The nicely integrated Server Density monitoring does a great job of informing you if a server is down, but it can’t do anything about it. So I’ve created a script that I run on an external server to check all of the servers are up (via HTTP) and reboot those that are not. It’s fairly simple, the process is as follows:

• Get a list of VMs from VPS.NET.
• For each VM, send a GET request to http://{hostname}.{domainname}/ and give it (by default) 5 seconds to respond.
• If the server does not respond, it will check if it is marked as “running” on VPS.NET – by default it will then assume that there is simply a routing issue.
• If it is not, it will check if the server is already in a power change state (i.e. startup, reboot).
• Finally, if neither of the above are true, it will send a power on request to VPS.NET.
• After all of that, it’ll (optionally) send you an email to let you know.

The code is below. You can also download it here. Let me know if you find it useful!

Notes:

• This script needs setting up as a cron job, on an off-site server / computer. I recommend running it every 5 minutes or so.
• I don’t use the VPS.NET API PHP classes because they seem to be out of date.
• This script *will* spam you to oblivion if there is a cloud issue and you set it up to email in all cases.

< ?php

//----
// Set up the monitoring script:
//----

define('MONITOR_MAIL_TO', '');     // Email address to send alerts to.
define('MONITOR_API_EMAIL', ''); // Email address associated with VPS.NET API account.
define('MONITOR_API_KEY', '');     // VPS.NET API key.
define('MONITOR_SEND_EMAILS', true);               // Whether or not to send emails if a server is flagged as down.
define('MONITOR_SEND_EMAILS_ON_NO_ACTION', true);  // Whether or not to send emails if no action is taken.
define('MONITOR_REBOOT_IF_RUNNING', true);         // If HTTP check fails, but VPS.NET says the server is up, reboot?
define('MONITOR_HTTP_TIMEOUT', 5);                 // Number of seconds to allow for a server response. 

//----
// Initialise API Class and get VMs:
//----
$api = new SimpleVpsApi();
$api->setApiEmail(MONITOR_API_EMAIL);
$api->setApiKey(MONITOR_API_KEY);
$vms = $api->getVMs();

//----
// Loop through all the VMs and check their status:
//----
$out     = '';
foreach($vms as $vm)
{
	$server = $vm['virtual_machine']['hostname'] . '.' . $vm['virtual_machine']['domain_name'];
	$id     = $vm['virtual_machine']['id'];

	$get = false;
	$get = @file_get_contents('http://'.$server.'/', false, stream_context_create(array('http' => array('timeout' => MONITOR_HTTP_TIMEOUT))));

	if(!$get)
	{
		$_out .= 'Server ' . $server . ' appears to be DOWN!'.PHP_EOL;

		$vm = $api->getVM($id);

		if($vm['power_action_pending'])
		{
			$_out .= '- VPS.NET is reporting that the server is rebooting already. Taking no action.'.PHP_EOL;

			if(!MONITOR_SEND_EMAILS_ON_NO_ACTION)
			{
				$_out = '';
			}
		}
		elseif($vm['running'] && !MONITOR_REBOOT_IF_RUNNING)
		{
			$_out .= '- VPS.NET is reporting the server as running. Taking no action.'.PHP_EOL;

			if(!MONITOR_SEND_EMAILS_ON_NO_ACTION)
			{
				$_out = '';
			}
		}
		elseif($vm['running'] && MONITOR_REBOOT_IF_RUNNING)
		{
			$api->rebootVM($id);
			$_out .= '- VPS.NET is reporting the server as running. Rebooting.'.PHP_EOL;
		}
		else
		{
			$api->bootVM($id);
			$_out .= '- Submitted an automated power on request to VPS.NET.'.PHP_EOL;
		}

		// If we've logged anything for this VM, append it to the log:
		if($_out)
		{
			if($out != '')
			{
				$out .= PHP_EOL;
			}

			$out .= $_out;
			$_out = '';
		}
	}
}

//----
// Emailing functionality, for notification of server downtime:
//----

$email = '
	

		Server Monitoring Notice

			
		


	
';

if($out != '' && MONITOR_SEND_EMAILS)
{
	$email = str_replace('', nl2br($out), $email);
	mail(MONITOR_MAIL_TO, 'Server Monitoring Notice', $email, 'Content-Type: text/html'."\r\n");
}

