Do Nothing
The Do Nothing exporter is a placeholder sink that discards all monitoring data and health check results without performing any action. It implements the sink interface but does not write, store, or transmit data anywhere.
Overview
The Do Nothing exporter is registered with the identifier do_nothing and is primarily used for:
- Testing and development: Running monitoring commands or health checks without generating output
- Dry runs: Validating command syntax and configuration without side effects
- Placeholder configuration: Temporarily disabling data export while maintaining valid configuration
Configuration
Available Options
The Do Nothing exporter accepts no configuration options (--sink-opt is not required).
Basic Usage
# Use with monitoring commands
gcm slurm_monitor --sink=do_nothing --once
# Use with health checks
health_checks check-nvidia-smi fair_cluster prolog --sink=do_nothing
Configuration File
[gcm.slurm_monitor]
...
sink = "do_nothing"
Use Cases
Testing Command Execution
When developing or testing monitoring scripts, use the Do Nothing sink to verify command execution without generating output files or logs:
# Test that the command runs without errors
gcm slurm_monitor --sink=do_nothing --once
Development and Debugging
During development of new monitoring components or health checks, use the Do Nothing sink to focus on data collection logic without worrying about output formatting:
# Test new monitoring logic
gcm custom_monitor --sink=do_nothing --once
Temporary Disabling
In production configurations, temporarily switch to the Do Nothing sink to disable data export without removing or commenting out configuration:
# Temporarily disable export
[gcm.slurm_monitoring]
...
# sink = "otel" # Commented out
sink = "do_nothing" # Temporary