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Configure Nagios to monitor Remote Linux Host

To monitor a remote Oracle Linux host using Nagios, we’ll need to install Nagios Plugins and NRPE (Nagios Remote Plugin Executor) on the remote host. 

 

NRPE (Nagios Remote Plugin Executor):

NRPE is a Nagios agent that allows remote systems to execute Nagios plugins on them. It facilitates the monitoring of local resources and services on remote hosts. NRPE can be installed on various operating systems, including Linux and Windows.

 

Here’s a brief overview of how NRPE works:

• Nagios Server: The Nagios server initiates a check by sending a command to the NRPE daemon on the remote host.
• NRPE Daemon: The NRPE daemon on the remote host receives the command, executes the specified plugin locally, and returns the results to the Nagios server.
• Monitoring Plugins: Plugins are scripts or executables that perform specific checks (e.g., checking CPU usage, disk space, etc.) on the remote host.
• Secure Communication: NRPE uses encryption and authentication to ensure secure communication between the Nagios server and the remote host.

 

Configuring  NRPE and Nagios Plugin on remote Linux host 

To monitor the remote Linux host we must install NRPE and Nagios Plugin, here are the steps:

1. First let’s check my Linux version

[root@src ~]# more /etc/*release; 
:::::::::::::: 
/etc/oracle-release 
:::::::::::::: 
Oracle Linux Server release 7.9

2. Install Required Packages

2_1. Configuring the YUM repository, I copied Linux 7 on my host in /software path.

[root@src ~]# more /etc/yum.repos.d/oracle-linux-ol7.repo 
[ol7_latest] 
name=Oracle Linux $releasever Latest ($basearch) 
baseurl=file:///software/linux7 
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle 
gpgcheck=0 
enabled=1 
[root@src linux7]# yum update 

2_2. Then install the following packages.

[root@src linux7]# yum install -y gcc glibc glibc-common gd gd-devel make net-snmp openssl-devel tar wget

2_3. Create Nagios user

[root@src linux7]# useradd nagios 
[root@src linux7]# passwd nagios 
Changing password for user nagios. 
New password: 
Retype new password: 
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully. 

2_4. Create the directory for Nagios Plugin and download the package in this directory

[root@src linux7]# mkdir /root/nagios 
[root@src linux7]# cd /root/nagios 
[root@src linux7]# wget https://nagios-plugins.org/download/nagios-plugins-2.3.3.tar.gz

 

3. Compile and Install Nagios Plug-in

[root@src nagios]# tar -xvf nagios-plugins-2.3.3.tar.gz 
[root@src nagios]# ls -l 
total 2724 
drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4096 Mar 11 2020 nagios-plugins-2.3.3 
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2782610 Dec 15 16:36 nagios-plugins-2.3.3.tar.gz 
[root@src nagios]# cd nagios-plugins-2.3.3 
[root@src nagios-plugins-2.3.3]# ./configure 
[root@src nagios-plugins-2.3.3]# make 
[root@src nagios-plugins-2.3.3]# make install 
##Set the permissions on the plugin directory using the chown command. 
[root@src nagios-plugins-2.3.3]# chown nagios.nagios /usr/local/nagios 
[root@src nagios-plugins-2.3.3]# chown -R nagios.nagios /usr/local/nagios/libexec

 

4. Install NRPE: Download the latest package, Compile and Install NRPE.

[root@src nagios]# cd /root/nagios 
[root@src nagios]# wget https://github.com/NagiosEnterprises/nrpe/releases/download/nrpe-4.0.2/nrpe-4.0.2.tar.gz 
[root@src nagios]# tar xzf nrpe-4.0.2.tar.gz 
[root@src nagios]# cd nrpe-4.0.2

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# ./configure 

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# make all 
cd ./src/; make 
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/nagios/nrpe-4.0.2/src' 
gcc -g -O2 -I/usr/include/krb5 -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I ../include -I ./../include -o nrpe ./nrpe.c ./utils.c ./acl.c -lssl -lcrypto -lnsl 
gcc -g -O2 -I/usr/include/krb5 -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I ../include -I ./../include -o check_nrpe ./check_nrpe.c ./utils.c -lssl -lcrypto -lnsl 
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/nagios/nrpe-4.0.2/src' 

*** Compile finished *** 

You can now continue with the installation or upgrade process. 

Read the PDF documentation (docs/NRPE.pdf) for information on the next steps you should take to complete the installation or upgrade. 