//----
// Custom class for interacting with the VPS.NET API:
//----

class SimpleVpsApi
{
	const TYPE_GET  = 1;
	const TYPE_POST = 2;

	protected $apiUrl   = 'api.vps.net/';
	protected $apiEmail = null;
	protected $apiKey   = null;

	/**
	* Set the email address to use in requests:
	*/
	public function setApiEmail($email)
	{
		$this->apiEmail = $email;
	}

	/**
	* Set the API key to use in requests:
	*/
	public function setApiKey($key)
	{
		$this->apiKey = $key;
	}

	/**
	* Get a list of all VMs:
	*/
	public function getVMs()
	{
		$vm = $this->sendApiRequest('virtual_machines', 'GET');

		if($vm)
		{
			return $vm;
		}
		else
		{
			return array();
		}
	}

	/**
	* Sends a request to VPS.NET to load details about a VM:
	*/
	public function getVM($id)
	{
		$vm = $this->sendApiRequest('virtual_machines/'.$id, 'GET');

		if($vm)
		{
			return $vm['virtual_machine'];
		}
		else
		{
			return null;
		}
	}

	/**
	* Sends a request to VPS.NET to reboot a VM:
	*/
	public function rebootVM($id)
	{
		return $this->sendApiRequest('virtual_machines/'.$id.'/reboot', 'POST');
	}

	/**
	* Sends a request to VPS.NET to boot a VM:
	*/
	public function bootVM($id)
	{
		return $this->sendApiRequest('virtual_machines/'.$id.'/power_on', 'POST');
	}

	/**
	* Send an API request to VPS.NET
	*/
	protected function sendApiRequest($uri, $type = 'GET')
	{
		if(!$this->apiEmail || !$this->apiKey)
		{
			throw new Exception('You must set an API key and email address first.');
		}

		$opts = array(
		  'http'=>array(
		    'method'  => $type,
		    'header'  => 'Accept: application/json' . "\r\n" .
		                 'Content-Type: application/json' . "\r\n" .
						 'Authorization: Basic ' . base64_encode($this->apiEmail.':'.$this->apiKey) . "\r\n",

			'timeout' => 3,
		  )
		);

		$url      = 'https://'.$this->apiUrl.$uri.'.api10json';
		$context  = stream_context_create($opts);
		$response = @file_get_contents($url, false, $context);
		return json_decode($response, true);
	}
}

The move over has been incredibly positive so far. I feel better about the company, the work is interesting and the people are great. I had my first client meeting this week and it went exceptionally well, we’re now starting to build their new web site, which I hope is going to be a vast improvement on their current one.

I’ve also been getting some things set up here for us as a company, including our new hosting environment, rebuilding the company site in WordPress, and a few other bits and bobs. The office itself and the area it’s in is pretty cool too, I’ve included a couple of pictures – one of the office building and one of my desk.

It’s an exciting time and I think I’m going to be busy for quite some time, but I’m feeling good about it and looking forward to the challenge.

The lead singer of the band was awesome, and his hair was quite immense. Though I can’t compare the gig to any others, if ever you want a fun gig with great music, definitely check out Motion City Soundtrack.

On Thursday I start my new job at Media Wow and it promises to be an exciting experience. The work is already lining up, I know what I am going to be doing on my first day, I’ve picked up and configured my shiny new Macbook Pro and I’m raring to go. I’ll make sure to write about my first day on Thursday evening.

If you’re interested and haven’t done already, check out the web site or follow Media Wow on Twitter. I’m sure I’ll be posting to both when I’ve settled in.

My alternator broke, completely, at 6AM one morning driving back from Durham. When I bought the car, I was told it came with breakdown cover which I thought was with the RAC, so I called them, to find they had no record of me or my car. Same result with the AA. So I had to sign up to the RAC at a cost of £130, who came out and got me to a local garage, Fred Henderson Ltd (who were great, by the way!) My car was repaired before lunch time, but it cost me a further £275. As I was assured by the Evans Halshaw salesman that the warranty allowed such claims, I dutifully collected a full invoice with a detailed description of the work done.

I then contacted Evans Halshaw and was told that these kind of claims are not allowed, but that they’d contact the warranty company to “see what they could do.” Some weeks later, I got a definitive “no” response. I requested contact details for the warranty company, but never received a response.

Last week, I got frustrated and sent an email to both the branch manager in Leeds, and to Trevor Finn, the Chief Executive of Pendragon PLC, the company that own Evans Halshaw. I received two very different responses.

