i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

How can I check if either of 2 paths exist in VPN check?

Fri, 06 Mar 2015 22:22:27 +0000

I use openvpn to connect to one provider and openconnect to another provider. In i3status I'd like to check if either path exists but I'm not sure how. ``` path_exists VPN { path = "/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/{vpn,tun}0" } ``` doesn't work and only one path statement will work. Seems I can only make the VPN check one path. Can I check if either path exists and give a YES/NO display in the status bar?

Comment by biocyberman for
I use openvpn to connect to one provider and openconnect to another provider. In i3status I'd like to check if either path exists but I'm not sure how.

`path_exists VPN { path = "/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/{vpn,tun}0" }`

doesn't work and only one path statement will work. Seems I can only make the VPN check one path. Can I check if either path exists and give a YES/NO display in the status bar?

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 09:59:46 +0000

This is a use case for condition/logical operators support in config files

Answer by biocyberman for
I use openvpn to connect to one provider and openconnect to another provider. In i3status I'd like to check if either path exists but I'm not sure how.

`path_exists VPN { path = "/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/{vpn,tun}0" }`

doesn't work and only one path statement will work. Seems I can only make the VPN check one path. Can I check if either path exists and give a YES/NO display in the status bar?

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 10:38:26 +0000

Below is my i3status config file, which has two unambiguous reports of VPN status (i.e. VPN for OpenVPN, Anyconnect for CISCO anyconnect). Pay attention to the consistency between 'order' lines and the run_watch definition below. Bonus: I clean up other statuses that I do not use by commenting the corresponding 'order' lines. # i3status configuration file. # see "man i3status" for documentation. # It is important that this file is edited as UTF-8. # The following line should contain a sharp s: # ß # If the above line is not correctly displayed, fix your editor first! general { colors = true interval = 5 } # order += "ipv6" order += "disk /" # order += "run_watch DHCP" order += "run_watch VPN" order += "run_watch Anyconnect" order += "wireless wlan0" # order += "ethernet eth0" # order += "battery 0" order += "load" order += "tztime local" wireless wlan0 { format_up = "W: (%quality at %essid) %ip" format_down = "W: down" } ethernet eth0 { # if you use %speed, i3status requires root privileges format_up = "E: %ip (%speed)" format_down = "E: down" } battery 0 { format = "%status %percentage %remaining" } run_watch DHCP { pidfile = "/var/run/dhclient*.pid" } run_watch VPN { pidfile = "/sys/class/net/tun0/dev_id" } run_watch Anyconnect { pidfile = "/var/run/vpnagentd.pid" } tztime local { format = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" } load { format = "%1min" } disk "/" { format = "%avail" }

Answer by i3convert for
I use openvpn to connect to one provider and openconnect to another provider. In i3status I'd like to check if either path exists but I'm not sure how.

`path_exists VPN { path = "/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/{vpn,tun}0" }`

doesn't work and only one path statement will work. Seems I can only make the VPN check one path. Can I check if either path exists and give a YES/NO display in the status bar?

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 05:16:51 +0000

A somewhat ugly solution is to create a script that checks from time to time if either of the files exists and then creates some other file (say, /home/username/.i3/vpn). You then check if this other file exists. I'm attaching a Bash script that does this. #!/bin/bash MYFILE=/home/username/.i3/vpn while true do if [[ -e /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/vpn0 || -e /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/tun0 ]] then touch $MYFILE # this creates $MYFILE else rm -f $MYFILE # this deletes $MYFILE fi sleep 1 # check every second, modify to run the check at other intervals done Now you have to start the script automatically, which can be achieved by adding this line to the config exec --no-startup-id /home/username/.i3/checkVPN.sh, where /home/username/.i3/checkVPN.sh is the script.

Comment by biocyberman for

#!/bin/bash
MYFILE=/home/username/.i3/vpn
while true
do
    if [[ -e /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/vpn0 || -e /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/tun0 ]]
    then
        touch $MYFILE # this creates $MYFILE
    else
        rm -f $MYFILE # this deletes $MYFILE
    fi
    sleep 1 # check every second, modify to run the check at other intervals
done

Now you have to start the script automatically, which can be achieved by adding this line to the config exec --no-startup-id /home/username/.i3/checkVPN.sh, where /home/username/.i3/checkVPN.sh is the script.

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 10:29:28 +0000

Since i3status does the regular checking, you do not need to do the interval checking yourself. In a different approach, I prefer to have two unambiguous separate VPN status reports. I will post the solution in the answer because of limit for number of characters in comments.

Answer by joepd for
I use openvpn to connect to one provider and openconnect to another provider. In i3status I'd like to check if either path exists but I'm not sure how.

`path_exists VPN { path = "/proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/{vpn,tun}0" }`

doesn't work and only one path statement will work. Seems I can only make the VPN check one path. Can I check if either path exists and give a YES/NO display in the status bar?

Sun, 08 Mar 2015 00:00:04 +0000

Openvpn has an option "writepid /path/to/file", traditionally that would be a file under /var/run. You can point i3status to examine the existence of that file.

Comment by robin108@gmail.com for
Openvpn has an option "writepid /path/to/file", traditionally that would be a file under /var/run. You can point i3status to examine the existence of that file.

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 19:02:23 +0000

both vpn clients have an option to write to a common pid file. Nice simple solution, thank you!

i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

How can I check if either of 2 paths exist in VPN check?

Comment by robin108@gmail.com for Openvpn has an option "writepid /path/to/file", traditionally that would be a file under /var/run. You can point i3status to examine the existence of that file.

Comment by robin108@gmail.com for
Openvpn has an option "writepid /path/to/file", traditionally that would be a file under /var/run. You can point i3status to examine the existence of that file.