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# make install-plugin 
cd ./src/; make install-plugin 
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/nagios/nrpe-4.0.2/src' 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 -d /usr/local/nagios/bin 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 ../uninstall /usr/local/nagios/bin/nrpe-uninstall 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 775 -o nagios -g nagios -d /usr/local/nagios/libexec 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 775 -o nagios -g nagios -d /usr/local/nagios/libexec 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 775 -o nagios -g nagios check_nrpe /usr/local/nagios/libexec 
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/nagios/nrpe-4.0.2/src' 

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# make install-daemon 
cd ./src/; make install-daemon 
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/nagios/nrpe-4.0.2/src' 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 -d /usr/local/nagios/bin 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 ../uninstall /usr/local/nagios/bin/nrpe-uninstall 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 nrpe /usr/local/nagios/bin 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 -o nagios -g nagios -d /usr/local/nagios/var 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 755 -d /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 ../startup/tmpfile.conf /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/nrpe.conf 
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/nagios/nrpe-4.0.2/src' 

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# make install-config 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 775 -o nagios -g nagios -d /usr/local/nagios/etc 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 -o nagios -g nagios sample-config/nrpe.cfg /usr/local/nagios/etc 

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# make install-init 
/usr/bin/install -c -m 644 startup/default-service /usr/lib/systemd/system/nrpe.service 

 

4_1. Now open /usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe.cfg file and add the local host and IP address of the Nagios Monitoring Server.

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# vi /usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe.cfg 
allowed_hosts=127.0.0.1,192.168.56.2

 

4_2. Restart NRPE:

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# systemctl enable nrpe 
Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/nrpe.service to /usr/lib/systemd/system/nrpe.service. 
[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# systemctl restart nrpe

 

4_3. Open NRPE Port in Firewall (I disabled the firewall in my Linux)

If a firewall is enabled on your Nagios server, you must allow traffic on the NRPE port (default is 5666). Update your firewall rules accordingly.

# firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=5666/tcp 
# firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=5666/tcp --permanent 

In my case firewall is disabled

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# systemctl status firewalld 
● firewalld.service - firewalld - dynamic firewall daemon 
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/firewalld.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled) 
   Active: inactive (dead) 
      Docs: man:firewalld(1) 

Run the following netstat command to verify the NRPE daemon working correctly.

[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# netstat -na | grep "5666" 
tcp    0   0 0.0.0.0:5666     0.0.0.0:*    LISTEN 
tcp6   0   0 :::5666          :::*         LISTEN 

##verify the NRPE daemon is functioning properly by running the “check_nrpe” command that was installed earlier for testing purposes. 
[root@src nrpe-4.0.2]# /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_nrpe -H 127.0.0.1 
NRPE v4.0.2

 

Adding Remote Linux Host to Nagios Monitoring Server

we had installed  NRPE On the Nagios Monitoring Server in the previous article: Install Nagios Core on Oracle Linux 8.5 (OL8.5)

 

1. Verify NRPE Daemon Remotely

connect to the Nagios Server

# /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_nrpe -H <remote_linux_ip_address> 

[root@emcl libexec]# /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_nrpe -H 192.168.56.10 
-bash: /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_nrpe: No such file or directory 

# I checkedm, I the package source that I download for the Nagios server shit file was missing, therefore, I copied it from the remote host. 
[root@emcl libexec]# ll | wc -l 
63 

##on the client 
[root@src libexec]# ll | wc -l 
64 

[root@src ~]# scp /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_nrpe root@192.168.56.2://usr/local/nagios/libexec/ 
The authenticity of host '192.168.56.2 (192.168.56.2)' can't be established. 
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:A8Z6mVuYWIrJWJkMuDJ7qiGkLHBBWvmcRbMQuoM2ZNM. 
ECDSA key fingerprint is MD5:7b:35:06:3e:fe:43:90:7d:c6:a8:0a:00:2c:01:72:b5. 
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes 
Warning: Permanently added '192.168.56.2' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts. 
root@192.168.56.2's password: 
check_nrpe 

###Now, it is working on the server on server 
[root@emcl libexec]# /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_nrpe -H 192.168.56.10 
NRPE v4.0.2

 

2. Adding the following information in nagios.cfg file

 

3. Configuring Nagios Host, Services, and Command Files

3_1. Configuring Host file

## Default Linux Host Template ## 
define host{ 
name                       linux-box              ; Name of this template 
use                        generic-host           ; Inherit default values 
check_period               24x7 
check_interval             5 
retry_interval             1 
max_check_attempts         10 
check_command              check-host-alive 
notification_period        24x7 
notification_interval      30 
notification_options       d,r 
contact_groups             admins 
register                   0                      ; DONT REGISTER THIS - ITS A TEMPLATE 
} 

## Default 
define host{ 
use                        linux-box              ; Inherit default values from a template 
host_name                  src                    ; The name we're giving to this server 
alias                      Oracle Linux Server release 7.9            ; A longer name for the server 
address                    192.168.56.10          ; IP address of Remote Linux host 
}

 

3_2. Configuring services.cfg file

define service{ 
     use                      generic-service 
     host_name                src 
     service_description      CPU Load 
     check_command            check_nrpe!check_load 
     } 

define service{ 
     use                      generic-service 
     host_name                src 
     service_description      Total Processes 
     check_command            check_nrpe!check_total_procs 
     } 

define service{ 
     use                      generic-service 
     host_name                src 
     service_description      Current Users 
     check_command            check_nrpe!check_users 
     } 

define service{ 
     use                      generic-service 
     host_name                src 
     service_description      SSH Monitoring 
     check_command            check_nrpe!check_ssh 
     } 

define service{ 
     use                      generic-service 
     host_name                src 
     service_description      FTP Monitoring 
     check_command            check_nrpe!check_ftp 
     } 

 

3_3. