User Guide

Common

The nep-common package is the core of NEP Design and the starting point for a new NetEye setup. It provides the minimum requirements to implement a basic monitoring of remote systems and to display their status. With nep-common it is possible to perform standard monitoring of:

  • Windows-based servers and clients through the Icinga 2 Agent

  • Linux-based servers and clients through the Icinga 2 Agent

Using the provided objects, is also possible to:

  • Perform basic SNMP monitoring (by querying SNMP devices for specific OIDs)

  • Prepare a common base for passive monitoring

  • Represent Objects that are not strictly related to a server or its services

Minimum supported environment

This package can be installed on systems running the software described below. Systems with equivalent components are also suitable for installation.

Required software

Requirements

NetEye

Version 4.20+

NetEye modules

Core

Package requirements

ITOA Dashboards shipped with the``nep-common`` package require Icinga 2 features influxdb and ido-mysql fully configured and running. Data provided by these two features must be accessible from Grafana using two dedicated Data Sources:

  • A Data Source named icinga2-influxdb able to access data from the influxdb feature

  • A Data Source named icinga-mysql able to access data from the ido-mysql feature

Data Source icinga2-influxdb is available by default on NetEye. If you cannot find it, please read the Grafana Official Documentation for InfluxDB Data Source and create the appropriate Data Source manually.

Data Source icinga-mysql must be created manually. On a NetEye environment, this Data Source is automatically created by the setup routine. On other systems, please create it manually. To get more information about Data Source creation, please read the Grafana Official Documentation for MySQL Data Source.

Setup instructions

If all requirements are met, you can now install this package. To manually set up the nep-common package, just use nep-setup utility to install it.

nep-setup install nep-common

Available Objects

This section contains a description of all the Objects from this package that can be used to build your own monitoring environment.

Director Objects

Director Objects are Objects created (or imported) into Icinga Director. This package contains the following Director Objects:

Data Lists The following Data Lists can be freely customized by the End User. Their purpose is to provide easy data filling to better describe the monitoring environment.

Datalist name

Description

[NX] Application List

Used to provide the list of applications in which Host Objects are organized; do not remove the default values

[NX] Environment List

List of available environment like Production, System Test and so on; do not remove the default values

[NX] System Role List

List of services a server offers (like DBMS, Web Server, Identity, etc.)

Host Templates

The following Host Templates can be used to freely create Host Objects. Remember: do not edit these Host Templates because they will be restored/updated at the next NEP package update.

Host Template name

Description

nx-ht-client-agent-linux

Describe a generic Linux-based client computer monitored by an Icinga 2 Agent.

nx-ht-client-agent-windows

Describe a generic Windows-based client computer monitored by an Icinga 2 Agent.

nx-ht-server-agent-linux

Describe a generic Linux-based server computer monitored by an Icinga 2 Agent.

nx-ht-server-agent-windows

Describe a generic Windows-based server computer monitored by an Icinga 2 Agent.

nx-ht-passive

This Host Template describes Host Objects whose state can be set using external events like SNMP Traps, Web Hooks etc.

nx-ht-status-dummy

Host Objects for fake check_command with auto-reset state enabled.

nx-ht-status-dummy-no-autoreset

Host Objects for fake check_command without aut-reset state enabled.

nx-ht-status-ping

Host Objects for all active host that shoudl be checked with a ping.

Service Templates

The following Service Templates can be used to freely create Service Objects, Service Apply Rules or Service Sets. Remember to not edit these Service Templates because they will be restored/updated at the next NEP Package update.

Template name

Run on Agent

Description

nx-st-agent-linux-cpu-load

Yes

Checks CPU Load on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-disk-freespace

Yes

Checks Disk space usage on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-memory-usage

Yes

Checks Memory usage on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-processes-status

Yes

Counts the number of specific processes running on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-swap-usage

Yes

Checks Swap space usage on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-initd-service-state

Yes

Check InitD-based unit status on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-systemd-unit-state

Yes

Checks SystemD-based unit status on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-uptime

Yes

Checks system uptime on a Linux computer

nx-st-agent-linux-check-startup-log

Yes

Check presence of file startup.log on Icinga Agent Data folder, cause of reload failure

nx-st-agent-windows-cpu-load

Yes

Checks the overall CPU usage on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-disk-space-usage

Yes

Checks Disk space usage on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-logged-users

Yes

Checks the number of logged-on users on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-memory-usage

Yes

Checks Memory usage on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-network-performance

Yes

Checks NIC Performance on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-performance-counter

Yes

Checks the value of a specific Performance Counter on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-ping

Yes

Pings a specific IP address and checks its performance on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-processes-count

Yes

Checks the number of processes running on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-processes-status

Yes

Counts the number of specific processes running on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-script-cmd

Yes

Launch a local CMD/BAT Script on a Windows computer as a Monitoring Plugin

nx-st-agent-windows-script-cscript

Yes

Launch a local CSV Script on a Windows computer as a Monitoring Plugin

nx-st-agent-windows-script-powershell

Yes

Launch a Powershell Script on a Windows computer as a Monitoring Plugin

nx-st-agent-windows-service-status

Yes

Checks the status of a specific Windows Service on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-swap-usage

