Linuxfabrik Python Libraries

Python 3.9+ modules for Linuxfabrik projects: DB access, SQLite KVS caching, WinRM, SMB, shell execution, 15+ API integrations (Icinga2, Veeam, Nextcloud, ...). Available on PyPI. • made by Linuxfabrik

Linuxfabrik Python Libraries

A mature, production-grade Python library collection providing 40 modules with 300+ functions for system administration, monitoring, and infrastructure automation. These libraries are used across several Linuxfabrik projects -- most prominently the Linuxfabrik Monitoring Plugins (Nagios/Icinga check plugins), but also in ChecklistFabrik and other tools.

If these libraries help you developing your own monitoring plugins, system tools or infrastructure automation, please give it a star.

The library requires Python 3.9+ and runs on every platform.

Documentation

Full documentation is available at linuxfabrik.github.io/lib. It is automatically built and deployed on every push to main.

Installation

Add linuxfabrik-lib as a dependency to your project, or install it manually:

pip install --user linuxfabrik-lib

Design Principles

These libraries are built with a clear set of priorities:

• Procedural by design. The libraries deliberately use a procedural/functional style rather than object-oriented programming. Pure functions with explicit inputs and outputs are easier to read, test, and reason about. This is especially true for the most prominent use case -- monitoring plugins -- which are short-lived, linear processes with no complex state to manage over time, where unnecessary abstraction layers would add overhead without tangible benefit.
• Broad compatibility. Python 3.9+ is the minimum, ensuring the libraries work on RHEL 8 and every major distribution without requiring newer runtimes.
• Cross-platform. Core functions behave identically on Linux, Windows, and macOS. Platform-specific code (WinRM, PowerShell, SMB) is cleanly separated.
• Minimal dependencies. We avoid pulling in large dependency trees. External packages are used only when the alternative would be unreliable or significantly more complex.
• Consistent error handling. Most functions return (success, result) tuples. The caller decides whether to continue or exit -- the library never exits on its own. The base.coe() ("Continue or Exit") helper makes this pattern concise.
• Automatic redaction. Sensitive data (passwords, tokens, API keys) in error messages is automatically sanitized before output.
• Nagios/Icinga conventions. State constants, threshold evaluation, performance data formatting, and range parsing follow the Monitoring Plugins Development Guidelines.
• Defensive defaults. Functions use sensible timeouts, safe SSL settings, and locked-down defaults so that plugins work out of the box without extensive configuration.

Library Index

Core Utilities

Module	Description	Key Functions
args.py	Extends argparse with custom input types for monitoring thresholds and a registry of reusable --help texts.	csv(), float_or_none(), help(), int_or_none(), number_unit_method()
base.py	The central library for plugin development. Provides state evaluation, threshold comparison, performance data formatting, ASCII table output, and the coe() error-handling pattern.	coe(), cu(), get_perfdata(), get_state(), get_table(), get_worst(), oao(), state2str()
globals.py	Defines the four Nagios/Icinga plugin states: STATE_OK (0), STATE_WARN (1), STATE_CRIT (2), STATE_UNKNOWN (3).	--
human.py	Converts raw numbers, byte sizes, bit rates, and durations to human-readable representations and back. Supports binary/SI prefixes and Nagios range syntax with units.	bits2human(), bps2human(), bytes2human(), human2bytes(), human2seconds(), humanrange2bytes(), number2human(), seconds2human()
lftest.py	Test harness for data-driven plugin unit tests, spinning up throwaway containers (including MySQL/MariaDB) as fixtures.	attach_each(), attach_tests(), run(), run_container(), run_mysql_compatible_from_containerfile(), test()
time.py	Date/time conversions between UNIX epochs, ISO strings, and datetime objects, plus time-macro expansion and time differences. Timezone-aware.	epoch2iso(), now(), timestr2datetime(), timestrdiff()
txt.py	Text processing: regex compilation, substring extraction, multi-line parsing, sensitive data redaction, pluralization, and byte/text encoding conversion.	compile_regex(), extract_str(), match_regex(), mltext2array(), pluralize(), to_bytes(), to_text()
version.py	Software version parsing, comparison, and End-of-Life checking against endoflife.date.	check_eol(), version(), version2float()

Data Access & Caching

Module	Description	Key Functions
cache.py	A simple SQLite-based key-value store with optional key expiration. Used for persisting state between plugin runs.	get(), set()
db_mysql.py	MySQL/MariaDB client with connection management, query execution, privilege checking, and server flavor/status/variable/replication inspection.	check_privileges(), connect(), get_all_variables(), get_engines(), get_replica_status(), lod2dict(), select()
db_sqlite.py	Full SQLite interface: table/index creation, CRUD operations, CSV import, regex support, and per-second counter deltas for time-series data.	connect(), create_index(), create_table(), cut(), delete(), insert(), per_second_deltas(), select()

System & OS

Module	Description	Key Functions
disk.py	File I/O, directory walking, CSV/environment file parsing, block device and partition listing, and temp directory management.	dir_exists(), file_exists(), get_real_disks(), get_tmpdir(), grep_file(), read_file()
distro.py	Linux distribution detection. Returns normalized facts including distribution name, version, and Ansible-compatible os_family.	get_distribution_facts()
dmidecode.py	Parses dmidecode output into structured data. Extracts CPU, RAM, firmware, serial number, manufacturer, and model information.	cpu_speed(), cpu_type(), firmware(), get_data(), manufacturer(), model(), ram(), serno()
endoflifedate.py	Bundled End-of-Life data from endoflife.date for offline version checks when internet access is unavailable.	--
psutil.py	Wrapper around psutil for retrieving mounted disk partitions with device, mount point, and filesystem type.	get_partitions()
shell.py	Runs external commands from an argv list without a shell, guards option-style CLI values, and locates executables in PATH.	safe_cli_value(), shell_exec(), which()

