Keywords: Supervision, Icinga, Nagios, Linux

Icinga and IDOUtils Quickstart on FreeBSD
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## Icinga and IDOUtils Quickstart on FreeBSD

Introduction

| Note
Instead of installing Icinga from scratch you may want to use a package which might be available for your OS. Please take a look at the table of packages. If you are planning to install from source then please use the official release tarball.

| Important
Please don't use git snapshots unless you have an issue which might be solved in the current developer version.

This guide is intended to provide you with simple instructions on how to install Icinga from source (code) and have it monitoring your local machine within 30 minutes.

No advanced installation options are discussed here - just the basics that will work for most of the users who want to get started.

This guide will give you examples for installation on FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE. Thanks to "ScotchTape" for the adapted instructions.

Later distributions of FreeBSD may inherit from these examples.

| Note
Meanwhile there's a FreeBSD port of Icinga (net-mgmt/icinga) so maybe that's the one you want to install ;-).

What You'll End Up With

If you follow these instructions, here's what you'll end up with:

- Icinga and the plugins will be installed underneath `/usr/local/icinga`

- Icinga will be configured to monitor a few aspects of your local system (CPU load, disk usage, etc.)

- The Icinga classic web interface will be accessible at `http://localhost/icinga/` or `http://yourdomain.com/icinga`

- a database being filled using the IDOUtils

Prerequisites

During portions of the installation you'll need to have root access to your machine.

Make sure you've installed the following packages on your system before continuing.

- Apache

- GCC compiler

- C/C++ development libraries

- GD development libraries

- libdbi-drivers, a database like MySQL, or PostgreSQL

  | Note
  PostgreSQL: Due to changes on insert statements PostgreSQL 8.1 does no longer work (and is already end-of-life since November 2010) so please use 8.2 or even better 8.4. String escaping in PostgreSQL 9.x is still in an experimental state (refer to issue #1974).

Optional

At one time or another you will likely use SNMP based checks so it might be a good idea to install the required packages now. Otherwise the plugins will not be compiled and are not available when you need them.

New features for the IDOUtils:

SSL-encryption between idomod and ido2db

If you want to use SSL-encryption : it is already installed.

| Note
SSL has to be activated on all idomod clients, otherwise you will lose data!!!

Oracle database support

If you want to use Oracle as an RDBMS then we are sorry. Unfortunately it isn't that easy with FreeBSD.

Timezone support

Starting with Icinga 1.6 all dates are stored as local timestamps in the database. Before that there was a different behaviour storing and retrieving dates for each database system which was difficult to handle for frontend apps. Therefore datatypes have been changed for MySQL from DATETIME to TIMESTAMP and for Oracle from DATE to LOCAL TIMESTAMP (0). PostgreSQL was already using TIMESTAMP but has been changed to TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE. IDO2DB will set session timezone to UTC and store all unix timestamps (which are UTC per definition) as UTC based values. Please make sure your system returns unix timestamps as real UTC based values (like "date -u '+%s'").

| Note
Make sure your database session runs in the same timezone in which the existing dates have been stored (check your local timezone e.g. Oracle:"select sessiontimezone from dual;") if you are running the upgrade script. Additionally for your convenience in Oracle you should set your session timestamp format to the value you want, e.g "alter session set nls_timestamp_format='YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS';" or similar. Now you can view entries from different Icinga installations in different time zones which are stored in the same database and regardless from where you accessing it, all entries are returned in your local time zone.

Install the packages

You can install the packages from the ports or you take older packages (have a look at the FreeBSD quickstart quide.

Install ports

You can install these ports by running the following commands (as root) but it is recommended to use portupgrade or portmaster instead:

Please update your ports before doing so.

     #> cd /usr/ports/devel/libtool/ && make all install clean
     #> cd /usr/ports/graphics/jpeg && make all install clean
     #> cd /usr/ports/graphics/png && make all install clean
     #> cd /usr/ports/graphics/gd && make all install clean

| Note
Please make sure you have Apache installed - the process will not be discussed here, however the lead is # cd /usr/ports/www/apache22 && make clean && make.

     #> cd /usr/ports/devel/gmake && make all install clean
     #> cd /usr/ports/devel/libltdl && make all install clean <-- unless installed already

MySQL

     #> cd /usr/ports/databases/mysql51-server && make all install clean
     #> cd /usr/ports/databases/libdbi-drivers && make all install clean

please choose the correct driver for the database used

PostgreSQL

     #> cd /usr/ports/databases/postgresql84-server && make all install clean
     #> cd /usr/ports/databases/libdbi-drivers && make all install clean

please choose the correct driver for the database used

Create Account Information

Become the root user.

