[wplug] Logging and Notification System

[Jason Jerome]

Hello All:

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to best handle logging and notification of errors while running scripts on a RedHat system.  More specifically, is there any application that could track the running of particular scripts and notify (via email) if that script fails? 

My client has a few services that are backed up on a regular schedule.  I have various scripts running (cron) that make backups of these systems and log the process in a simple text file.  In most cases, the scripts I'm using are standard scripts supplied by the application itself.  For instance, Subversion provides a couple scripts on their website that will dump and compress a repository and log the entire process in a text file.

Everything has been working rather well, except that I am a little concerned about notification in case a script fails.  I would like some sort of system that would email someone if the job ever failed, and be easy for the next guy that comes along to pick up and administer.  I would consider myself "versed enough" in the ways of handling things in Linux, but I'm not too familiar with logging.  From what I've read, it seems that each application has its own way of logging and notification.  Is there any good products/methods out there that can ease the running of scripts and notification if those jobs fail?

I'm just looking for any advice you could provide, whether it's an application you love or a method you've used in the past.

Thanks for your time!