Yes

Checks Swap space usage on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-updates-pending

Yes

Checks on a Windows computer if updates are pending and/or ready to be installed

nx-st-agent-windows-uptime

Yes

Checks system uptime on a Windows computer

nx-st-agent-windows-check-startup-log

Yes

Check presence of file startup.log on Icinga Agent Data folder, cause of reload failure

nx-st-agentless-agent-connected

No

Checks if an Icinga Agent is actually connected to the NetEye Monitoring Infrastructure

nx-st-agentless-businessprocess-status

No

Evaluate the status of a specific Node on a given Business Process

nx-st-agentless-ping

No

Ping a specific IP address from NetEye Monitoring Infrastructure and checks its performance

nx-st-agentless-snmp-oid

No

Checks a specific OID of a remote device via SNMP from NetEye Monitoring INfrastructure

nx-st-passive

No

Standard Template for Passively monitored services

nx-st-passive-with-autoreset

No

Template for Passively monitored services with Check Freshness

Service Sets

The following Service Sets can be used to freely monitor Host Objects. Remember to not edit these Service Sets because they will be restored/updated at the next NEP Package update.

Service Set name

Description

nx-ss-client-agent-windows-basic

Service Set providing common monitoring for Windows-based servers

nx-ss-server-agent-linux-basic

Basic performance set for Linux-based servers

nx-ss-server-agent-linux-init

Basic Unit State set for Linux servers with InitD

nx-ss-server-agent-linux-systemd

Basic Unit State set for Linux servers with SystemD

nx-ss-server-agent-windows-basic

Service Set providing common monitoring for Windows-based servers

Notifications management

NEP provides basic Icinga2 Notifications management as a feature. Because of modularity, this feature is splitted into different packages. nep-common provides a series of Custom Variables to manage Notifications: with these Custom Variables is possible to configure Notifications behavior through children of nx-ht-type-custom or directly at Host/Service Object level. For further details, plese see documentation of NEP Notification Base.

Icinga2 Objects

Icinga2 Objects are Objects provided directly using Icinga2 Configuration files. This package contains the following Icinga2 Objects:

Dependencies

The following Dependencies are used to change the behavior of Host Objects and Service Objects in case a specific Parent Object has a problem.

Object name

Description

nx-disable-notifications-on-icinga-agent-disconnected

Disable Notifications on Agent controlled Services when the related Icinga2 Agent is disconnected

nx-disable-monitoring-on-icinga-agent-disconnected

Disable Monitoring on Agent controlled Services when the related Icinga2 Agent is disconnected

nx-disable-notifications-and-monitoring-on-icinga-agent-disconnected

Disable both Notifications and Monitoring on Agent controlled Services when the related Icinga2 Agent is disconnected

nx-disable-notifications-on-parent-down

Disable Notifications on Host Objects when their Parent Host Object is Down while marking them as Unreachable

nx-disable-monitoring-on-parent-down

Disable Monitoring on Host Objects when their Parent Host Object is Down while marking them as Unreachable

nx-disable-notifications-and-monitoring-on-parent-down

Disable both Notifications and Monitoring on Host Objects when their Parent Host Object is Down while marking them as Unreachable

Dependencies *on-icinga-agent-disconnected are applied to Service Objects that inherits from Service Template nx-st-agent assigned to Host Objects inheriting from nx-ht-client-agent or nx-ht-server-agent, and perform their duty when Service Object Icinga agent Status is not OK. Their behavior is selected by using the Data Field [NX] Behavior on Icinga agent Disconnected, available to all Service Objects inheriting from nx-st-agent. In case you disable or customize Service Sets from nep-common, make sure to provide service Icinga agent Status to all Host Objects monitored using Icinga2 Agent, otherwise Deploy will break because this service is required by some dependencies.

Dependencies *on-parent-down are applied to all Host Objects that have at least one Parent Host set. To set a Parent Host, select it suing the Data Field [NX] Parent Hosts, available to all Host Objects inheriting from nx-ht-type-custom`. Their behavior is selected by using the Data Field [NX] Behavior on Parent host down, available to all Host Objects inheriting from nx-ht-type-custom`.

ITOA Dashboards

The Package contains the following ITOA Dashboards.

Dashboard name

Description

Last state History (with filters)

This dashboard helps you (IT operation user) to see and filter the NetEye Event Overview from a Grafana Dashboard using quick filters and Time Range selection.

NetEye Home

This dashboard helps you to quickly understand the health status of a NetEye system (from the point of view of performance monitoring and host performance).

NetEye Problems

This dashboard helps you to see NetEye Problems (both hosts and services) from a Grafana Dashboard.

Server Overview

This dashboard helps you to better see basic performance and problems of agent-based monitored objects.

State and Notification History

This dashboard lets you view a summary of how many notifications are produced, by whom, and to whom they are delivered.

