def pipeline_status(url, pipeline_id, auth, verify_ssl):
    """Retrieve the current status for a pipeline.

    Args:
        url          (str): the host url in the form 'http://host:port/'.
        pipeline_id  (str): the ID of of the exported pipeline.
        auth         (tuple): a tuple of username, and password.
        verify_ssl   (bool): whether to verify ssl certificates

    Returns:
        dict: the response json

    """
    status_result = requests.get(url + '/' + pipeline_id + '/status', headers=X_REQ_BY, auth=auth, verify=verify_ssl)
    status_result.raise_for_status()
    logging.debug('Status request: ' + url + '/status')
    logging.debug(status_result.json())
    return status_result.json()