The branch manager called me to say that the policies are in place for a reason and that I should have read my documentation properly. As I told him on the phone, that’s all well and good, but when you’re 90 miles away from your warranty documentation in a broken down car in -4 degree cold, at 6am, three hours before Evans Halshaw open, you can’t be expected to follow policies.

Luckily, I was also called by Ian McCandlish, Pendragon PLC’s Divisional Managing Director of Group Finance and Insurance – the man in charge of the warranty division. Ian took a far more sensible and customer friendly approach to dealing with my complaint. Firstly, he read my email – which I’m not convinced the branch manager really did. Secondly, he set the policies aside and dealt with the problem using his own logic and a bit of empathy. Ian explained that there are policies in place, but that the priority is clearly the customer and sometimes you have to think outside of the box when dealing with it.

It’s a real shame I had to take the steps I did, to get the service I should have received in the first place, but Ian has now offered to reimburse the full cost of repair, plus the RAC sign up cost as a good faith gesture, for which I am very appreciative. His attitude may well be enough to convince me to at least consider using Evans Halshaw again in the future.

My sister had her second child on Saturday 20th February, baby Nathan. He weighed in at exactly eight pounds, with blond hair and apparently, big hands and feet!

So I’m “Uncle Dan” for a fourth time! It doesn’t matter how many times that happens, it’s still just as amazing and exciting as the first.

This is a bit of a strange post to write, as I’m naturally very excited about the challenge I’m going to be facing, but also sad to be leaving behind the great development team I’ve been working with at Stickyeyes. I’ve worked through some great challenges with the guys and learned a lot, I’m looking forward to doing the same and more in my new role.

Naturally, as with all my other posts, if anyone has any wisdom or advice they’d like to give, it would of course be greatly appreciated.

It seems we may be wrong. According to a report by Business Week, Twitter will be reporting a small profit for 2009. It has done this by cutting costs, such as carrier charges for it’s SMS services, and by generating new revenue via it’s deals with Google ($15M) and Microsoft ($10M) for their search integration.

I have to say, I’m impressed. I didn’t catch on at the time that they’d make a lot of money from that, but if the deals have given them the ability to fund their entire yearly operating costs, good work to them!

Mr and Mrs Morter launched a campaign to get Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name” to number one for Christmas, hoping to inspire the British alternative music scene into taking on the might of the X Factor. And they did. And they won!

Of course, I do feel sorry for Joe McElderry, as he did work hard on the X Factor to win the show, but I am very happy that someone’s finally got the point across that they can’t just claim that number one spot every single year. It’s also a great year to do it, the last Christmas Number One of the decade has gone to someone other than the X Factor, it’s just a shame that it didn’t go to a more Christmassy song. I don’t think we’ll be listening to Rage around the Christmas dinner table with the kids.

Buy the songs:

• Rage Against the Machine: Killing In The Name [Explicit]
• Joe McElderry: The Climb

Update: The Christmas Number One battle is over, the X Factor lost to Rage Against the Machine. I’ve posted about it here.

Buy the songs:

• Rage Against the Machine: Killing In The Name [Explicit]
• Joe McElderry: The Climb
• Chris Moyles: Never Gonna Snow (At Christmas)

I posted a couple of weeks ago about getting a Christmas song to number one this year, instead of letting the X Factor take the Christmas Number One spot for the fifth year in a row.

Whilst a few people have agreed with the idea, I’ve realised that really, I’m not popular enough to promote something like this. However, someone who is, is Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and his show’s 20 million strong audience.  Oh, and he is doing. The only thing is, he’s doing so by releasing his own Christmas single, “Never Gonna Snow (At Christmas).” As he’s got a much better chance of succeeding than Wade and I with our little campaign, I’ve decided to support his single instead.

The plan is the same as before, of course. You need to buy the single during the week of the 14th to the 20th of December, instead of buying the X Factor single. Buying both instead of just the X Factor helps a little, but buying just Chris’ is much better.  You can buy the single to download from Amazon below.

• Chris Moyles – Never Gonna Snow (At Christmas) on Amazon UK.

Update: Decided to back Chris Moyles’ attempt to knock X Factor off the number one spot instead. See Chris Moyles vs. The X Factor for Christmas Number One? for details!

Buy the songs:

• Rage Against the Machine: Killing In The Name [Explicit]
• Joe McElderry: The Climb

So, that time of year is fast approaching. It’s almost Christmas, and it’s very likely to be another Christmas number one for the winner of the X Factor. Just as it has been for the last four years. We were talking about this at work earlier and we decided that it’s time to give an actual Christmas song a chance, for a change! To take that honour, we chose Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” We chose it, for no other reason than it’s cheery, Christmassy, and it’s not Mariah Carey!

