# Creating a check that doesn't use a handler?

**URL:** <https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24>\
**Category:** Sensu Classic (EOL)\
**Created:** [May 10, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24 "2013-05-10T20:42:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Christopher\_Armstron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.sensu.io/christopher_armstron/32/398_2.png) [@Christopher\_Armstron](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/Christopher_Armstron)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24/1 "2013-05-10T20:42:17Z")

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We have a few checks which we like to monitor the status of (how many apt updates a machine has, etc) but we don’t want to ever pass the status to a handler.

Is the appropriate way to handle this to create a handler which doesn’t do anything, or should I be looking at metric handlers? I’d like this to appear in the Sensu dashboard alongside the other checks.

Thanks,

Chris

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**Author:** ![Sean\_Porter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@Sean\_Porter](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/Sean_Porter)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24/2 "2013-05-10T20:46:37Z")

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Add handle: false to your check definitions.

> **···**
>
> On 10 May 2013 13:42, “Christopher Armstrong” [chris@chrisarmstrong.me](mailto:chris@chrisarmstrong.me) wrote:
> 
> > We have a few checks which we like to monitor the status of (how many apt updates a machine has, etc) but we don’t want to ever pass the status to a handler.
> 
> > Is the appropriate way to handle this to create a handler which doesn’t do anything, or should I be looking at metric handlers? I’d like this to appear in the Sensu dashboard alongside the other checks.
> 
> > 
> 
> > Thanks,
> 
> > 
> 
> > Chris

---

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**Author:** ![Christopher\_Armstron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.sensu.io/christopher_armstron/32/398_2.png) [@Christopher\_Armstron](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/Christopher_Armstron)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24/3 "2013-05-10T20:51:32Z")

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Great, thanks Sean. Didn’t see anything in the documentation so I figured I’d ask.

> **···**
>
> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Sean Porter [portertech@gmail.com](mailto:portertech@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > Add handle: false to your check definitions.
> 
> > On 10 May 2013 13:42, “Christopher Armstrong” [chris@chrisarmstrong.me](mailto:chris@chrisarmstrong.me) wrote:
> > 
> > > We have a few checks which we like to monitor the status of (how many apt updates a machine has, etc) but we don’t want to ever pass the status to a handler.
> 
> > > Is the appropriate way to handle this to create a handler which doesn’t do anything, or should I be looking at metric handlers? I’d like this to appear in the Sensu dashboard alongside the other checks.
> 
> > >
> 
> > > Thanks,
> 
> > >
> 
> > > Chris

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Christopher\_Armstron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.sensu.io/christopher_armstron/32/398_2.png) [@Christopher\_Armstron](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/Christopher_Armstron)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24/4 "2013-05-10T23:28:23Z")

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Sean,

Sensu doesn’t seem to like that:

{“timestamp”:“2013-05-10T23:26:45.904216+0000”,“level”:“fatal”,“message”:“invalid settings”,“reason”:“check handlers must be an array”,“check”:{“command”:“check-reboot-required.sh”,“subscribers”:[“base”],“handlers”:false,“interval”:60,“name”:“reboot\_required”}}

Any ideas?

> **···**
>
> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 1:51 PM, Christopher Armstrong [chris@chrisarmstrong.me](mailto:chris@chrisarmstrong.me) wrote:
> 
> > Great, thanks Sean. Didn’t see anything in the documentation so I figured I’d ask.
> 
> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Sean Porter [portertech@gmail.com](mailto:portertech@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > Add handle: false to your check definitions.
> 
> > On 10 May 2013 13:42, “Christopher Armstrong” [chris@chrisarmstrong.me](mailto:chris@chrisarmstrong.me) wrote:
> > 
> > > We have a few checks which we like to monitor the status of (how many apt updates a machine has, etc) but we don’t want to ever pass the status to a handler.
> 
> > > Is the appropriate way to handle this to create a handler which doesn’t do anything, or should I be looking at metric handlers? I’d like this to appear in the Sensu dashboard alongside the other checks.
> 
> > >
> 
> > > Thanks,
> 
> > >
> 
> > > Chris

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**Author:** ![Josh\_Pasqualetto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a5b964/32.png) [@Josh\_Pasqualetto](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/Josh_Pasqualetto)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24/5 "2013-05-11T05:13:58Z")

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You have handlers plural and he said handle singular that might be it? If that doesn’t work which version are you running?

-josh

> **···**
>
> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 1:51 PM, Christopher Armstrong [chris@chrisarmstrong.me](mailto:chris@chrisarmstrong.me) wrote:
> 
> > Great, thanks Sean. Didn’t see anything in the documentation so I figured I’d ask.
> 
> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Sean Porter [portertech@gmail.com](mailto:portertech@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > Add handle: false to your check definitions.
> 
> > On 10 May 2013 13:42, “Christopher Armstrong” [chris@chrisarmstrong.me](mailto:chris@chrisarmstrong.me) wrote:
> > 
> > > We have a few checks which we like to monitor the status of (how many apt updates a machine has, etc) but we don’t want to ever pass the status to a handler.
> 
> > > Is the appropriate way to handle this to create a handler which doesn’t do anything, or should I be looking at metric handlers? I’d like this to appear in the Sensu dashboard alongside the other checks.
> 
> > >
> 
> > > Thanks,
> 
> > >
> 
> > > Chris

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**Author:** ![jspaleta](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.sensu.io/jspaleta/32/141_2.png) [@jspaleta](https://discourse.sensu.io/u/jspaleta)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://discourse.sensu.io/t/creating-a-check-that-doesnt-use-a-handler/24/6 "2018-11-22T02:04:51Z")

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