path: root/README

Introduction/Notes
==================

This modules was inspired and based on the work of David Schmitt
The immerda project group adapted and improved this module. 
Mainly we made it using the new native puppet nagios commands
as well we made it more modular to fit for multidistro usage.

In it's current form, this module can be used on CentOS and Debian.


Overview
========

To use the nagios resources, activate storeconfigs on the
puppetmaster.

You need to be running verison 0.25 or later of puppet. 


Monitor
-------

On one node the "nagios" class has to be included. By default this installs
apache using the "apache" module. To use lighttpd instead, include
"nagios::lighttpd", or, if the web server is not to be managed by puppet,
include "nagios::headless".


Hosts
-----

On a node which shall be monitored with nagios, include the "nagios::target".
This just creates a host declaration for this host's "$ipaddress" fact. If
the $ipaddress of your target is not the one you wish to modify, you can use
"nagios::target::fqdn" instead, which will use the $fqdn fact of the host instead.

Set the $nagios_parents variable in the node scope for enabling the reachability
features of nagios. If a node needs more customisation, use the
native "@@nagios_host" type directly (the double-ampersand declares the object
as an exported resource).

To monitor hosts not managed by puppet, add "nagios_host" objects to the
monitoring node. The required parameters are "alias", "address" and "use". If
you don't specify a proper nagios template with the "use" parameter, some extra
parameters are needed. You may look up the nagios documentation for this.


Services
--------

Services can be monitored by using the "nagios::service" component.

The simplest form is:

    nagios::service { 'check_http':
        check_command => 'http_port!80',
    }

The intention being obviously to put such declarations into a component defining
a service, thereby being automatically applied together with all instances of
the service.

Obviously, the check command must either be defined using nagios_command objects
(some are supplied in nagios::defaults::commands) or in the nagios configuration
files directly.

NRPE Services 
-------------

Some Nagios services need to be checked via NRPE. The following will make the
nagios server define a service that will check the NRPE command 'check_cpu' on
the current node:

    nagios::service { 'CPU Usage':
      use_nrpe => 'true',
      check_command => "check_cpu",
      nrpe_args => "-t 60"
    }

NRPE Commands
-------------

To be able to call NRPE commands on a host, one needs to define that command
and what it is going to execute:

    nagios::nrpe::command { 'debsums':
      check_command => '/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_debsums openssh-server'
    }


Upgrade Notes
=============

The nagios::target bits have been reworked, the notable changes that
may affect an upgrade are:

. previous versions had nagios::target::nat which used the $fqdn for
the address part of nagios::target, this has been renamed to
nagios::target::fqdn to be more clear. if you were using
nagios::target::nat then you will need to change those references to
::fqdn

. previous versions of this module used $fqdn for the nagios::target
address, now it is using $ipaddress. If you need $fqdn, use
nagios::target::fqdn instead of nagios::target

. previous versions of nagios_host used the parameter named 'ip', that
has been changed to 'address'


IRC bot
=======

Notifications can easily be sent to an IRC channel by using a bot. To do so,
simply include 'nagios::irc_bot' on the nagios server and define the right
$nagios_nsa_* variables (see the 'Variables' section below).

You can then use the notification commands 'notify-by-irc' and
'host-notify-by-irc' with service and host definitions to make them report
state changes over IRC.

Caveats
=======


Consistency/Validation/Verification
-----------------------------------

After convergance of the configuration, the system is obviously consistent.
That is, all defined services are monitored. The problem is though, that it is
neither automatically valid - it is not guaranteed that all components declare a
nagios::service - and even if the configuration is valid it definitly is
unverified, since that is always a judgment call for an external observer.


Removal of nagios objects
-------------------------

This module does not automatically purge nagios objects such as hosts and
services that become absent from the manifests. One must set ensure => absent
to guarantee the removal of nagios objects from the configuration as desired.


Templates not supported using native types
------------------------------------------

Templates of hosts and services cannot yet be defined using native types. In
this module, they are provided using a file resource by the class
nagios::defaults::templates

See : http://projects.reductivelabs.com/issues/1180


Variables
=========

Options to change the behavior of the nagios module:

- nagios_parents: Which host(s) are this node's parents in the nagios host map.

- nagios_allow_external_cmd: Set to true, if you'd like to ensure that your http
                             daemon can write to the external command file. You 
                             may also need to flip "check_external_commands" in
                             "nagios.cfg" to enable this functionality.

- nagios_cfgdir: specify an alternative directory where Nagios configurations
                 should be managed. Default value depends of the OS of each
                 node, but is usually something like '/etc/nagios3'.

- nagios_plugin_dir: Change the directory where Nagios plugins should be
                     deployed and pointed to by commands.

- nagios_nrpe_cfgdir: Change the directory where NRPE configurations should be
                      managed. The default value depends on the node's OS but
                      is usually something like '/etc/nagios'.

- nagios_nrpe_pid_file: Change where the PID file for the Nagios service should
                        be written to. It's usually a good idea to keep this
                        file where the init script will find it so that it can
                        verify the service's status.

- nagios_nrpe_dont_blame: Set this to 1 to allow arguments to be passed along
                          with NRPE command calls. Set it to 0 to disable
                          command arguments.

- nagios_nsa_socket: This optional variable can be used to specify the path to
                     the socket file that the IRC daemon should use.

- nagios_nsa_server: When using the IRC bot, this defines the server address of
                     the IRC network on which the bot will connect.

- nagios_nsa_port: Defines the port number on the IRC server on which the bot
                   should connect. When this variable is not set, the port used
                   by default is 6667.

- nagios_nsa_nickname: This is the nickname that the IRC bot will take.

- nagios_nsa_password: Some networks require a password to connect to them.
                       This defines such a password.

- nagios_nsa_channel: The name of the channel that the IRC bot will join and
                      will post notifications to.

- nagios_nsa_pidfile: This optional variable can be used to define the path to
                      the file that will contain the process ID of the IRC bot
                      daemon.
- nagios_nsa_realname: The IRC bot user's real name that will be displayed. By
                       default, the real name is 'Nagios'.

- nagios_nsa_usenotices: The IRC bot will by default "say" to the channel the
                         nagios message, but you can switch this variable to
                         'notice' if you would prefer them to be sent as IRC
                         NOTICE messages.

Examples
========

Usage example:

node nagios {

    include nagios::apache
    include nagios::defaults

	# Declare another nagios command
	nagios::command { http_port: command_line
=> '/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_http -p $ARG1$ -H $HOSTADDRESS$ -I
$HOSTADDRESS$'

	# Declare unmanaged hosts
	nagios_host {
        	'router01.mydomain.com':
                	alias => 'router01',
                    notes => 'MyDomain Gateway',
                    address => "10.0.0.1",
                    use => 'generic-host';
        	"router02.mydomain.com":
                    alias => 'router02',
                	address => '192.168.0.1',
                	parents => 'router01',
                    use => 'generic-host';
	}

}


node target {

	# Monitor th () is host
	$nagios_parents = 'router01'
	include nagios::target

	# monitor a service
	$apache2_port = 8080
	include apache2

	# This actually does this somewhere:
	#nagios::service { "http_${apache2_port}":
	#       check_command => "http_port!${apache2_port}"
	#}

}

TODO
====

- Provide a default http vhost
- Add facility to deploy nagios plugins
- Add more useful commands and services
- When Puppet will support them, supply nagios templates using native types


License
=======

Copyright (C) 2007 David Schmitt <david@schmitt.edv-bus.at>
See the file LICENSE in the top directory for the full license.

Copyright (C) 2010 Riseup Networks <micah@riseup.net>