21 – 25 November brought Icinga to the fore, with an Icinga article in the C’t magazine, an example of its use with FastCGI in a how-to guide, and a game played with its log files… all topped off with a sold-out OSMC 2011.
In celebration of Linux’ 20th Anniversary, we contributed an article on “Server Monitoring with Icinga” to C’t magazine’s 7th special edition. Though Icinga is also suitable for large enterprise environments, the article focuses on smaller implementations. It offers a guide to installation on Ubuntu and standard configuration of typical checks and email alerts.
On a similar thread, Marius used FastCGI and Icinga Web to show how FPM (FastCGI Process Manager) can be used to help scale a PHP installation while avoiding interpreter instance and wrapper stress on the web server. He started with Apache2 (mpm-worker) on Ubuntu and a standard Icinga Web installation per the project quick-start guides, to end with grouped applications, easily adjustable scaling, and an overview of critical web applications.
Marcus then made child’s play of web server log analysis with Logstalgia (a.k.a Apache Pong). The amusing retro game takes both real-time traffic and existing logfiles to display incoming queries as ping-pong balls of different sizes to vary with file size. Logstalgia runs on the usual operating systems and even comes with packaged with some.
Last but not least, Pamela sold out of tickets to the OSMC 2011. Those who are still hoping to attend this year’s Open Source Monitoring Conference can join the waiting list. We look forward to a varied and informative program of speeches and workshops, as well as a festive dinner and drinks atop the renowned Nuremberg Christmas market. Till tomorrow!
NETWAYS Blog
Weekly Snap: Watch OSMC 2010; Learn Nagios Online; Read on Puppet & Icinga 1.2.0
15 – 19 November was (multi)media dominated, with reviews from and of Linux and Admin magazines, online Nagios training and OSMC live streaming all topped off with an Icinga release.
To begin, Manuela forwarded news of Icinga’s latest stable release. Icinga 1.2.0 featured improvements to both the classic CGI based interface and new web GUI. The ‘classic web’ now too can compound commands, while the ‘new web’ enables scrolling and persistent views that can be configured with filters. She also noted its latest addons– Heatmap, Business Process Addon, LConf and PNP integration for performance graphing. See http://www.netways.de/de/produkte/icinga/ for more information.
On a roll, Manuela then recommended an article on Puppet in Admin Magazine and another on OSMC 2010 in Linux Magazine. In the 06/2010 edition of Admin Magazine, Puppet is introduced in detail as a configuration management tool for large environments. OS independent and declarative in nature, it acts as an ‘abstraction layer’ between the admin and his systems. Linux Magazine’s review of our OSMC too highlighted Puppet alongside SNMP, RRDTool and Munin to kit out monitoring, on top of the Icinga, OpenNMS, Shinken and Nagios Business Process Addons projects all presented there.
Finally Manuela reminded us of the OSMC live streaming archives at Linux Magazine. The streamed videos are available at 199 Euros with magazine subscribers receiving 20% off. OSMC guests can enjoy the videos as part of their conference package. Visit to view.
On the topic on multimedia offers, Rebecca introduced our new online training course in partnership with Linux Magazine Academy. A comprehensive introduction to Nagios is now available in both English and German as a 13 part video series. These cover installation, configuration and monitoring of Linux and Unix servers in a network, as well as useful addons the likes of NagVis and EventDB. A demo is available with a special introductory rate at 299 Euros till 15 December 2010 – so get in quick!
Open Source Monitoring Conference on Nagios 2010 – Vorträge verpasst?
Die Vorträge der Open Source Monitoring Conference on Nagios wurden auch 2010 wieder von unserem Partner dem Linux Magazin live mitgeschnitten und anschließend archiviert. Wer die Konferenz verpasst hat oder sich einen der spannenden Vorträge wie Rainer Jung | Java Monitoring und Troubleshooting, das Icinga Team | Monitoring mit Icinga, Michael Medin | NSCLient++ oder Wolfgang Barth | Netzwerkmonitoring mit Argus erneut anhören möchte kann dies nun ab sofort online auf den Seiten des Linux Magazins:
Der alles im Blick-screen zeigt in hoher Auflösung den Sprecher und die zugehörigen Vortragsfolien. Der Vortrag kann je nach Wunsch pausiert oder angehalten werden, von vorne gestartet oder Beispiele erneut angesehen und erläutert werden.
Auf der Homepage sind einige Demovideos verfügbar und wer Vorträge des Archivs buchen möchte erhält mit 199 € einen absolut fairen Preis. Abonnenten des Linux Magazins erhalten sogar noch 20 % Rabatt.
Für alle Konferenzteilnehmer gilt nach wie vor: das Streaming-Archiv ist im Konferenzpaket inkludiert und Sie können sich mit Ihren Zugangsdaten, welche Sie per Mail erhalten haben, jederzeit einloggen und sich Ihre persönlichen Highlights noch einmal in Ruhe ansehen.
Abbildung unten: Übersichtliche Weboberfläche mit paralleler Darstellung der Vortragsfolien
Weekly Snap: Business Process Addons in Icinga & Conference Aplenty – OSMC to OSDC and OpenSUSE
18 – 22 October skipped from the close of the OSMC to the preparations for the OSDC and ended on the OpenSUSE, with a quick detour into Business Process Monitoring Addons’ integration into Icinga Web.Manuela celebrated the success of the Open Source Monitoring Conference 2010 with a few statistics. For the attendees from all over Europe, 22 speeches, 4 workshops, 1 intensive workshop and an AR Drone, ensured that there was something everyone. Thanks to Linux Magazine, the presentations where streamed live and are now available in their archives to view with the attendee area of the OSMC website opening soon. Final thanks also go to Thomas Krenn, and all speakers and attendees for making the event the success it was – we hope to see you at the next OSMC on 29 – 30 November 2011.
From one conference to another, Manuela jumped to the Open Source Data Center Conference to come on 6 – 7 April 2011 in Nuremberg. In its 3rd year, it will also highlight ‚Automated Systems Management‘ with focused presentations and practical case studies. In line with this, 2 workshops on ‚Configuration Management with Puppet- Advanced‘ and ‚ITSM Reporting with Jasper‘ will be held on the OSDC eve 5 April with restricted class sizes for intensive learning. The Call for Papers for interested speakers and early bird specials for registrations till 28 February 2011 are both currently open and welcome to all.
Finally, Bernd reported from the 2nd International OpenSUSE Conference which gathered many active developers in Nuremberg to discuss new ideas and the future course of the OpenSUSE project. For the first time, NETWAYS was actively there with a presentation on ‚Open Source Monitoring with Icinga‚ that received much interest. In return Bernd was also reassured by many there, that the old rumours of YaST messing up configurations and Russian roulette-like package installations are now history.
Weekly Snap: Icinga in Admin on show & OSMC 5 places to go
27 September – 1 October turned over the month with yet another Icinga appearance in the press and the last 5 tickets to the OSMC.
In the last days leading up to the Open Source Monitoring Conference on 6 – 7 October, Manuela conjured up an extra 5 places for those who may have missed out. If you want to get in on the latest in network monitoring, Nagios addons, monitoring with Icinga and best practices, register quick at http://www.netways.de/en/osmc/y2010/registration/
To follow, Bernd recommended an article in the English language Admin Magazine. ‘Network Monitoring with Icinga’ offers a short introduction into Icinga, its various components and basic features. It also looks into a few monitoring scenarios in detail and advanced configuration options. For those new to Icinga, the article gives snapshot of current developments, with the final version of the new web interface and features to be released next week. Read it in full here.
