NMS_Tools

Deterministic, operator‑grade monitoring utilities for Linux and Nagios environments.

Suite: NMS_Tools Monitoring Suite
Maintainer: Leon McClatchey, Linktech Engineering LLC
License: MIT (source) • Proprietary (binaries)
Requires: Python 3.12+ (for source builds)
Version: 2.0.0 (Stable) • Nightly: latest
Packaging: DEB • RPM • TGZ • ZIP
PythonTools: 0.2.0
Last Updated: 2026‑08‑30

---

📘 Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Tools in This Suite
3. Packaging
4. Installation
5. Dashboards
6. Downloads
7. Building From Source
   1. 7.1 Stage 1 — Freeze (PyInstaller)
   2. 7.2 Stage 2 — Full Packaging
8. Repository Structure
9. Quick Start
10. Demos
11. Why NMS_Tools?
12. Project Ecosystem
13. Philosophy
14. Contributing
15. License

---

1. Overview

NMS_Tools is a suite of deterministic, operator‑grade monitoring and inspection utilities designed for Linux and Nagios‑based environments. Each tool produces predictable, machine‑readable output suitable for automation, dashboards, and monitoring pipelines.

The suite includes:

• TLS certificate inspection
• HTML/HTTP validation
• network interface inspection
• port/service availability checks
• deterministic weather ingestion
• market/ticker analysis (via PythonTools finance subsystem)

All tools are compiled as standalone PyInstaller binaries requiring no Python runtime. This ensures consistent behavior across distributions, monitoring systems, and automation pipelines.

---

2. Tools in This Suite

The NMS_Tools suite contains the following deterministic monitoring tools:

Tool	Description	Documentation
check_cert	TLS certificate inspection and expiration validation	src/check_cert/README.md
check_html	HTTP/HTTPS content validation and deterministic HTML checks	src/check_html/README.md
check_interfaces	Network interface inspection and operational state reporting	src/check_interfaces/README.md
check_ports	Port and service availability inspection	src/check_ports/README.md
check_weather	Deterministic weather client for monitoring pipelines	src/check_weather/README.md
check_ticker	Deterministic market/ticker client using PythonTools finance providers	src/check_ticker/README.md

---

3. Packaging

NMS_Tools is distributed in multiple formats to support diverse deployment environments:

DEB (Debian/Ubuntu)

Native packaging for Debian‑based systems.

RPM (Fedora/RHEL/openSUSE)

Native packaging for RPM‑based systems.

TGZ (Portable Archive)

A portable, installation‑free archive containing all binaries and runtime directories. Ideal for embedded systems, containers, and custom deployments.

ZIP (Portable Archive)

Windows‑friendly and cross‑platform archive format for tooling pipelines and CI/CD systems.

All packaging formats include:

• standalone PyInstaller binaries
• deterministic directory layout
• logging directories
• configuration directories
• schema bundles (where applicable)

---

4. Installation

NMS_Tools is distributed as:

Standalone binaries (PyInstaller)

Download from the GitHub Releases page:

https://github.com/Linktech-Engineering-LLC/NMS_Tools/releases

Each tool is a self‑contained executable requiring no Python installation.

DEB package (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo dpkg -i nms-tools_<version>.deb

RPM package (Fedora/RHEL/openSUSE)

sudo rpm -i nms_tools-<version>-1.noarch.rpm

TGZ (Portable)

tar -xzf nms_tools-<version>.tgz
./nms_tools/check_cert --help

ZIP (Portable)

unzip nms_tools-<version>.zip
./nms_tools/check_cert --help

---

5. Dashboards

Nightly Dashboard

Live rolling builds with metadata, checksums, and artifacts: https://linktech-engineering-llc.github.io/NMS_Tools/

Stable Dashboard

Versioned, immutable release builds: https://linktech-engineering-llc.github.io/NMS_Tools/stable/

6. Downloads

Stable releases: https://github.com/Linktech-Engineering-LLC/NMS_Tools/releases

Nightly builds: https://linktech-engineering-llc.github.io/NMS_Tools/

7. Building From Source

NMS_Tools uses a two‑stage build system:

---

7.1 Stage 1 — Freeze all tools (PyInstaller)

The freeze step is performed by the executable build script:

./scripts/build.py

This script:

• freezes every tool into a standalone PyInstaller binary
• validates directory layout
• ensures PythonTools is installed in the active venv
• writes all binaries to:

dist/

PythonTools must be installed in the current virtual environment before running this step.

Install PythonTools:

pip install PythonTools

or from source:

cd ../PythonTools
pip install .

7.2 Stage 2 — Full packaging (DEB, RPM, TGZ, ZIP)

The full packaging pipeline is executed via:

packaging/build_all.sh

This script:

1. automatically calls ./scripts/build.py to freeze all tools
2. assembles DEB packages
3. assembles RPM packages
4. creates TGZ portable archives
5. creates ZIP portable archives
6. copies frozen binaries into the correct packaging layout
7. writes all final artifacts to:

packaging/output/

This is the same packaging model used by RunUpdates and PythonTools.

