Learning Nagios 3.0

Wojciech Kocjan

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Learning Nagios 3.0
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Overview
Table of Contents
Author
Reviews
Support
Sample Chapters
  • Secure and monitor your network system with open-source Nagios version 3
  • Set up, configure, and manage the latest version of Nagios
  • In-depth coverage for both beginners and advanced users

Book Details

Language : English
Paperback : 316 pages [ 235mm x 191mm ]
Release Date : October 2008
ISBN : 1847195180
ISBN 13 : 9781847195180
Author(s) : Wojciech Kocjan
Topics and Technologies : All Books, Linux Servers, Networking & Telephony, Open Source


Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Installation and Configuration
Chapter 3: Using the Nagios Web Interface
Chapter 4: Overview of Nagios Plugins
Chapter 5: Advanced Configuration
Chapter 6: Notifications and Events
Chapter 7: Passive Checks and NSCA
Chapter 8: Monitoring Remote Hosts
Chapter 9: SNMP
Chapter 10: Advanced Monitoring
Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Extending Nagios
Index
  • Chapter 1: Introduction
    • Introduction to Nagios
    • Benefits of Monitoring Resources
    • Main Features
    • Soft and Hard States
    • What's New in Nagios 3.0?
    • Summary
  • Chapter 2: Installation and Configuration
    • Installation
      • Upgrading from Previous Versions
      • Prerequisites
      • Obtaining Nagios
      • Setting up Users and Groups
      • Nagios Compilation
      • Registering Nagios as a System Service
    • Nagios Configuration
      • Main Configuration File
      • Macro Definitions
      • Configuring Hosts
      • Configuring Services
      • Configuring Commands
      • Configuring Time Periods
      • Configuring Contacts
      • Templates and Object Inheritance
      • Introduction to Notifications
    • Summary
  • Chapter 3: Using the Nagios Web Interface
    • Setting up the Web Interface
      • Configuring the Web Server
      • Accessing the Web Interface
      • Troubleshooting
    • Using the Web Interface
      • Tactical Overview
      • Status map
    • Managing Hosts
      • Status
      • Host Information
    • Managing Services
      • Status
      • Service Information
    • Managing Downtimes
      • Downtimes Status
      • Scheduling Downtimes
    • Managing Comments
    • Nagios Information
      • Process Information
      • Performance Information
    • Reports
    • Summary
  • Chapter 4: Overview of Nagios Plugins
    • Standard Network Plugins
      • Checking If a Host is Alive
      • Testing Connectivity over TCP and UDP
    • Monitoring Email Servers
      • POP3 and IMAP Checks
      • SMTP Daemon Testing
    • Monitoring Network Services
      • FTP Server
      • DHCP Tests
      • Verifying the Nagios Daemon
      • Testing Web Sites
    • Monitoring Database Systems
      • MySQL
      • PostgreSQL
      • Oracle
      • Other Databases
    • Storage Space
      • Virtual Memory Monitoring
      • Monitoring IDE/SCSI SMART
      • Checking Disk Space
      • Testing Free Space for Remote Shares
    • Resource Monitoring
      • System Load
      • Checking Processes
      • Monitoring Logged-in Users
    • Miscellaneous Plugins
      • APT Updates Checking
      • UPS Status Checking
      • LM Sensors
      • Dummy Check Plugin
      • Manipulating Other Plugins' Output
    • Summary
  • Chapter 7: Passive Checks and NSCA
    • What are Passive Checks?
    • Configuring Passive Checks
    • Passive Checks—Hosts
    • Passive Checks—Services
    • Troubleshooting Passive Checks
    • What is NSCA?
    • Obtaining NSCA
    • Compiling NSCA
    • Configuring the NSCA Server
    • Sending results over NSCA
    • Security Concerns
    • Summary
  • Chapter 8: Monitoring Remote Hosts
    • Monitoring over SSH
    • Configuring SSH
    • Using the check_by_ssh Plugin
    • Performing Multiple Checks
    • Troubleshooting SSH-Based Checks
    • Introduction to NRPE
    • Obtaining NRPE
    • Compiling NRPE
    • Configuring the NRPE Daemon
    • Installing NRPE as a System Service
    • Configuring Nagios for NRPE
    • NRPE and Command Arguments
    • Other Approaches
    • Troubleshooting NRPE
    • Summary
  • Chapter 9: SNMP
    • Introduction to SNMP
    • Data Objects
    • Working with SNMP and MIB
    • Graphical Tools
    • Setting up an SNMP Agent
    • Using SNMP from Nagios
    • Receiving Traps
    • Additional Plugins
    • Summary
  • Chapter 10: Advanced Monitoring
    • Monitoring Windows Hosts
    • NSClient++
    • Performing Tests via check_nt
    • Performing Checks with NRPE Protocol
    • Passive Checks using NSCA Protocol
    • Distributed Monitoring
    • Obsessive Notifications
    • Configuring Nagios Instances
    • Freshness Checking
    • Summary
  • Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Extending Nagios
    • Introduction
    • Active Checks
    • Writing Plugins the Right Way
    • Checking Websites
    • Monitoring VMware
    • Your Own Notifications
    • Managing Nagios
    • Using Passive Checks
    • Summary

Wojciech Kocjan

Wojciech Kocjan is a system administrator and a programmer with 10 years of experience. His expertise includes managing Linux, Sun, and IBM servers. He also has several years of experience in a variety of open source projects.

