Adding Objects To Nagios 3.

By: Mikhail Kniaziewicz

 What is an Object in Nagios 3.0

Nagios has two types of objects

Host

Service

Nagios has object inheritance like Object Orientated
Programming Languages.
 Directory Structure of Nagios 3.0

$USER1$ is the default Nagios command directory.
Four our system that is: /opt/nagios/libexec

Nagios global configuration files exist under
/opt/nagios/etc

Object directories are broken down as follows under
/opt/nagios/etc/objects: command, timeperiods,
services, eventhandlers and contacts.
 Process Flow for Nagios 3.0

The heart of Nagios is in the directory:
/var/opt/nagios/.

When Nagios starts, restarts or reloads it reads all
”.cfg” files within the object directories.

The objects are stored within the object.cache file.

Current host and service statuses are stored in the
status.dat file.

Logs for historical trending are stored under the
archive directory.
 Object Monitoring

Objects are monitored using two methods

Active – Nagios request status

Passive – Client sends status when a change occurs

Nagios can monitor objects from two locations

Locally – On the Nagios server

Remotely – On the client using a daemon
 Object Definition - Service

Basically, services are comprised from any action
that is not directly related to defining a host.

Check a system's load average

Checking partition or directory size

Checking the number of users on a system

Pinging a host is not considered a service object but
rather a host object.
 Object Definition - Service

Send email to System Monitoring so they know you are
working with a new object definition.

Only work on objects during business hours to prevent
alarming the World in the event you do not receive the
desired results.

Check for existing templates and objects so you utilize
Nagios' object inheritance feature.

Let EVERYONE in IT know about the object you created.
Objects are created to benefit business functions and not one
person.
 Object Definition - Service

Define the service to be monitored

Check Nagios Exchange to see if a plugin already
exists to monitor the service

If plugin is located, load the plugin into
/opt/nagios/libexec directory

Run plugin with the –help flag to see options.
 Object Definition - Service

Run plugin locally until desired results are obtained

Define command

Define service from command

Add host or hostgroups to be monitored

Define contacts

Define contact group

Define timeperiod
 Object Definition - Service

Run command sudo /opt/nagios/bin/nagios -v
/opt/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg to verify configuration
files.

If everything is fine. Add the newly defined object
to /opt/nagios/etc/nrpe.cfg file on the client.

Run sudo /etc/init.d/nagios reload. You should see
the new object appear in the Pending catagory on
the nagios screen.
 Object Definition - Service

After command runs, check the status within Nagios

I would recommend triggering an event with the
new command to test your contacts.
 Summary

Nagios consists of two objects: host and services

Directory structure for the nagios process is:
/var/opt/nagios/ while global configuration files can be
found under /opt/nagios/etc/.

Object definitions can be found under
/opt/nagios/etc/objects

Plugin commands can be found under /opt/nagios/libexec

Abide by basic courtesies while creating objects.

Define, create and test new objects.