Nagios is a popular open source application for system and network monitoring. NagVis1, an add-on for Nagios, displays host and service states against a background image selected by the user. Since NagVis requires authentication from users, security is neatly integrated.
In "NagVis," Chapter 18 of Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, Second Edition, you will learn how to perform initial NagVis configuration and how to edit it in text form; you will understand how to install NagVis and its source code; and you will be able to create NagVis maps and add them to the Nagios Web interface.
For step-by-step instructions on how to install and use NagVis, download "NagVis," Chapter 18 of Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, Second Edition in PDF form.
About this book: The most popular open source solution for system and network monitoring, Nagios, is extremely robust, but also intensely complex. This eagerly anticipated revision of the highly acclaimed Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, Second Edition, has been updated to address Nagios 3.0 and will help readers take full advantage of the many powerful features of the new version. Ethan Galstad, the main developer of Nagios, called the first edition of the book "incredibly detailed." He went on to say, "I don't think I could have gone into that much detail if I wrote a book myself."
Nagios, which runs on Linux and most *nix variants, can be configured to continuously monitor network services such as SMTP, POP3, HTTP, NNTP, SSH, and FTP. It can also supervise host resources (processor load, disk and memory usage, running processes, log files, and so on) and environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity. Readers of Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, Second Edition learn how to perform the following:
- Install and configure the Nagios core, all standard plugins, and selected third-party plugins.
- Configure the notification system.
- Program event handlers to take automatic action when trouble occurs.
- Write Perl plugins to customize Nagios for unique system needs.
- Quickly understand Nagios data using graphing and visualization tools.
- Monitor Windows servers, SAP systems, and databases.
This dense, all-inclusive guide to Nagios also contains a chapter that highlights the differences between Nagios Versions 2 and 3 and gives practical migration and compatibility tips. Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, Second Edition is a key resource for any system and network administrator and will ease the pain of network monitoring migraines in no time.
To view a full sample chapter from this book, download "NagVis," Chapter 18 of Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, Second Edition.
About the author
Wolfgang Barth has written several books for professional network administrators, including The Firewall Book (Suse Press), Network Analysis (Suse Press), and Backup Solutions with Linux (Open Source Press). He is a professional system administrator with considerable experience using Nagios.
Excerpted from Nagios: System and Network Monitoring by Wolfgang Barth (ISBN: 9781593271794). Copyright © 2008, No Starch Press. Co-published with Open Source Press of Munich, Germany. All rights reserved.
