Associated with each pattern there is a description in the form of a bunch of definitions. This set of definitions describes what actually will be done if a status change matching the pattern occurs. The rules will be processed in the order they appear in the configuration file and if multiple patterns match all the definitions will cumulate.
![]() | Warning |
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Definitions appearing later in the file will overwrite definitions appearing earlier |
Example 3.2. Example default values
*.* mail=alarm@nowhere.org delay=5 *.cpu delay=100 |
If a status change for myhost.conn is reported then only the first pattern will match resulting in a description of:
mail=alarm@nowhere.org delay=5 |
while if a status change for myhost.cpu is reported both patterns will match and the resulting description would look like:
mail=alarm@nowhere.org delay=20 |
thus the mail definition will be taken from the first rule while the delay definition of the second matching rule will replace the concurring definition in the first rule.
![]() | Tip | |
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It is a good idea to place more general rules near the start of the configuration file and more specific rules near the end. E.g. a rule associated with the pattern *.* is working like default settings since it will match every single status change.
Placed at the very start of the configuration it will initialize the settings for mail, delay, down, up and prio. Later rules may re-set one of these settings by at the same time inheriting all the other settings. |