363 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
363 lines
15 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: "docs"
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page_title: "Check Definition"
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sidebar_current: "docs-agent-checks"
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description: |-
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One of the primary roles of the agent is management of system- and application-level health checks. A health check is considered to be application-level if it is associated with a service. A check is defined in a configuration file or added at runtime over the HTTP interface.
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---
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# Checks
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One of the primary roles of the agent is management of system-level and application-level health
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checks. A health check is considered to be application-level if it is associated with a
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service. If not associated with a service, the check monitors the health of the entire node.
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A check is defined in a configuration file or added at runtime over the HTTP interface. Checks
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created via the HTTP interface persist with that node.
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There are several different kinds of checks:
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* Script + Interval - These checks depend on invoking an external application
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that performs the health check, exits with an appropriate exit code, and potentially
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generates some output. A script is paired with an invocation interval (e.g.
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every 30 seconds). This is similar to the Nagios plugin system. The output of
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a script check is limited to 4KB. Output larger than this will be truncated.
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By default, Script checks will be configured with a timeout equal to 30 seconds.
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It is possible to configure a custom Script check timeout value by specifying the
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`timeout` field in the check definition. When the timeout is reached on Windows,
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Consul will wait for any child processes spawned by the script to finish. For any
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other system, Consul will attempt to force-kill the script and any child processes
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it has spawned once the timeout has passed.
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In Consul 0.9.0 and later, script checks are not enabled by default. To use them you
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can either use :
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* [`enable_local_script_checks`](/docs/agent/options.html#_enable_local_script_checks):
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enable script checks defile in local config files. Script checks defined via the HTTP
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API will not be allowed.
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* [`enable_script_checks`](/docs/agent/options.html#_enable_script_checks): enable
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script checks regardless of how they are defined.
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~> **Security Warning:** Enabling script checks in some configurations may
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introduce a remote execution vulnerability which is known to be targeted by
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malware. We strongly recommend `enable_local_script_checks` instead. See [this
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blog post](https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/protecting-consul-from-rce-risk-in-specific-configurations)
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for more details.
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* HTTP + Interval - These checks make an HTTP `GET` request every Interval (e.g.
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every 30 seconds) to the specified URL. The status of the service depends on
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the HTTP response code: any `2xx` code is considered passing, a `429 Too Many
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Requests` is a warning, and anything else is a failure. This type of check
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should be preferred over a script that uses `curl` or another external process
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to check a simple HTTP operation. By default, HTTP checks are `GET` requests
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unless the `method` field specifies a different method. Additional header
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fields can be set through the `header` field which is a map of lists of
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strings, e.g. `{"x-foo": ["bar", "baz"]}`. By default, HTTP checks will be
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configured with a request timeout equal to the check interval, with a max of
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10 seconds. It is possible to configure a custom HTTP check timeout value by
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specifying the `timeout` field in the check definition. The output of the
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check is limited to roughly 4KB. Responses larger than this will be truncated.
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HTTP checks also support TLS. By default, a valid TLS certificate is expected.
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Certificate verification can be turned off by setting the `tls_skip_verify`
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field to `true` in the check definition.
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* TCP + Interval - These checks make an TCP connection attempt every Interval
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(e.g. every 30 seconds) to the specified IP/hostname and port. If no hostname
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is specified, it defaults to "localhost". The status of the service depends on
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whether the connection attempt is successful (ie - the port is currently
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accepting connections). If the connection is accepted, the status is
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`success`, otherwise the status is `critical`. In the case of a hostname that
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resolves to both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, an attempt will be made to both
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addresses, and the first successful connection attempt will result in a
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successful check. This type of check should be preferred over a script that
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uses `netcat` or another external process to check a simple socket operation.
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By default, TCP checks will be configured with a request timeout equal to the
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check interval, with a max of 10 seconds. It is possible to configure a custom
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TCP check timeout value by specifying the `timeout` field in the check
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definition.
