Nagios, 2nd Edition

Nagios, 2nd Edition

System and Network Monitoring
by Wolfgang Barth
October 2008, 720 pp.
ISBN-13: 
978-1-59327-179-4
"This book is incredibly detailed, and Wolfgang has done an excellent job. I don’t think I could have gone into that much detail if I wrote a book myself. Kudos!" —Ethan Galstad, Nagios main developer

Good system administrators recognize problems long before anyone asks, "Hey, is the Internet down?" Nagios, an open source system and network monitoring tool, has emerged as the most popular solution for sys admins in organizations of all sizes. It's robust but also complex, and Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, 2nd Edition, updated to address Nagios 3.0, will help you take full advantage of this program.

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. This book is your guide to getting the most out of this versatile and powerful monitoring tool.

Inside Nagios, you’ll learn how to:

  • Install and configure the Nagios core, all standard plugins, and selected third-party plugins
  • Configure the notification system to alert you of ongoing problems—and to alarm others in case of a serious crisis
  • Program event handlers to take automatic action when trouble occurs
  • Write Perl plugins to customize Nagios for your unique needs
  • Quickly understand your Nagios data using graphing and visualization tools
  • Monitor Windows servers, SAP systems, and Oracle databases

The book also includes a chapter that highlights the differences between Nagios versions 2 and 3 and gives practical migration and compatibility tips. Nagios: System and Network Monitoring, 2nd Edition is a great starting point for configuring and using Nagios in your own environment.

Author Bio 

Wolfgang Barth has written several books for professional network administrators, including Firewall (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.

Table of contents 

Foreword to the Second Edition
Introduction

PART I: From Source Code to a Running Installation
Chapter 1: Installation
Chapter 2: Nagios Configuration
Chapter 3: Startup

PART II: In More Detail...
Chapter 4: Nagios Basics
Chapter 5: Service Checks and How They Are Performed
Chapter 6: Plugins for Network Services
Chapter 7: Testing Local Resources
Chapter 8: Plugins for Special Tasks
Chapter 9: Executing Plugins via SSH
Chapter 10: The Nagios Remote Plugin Executor (NRPE)
Chapter 11: Collecting Information Relevant for Monitoring with SNMP
Chapter 12: The Nagios Notification System
Chapter 13: Passive Tests with the External Command File
Chapter 14: The Nagios Service Check Acceptor (NSCA)
Chapter 15: Distributed Monitoring

PART III: The Web Interface and Other Ways to Visualize Nagios Data
Chapter 16: The Classical Web Interface
Chapter 17: Flexible Web Interface with the NDOUtils
Chapter 18: NagVis
Chapter 19: Graphic Display of Performance Data

PART IV: Special Applications
Chapter 20: Monitoring Windows Servers
Chapter 21: Monitoring Room Temperature and Humidity
Chapter 22: Monitoring SAP Systems
Chapter 23: Processing Events with the EventDB

PART V: Development
Chapter 24: Writing Your Own Plugins
Chapter 25: Determining File and Directory Sizes
Chapter 26: Monitoring Oracle with the Instant Client

Appendix A: An Overview of the Nagios Configuration Parameters
Appendix B: Rapidly Alternating States: Flapping
Appendix C: Event Handlers
Appendix D: Macros
Appendix E: Single Sign-On for the Nagios Web Interface
Appendix F: Tips on Optimizing Performance
Appendix G: The Embedded Perl Interpreter
Appendix H: What's New in Nagios 3.0?
Index

View the detailed Table of Contents (PDF)
View the Index (PDF)

Reviews 

"This book will get novices off to a good start, but it's invaluable for anyone who is migrating from Nagios 2 to 3 or enhancing their monitoring setup."
—IT World (Read More)

"If you're going to delve into Nagios, and you have at least an intermediate understanding of computer technology, then this is the manual for you."
—The Tech Static (Read More)

"If you are looking to deploy a monitoring solution or already employ Nagios in your operations, this book is a must have. With it, you will save hours debugging that pesky Nagios configuration problem and learn to maximize Nagios' power to monitoring your IT operations."
—Ping Zine! (Read More)

"If you're planning a new Nagios installation, or you (correctly) suspect yours could be working harder for you, buy this book."
—Python Buzz Forum (Read More)