24 – 28 January announced two new hardware monitoring plugin and firmware releases, introduced Becky and a SASSy solution for CSS topped off with a special 20% off OSDC tickets.
Jannis found a way to make working with CSS fun with SASS stylesheets. A simple colour change need not consume a day, because SASS uses variables that are much easier to alter. And with the help of a compiler the variables, definitions functions and more, turn magically into CSS. Best of all, if you know CSS there is not much more to learn – check out the homepage to test if for yourself.
Following on, Rebecca our events apprentice introduced herself and her impressions of her first few months on board. Working hard on the OSMC of 2010, helping Manuela with everything from invoicing and program planning to interviewing attendees for live testimonials and marketing presentations streamed live, Becky gladly took on responsibility. So much in fact, that she is now organising Nagios, Puppet and Jasper training courses. With 2 years to go in her apprenticeship, she looks to be on the right path with the right attitude – we look forward to more updates along the way.
Becky continued to forward news of the IPMI sensor monitoring plugin v2 release for Nagios/Icinga. The Thomas Krenn plugin monitors the status of hardware such as fan speed, temperature, voltage, power input and more. To these ends it combines with Nagios or Icinga, FreeIPMI (as of v.0.5.1) and Gawk. The plugin is available for free download, with more information on Thomas Krenn’s wiki and exchange.nagios.org or available through special announcement and user mailing lists.
On the topic of hardware monitoring, Martin announced Multi-Tech iSMS’ new firmware 1.47 and plugin. Multi-Tech iSMS‚ new release brings new bug fixes and the ability to enter SIM card PINs in the web interface, removing the need to deactivate them in advance. View the changelog or download the firmware from Multitech. The updated monitoring plugin is available at www.netways.org.
Manuela reminded us to book before 28 Feb and save 20% on the Open Source Data Center Conference. Alongside high calibre presentations the 3rd OSDC will feature Puppet and Jasper workshops on the conference eve. To be sure you know what to expect, she threw in 2 videos of speeches from 2010 on Monitoring with Icinga (Bernd Erk) and Java Monitoring and Troubleshooting (Rainer Jung). And if one event isn’t enough, Manuela also offered an OSMC + OSDC special that saves up to €400. Register now and we’ll see you on 6 -7 April in Nuremberg!
NETWAYS Blog
Weekly Snap: Plugins for iSMS & HW Group, speeches for OSDC & CeBIT
Feb 22- 26 got us geared up for the OSDC and CeBIT, introduced ideas for HW Group monitoring hardware and Mult-Tech iSMS alerting.
Plunging into plugins, hardware man Martin recommended a convenient alternative to SNMP monitoring for environment sensors. A range of monitoring plugins for HW Group devices, developed in house are now available under GPL at www.monitoringexchange.org.
Meanwhile, Birger thanked Eric Pearce for his article “Using an SMS Server to Provide a Robust Alerting Service for Nagios” in Linux Journal. In his comprehensive guide on using Multi-Tech iSMS hardware (otherwise known as SMSFinder) for SMS alerting, Eric suggested the NETWAYS iSMS plugin for simultaneous interaction with multiple servers. But beforehand, he kindly contacted us first with a few suggestions for improvement, which we gladly obliged and must give credit for.
Moving onto events, Manuela got excited about the high calibre speakers, latest trends and juicy steaks awaiting us at the OSDC on 23-24 June. From Rainer Jung, Apache Software Foundation to Michael Schlenzka, Jaspersoft, and Jörg Möllenkamp, Sun Microsystems, the OSDC promises 2 jam-packed days. Perhaps the speakers or perhaps the BBQ she has planned outdoors, we are looking forward to the OSDC as much as the summer.
With the world’s largest IT expo round the corner, Manuela went on to tip off the first ever dedicated open source forum at CeBIT where Julian and Bernd will be appearing. So if you’re round check out “Monitoring large IT infrastructures with Nagios and Icinga” or “An open source data warehouse for IT management” to see the boys on stage, or swing by Hall 9, Stand B20 for a chat. Email info@netways.de to cash in on the handful of complimentary tickets still on hand!
Weekly snap: From SMSFinder firmware and Jasper to UK & Open Source
Oct 5-9 took us across to the UK, deep into reporting and briefly on hardware.
Martin tipped off a new Multitech SMSFinder firmware, which offers load balancing for up to 4 Finders in a network, and multi-user interface for up to 20 simultaneous users.
Bernd then rolled on with his Jasper Reporting series and taught us how to define dynamic parameters for interactive reports and template functionality. After which, he stretched reporting to the past and showed how to generate host availability reports in Jasper with percentage availability for specified time periods in a neat pie chart.
On the open source UK thread, Julian celebrated the London Stock Exchange’s switch to Linux and Solaris for their .NET based trade platform, while we joined the Open Source Consortium in support of open fellows over there. Hopefully more news from that way will hit the blog in the future, so look out.
Nagios Notification mit SMS und Acknowledgement
SMS als Mittel um über Zustandsänderungen im Nagios zu informieren ist ein alter Hut. Und auch Acknowledgements via SMS sind nichts neues. Aber der Grad an Integration, der jetzt mittels des Multitech SMSFinders und unseres Plugins erreicht wird, ist ein weiterer Schritt in Richtung Komplettlösung.
Der SMSFinder hat eine HTTP Schnittstelle zum senden und empfangen von SMS. Diese nutzt unser Script, sendet über den SMSFinder die Benachrichtigungen und verarbeitet die Rückmeldungen/acknowledgements als CGI-Script. Zudem lässt es sich als Nagios Check aufrufen und kann so die Funktionalität des SMSFinders überwachen und Graphen für die Signalqualität erzeugen.
Damit können wir unseren Kunden das auf Nagiosexchange/Nagioswiki wie immer unter GPL veröffentlichte Script sowie den SMSFinder über unseren Shop als neue Lösung anbieten.
