I want to create an ITEM with the following settings:

• Type: External check

• Key:

  smtpcheck[--host="

  Unknown macro: {HOSTNAME}

  " --port="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.PORT}" --from="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.FROM}" --to="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.TO}" --deliver="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.DELIVER}" --auth="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.AUTH}" --tls="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.TLS}" --user="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.USER}" --password="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.PASSWORD}" --subject="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.SUBJECT}" --body="{$INO.SMTP.CHECK.BODY}"]

I am able to save this ITEM in a TEMPLATE, but if I link the TEMPLATE to a host an error message is shown:

1. Incorrect key format 'key_name[param1,param2,...]'

The ITEM key gets cut to 256 characters, thus leading to this error. I think this limitation makes external checks something useless. I would like to see this limit increased to - let's say - 4096 characters. This should be enough for most scripts which require a lot arguments.