Open-source network monitoring is an essential aspect of managing any IT infrastructure. It helps to keep track of vital parameters of servers, switches, routers, and other network devices. Nagios is one such open-source network monitoring application software that has gained immense popularity among system administrators worldwide. In this blog post, we will discuss in detail the steps involved in setting up Nagios for network monitoring.
Installation Guide for Nagios
Step 1: Install Required Dependencies
Before installing Nagios, you need to ensure that all the required dependencies are installed on your system. To do this, run the following command:
sudo apt-get install build-essential libgd-dev libssl-dev apache2-utils unzip
Step 2: Download and Install Nagios
The next step is to download and install Nagios on your system. You can do this by following the steps mentioned below:
- Download the latest version of Nagios from the official website.
- Move the downloaded file to the /usr/local/src directory using the mv command:
sudo mv nagios-4.4.6.tar.gz /usr/local/src
- Unzip the Nagios source code using the following command:
sudo tar zxvf nagios-4.4.6.tar.gz
- Next, navigate to the Nagios directory:
cd nagios-4.4.6
- Run the following commands to compile and install Nagios:
sudo ./configure --with-command-group=nagcmd
sudo make all
sudo make install
sudo make install-init
sudo make install-commandmode
sudo make install-config
sudo /usr/local/nagios/bin/nagios -v /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg
Step 3: Add a Nagios User and Group
Once Nagios is installed, you need to create a Nagios user and group to run the application. Use the following commands:
sudo useradd nagios
sudo groupadd nagcmd
sudo usermod -a -G nagios,nagcmd www-data
Step 4: Install Nagios Plugins
Next, you need to install the Nagios plugins that are required for monitoring various services. You can download the Nagios plugins from the official website and install them using the following commands:
cd /usr/local/src
sudo wget https://nagios-plugins.org/download/nagios-plugins-2.3.1.tar.gz
sudo tar xvzf nagios-plugins-2.3.1.tar.gz
cd nagios-plugins-2.3.1
sudo ./configure --with-nagios-user=nagios --with-nagios-group=nagios
sudo make
sudo make install
Step 5: Configure Nagios
The last step is to configure Nagios to start monitoring your network devices. To do this, you need to modify the Nagios configuration file. Open the file using the following command:
sudo nano /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg
In the configuration file, you need to define the hosts, services, and commands that Nagios should monitor. For example, to monitor a remote server, you can add the following lines:
define host{
use linux-server
host_name remote-server
alias Remote Server
address 192.168.1.1
}
define service{
use generic-service
host_name remote-server
service_description HTTP
check_command check_http
}
Once you have defined the required hosts and services, save the configuration file and exit.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Nagios is an excellent open-source network monitoring tool that helps system administrators to keep track of their IT infrastructure. In this blog, we discussed the steps involved in installing Nagios on a Linux system and configuring it to monitor network devices. By following the steps mentioned in this blog, you can successfully set up Nagios for network monitoring in your environment.