NetWatch

NetWatch is a Java-based library/agent designed for server-side network observability for microservices. It provides real-time monitoring and visualization of network connectivity, enabling you to identify and address issues proactively.

NOTE: This project is a work in progress.

Design

flowchart LR
    cfg["Config"]
    lib["NetWatch Agent"]
    svc1["Your Service 1"]
    svc2["Your Service 2"]
    lib -. reachability check .-> svc1
    lib -. reachability check .-> svc2
    lib -. Reports to .-> listener

    subgraph app["Your Java App"]
        lib
    end
    subgraph server["NetWatch Server"]
        ui["UI Server"]
        rest["REST API"]
        listener["Event Listener"]
    end

    cfg --> lib

Features

• Standalone service for machine status notification
• Integration with Spring Boot apps for app status notification
• Network connectivity setup with other dependent services
• Definition of targets for reachability checks
• Visualization of service connections and network issues

Installation

Server

Run the NetWatch Server

java \
  -jar netwatch-server.jar \
  --spring.config.location=/path/to/config.yaml

Run as a Docker container

Using default config

docker run \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  ghcr.io/amithkoujalgi/netwatch:0.0.1

Use an external config file

Use

docker run \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -v /path/to/your/config.yaml:/app/config.yaml
  ghcr.io/amithkoujalgi/netwatch:0.0.1

Refer to the sample config.yaml.

After running the above command:

• NetWatch server's UI is accessible at http://localhost:8080 (when default config.yaml is used.).
• NetWatch server's REST API playground is accessible at http://localhost:8080/docs (when default config.yaml is used).
• NetWatch server's event listener (socket server) would be started on the same web port for the stomp clients to connect at ws://localhost:8080/netwatch-agent-event-listener

Verify if the event listener port is accessible.

telnet localhost 8990

Client

Case 1: Using it in Java App

Added as lib in Java and configured to connect to a few services (database, another Java app, REST API, etc). The lib does a reachability check to all the services, collects the data and reports to the master.

To use NetWatch in your Java application, follow these steps:

1. Add the NetWatch Agent dependency to your project's pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.amithkoujalgi</groupId>
    <artifactId>netwatch-agent</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1</version>
</dependency>

2. Add repository to your project's pom.xml:

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>github</id>
        <name>GitHub Apache Maven Packages</name>
        <url>https://maven.pkg.github.com/amithkoujalgi/NetWatch</url>
        <releases>
            <enabled>true</enabled>
        </releases>
        <snapshots>
            <enabled>true</enabled>
        </snapshots>
    </repository>
</repositories>

3. Add server to settings.xml. (Usually available at ~/.m2/settings.xml)

<settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0"
          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
          xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0
                      http://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
    <servers>
        <server>
            <id>github</id>
            <username>your-github-username</username>
            <password>your-github-token</password>
        </server>
    </servers>
</settings>

4. Create your config file agent-config.yaml:

name: Test Agent
host: 192.188.10.1
connections:
  - name: Google
    description: Connection to Google
    type: HTTP
    host: google.com
    port: 80
  - name: Facebook
    description: Connection to Facebook
    type: HTTP
    host: facebook.com
    port: 80

5. Configure NetWatch Agent in your Java application:

import io.github.amithkoujalgi.netwatch.client.NetWatchAgent;

import java.util.Collections;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        NetWatchAgent netWatchAgent = new NetWatchAgent(
                "localhost",
                8080,
                "/path/to/agent-config.yaml"
        );

        // this starts NetWatch agent in the background

        netWatchAgent.start();

        netWatchAgent.join();
    }
}

Case 2: Using it as a standalone agent

The agent does a reachability check to all the configured services, collects the data and reports to the master.

This capability is TBD.

Build

mvn clean install

Once NetWatch is integrated into your application, it will automatically post heartbeat messages to notify the status of your machine and application. You can visualize this data using the NetWatch dashboard to identify any failure points or network connectivity issues.

Todo

• Python agent
• Threaded connection watcher - io.github.amithkoujalgi.netwatch.client.Collector
• Docker container for NetWatch server
• UI improvements
• Docs setup with Docusaurus

Contributing

Contributions to NetWatch are welcome! If you have any ideas for new features, improvements, or bug fixes, please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.