Networking & HTTP

Module	Description	Key Functions
feedparser.py	Parses Atom and RSS feeds from URLs using BeautifulSoup.	parse()
net.py	Low-level networking: TCP/UDP/TLS and Unix domain sockets, public IP lookup, subnet enumeration, netmask conversion, and hostname validation.	cidr_to_hosts(), fetch(), fetch_socket(), get_public_ip(), get_subnet_hosts(), ip_to_cidr()
ssh.py	Runs commands and copies files over SSH by building shell-free ssh/scp/rsync argument lists.	build_options(), rsync(), run(), scp(), target()
url.py	HTTP/1.x and HTTP/2 client (httpx) for HTML, JSON, or raw data. Supports GET/POST, Basic/Digest authentication, TLS version pinning, proxy control, and connection telemetry.	fetch(), fetch_json(), get_latest_version_from_github(), split_basic_auth(), strip_tags()

Windows Integration

Module	Description	Key Functions
powershell.py	Executes PowerShell commands locally (on Windows hosts).	run_ps()
smb.py	Native SMB/CIFS file access: list, glob, and open files on remote shares with encryption support.	glob(), open_file()
winrm.py	Executes commands and PowerShell scripts on remote Windows hosts via WinRM/PSRP, preferring pypsrp with a pywinrm fallback.	run_cmd(), run_ps()

API Integrations

Module	Description	Key Functions
bexio.py	Bexio business software REST API (contacts, invoices, projects, items, timesheets, and more).	call_api(), fetch_accounts(), fetch_contacts(), fetch_invoices(), fetch_projects(), get_all()
grassfish.py	Grassfish digital signage REST API.	fetch_json(), set_player_defaults(), set_screen_defaults()
huawei.py	Huawei OceanStor/Dorado storage REST API, decoding its numeric status, model, and hardware codes.	get_data(), get_health_status(), get_running_status(), get_uuid()
icinga.py	Icinga2 REST API client for querying services and managing acknowledgements and downtimes.	get_service(), remove_ack(), remove_downtime(), set_ack(), set_downtime()
infomaniak.py	Infomaniak Swiss Backup REST API for events, backup products, and slots.	get_events(), get_swiss_backup_products(), get_swiss_backup_slots()
jitsi.py	Jitsi Meet server statistics endpoint, with optional HTTP Basic auth.	get_data()
keycloak.py	Keycloak identity provider with OIDC discovery, admin-token retrieval, and Admin REST API access.	discover_oidc_endpoints(), get_data(), obtain_admin_token()
librenms.py	LibreNMS monitoring API, mapping its alert states to Nagios states.	get_data(), get_prop(), get_state()
nextcloud.py	Nextcloud occ command execution as the config.php owner, parsing JSON or text output.	run_occ()
nodebb.py	NodeBB forum API, using a Bearer user token.	get_data()
qts.py	QNAP QTS NAS API with session authentication.	get_auth_sid()
redfish.py	Redfish BMC API for chassis, systems, storage, managers, and sensors, deriving Nagios states and perfdata.	get_auth_header(), get_perfdata(), get_state(), get_systems()
rocket.py	Rocket.Chat REST API for login, room/group history, statistics, and incoming webhooks.	get_groups_history(), get_rooms_get(), get_rooms_info(), get_stats(), get_token(), send2webhook()
uptimerobot.py	UptimeRobot API for monitors, alert contacts, maintenance windows, and status pages.	delete_monitor(), edit_monitor(), get_account_details(), get_alert_contacts(), get_monitors(), get_mwindows(), get_psps(), new_monitor()
veeam.py	Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise Manager REST API.	get_token()
wildfly.py	WildFly/JBoss management API with digest auth (standalone and domain mode).	get_data()

Usage Example

A typical monitoring plugin using these libraries:

import lib.args
import lib.base
import lib.url
from lib.globals import (STATE_CRIT, STATE_OK, STATE_UNKNOWN, STATE_WARN)

def main():
    # Parse arguments with custom threshold types
    parser = lib.args.ArgumentParser()
    parser.add_argument('--url', required=True)
    parser.add_argument('--warning', type=lib.args.float_or_none, default=80)
    parser.add_argument('--critical', type=lib.args.float_or_none, default=90)
    args = parser.parse_args()

    # Fetch data (coe = "Continue or Exit")
    result = lib.base.coe(lib.url.fetch_json(args.url))

    # Evaluate thresholds
    state = lib.base.get_state(result['usage'], args.warning, args.critical)
    perfdata = lib.base.get_perfdata('usage', result['usage'], '%', args.warning, args.critical, 0, 100)

    # Output and exit
    lib.base.oao('Usage is {}%'.format(result['usage']), state, perfdata)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Tips & Tricks

Count the function calls to any "lib" library in your project and sort by frequency:

grep -rhoP '\Wlib\.[a-zA-Z0-9_\.]+' * | sed 's/^[^a-zA-Z0-9]*//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr