 48267 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 14:09:54 allan-cameras zma_m11[5238]: INF [frontdoor: 48544 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 15:04:44 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 14230 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 15:08:06 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 15238 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 15:08:47 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 15444 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 16:01:03 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 31088 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 16:03:02 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 31678 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 16:04:35 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 32146 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 16:05:02 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 32280 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 6 17:04:53 allan-cameras zma_m11[23015]: INF [frontdoor: 50205 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 06:37:45 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 14290 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 06:59:13 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 20711 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:00:21 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 21048 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:06:10 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 22793 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:06:58 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 23029 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:13:26 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 24965 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:15:08 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 25473 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:17:03 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 26047 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:17:29 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 26176 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:23:11 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 27883 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:24:31 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 28282 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:29:40 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 29823 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:32:12 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 30581 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:43:04 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 33831 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:44:22 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 34221 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:44:32 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 34268 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:51:30 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 36355 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 07:51:50 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 36452 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:13:58 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 43074 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:14:30 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 43234 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:14:40 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 43284 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:15:51 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 43640 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:17:09 allan-cameras zma_m11[22629]: INF [frontdoor: 44030 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:26:40 allan-cameras zma_m11[7332]: INF [frontdoor: 2485 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:38:44 allan-cameras zma_m11[7332]: INF [frontdoor: 6096 - Gone into alarm state]
Jul 7 08:51:23 allan-cameras zma_m11[7332]: INF [frontdoor: 9881 - Gone into alarm state]