Project — Linux Server Health Dashboard¶

Intermediate portfolio build — turn periodic host checks into a readable dashboard artifact.

Project Overview¶

Goal: Collect health samples on a schedule and publish a dashboard file (text + optional HTML) that an on-call engineer can open over SSH or via a simple static path.

Deliverable for your portfolio:

Check scripts (disk, memory, load, failed units, optional network)
Aggregator that writes reports/latest.txt and reports/latest.html
cron or systemd timer
Threshold configuration file
README with screenshots or sample HTML

Estimated cost: £0.

Goals¶

Thresholds live in config (not only hard-coded)
Latest report always overwritten; history retained under reports/history/
Non-zero exit when any check alerts
Document how to install/uninstall the schedule

Stack¶

Piece	Choice
Language	Bash (+ optional Python for HTML)
Scheduling	cron or systemd timer
Inputs	`df`, `free`, `/proc/loadavg`, `systemctl --failed`
Layout	`bin/`, `config/thresholds.env`, `reports/`, `templates/`

Prerequisites¶

Host Monitoring
Scheduling: cron, at, and Timers
systemd Services and journalctl
Labs: Ops Toolkit, Services and Logs
Project: System Information Utility (recommended)

Milestones¶

Milestone 1 — Checks and config¶

Port or rewrite lab checks; load THRESH_DISK, THRESH_LOAD_MULT from config/thresholds.env.

Milestone 2 — Dashboard render¶

Produce a stable latest.txt. Optional: minimal HTML table with green/red status cells (no heavy frameworks).

Milestone 3 — Schedule¶

Install a user crontab or systemd user/system timer; log stdout/stderr.

Milestone 4 — Demo pack¶

Include examples/latest.html, install instructions, and a dry-run mode (--once).

Success criteria¶

./bin/health-dashboard.sh --once creates reports/latest.txt
Forcing a low disk threshold yields exit 2 and a red/ALERT line
Uninstall steps remove cron/timer cleanly