Nagios NSCA 4th variable always $OUTPUT$ - linux

Question

I have implemented nsca in Nagios for distributed monitoring purposes, and everything seems to be working, except for one oddity that I can't seem to find an answer to anywhere.
The passive checks are sent and received, but the output shows the 4th variable to always be uninitialized, and thus it shows up as $OUTPUT$. It appears as though the checks are showing the proper information on the non-central server, but when it's sent, it doesn't seem to be interpolating properly.
commands.cfg
define command{
command_name submit_check_result
command_line /usr/share/nagios3/plugins/eventhandlers/submit_check_result $HOSTNAME$ '$SERVICEDESC$' $SERVICESTATE$ '$OUTPUT$'
}
submit_check_result
#!/bin/sh
return_code=-1
case "$3" in
OK)
return_code=0
;;
WARNING)
return_code=1
;;
CRITICAL)
return_code=2
;;
UNKNOWN)
return_code=-1
;;
esac
/usr/bin/printf "%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n" "$1" "$2" "$return_code" "$4" | /usr/sbin/send_nsca 192.168.40.168 -c /etc/send_nsca.cfg
Example service
define service {
host_name example_host
service_description PING
check_command check_icmp
active_checks_enabled 1
passive_checks_enabled 0
obsess_over_service 1
max_check_attempts 5
normal_check_interval 5
retry_check_interval 3
check_period 24x7
notification_interval 30
notification_period 24x7
notification_options w,c,r
contact_groups admins
}
The output from the log on the non-central server shows:
Nov 29 22:52:52 nagios-server nagios3: SERVICE ALERT: example_host;PING;OK;HARD;5;OK - 192.168.1.1: rta nan, lost 0%
The output from the log on the central server shows:
EXTERNAL COMMAND: PROCESS_SERVICE_CHECK_RESULT;example_host;PING;0;$OUTPUT$
Status information on the central server (web interface) shows:
PING OK 2016-11-29 22:54:50 0d 0h 54m 6s 1/5 $OUTPUT$
It's not just this service either. All services, including those that are essentially preconfigured for the Nagios server itself "check_load, check_proc, etc".
Any assistance would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I found the issue. Turns out the submit_check_result script above is not formatted properly for submitting check results to a remote server. It will do it, but it doesn't account for the status properly. Below is the proper script:
#!/bin/sh
# SUBMIT_CHECK_RESULT_VIA_NSCA
# Written by Ethan Galstad (egalstad#nagios.org)
# Last Modified: 10-15-2008
#
# This script will send passive check results to the
# nsca daemon that runs on the central Nagios server.
# If you simply want to submit passive checks from the
# same machine that Nagios is running on, look at the
# submit_check_result script.
#
# Arguments:
# $1 = host_name (Short name of host that the service is
# associated with)
# $2 = svc_description (Description of the service)
# $3 = return_code (An integer that determines the state
# of the service check, 0=OK, 1=WARNING, 2=CRITICAL,
# 3=UNKNOWN).
# $4 = plugin_output (A text string that should be used
# as the plugin output for the service check)s
#
#
# Note:
# Modify the NagiosHost parameter to match the name or
# IP address of the central server that has the nsca
# daemon running.
printfcmd="/usr/bin/printf"
NscaBin="/usr/sbin/send_nsca"
NscaCfg="/etc/send_nsca.cfg"
NagiosHost="central_host_IP_address"
# Fire the data off to the NSCA daemon using the send_nsca script
$printfcmd "%s\t%s\t%s\t%s\n" "$1" "$2" "$3" "$4" | $NscaBin -H $NagiosHost -c $NscaCfg
# EOF
Much better results.