use XML::Rules;

my $parser = XML::Rules->new(
	stripspaces => 7,
	rules => {
		'services,plugins,probes' => 'pass',
		'conf,service,plugin,probe' => 'by name',
		_default => 'as is'
	}
);

my $configuration = $parser->parse(\*DATA);

use Data::Dumper;
print Dumper($configuration);


__DATA__
<conf name="snoopdogg" serial="1" target="172.16.1.3">
 <services>
  <service name="cpu">
   <plugins>
    <plugin name="cpu" target="172.16.1.3" schedule="60">
     <probes>
      <probe name="load1">
       <warn value="4" operator="&gt;"/>
       <crit value="10" operator="&gt;"/>
     </probe>
     </probes>
	 </plugin></plugins></service></services>
</conf>