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* <a name="TTL"></a>Time to Live (TTL) - These checks retain their last known
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state for a given TTL. The state of the check must be updated periodically
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over the HTTP interface. If an external system fails to update the status
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within a given TTL, the check is set to the failed state. This mechanism,
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conceptually similar to a dead man's switch, relies on the application to
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directly report its health. For example, a healthy app can periodically `PUT` a
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status update to the HTTP endpoint; if the app fails, the TTL will expire and
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the health check enters a critical state. The endpoints used to update health
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information for a given check are:
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[pass](/api/agent/check.html#ttl-check-pass),
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[warn](/api/agent/check.html#ttl-check-warn),
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[fail](/api/agent/check.html#ttl-check-fail), and
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[update](/api/agent/check.html#ttl-check-update). TTL
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checks also persist their last known status to disk. This allows the Consul
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agent to restore the last known status of the check across restarts. Persisted
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check status is valid through the end of the TTL from the time of the last
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check.
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* Docker + Interval - These checks depend on invoking an external application which
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is packaged within a Docker Container. The application is triggered within the running
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container via the Docker Exec API. We expect that the Consul agent user has access
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to either the Docker HTTP API or the unix socket. Consul uses ```$DOCKER_HOST``` to
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determine the Docker API endpoint. The application is expected to run, perform a health
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check of the service running inside the container, and exit with an appropriate exit code.
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The check should be paired with an invocation interval. The shell on which the check
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has to be performed is configurable which makes it possible to run containers which
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have different shells on the same host. Check output for Docker is limited to
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4KB. Any output larger than this will be truncated. In Consul 0.9.0 and later, the agent
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must be configured with [`enable_script_checks`](/docs/agent/options.html#_enable_script_checks)
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set to `true` in order to enable Docker health checks.
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* gRPC + Interval - These checks are intended for applications that support the standard
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[gRPC health checking protocol](https://github.com/grpc/grpc/blob/master/doc/health-checking.md).
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The state of the check will be updated at the given interval by probing the configured
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endpoint. By default, gRPC checks will be configured with a default timeout of 10 seconds.
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It is possible to configure a custom timeout value by specifying the `timeout` field in
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the check definition. gRPC checks will default to not using TLS, but TLS can be enabled by
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setting `grpc_use_tls` in the check definition. If TLS is enabled, then by default, a valid
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TLS certificate is expected. Certificate verification can be turned off by setting the
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`tls_skip_verify` field to `true` in the check definition.
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* <a name="alias"></a>Alias - These checks alias the health state of another registered
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node or service. The state of the check will be updated asynchronously,
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but is nearly instant. For aliased services on the same agent, the local
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state is monitored and no additional network resources are consumed. For
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other services and nodes, the check maintains a blocking query over the
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agent's connection with a current server and allows stale requests. If there
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are any errors in watching the aliased node or service, the check state will be
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critical. For the blocking query, the check will use the ACL token set
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on the service or check definition or otherwise will fall back to the default ACL
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token set with the agent (`acl_token`).
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## Check Definition
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A script check:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "mem-util",
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"name": "Memory utilization",
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"args": ["/usr/local/bin/check_mem.py", "-limit", "256MB"],
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"interval": "10s",
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"timeout": "1s"
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}
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}
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```
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A HTTP check:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "api",
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"name": "HTTP API on port 5000",
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"http": "https://localhost:5000/health",
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"tls_skip_verify": false,
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"method": "POST",
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"header": {"x-foo":["bar", "baz"]},
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"interval": "10s",
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"timeout": "1s"
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}
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}
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```
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A TCP check:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "ssh",
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"name": "SSH TCP on port 22",
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"tcp": "localhost:22",
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"interval": "10s",
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"timeout": "1s"
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}
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}
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```
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A TTL check:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "web-app",
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"name": "Web App Status",
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"notes": "Web app does a curl internally every 10 seconds",
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"ttl": "30s"
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}
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}
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```
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A Docker check:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "mem-util",
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"name": "Memory utilization",
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"docker_container_id": "f972c95ebf0e",
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"shell": "/bin/bash",
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"args": ["/usr/local/bin/check_mem.py"],
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"interval": "10s"
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}
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}
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```
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A gRPC check:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "mem-util",
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"name": "Service health status",
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"grpc": "127.0.0.1:12345",
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"grpc_use_tls": true,
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"interval": "10s"
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}
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}
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```
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An alias check for a local service:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "web-alias",
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"alias_service": "web"
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}
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}
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```
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Each type of definition must include a `name` and may optionally provide an
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`id` and `notes` field. The `id` must be unique per _agent_ otherwise only the
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last defined check with that `id` will be registered. If the `id` is not set
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and the check is embedded within a service definition a unique check id is
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generated. Otherwise, `id` will be set to `name`. If names might conflict,
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unique IDs should be provided.
