alive is a package that provides a command-line program to periodically make network contact with (aka “ping”) a specified host.
alive takes no arguments, and instead reads configuration information from files in the config directory, by default $HOME/.alive.d/.
This is free and open source software.
Features include:
- Each configuration file is rescanned at the top of every loop iteration if its modification time differs from the last check. This means it’s enough to edit a file (and wait); no need to restart the program.
- Supports multiple hosts which are contacted in a round-robin fashion.
- Randomized period – the default period, i.e., time between successive contacts, is a random number of seconds in the range 149 to 420, inclusive.
Website: www.gnu.org/software/alive
Support: Documentation
Developer: Thien-Thi Nguyen
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
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