     $> su -l

Create a new icinga user account without a password and without the ability to log-in (set no password when asked):

     #> adduser -D -w no -s nologin

For sending commands from the classic web interface to Icinga, you'll need to create a new group icinga-cmd and add the webuser (www) and the Icingauser to this group:

     #> pw groupadd -n icinga-cmd -M icinga,www

Download Icinga and the plugins

Change to your local source directory i.e. ~/src

     #> mkdir ~/src
     #> cd ~/src

Get the current source from the Icinga Website.

Don't forget to download the Nagios Plugins.

Compile and install Icinga and IDOUtils

Extract the Icinga source code tarball (or change directory to the GIT snapshot)

     #> cd ~/src/
     #> tar xvzf icinga-1.7.tar.gz
     #> cd icinga-1.7

| Note
This absolute path is meant if we use the description '/path/to/icinga-src/'.

Run the Icinga configure script. You will get help by using the --help flag.

     #> ./configure --with-command-group=icinga-cmd \
        --enable-idoutils CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include \
        CFLAGS="-I/usr/local/include -L/usr/local/lib" \
        --with-dbi-lib=/usr/local/lib --with-dbi-inc=/usr/local/include

| Important
Appending CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include is important for the IDOUtils and the broker modul respectively.

| Note
You should include `CFLAGS=..."` like specified above. Otherwise you might get the following lines in `icinga.log`:
     Error: Module ‘/usr/local/icinga/lib/idomod.so’ is using an old or unspecified version
     of the event broker API. Module will be unloaded.
     Event broker module ‘/usr/local/icinga/lib/idomod.so’ deinitialized successfully.
More details on this error can be found here.

With SSL-encryption:

     #> ./configure --with-command-group=icinga-cmd \
        --enable-idoutils --enable-ssl CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include \
        --with-dbi-lib=/usr/local/lib --with-dbi-inc=/usr/local/include

Compile the Icinga source code. There is a separate option for IDOUtils (make idoutils) if you just want to recompile this module. To see possible option just call "make".

     #> gmake all

Install binaries, init script, sample config files, some eventhandlers, and set permissions on the external command directory.

     #> make install
     #> make install-init
     #> make install-config
     #> make install-eventhandlers
     #> make install-commandmode

or shorter

     #> make fullinstall
     #> make install-config

| Note
Starting with Icinga 1.5.0 `make install-config` is NOT included in `make fullinstall` anymore to avoid accidently overwriting of your config files.

| Note
Starting with Icinga 1.7.0 `make install-eventhandlers` will install some event handler routines. To prevent undesired behaviour it is only included when you use `make fullinstall`.

| Note
The Icinga-API served as a database abstraction layer written in PHP. Starting with Icinga 1.5 it is replaced by an internal database abstraction layer so Icinga-API doesn't have to be installed anymore.

Don't start Icinga yet - there's still more that needs to be done...

Customise Configuration

Sample configuration files have been installed using

     #> gmake install-config

into /usr/local/icinga/etc/. You'll need to make just one change before you proceed...

Edit the /usr/local/icinga/etc/objects/contacts.cfg config file with your favourite editor and change the email address associated with the icingaadmin contact definition to the address you'd like to use for receiving alerts.

     #> vi /usr/local/icinga/etc/objects/contacts.cfg

     #> cd /usr/local/icinga/etc
     #> mv idomod.cfg-sample idomod.cfg
     #> mv ido2db.cfg-sample ido2db.cfg

If you compiled the IDOUtils with SSL then you have to activate SSL in `idomod.cfg` setting

     use_ssl=1
     output_type=tcpsocket
     output=127.0.0.1

(adjust the IP address if your database is not running on localhost!) and in `ido2db.cfg` setting

     use_ssl=1
     socket_type=tcp

| Note
Don't forget to recompile all other idomod clients and to activate SSL otherwise you will lose data!!!

Activate the idomod event broker module

| Important
Under normal circumstances the following module definition is already present in the `modules` subdirectory so there is no need to edit the main config file
     define module{
            module_name    ido_mod
            path           /usr/local/icinga/lib/idomod.so
            module_type    neb
            args           config_file=/usr/local/icinga/etc/idomod.cfg
            }
This also means that a broker_module entry must not be enabled!

Compile database and IDOUtils

MySQL:

Create database, user, and permissions

| Note
If you just installed the RDBMS like decribed above then you have to start the database server before you can create a database. Having MySQL please use `/usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server start` to start.