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The `notes` field is opaque to Consul but can be used to provide a human-readable
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description of the current state of the check. With a script check, the field is
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set to any output generated by the script. Similarly, an external process updating
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a TTL check via the HTTP interface can set the `notes` value.
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Checks may also contain a `token` field to provide an ACL token. This token is
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used for any interaction with the catalog for the check, including
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[anti-entropy syncs](/docs/internals/anti-entropy.html) and deregistration.
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For Alias checks, this token is used if a remote blocking query is necessary
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to watch the state of the aliased node or service.
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Script, TCP, HTTP, Docker, and gRPC checks must include an `interval` field. This
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field is parsed by Go's `time` package, and has the following
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[formatting specification](https://golang.org/pkg/time/#ParseDuration):
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> A duration string is a possibly signed sequence of decimal numbers, each with
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> optional fraction and a unit suffix, such as "300ms", "-1.5h" or "2h45m".
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> Valid time units are "ns", "us" (or "µs"), "ms", "s", "m", "h".
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In Consul 0.7 and later, checks that are associated with a service may also contain
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an optional `deregister_critical_service_after` field, which is a timeout in the
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same Go time format as `interval` and `ttl`. If a check is in the critical state
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for more than this configured value, then its associated service (and all of its
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associated checks) will automatically be deregistered. The minimum timeout is 1
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minute, and the process that reaps critical services runs every 30 seconds, so it
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may take slightly longer than the configured timeout to trigger the deregistration.
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This should generally be configured with a timeout that's much, much longer than
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any expected recoverable outage for the given service.
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To configure a check, either provide it as a `-config-file` option to the
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agent or place it inside the `-config-dir` of the agent. The file must
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end in a ".json" or ".hcl" extension to be loaded by Consul. Check definitions
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can also be updated by sending a `SIGHUP` to the agent. Alternatively, the
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check can be registered dynamically using the [HTTP API](/api/index.html).
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## Check Scripts
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A check script is generally free to do anything to determine the status
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of the check. The only limitations placed are that the exit codes must obey
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this convention:
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* Exit code 0 - Check is passing
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* Exit code 1 - Check is warning
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* Any other code - Check is failing
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This is the only convention that Consul depends on. Any output of the script
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will be captured and stored in the `notes` field so that it can be viewed
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by human operators.
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In Consul 0.9.0 and later, the agent must be configured with
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[`enable_script_checks`](/docs/agent/options.html#_enable_script_checks) set to `true`
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in order to enable script checks.
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## Initial Health Check Status
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By default, when checks are registered against a Consul agent, the state is set
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immediately to "critical". This is useful to prevent services from being
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registered as "passing" and entering the service pool before they are confirmed
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to be healthy. In certain cases, it may be desirable to specify the initial
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state of a health check. This can be done by specifying the `status` field in a
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health check definition, like so:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "mem",
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"args": ["/bin/check_mem", "-limit", "256MB"],
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"interval": "10s",
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"status": "passing"
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}
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}
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```
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The above service definition would cause the new "mem" check to be
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registered with its initial state set to "passing".
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## Service-bound checks
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Health checks may optionally be bound to a specific service. This ensures
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that the status of the health check will only affect the health status of the
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given service instead of the entire node. Service-bound health checks may be
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provided by adding a `service_id` field to a check configuration:
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```javascript
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{
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"check": {
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"id": "web-app",
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"name": "Web App Status",
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"service_id": "web-app",
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"ttl": "30s"
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}
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}
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```
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In the above configuration, if the web-app health check begins failing, it will
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only affect the availability of the web-app service. All other services
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provided by the node will remain unchanged.
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## Multiple Check Definitions
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Multiple check definitions can be defined using the `checks` (plural)
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key in your configuration file.
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```javascript
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{
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"checks": [
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{
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"id": "chk1",
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"name": "mem",
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"args": ["/bin/check_mem", "-limit", "256MB"],
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"interval": "5s"
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},
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{
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"id": "chk2",
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"name": "/health",
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"http": "http://localhost:5000/health",
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"interval": "15s"
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},
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{
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"id": "chk3",
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"name": "cpu",
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"args": ["/bin/check_cpu"],
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"interval": "10s"
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},
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...
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]
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}
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```
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