check-dir-file-age

                                        
Nagios / Icinga plugin to monitor the age of the newest or oldest file in a directory. This plugin is distinct from the standard check_file_age plugin shipped with monitoring-plugins, which checks a single specific file by path. check_dir_file_age.sh scans an entire directory and selects either the newest or oldest file automatically. 

                    

        
        

            
            

                

    

    
check_dir_file_age.sh



License: MIT
Built by Nemester



Nagios / Icinga plugin to monitor the age of the newest or oldest file in a directory.
> Note: This plugin is distinct from the standard check_file_age plugin shipped with monitoring-plugins, which checks a single specific file by path. check_dir_file_age.sh scans an entire directory and selects either the newest or oldest file automatically.







Description


check_dir_file_age.sh checks (recursive) the newest or oldest file in a given directory and evaluates its age against warning and critical thresholds.
If the age of the file is above the threshold, a corresponding alarm is triggered.


This is useful for monitoring:


    

  • backups
    • 

  • log generation
    • 

  • file drops / ETL pipelines
    • 

  • export jobs
    • 

  • retention / cleanup jobs
    • 





Requirements


    

  • Linux system with:

      

    • bash
      • 

    • find
      • 

    • sort
      • 

    • awk
      • 

    • date
      • 

    • stat
      • 

    • 

  • Nagios / Icinga (or compatible monitoring system)
    • 





Installation


    

  1. 

    Copy script to plugin directory:
    

    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_dir_file_age.sh
    

    2. 

  2. 

    Set executable permissions:
    

    chmod 755 /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_dir_file_age.sh
    

    3. 





Usage


check_dir_file_age.sh --directory  --warn  --crit  [--mode newest|oldest] [--perfdata]


Parameters






Parameter
Description






--directory
Directory to check




--warn
Warning threshold (hours)




--crit
Critical threshold (hours)




--mode
newest or oldest, which file to evaluate (optional, default: newest)




--perfdata
Enable perfdata output (optional)








Modes






Mode
Selects
Typical use case






newest
Most recently modified file
Detect stalled writes, e.g. a backup job stopped producing files




oldest
Least recently modified file
Detect missing cleanup, e.g. old files not being rotated or archived








Threshold Semantics






Metric
Behavior






File age
higher is worse






Example:


--warn 24 --crit 48


    

  • ≥ 24h → WARNING  
    • 

  • ≥ 48h → CRITICAL  
    • 





Example Usage


check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /backup --warn 24 --crit 48


check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /data/export --warn 2 --crit 4 --perfdata


check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /data/archive --warn 72 --crit 168 --mode oldest


check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /data/archive --warn 72 --crit 168 --mode oldest --perfdata




Example Output


Without perfdata (default)


[OK]: newest file "backup.sql" is 2 hours old in /backup


With perfdata


[OK]: newest file "backup.sql" is 2 hours old in /backup | file_age_hours=2;24;48;0;


Warning


[WARNING]: newest file "backup.sql" is 26 hours old in /backup


[WARNING]: oldest file "import_2024-01-01.csv" is 80 hours old in /data/archive


Critical


[CRITICAL]: newest file "backup.sql" is 52 hours old in /backup


[CRITICAL]: oldest file "import_2024-01-01.csv" is 175 hours old in /data/archive




Return Codes






Code
State






0
OK




1
WARNING




2
CRITICAL




3
UNKNOWN








NRPE Integration


Example /etc/nagios/nrpe.cfg:


command[check_newest_file]=/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /backup --warn 24 --crit 48
command[check_oldest_file]=/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /data/archive --warn 72 --crit 168 --mode oldest


With perfdata:


command[check_newest_file_pd]=/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /backup --warn 24 --crit 48 --perfdata
command[check_oldest_file_pd]=/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_dir_file_age.sh --directory /data/archive --warn 72 --crit 168 --mode oldest --perfdata


(Restart NRPE)




Notes


    

  • Only regular files are considered (no directories)
    • 

  • The target file is determined by modification time
    • 

  • Works with filenames containing spaces
    • 

  • If no files are found, the check returns CRITICAL
    • 

  • Mode defaults to newest 
    • 

  • Perfdata is disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled (flag: --perfdata)
    • 





License


MIT License