mhupman / website-down-alarm

Pings a URL and causes an alarm light to flash if the status code is not 200.

website-down-alarm

This Tessel project pings a URL and causes an alarm light to run continuously if the status code is not 200.

If your website goes down, you want to be the first to know. Make it obvious when there's a problem by hooking up a big alarm light to a Tessel, which will ping your website every few seconds to check for trouble.

Light patterns

• Continuously off: all is well
• Continuously on: website being monitored is down
• Two-second bursts (on or off): system error; monitoring isn't working (reset the Tessel)

Materials

• Tessel
• Relay Module
• Alarm light

Tools

• Screwdriver
• Wire strippers (scissors work, if you're careful)
• Computer for programming

Setting up the hardware

1. Unscrew the switch from the lamp cord (if you don't have a light with a switch, cut one side of the light's power cord)
2. Peel back the cut ends and use the wire strippers to expose the copper
3. Using a screwdriver to press down on the tabs, insert both exposed copper ends into the two sides of Relay 1 on the Relay Module
4. Plug the Relay Module into Port A on the Tessel
5. Plug in power to the lights
6. USB power the Tessel (plug it in to your computer to program)

To run

1. Clone this repo
2. From within the repo, npm install to install dependencies
3. Ensure your hardware is set up properly by running tessel run relay-test.js. If nothing happens, check your connections and refer to the Relay Guide
4. In index.js, change the wifi settings and site to monitor to suit your needs
5. To run temporarily with logs, tessel run index.js
6. To program for long-term use, tessel push index.js
7. You can now unplug Tessel from your computer and power externally according to the guide