Nagios XI – Managing Plugins In Nagios XI The Industry Standard in IT Infrastructure Monitoring Purpose This document describes how to manage plugins on your Nagios XI system, including: finding and installing new plugins, defining commands, and using them in your services. Plugins are a great way to extend the functionality of Nagios XI. Target Audience This document is intended for use by Nagios XI administrators who need to customize their setup beyond what the default Nagios XI installation can provide. Locate Your Plugin There are thousands of community-created Nagios plugins available for download at: The Nagios Exchange http://exchange.nagios.org. You can also find instructions for creating your own plugin at: Nagios Documentation http://www.nagios.org/documentation. Install Your Plugin Once you've found a useful plugin you'd like to use, it's time to install it. Click the Admin menu option in the Nagios XI web interface, then select Manage Plugins at the bottom of the left-hand menu. Click the Browse button and locate your plugin you downloaded from the Nagios Exchange. Then click the Upload Plugin button. Your plugin should now appear in the list of available plugins on the Nagios XI server. Test Your Plugin From The Command Line It's useful to be familiar with running your plugin from the command line, for both informational and debugging purposes. Plugins are located in the /usr/local/nagios/libexec directory. Login to your Nagios XI server, navigate to the plugins directory and run your plugin with the similar commands: cd /usr/local/nagios/libexec ./plugin_name arg1 arg2 ... Experiment a bit and figure out the best way to run the plugin. It probably has a help option you can use to learn more. ./plugin_name -h Here's an example of running the plugin check_icmp from the command line: ./check_icmp -H localhost Nagios Enterprises, LLC US: 1-888-NAGIOS-1 P.O. Box 8154 Int'l: +1 651-204-9102 Saint Paul, MN 55108 Fax: +1 651-204-9103 USA Web: www.nagios.com Email:sales@nagios.com Page 1 Copyright © 2010 - 2014 Nagios Enterprises, LLC Revision 1.0 – June, 2014 Nagios XI – Managing Plugins In Nagios XI This command will produce results which should be similar to the following: OK - localhost: rta 0.016ms, lost 0%|rta=0.016ms;200.000;500.000;0; pl=0%;40;80;; Define A Command Now that your plugin is available and you know the command line arguments to run it, you should define a command in Nagios XI. In the Nagios XI web interface, browse to Configure → Core Configuration Manager → Commands and click Add New. Enter a Command Name, usually the same as the plugin filename. Next in the Command Line field, enter $USER1$/plugin_name $ARG1$. The $USER1$ macro is replaced with the path to the plugin directory, while the $ARG1$ macro is a placeholder for an argument you want to specify later on a per-service basis. If you want, you can omit $ARG1$ or add more ($ARG2$, $ARG3$, etc.) The Command Type should be check command if your plugin will monitor a host or service, or misc command if it handles events. If in doubt, leave it unclassified. Click Save and then Apply Configuration. Note: The rest of this document only covers check commands. Add A Service Click Services in the left-hand menu, and click Add New. In the Config Name field, enter the file name where the configuration will be stored. Next enter a description of the service in the Description field. Associate the service with a host by clicking the Manage Host button. In the Check command field, select the command you defined above from the dropdown list. If you had any argument placeholders when you defined the command earlier, enter replacement text in the appropriate argument fields. The Manage Templates button allows you to apply a template to this service which will save you from having to fill in all the other configuration options, or you can enter the required Check and Alert settings manually. Save and Apply Configuration again. Verify Your Service Is Working Your service should be working now, but it's a good idea to double check that everything went as expected. Navigate to Home → Service Detail and look for your new service in the list. It will probably take a few minutes before it runs its first check. Nagios Enterprises, LLC US: 1-888-NAGIOS-1 P.O. Box 8154 Int'l: +1 651-204-9102 Saint Paul, MN 55108 Fax: +1 651-204-9103 USA Web: www.nagios.com Email:sales@nagios.com Page 2 Copyright © 2010 - 2014 Nagios Enterprises, LLC Revision 1.0 – June, 2014 Nagios XI – Managing Plugins In Nagios XI If for any reason your plugin isn't working, you may need to make changes to your command or service. Keep troubleshooting until you get a successful service check for your plugin. For additional questions, visit the Nagios Support Forums. Performance Data If you expect that your plugin provides performance graphs you will want to verify that it is collecting performance data. To do so, click the service description from the Service Detail page for a more detailed view of your service. Then click the Advanced tab after your plugin has run a check and make sure you see some output under Performance Data. If you don't see anything there, you will not be able to see performance graphs with this plugin. Finishing Up Below is a link to a video which covers the topic of managing plugins in Nagios XI: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG1lVnire4E The below link has additional information about how to test check commands from the command line: • http://support.nagios.com/wiki/index.php/Nagios_XI:FAQs#Problems_with_Check_Commands If you still have questions about how to implement a plugin within Nagios XI, or for any other support related questions, please visit the Nagios Support Forums at: http://support.nagios.com/forum/ Nagios Enterprises, LLC US: 1-888-NAGIOS-1 P.O. Box 8154 Int'l: +1 651-204-9102 Saint Paul, MN 55108 Fax: +1 651-204-9103 USA Web: www.nagios.com Email:sales@nagios.com Page 3 Copyright © 2010 - 2014 Nagios Enterprises, LLC Revision 1.0 – June, 2014