     #> mysql -u root -p

     mysql> CREATE DATABASE icinga;

     GRANT USAGE ON icinga.* TO 'icinga'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'icinga'
       WITH MAX_QUERIES_PER_HOUR 0
       MAX_CONNECTIONS_PER_HOUR 0
       MAX_UPDATES_PER_HOUR 0;

     GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DROP, CREATE VIEW, INDEX
       ON icinga.* TO 'icinga'@'localhost';

     FLUSH PRIVILEGES ;

     quit

     #> cd /path/to/icinga-src/module/idoutils/db/mysql
     #> mysql -u root -p icinga < mysql.sql

     #> vi /usr/local/icinga/etc/ido2db.cfg

     db_servertype=mysql
     db_port=3306
     db_user=icinga
     db_pass=icinga

PostgreSQL:

To Do

Install and configure the Classic Web Interface

Icinga ships with the Classic Web Interface ("the CGIs") which can be installed via

     #> cd /path/to/icinga-src
     #> make cgis
     #> make install-cgis
     #> make install-html

If you are interested in the new Icinga Web, please refer to Install Icinga Web Interface.

Install the Icinga Classic web config file in the Apache conf.d directory.

| Note
There is currently a bug in Icinga Makefile which directly prevents this make command, please edit Makefile file in Icinga source directory and change the line
     $(INSTALL) -D -m 644 sample-config/httpd.conf $(DESTDIR)$(HTTPD_CONF)/icinga.conf
to
     $(INSTALL) -m 644 sample-config/httpd.conf $(DESTDIR)$(HTTPD_CONF)/icinga.conf

     #> make install-webconf

Create an icingaadmin account for logging into the Icinga classic web interface. If you want to change it later, use the same command. Remember the password you assign to this account - you'll need it later.

     #> htpasswd -c /usr/local/icinga/etc/htpasswd.users icingaadmin

If you want to change it later or want to add another user, use the following command:

     #> htpasswd /usr/local/icinga/etc/htpasswd.users <USERNAME>

Reload/Restart Apache to make the new settings take effect.

     #> /usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache22 reload

Compile and Install the Nagios-/Perl Plugins

Extract the Nagios plugins source code tarball.

     #> cd ~/src
     #> tar xvzf nagios-plugins-1.4.15.tar.gz
     #> cd nagios-plugins-1.4.15

Compile and install the plugins by changing install directory to /usr/local/icinga

     #> ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/icinga --with-cgiurl=/icinga/cgi-bin \
        --with-htmurl=/icinga --with-nagios-user=icinga --with-nagios-group=icinga
     #> make
     #> make install

| Note
There is a port for the plugins but it will install them in a different directory. You can set certain variables to tweak its make but you still have to copy some things manually later on.

Compile and install the Perl plugin:

     #> cd /usr/ports/net-mgmt/p5-Nagios-Plugin
     #> make all install clean

Starting IDOUtils and Icinga

IDOUtils has to be started before Icinga

Starting IDOUtils

     #> /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ido2db start

Stopping IDOUtils

     #> /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ido2db stop

Start Icinga

Add Icinga to the list of system services and have it automatically start when the system boots (make sure you have installed the init script before).

     #> echo icinga_enable=\"YES\" >> /etc/rc.conf

Verify the sample Icinga configuration files.

     #> /usr/local/icinga/bin/icinga -v /usr/local/icinga/etc/icinga.cfg

If there are no errors, start Icinga.

     #> /usr/local/etc/rc.d/icinga start

Login to the Classic Web Interface

You should now be able to access the Icinga classic web interface at the URL below. You'll be prompted for the username ( icingaadmin) and password you specified earlier.

     http://localhost/icinga/

or

     http://yourdomain.com/icinga/

Click on the "Service Detail" navbar link to see details of what's being monitored on your local machine. It will take a few minutes for Icinga to check all the services associated with your machine.

Other Modifications

Make sure your system's firewall rules are configured to allow access to the web server if you want to access the Icinga classic interface remotely.

     #> TCP port 80

Setting up your mail transfer agent (MTA) like exim, sendmail or postfix to allow Icinga sending notification emails won't be explained here.

Please refer to the Nagios-Wiki for more resources.

You're Done

Congratulations! You successfully installed Icinga. Your journey into monitoring has just begun.

You'll no doubt want to monitor more than just your local machine, so check out the chapter on "Getting Started" about "Monitoring ..."

Packages for Icinga

Compiler options for Icinga with IDOUtils

    ./configure --with-httpd-conf=/usr/local/etc/apache22/Includes/ \
     --with-gd-lib=/usr/local/lib/ --with-gd-inc=/usr/local/include/ \
     --with-command-group=icinga-cmd --enable-idoutils \
     --with-dbi-inc=/usr/local/include --with-dbu-lib=/usr/local/lib \
     CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include CFLAGS=-fPIC

Compiler options for Nagios plugins (ports)

    make install NAGIOSUSER=icinga NAGIOSGROUP=icinga \
     PREFIX=/usr/local/icinga

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