Package’s objects list

Object Type

Object Name

Editable

Containing File

Director Command

nx-c-businessprocess-process-check

No

baskets/import/nep-common-02-command.json

Director Command

nx-c-check-systemd-unit

No

baskets/import/nep-common-02-command.json

Director Command

nx-c-check-uptime

No

baskets/import/nep-common-02-command.json

Director Command

nx-c-cmd-script

No

baskets/import/nep-common-02-command.json

Director Command

nx-c-cscript-script

No

baskets/import/nep-common-02-command.json

Director Command

nx-c-powershell-check-process

No

baskets/import/nep-common-02-command.json

Director Command

nx-c-powershell-script

No

baskets/import/nep-common-02-command.json

Director Data List

[NX] Application List

Yes

baskets/import_once/nep-common-once-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Available Time Periods

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Business Process State type List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Byte Unit Lowercase List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Byte Unit Uppercase List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Dependencies behavior List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Environment List

Yes

baskets/import_once/nep-common-once-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Host Notifications mode List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Host OS Name List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Notification Channels List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Notification Timings List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Plugin-check Command State List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Service Notifications mode List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] SNMP Version List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] System Role List

Yes

baskets/import_once/nep-common-once-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Uptime Unit List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Data List

[NX] Windows Performance counter type List

No

baskets/import/nep-common-01-datalist.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-abstract-base

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-abstract-base

Yes

baskets/import_once/nep-common-once-02-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-client-agent-linux

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-client-agent

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-client-agent-windows

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-cli

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-computer

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-dummy

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-passive

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-restapi

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-server-agent-linux

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-server-agent

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-server-agent-windows

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-server-linux-ssh

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-snmp

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-ssh

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-type-custom

Yes

baskets/import_once/nep-common-once-02-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-type-location

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-type-monitor

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Host Template

nx-ht-virtual

No

baskets/import/nep-common-03-host.json

Director Service Set

nx-ss-client-agent-windows-basic

No

baskets/import/nep-common-05-serviceset.json

Director Service Set

nx-ss-server-agent-linux-basic

No

baskets/import/nep-common-05-serviceset.json

Director Service Set

nx-ss-server-agent-linux-init

No

baskets/import/nep-common-05-serviceset.json

Director Service Set

nx-ss-server-agent-linux-systemd

No

baskets/import/nep-common-05-serviceset.json

Director Service Set

nx-ss-server-agent-windows-basic

No

baskets/import/nep-common-05-serviceset.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-abstract-base

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-abstract-base

Yes

baskets/import_once/nep-common-once-03-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-active

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agentless-agent-connected

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agentless-businessprocess-status

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agentless-database

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agentless

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agentless-ping

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agentless-snmp

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agentless-snmp-oid

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-cpu-load

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-disk-freespace

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-initd-service-state

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-memory-usage

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-processes-status

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-swap-usage

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-systemd-unit-state

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-linux-uptime

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-cpu-load

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-disk-space-usage

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-logged-users

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-memory-usage

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-network-performance

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-performance-counter

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-ping

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-processes-count

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-processes-status

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-script-cmd

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-script-cscript

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-script

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-script-powershell

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-service-status

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-swap-usage

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-updates-pending

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-agent-windows-uptime

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-passive

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-passive-with-autoreset

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-type-custom

Yes

baskets/import_once/nep-common-once-03-service.json

Director Service Template

nx-st-type-monitor

No

baskets/import/nep-common-04-service.json

Icinga2 Dependency

nx-disable-monitoring-on-icinga-agent-disconnected

No

custom_files/neteye_shared_root/icinga2/conf.d/nx-dependency-agent-controlled-services.conf

Icinga2 Dependency

nx-disable-monitoring-on-parent-down

No

custom_files/neteye_shared_root/icinga2/conf.d/nx-dependency-multiple-host-parents.conf

Icinga2 Dependency

nx-disable-notifications-and-monitoring-on-icinga-agent-disconnected

No

custom_files/neteye_shared_root/icinga2/conf.d/nx-dependency-agent-controlled-services.conf

Icinga2 Dependency

nx-disable-notifications-and-monitoring-on-parent-down

No

custom_files/neteye_shared_root/icinga2/conf.d/nx-dependency-multiple-host-parents.conf

Icinga2 Dependency

nx-disable-notifications-on-icinga-agent-disconnected

No

custom_files/neteye_shared_root/icinga2/conf.d/nx-dependency-agent-controlled-services.conf

Icinga2 Dependency

nx-disable-notifications-on-parent-down

No

custom_files/neteye_shared_root/icinga2/conf.d/nx-dependency-multiple-host-parents.conf

ITOA Dashboard

Last state History

No

itoa/LastStateOverviewFiltered/LastStateOverviewFiltered.json

ITOA Dashboard

NetEye Home

No

itoa/NetEyeHome/NetEyeHome.json

ITOA Dashboard

NetEye Problems

No

itoa/Problems/Problems.json

ITOA Dashboard

Server Overview

No

itoa/ServerOverview/ServerOverview.json

ITOA Dashboard

State and Notification History

No

itoa/StateAndNotificationHistory/StateAndNotificationHistory.json