Archive for the 'NCPA' Category

Monitoring a Linux Machine with Nagios XI & NCPA

Last week we discussed monitoring a Windows machine with NCPA and Nagios XI to make sure that the server was functioning properly.  In order to showcase the cross-platform capabilities of NCPA (Nagios Cross-Platform Agent) we decided it would be a good idea to show how to monitor a Linux machine as well.  In this article I will show you how easy it is to monitor a Linux box using the same exact agent that we used to monitor the Windows box last week.  Here’s how you do it.

1. Installing and configuring NCPA on the remote box

Instructions on installing NCPA can be found here: NCPA Installations Instructions. For more info on acquiring the correct RPM packages for your Linux distro, please check our documentation here: Finding the Right RPM

Run the following commands from the command line as root:

Note: For my example, I used CentOS 6.5, 64-bit, so I ran:

Next, you will have to edit the “community_string” in the NCPA config file. The “community_string” is the token that you will use to log into the agent and also allows the Nagios XI server to communicate with the NCPA agent. This process is comparable to entering a token in the GUI installer when monitoring a Windows machine. Continue reading ‘Monitoring a Linux Machine with Nagios XI & NCPA’

Monitoring a Windows Machine with Nagios XI & NCPA

We have recently developed a cross-platform monitoring agent called NCPA that is designed to simplify the monitoring of devices with a wide variety of operating systems. NCPA can be used as a passive or active agent and monitors a multitude of different metrics right out of the box. In this article I will show you how easy it is to monitor a Windows machine with Nagios XI and NCPA. To do this, simply follow these 3 easy steps:

Step 1 – Installing and configuring NCPA on the remote box.

The NCPA installer can be downloaded here: NCPA’s Installer Direct Download. Instructions on installing NCPA can be found here: NCPA Installations Instructions. Download it on the Windows machine that you want to monitor and run the installer.

In this example, we will be using NCPA as an active agent.  This is the quickest and easiest way to begin monitoring with NCPA.  The image below is what the installation GUI looks like on the Windows device that you’re monitoring.  To use NCPA as an active agent, all you have to do is enter a token.  This token will be used to authenticate the connection between the Nagios XI server and the monitored device later in the article, so it’s important to choose a token you will remember. For this example, we entered “welcome“.  Click Next to finish the installation.

NCPA Installation Instructions

Continue reading ‘Monitoring a Windows Machine with Nagios XI & NCPA’