usage: check_mysql_long_running_queries [options] options: -h, --help show this help message and exit -H H host -P P port -t T threshold -u U user -p P password -e E exclude queries containing comment -c C read credentials from a file. -v verbosity for debugging. Examples $ check_mysql_long_running_queries -u username -p password OK no long running queries $ check_mysql_long_running_queries -u username -p password WARNING long running query {'Info': 'update that kills the database', 'db': 'historical', 'State': 'Sending data', 'Host': 'localhost', 'Command': 'Query', 'User': 'username', 'Time': 400L, 'Id': 68829L} You can exclude queries by using the -e option and then issuing long running queries with /*!99999 my_recognizable_comment */ appended.