The Code

	"""Check to see if a given web site is up or not.
	
	Usage:
	  python check_site.py <URL>
	"""
	import os, sys, urllib2, smtplib

	# The following variables should be redefined to fit your system
	_smtp_server = "outgoing.example.com"
	# If you need to use SMTP AUTH, set this to 1.
	# You will also need to set an SMTP user name and SMTP password
	_authentication_required = 0
	_user = ""
	_password = ""
	_to = "user@example.com"
	_from = "webserver@mydomain.com"
	_num_tries = 3

	def is_site_up(url):
	  """Checks to see if the given site is up"""

	  try:
		urllib2.urlopen(url)
		return True
	  except:
		return False


	def check_site(url):
	  """Checks several times to see if the given site is up."""
	  count = 0
	  up = False
	  while not up and count < _num_tries:
	    if is_site_up(url):
		  up = True
		count += 1

	  if not up:
		print "site %s not up." % ( url )

		# Construct a message
		mesg = "To: " + _to + "\n"
		# Note the extra blank line between Subject and body
		mesg += "Subject: Server down\n\n"
		mesg += "The web site: " + url + " is down.\n"

		# Send email notifcation using SMTP
		session = smtplib.SMTP(_smtp_server)
		if _authentication_required:
		  session.login(_user, _password)
		result = session.sendmail(_from, _to, mesg)

		if result:
		  print "Sent mail. Status = " + str(result)
	  else:
	    print "site %s is up." % (url,)

	if __name__ == '__main__':
	  if len(sys.argv) == 2:
	  check_site(sys.argv[1])
	  else:
	    print __doc__