Who really wants to spend Christmas listening to John and Edward murder another song, anyway? Or just as bad, who wants to spend it listening to Jamie Afro, Danyl Johnson, or any of the others singing about love, anyway? We all know there’s nothing better than sitting around with your family, having a drink and listening to cheesy Christmas classics. Don’t deprive the kids of that!

Now, our plan is as follows: We would like everyone, and I mean everyone, to forego buying this year’s XFactor single, and instead – pop onto iTunes or Amazon and instead, buy Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It’s important that you don’t do this now, you need to buy it during the week of the 14th to the 20th of December, so we get it into the charts for the 2009 Christmas Number One.

We know that a group of people tried to do this last year and got their song to number two, but that’s not going to put us off. We think that should only make everyone try harder to get Bruce Springsteen to number one for Christmas 2009! To help us do this, please re-blog this, linking to either this post, or Wade’s post. If you don’t have a blog, please tweet this post, or put it on Facebook. We will, of course, be posting about this a few more times between now and Christmas, so don’t worry about forgetting.

He’s makin’ a list, checkin’ it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice… Santa Claus is comin’ to town…

We stayed in the world’s tiniest hotel room at the Sandhurst Hotel, a place offering no mod cons (central heating is a feature,) but it was nice enough. The room and the hotel itself were clean and tidy, and the bed was comfy. It’s also very close to the beach, the Pleasure Beach and South Pier, which is just what you need for a short stay really.

Having met the hoopla con man so early in the day on Saturday, and lost a tenner to him, we both quickly became immune to their calls of “Where you from mate?” and “Why don’t you win a teddy for the lovely girl?”  My guaranteed prize on that first stand was a very expensive pack of non-brand alternative Pogs, styled with Pocahontas and Casper imagery – very now.

We chose not to go to the Pleasure Beach, or the water park, as we managed to fill our time without them. The Pleasure Beach was also going to be somewhere in the region of £30 each, which is a bit much, when you consider that Alton Towers is the same price.

A surprisingly cool, and interesting, part of the day was when we stumbled upon a rock making demonstration at the “Rock City” shop. They make all their own rock on site, and it’s all done as a public display for anyone that wants to watch. They start out with massive amounts of what appears to be a mostly sugar solution, which is cut and coloured as it cools. It’s then moulded using a variety of techniques (including some strange elbow based manoeuvres) into a gigantic version of what the eventual rock will look like. After that, the guy simply stretches it out to the size they sell in the shop, so simple, but I’d have never guessed how they did it. I’d definitely recommend watching, in if you get a chance.

On Sunday, we spent most of the day in Blackpool Tower. We had a quick look around their aquarium, and Em was a little embarrassed to be as excited about the Nemo characters in the tanks as the kids around us. We also went to the top of the tower, looked out over the city and did the walk of faith – an obvious must. After all that, though, the main highlight of the day, and probably the stay as a whole, was the Blackpool Tower Circus. It was absolutely amazing. I was expecting it to be sub-par at best, a few simple acts and some stupid clowns perhaps, but actually, it seems to be a world-class circus.

They had a couple of acrobatic acts from China and Hungary that impressed me no end, moreso than any other part of the show. I was sat mouth wide open as they back-flipped, jumped through hoops, scaled ropes and stacked themselves up in pyramids. I’d say, before the Pleasure Beach, piers and amusements combined, if there’s one thing you need to do if you visit Blackpool, it’s the Circus.

I’ve been using Google Wave for a while now, as I was in the first round of invites, and the developer preview before that… but I say using in the loosest sense of the word, as I can’t actually find a use for it. It may be simply because barely anyone is on it yet, but nothing has struck me as a clear purpose.

That’s not to say I don’t like it, it’s a great application and it’s technologically outstanding. Features like drag and drop photo uploading and live typing are incredibly impressive, but I feel like I’m missing the point. I feel like I’m not using it properly, or that I’m expecting the wrong things from it.

What is Google Wave, and why should I be using it? I’d love to know what you all think!

P.s. Thank you to everyone who downloaded the Twitter extension yesterday, including the Googlers… I assume some of the Chrome team.

So, during the day, what do people recommend to do in Blackpool? Do you have any suggestions for places to visit or things to see? Let me know!