check_memory broken with new /usr/bin/free output

[Ken Baker]

$ /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_memory -vvv
[extra-opts] check_memory -vvv
Running: '/usr/bin/free -b'
Output from /usr/bin/free:
                total used free shared buff/cache available
  Mem: 970764288 201072640 13131776 18829312 756559872 722841600
  Swap: 0 0 0
MEMORY CRITICAL - Unable to interpret /usr/bin/free output

=============================================================
Version information

$ apt-cache policy nagios-plugins-contrib
nagios-plugins-contrib:
  Installed: 16.20151226
  Candidate: 16.20151226
  Version table:
 *** 16.20151226 500
        500 http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports xenial/universe armhf Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
bakerkj@columbia:/tmp$ apt-cache policy procps
procps:
  Installed: 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2
  Candidate: 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 2:3.3.10-4ubuntu2 500
        500 http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports xenial/main armhf Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

$ lsb_release -dr
Description: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Release: 16.04

[Ken Baker (bakerkj)]

It would appear there is an debian bug report and patch available here:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=806598

[TomaszChmielewski (mangoo-wpkg)]

Patch fixed the problem for me on Ubuntu 16.04.

[Ken Baker (bakerkj)]

What are the next steps to get this patch integrated in ubuntu?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Jan Wagner (waja)]

Am 21.06.16 um 18:59 schrieb Ken Baker:
> What are the next steps to get this patch integrated in ubuntu?

the usual process is to get it fixed in Debian and then it should hit
the next Ubuntu release. (or somebody is making a new ubuntu release of
the package)

Updates in a stable Ubuntu release needs to be acknowledged by the
Release Managers.

[Luca Lesinigo (luca404)]

> Updates in a stable Ubuntu release needs to be acknowledged by the Release Managers.

This plugin is simply broken and unusable in the 16.04 stable release, also a regression from previous Ubuntu LTS. We have to detect Ubuntu 16.04 and deploy a different check script just for those systems, instead of relying on the distribution-packaged one.

The patch would be backward-incompatible, strictly speaking, because it would stop the plugin from saying "Unable to interpret /usr/bin/free output" as it does now.
IMHO it would be an acceptable change :)

So, what are the next steps to get this patch acknowledged by the Release Managers?

[Sebastian Nohn (sebastian-nohn)]

Some information, how we can get this approved and pushed to the official 16.04 repos would be great.

[Alex Gottschalk (anotheral)]

This bug affects me also, making the check_memory plugin unusable in nagios, sensu, icinga, etc. Are there any plans to get this fixed in 16.04? Is it fixed in 18.04?

[Dominique Ramaekers (dominique-ramaekers)]

I can confirm that check_memory works again in 18.04.

If I copy the plugin to a 16.04, it works also in 16.04.

On only one of my 18.04 systems I get an error, but this is really weird
root@cmsrvrb3:~# /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_memory
Can't call method "new" on an undefined value at /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_memory line 55.

The line causing this error is just a declaration:
my $np = $plugin_module->new(
  usage => "Usage: %s [ -w <warning_threshold> ] [ -c <critical_threshold> ]\n"
    . ' [ -u <unit> ]',
  version => $VERSION,
  plugin => $PROGNAME,
  blurb => 'Check free(1) data against given tresholds',
  timeout => 30,
);

Does anyone have the same issue? Than I'd fill in a bug report. Maybe I'm just missing something...