Saner Watchdog Funtionailies in SanerNow Windows Agent

What is watch dog and how does it helpful in our SanerNow agent debugging and understanding its working principle 

Let us know see the brief introduction of what a watchdog is and later we can co-relate it to the Saner watchdog

A watchdog timer (or simply "watchdog") is a software timer that is used to detect and recover from computer malfunctions. The primary function of a watchdog is to monitor the operation of a system and ensure that it is functioning correctly. Here's a detailed explanation of how watchdogs work and their functions:

1. System Monitoring:

   - The watchdog software monitors system operations, requiring periodic "heartbeat" signals to confirm normal function.

2. Fault Detection:

   - If the system fails to send a heartbeat within the timeout period, the watchdog detects a malfunction due to issues like software bugs or hangs.

3. System Recovery:

   - On detecting a fault, the watchdog software typically restarts the affected component to restore normal operation.

So now coming to the SanerNow watchdog, here you can see how it works

The “spagentwatchdog.log” gives the information about the status of the spsaneragent whether it is running or now, below is the log snip for an example:

So this logs is created because of the exe called “spagentwatchdog” and it this exe the log is being created and also it monitors the if the agents service is running or not and then triggers it to start again

Here is the screenshot when I manually stopped the agent service 

The below shows that the service has been stopped at 11:41 am 

It remained in the stop state till 5 minutes and extactly after the end of 5 minutes the agent started to run(below is the screenshot for reference)

So how this process is defined? In order to verify it we can go to the Task scheduler to learn more about this and how it been configured

As we can see that the trigger has been set to monitor it and start the service if it is not running every 5 minutes

Conclusion

The "spagentwatchdog" executable generates logs detailing its task of monitoring and restarting the agent service. When the service is manually stopped, the log records the event and indicates a restart precisely five minutes later. Examination of the Task Scheduler configuration confirms its role in initiating these checks and restarts at five-minute intervals, ensuring continuous spsaner service operation.