[mrtg] With "options[target]: gauge" MRTG updates the RRD file with one value, but fetch returns a different (averaged) value

[Tobias Oetiker]

Today Volk,Gregory B wrote:

> >If you see 1 user connected at 9:56am, 5 users connected at
> >10:01am and 7 users connected at 10:06am, what would you
> >rrdtool want to store for the periode 10:00am to 10:05am
> >
>
> Yes, that makes sense now that I think about it further. I suppose I was
> looking to load one number without modifications for each 300 second
> interval, and when requested, rrdtool would return back the original
> value for any request that fell into the 300 second interval. So if the
> data was...
>
> 09:56		1
>
> 10:01		5
>
> 10:06		7
>
> ...and I asked for the record for 10:00 it would return 1 (the value it
> had for that 300 second interval), and for 10:04 it would return 5, and
> for anywhere from 10:06:00 to 10:11:00 it would return 7. I see why it
> doesn't work like this now. Thanks for the explanation. I was under the
> mistaken impression that GAUGE data was stored unmodified in the RRD
> other than the averages calculated and stored in the RRAs.

Note that you can have rrdtool store the data 'unmodified' if you
lie about the timestamp ... so when you accquire the data at
10:04am, you tell rrdtool you accquired it at 10:05am when you put
it in ... in that case the data will not be alterd (it will be
wrong, but there is always a price ... )

cheers
tobi

-- 
Tobi Oetiker, OETIKER+PARTNER AG, Aarweg 15 CH-4600 Olten
http://it.oetiker.ch tobi at oetiker.ch ++41 62 213 9902