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Errata

- 1 submitted: last submission 31 Jan 2013

page 0 Technical 28 Jul 09

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the configuration file examples are laid out like:<br />define timeperiod <br />{<br />...<br />However that will fail. Nagios (at least as of 3.0.6) requires that the "{" be on<br />the same line, thus:<br />define timeperiod {<br />will work. This applies so far to every single example, both in the book and in the<br />zip download of the code. Nagios will not successfully verify the files without<br />fixing each instance.<br />THE CODE BUNDLE HAS BEEN UPDATED.   page 29 Typo 16 Apr 09 In the table, a few words are missing in the "Description" column for options<br />'resource_file' and 'lock_file':<br />The complete description is:<br />resource_file: Specifies the file that stores additional macro definitions;<br />lock_file: Specifies the path to the file that is used for synchronization; <br />   page 42 Typo 06 Nov 08 There is a typo in the first line of the third paragraph. 'SSH' has been misspelled<br />as 'SSSH'   page 48 Code 28 Jul 09 In the "define contact" example, the last two lines should have<br />"notify-host-by-email" in place of "host-notify-by-email", and also<br />"notify-service-by-email" in place of "notify-by-email".   page 53 Code 28 Jul 09 In example mid-page, second block:<br />define host<br />{<br />...<br />name linuxbox01<br />That should be "host_name linuxbox01"   page 54 Code 28 Jul 09 Top of page, <br />define service<br />{<br />host_name<br />Should be just "name", not "host_name".   page 286 Typo 31 Jul 09 The last sentence of the second paragraph in the "Your Own Notifications" section<br />reads "The of the email will be kept in separate files." The missing word between<br />"The" and "of" is "content". It should read "The content of the email will be kept in<br />separate files."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

page 0 Technical 28 Jul 09
All of the configuration file examples are laid out like:<br />define timeperiod <br />{<br />...<br />However that will fail. Nagios (at least as of 3.0.6) requires that the "{" be on<br />the same line, thus:<br />define timeperiod {<br />will work. This applies so far to every single example, both in the book and in the<br />zip download of the code. Nagios will not successfully verify the files without<br />fixing each instance.<br />THE CODE BUNDLE HAS BEEN UPDATED.
 
page 29 Typo 16 Apr 09
In the table, a few words are missing in the "Description" column for options<br />'resource_file' and 'lock_file':<br />The complete description is:<br />resource_file: Specifies the file that stores additional macro definitions;<br />lock_file: Specifies the path to the file that is used for synchronization; <br />
 
page 42 Typo 06 Nov 08
There is a typo in the first line of the third paragraph. 'SSH' has been misspelled<br />as 'SSSH'
 
page 48 Code 28 Jul 09
In the "define contact" example, the last two lines should have<br />"notify-host-by-email" in place of "host-notify-by-email", and also<br />"notify-service-by-email" in place of "notify-by-email".
 
page 53 Code 28 Jul 09
In example mid-page, second block:<br />define host<br />{<br />...<br />name linuxbox01<br />That should be "host_name linuxbox01"
 
page 54 Code 28 Jul 09
Top of page, <br />define service<br />{<br />host_name<br />Should be just "name", not "host_name".
 
page 286 Typo 31 Jul 09
The last sentence of the second paragraph in the "Your Own Notifications" section<br />reads "The of the email will be kept in separate files." The missing word between<br />"The" and "of" is "content". It should read "The content of the email will be kept in<br />separate files."
 

Sample chapters

You can view our sample chapters and prefaces of this title on PacktLib or download sample chapters in PDF format.

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What you will learn from this book

  • Understand system monitoring and how Nagios works
  • Install and configure Nagios to administer your network and system
  • Deploy agents and plug-ins, and monitor assets with advanced features of Nagios
  • Notify users of current and future incidents to protect the availability, performance, and security of monitored assets
  • Configure and work your way around Nagios's web interface
  • Pass service and host check results over the network using NSCA
  • Set up a working and usable distributed monitoring system using NSClient++ and NC_Net.
  • Develop custom plug-ins responsible for doing the checks and analyzing results
  • Use the web interface to manage scheduled downtimes for hosts and services
  • Monitor UPS status over the network
  • Use adaptive monitoring to modify various check-related parameters
  • Use SSH and NRPE for doing remote checks
  • Use SNMP to retrieve information from a device, set options, and also cover means for a device to notify other machines about a failure

In Detail

Nagios is a tool for system and network monitoring. It constantly checks other machines and various services on those machines. The main purpose of system monitoring is to detect and report any system not working properly as soon as possible—so that you are aware of problems before a user runs into them. It is a modular and flexible solution that uses plug-ins to do its job.

The book is an introduction to Nagios that will teach readers to use Nagios with its advanced features. At the same time, readers who have already used earlier versions of Nagios will also benefit because they will learn about the new and advanced features of Nagios 3.

This book focuses on the new features of Nagios and will teach readers to secure their systems in a much improved manner.

Approach

This is a beginner-level book, which will introduce Nagios to System Administrators who are interested in monitoring their systems. The focus is on teaching system administrators to secure their systems in a much improved manner incorporating the newer features of Nagios.

It will teach Nagios beginners the basics of installation and configuration of version 3; it will show professionals who have already worked on earlier versions of Nagios the new features of Nagios like inheritance and also the new internal functions like better check scheduling.

Who this book is for

The target readers for this book are System Administrators interested in using Nagios. This book will introduce Nagios with the new features of Version 3 for System Administrators.

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