Tag Archive for 'monitoring'

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How to Passively Monitor Linux Machines with NRDS & Nagios XI

By Ludmil Miltchev on March 19, 2014

When active agent-based monitoring is not an option (because of a firewall, or security restriction), passive monitoring can provide the solution necessary to maintain network security and health. Today we will be discussing Nagios Remote Data Sender (NRDS) and how it can monitor Linux machines using passive check results. Passive results are sent to the Nagios Remote Data Processor (NRDP) server and processed in Nagios XI.

The NRDS client configuration can be managed centrally via the NRDS Config Manager Component in Nagios XI. Updated configuration files on the NRDS server are automatically picked up by all clients. The NRDS client runs on a cron job at a specified interval. Each time it runs, it will do the following:

  • Run all of the commands, specified in the config file
  • Send the results back to the Nagios XI server
  • Check if there is a new version of the configuration file on the Nagios XI server, and if there is one, it will download it
  • Download all of the plugins it needs from the server and install them on the client

In this article, I will show you how you can start monitoring a Linux host passively in three easy steps.

Step 1  – Adding Configuration

Go to Admin -> Monitoring Config -> NRDS Config Manager, click on Create Config, and select Linux from the Operating System drop-down menu.

Create NRDS Config

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Category: Awesome, Configuration, Cool Stuff, Nagios XI, NRDS and Passive Checks. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

Monitoring a Linux Machine with Nagios XI & NCPA

By Ludmil Miltchev on March 5, 2014

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’

Category: Nagios XI and NCPA. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Monitoring a Windows Machine with Nagios XI & NCPA

By Ludmil Miltchev on February 19, 2014

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

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Category: Nagios XI, NCPA, Windows and Wizards. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .

Monitoring Gas Prices Using Capacity Planning in Nagios XI

By Ludmil Miltchev on January 9, 2014

Nagios XI is the most powerful IT infrastructure monitoring solution on the market.  You can use it to monitor virtually anything.  Although Nagios XI is typically meant for more “serious” work, you can have some fun with it as well!  I guess I have been somewhat nostalgic lately…  Do you remember when a gallon of gas used to cost less than a dollar? 🙂

In this article I will show you how to install the check_gas_price.py plugin, set up a dummy host, and add multiple services to it.  This will allow you to check the gas prices in the USA.  Then you may use the Capacity Planning component in Nagios XI Enterprise Edition to view the trends of gas prices in the USA.

First, download the check_gas_price.py plugin from this URL:

http://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nagiosxi/scripts/check_gas_price.py

Next, install the plugin from the Nagios XI web interface by going to: Admin –-> Manage Plugins –-> Choose File, then select the check_gas_price.py file and click Upload Plugin.

If you would like, you can view the plugins’ usage by typing in terminal:

Your output should look like this:

Monitoring gas prices with Nagios XI - check_gas_price.py

Continue reading ‘Monitoring Gas Prices Using Capacity Planning in Nagios XI’

Category: Awesome, Cool Stuff, Graphs, Nagios XI, Plugins and Reports. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .