Querying server

[BTalon]

ive searched the forums and didnt find anything like this, so hopefully im not double posting.

my question is, i want to query a program like say teamspeak or IRC to see if it is running or if it is not running, and have it send back a true or false. kinda like what ftp_exec would do. but im not having any luck with that. there are about 4 different programs running on the server that i want to be able to check and see if they are running. kinda like a green light for yes and a red light for no situation. im not new to php and i know this is possible im just not finding the right function. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[wisewood]

I'm not sure that PHP would do what it is that you're after to be honest.

ActiveX maybe? Would love to know if this is do-able though.

[Tjk]

I'm also interested in something like this. I was wondering if something like Sockets could be used to check if a server is online or not? Would this be possible?

EDIT: Specifically looking at something like this:

[a href=\"http://uk.php.net/manual/en/function.socket-connect.php\" target=\"_blank\"]http://uk.php.net/manual/en/function.socket-connect.php[/a]

[wisewood]

I just modified a script that i found on the php.net documentation pages.

I've just kinda thrown my own bits of code at it, so its not very tidy, but it works.

Run that script, and enter a domain (ie phpfreaks.com) or IP address into the text box and hit submit. If its active, it returns the time taken... if not, it returns Not Online.

PS. I have tested this with IP and domains i know are both active and inactive. It does work.

[code]
<?php    session_start();

if(!$_POST[address]) { echo "<form method=post action=$PHP_SELF>Address: <input type=text name=address><input type=submit value=Submit></form>";}
else {
    // Checksum calculation function
    function icmpChecksum($data)
    {
    if (strlen($data)%2)
    $data .= "\x00";
    
    $bit = unpack('n*', $data);
    $sum = array_sum($bit);
    
    while ($sum >> 16)
    $sum = ($sum >> 16) + ($sum & 0xffff);
    
    return pack('n*', ~$sum);
    }
    // Making the package
    $type= "\x08";
    $code= "\x00";
    $checksum= "\x00\x00";
    $identifier = "\x00\x00";
    $seqNumber = "\x00\x00";
    $data= "Scarface";
    $package = $type.$code.$checksum.$identifier.$seqNumber.$data;
    $checksum = icmpChecksum($package); // Calculate the checksum
    $package = $type.$code.$checksum.$identifier.$seqNumber.$data;
    // And off to the sockets
    $socket = socket_create(AF_INET, SOCK_RAW, 1);
    if(!@socket_connect($socket, "$_POST[address]", null)){echo "<b>wisewood says: Not Online.</b>";}
    // If you're using below PHP 5, see the manual for the microtime_float
    // function. Instead of just using the m
    //     icrotime() function.
    $startTime = microtime(true);
    @socket_send($socket, $package, strLen($package), 0);
    if (@socket_read($socket, 255)) {
    echo round(microtime(true) - $startTime, 4) .' seconds';
    }
    socket_close($socket);
}
    ?>
[/code]

[Tjk]

I like to know what I'm using. :) I was wondering if you could explain a few things to me...

Firstly the function icmpChecksum. Could you run through how it works with me? And secondly how can I create my own package IE if i wanted to make $data= "ping" etc etc (any articles I could look at to improve my understanding in explaining what each part of the package is)?

The bottom half of the script (dealing with the sockets) I understand but I'm a little lost on the actual creation of the package.

Help appreciated as always,

Regards

:)

[BTalon]

Thx wisewood. i will spend some time playing with that code.

more specifically let me tell you what i need this for so maybe it will give you more ideas.

i have the server, so everything on it is mine to start and stop. its a linux server. on it i have a website, TS2, irc. all running. i have ftp access, so its not a probelm getting permission on and off the server. i just want to put a panel on my website showing if ts2 and irc are currently up and running or if they are turned off. i always thought that since i could actually put a file right on the server it would just be a matter of creating a fake login script and if the login is successful, then it would submit back a true. and if the login failed it would return false. but im not sure how to create a fake lgin that will log out once its submitted back true or false.

im not sure what i just said makes sense, im sure it probably confused everyone more. but again i will play with the script and see if maybe i can put in a INPUT type hidden with the ip of the irc and ts2 and maybe it will come back for each one. thx for the help so far though, i do appreciate it.