Very basic collectd exec plugin that checks yum for updates and security updates and returns the count

yum_updates.sh

#!/bin/bash
#
# Checks yum for updates and passes the count to collectd.
#
# Requriments:
# - collectd_exec_plugin
# - yum-plugin-security package
#
# <Plugin exec>
#   Exec "nobody" "/path/to/yum_update.sh"
# </Plugin>
#
# Or to define the interval.
# <Plugin exec>
#   Exec "nobody" "/path/to/yum_update.sh" "-i" "60000"
# </Plugin>
#

HOSTNAME="${COLLECTD_HOSTNAME:-`hostname -f`}"
# run every 12 hours
INTERVAL="43200"

while getopts "i:" c; do
  case $c in
    i)  INTERVAL=$OPTARG;;
    *)  echo "Usage: $0 [-i <interval in seconds>]";;
  esac
done
 
while [ $? -eq 0 ]; do
  updates=$(yum check-update -q | sed "1 d" | wc -l)
  security_updates=$(yum check-update -q --security | sed "1 d" | wc -l)
   
  echo "PUTVAL $HOSTNAME/yum/updates interval=$INTERVAL N:$updates"
  echo "PUTVAL $HOSTNAME/yum/security_updates interval=$INTERVAL N:$security_updates"
  sleep "$INTERVAL"
done