Building a single tool (freeze only)

./scripts/build.py --tool check_cert

Building archives only (after freeze)

packaging/build_all.sh --archives

Building DEB/RPM only (after freeze)

packaging/build_all.sh --packages

---

8. Repository Structure

src/
  check_cert/
  check_html/
  check_interfaces/
  check_ports/
  check_weather/
  check_ticker/
  demos/
    weather/
    ticker/

tools/
  (suite management scripts)

scripts/
  build.py

packaging/
  debian/
  rpm/
  output/

.github/
  workflows/

---

9. Quick Start

NMS_Tools provides deterministic, standalone monitoring utilities that behave consistently across environments.
Each tool is a single PyInstaller‑compiled binary with predictable exit codes and machine‑readable output.

Check a TLS certificate

check_cert --host example.com --port 443

Validate HTML/HTTP content

check_html --url https://example.com --expect-title "Example Domain"

Inspect network interfaces

check_interfaces

Check port availability

check_ports --host 192.168.1.10 --port 22

Query deterministic weather data

check_weather --city "Wichita, KS"

Market/ticker

check_ticker AAPL --history 5 --trend

All tools return Nagios‑compatible exit codes (0=OK, 1=WARNING, 2=CRITICAL, 3=UNKNOWN) and structured output suitable for automation, dashboards, and monitoring pipelines.

---

10. 🖥️ Demos

NMS_Tools includes lightweight demonstration frontends under src/demos/ that visualize deterministic tool output. These demos are not part of the monitoring suite and not shipped in DEB/RPM packages. They exist for development, testing, and demonstration purposes.

---

All Demos

All demos in the suite share the same architectural foundation:

• FastAPI backend integration
• Apache reverse proxy compatibility
• DOM‑driven updates (pure JavaScript manipulating DOM elements)
• deterministic JSON ingestion
• lightweight, framework‑free HTML/JS/CSS design

These characteristics apply to:

• Weather Demo
• Ticker Demo
• any future demos added to the suite

---

Weather Demo (src/demos/weather/)

A standalone HTML/JS/CSS frontend that renders deterministic JSON output from check_weather.

Features:

• 3‑column layout
• alert banner
• recolored icon pack
• rolling 24‑hour and 7‑day forecast modes
• external weather.js logic

---

Ticker Demo (src/demos/ticker/)

A lightweight frontend demonstrating deterministic ticker ingestion and trend visualization.

Demo‑specific features:

• current price and quote metrics
• trend and history placeholders (future development)
• color‑coded movement indicators
• external ticker.js logic

---

Demo Packaging

Demos are:

• stored under src/demos/
• not included in DEB/RPM packages
• included only in TGZ/ZIP portable archives
• referenced in documentation but not treated as production tools

---

11. Why NMS_Tools?

Traditional monitoring scripts often suffer from:

• inconsistent output formats
• reliance on system Python installations
• unpredictable behavior across distributions
• non‑deterministic parsing
• ad‑hoc logic that breaks under load

NMS_Tools solves these problems by providing:

Deterministic Output

Every tool produces stable, machine‑readable output designed for automation, dashboards, and monitoring pipelines.

Standalone Binaries

All tools are compiled with PyInstaller — no Python runtime, no dependency drift, no environment issues.

Operator‑Grade Behavior

Tools are designed for real production environments:

• consistent exit codes
• predictable failure modes
• clear error messages
• stable CLI interfaces

Linux‑First Design

NMS_Tools targets real Linux systems, not cross‑platform abstractions.
Packaging is native (DEB and RPM), and behavior is tuned for operational reliability.

Nagios‑Friendly

Output formats, exit codes, and CLI patterns integrate cleanly with:

• Nagios
• Icinga
• Sensu
• Zabbix
• custom monitoring pipelines

NMS_Tools is built for operators who need tools that behave the same way every time — no surprises, no guesswork.

---

12. Project Ecosystem

NMS_Tools is part of the Linktech Engineering Tools Suite, alongside:

• PythonTools — deterministic foundation library
• RunUpdates — update orchestration
• TimerDeck — systemd automation
• VSCode-Updater — editor update automation
• BotScanner — security analysis

NMS_Tools relies heavily on PythonTools for:

• deterministic subprocess execution
• unified logging
• schema loading
• finance/ticker provider architecture
• trend analysis
• frozen‑bundle compatibility

Together, these projects form a cohesive ecosystem of operator‑grade automation tools.

---

13. Philosophy

NMS_Tools is built around a few core principles:

• Determinism — predictable, stable output suitable for automation
• Operator‑grade design — tools that behave consistently under load and in production
• Linux‑first — designed for real systems, not cross‑platform abstraction
• Nagios‑friendly — output formats and behaviors that integrate cleanly with monitoring systems

---

14. Contributing

Contributions are welcome.
Please keep submissions:

• Deterministic
• Lightweight
• Operationally focused
• Consistent with the suite’s monitoring philosophy

See CONTRIBUTING for details.

---

15. License

• Source code: MIT LICENSE for details.
• Frozen binary: Proprietary LICENSE_BINARY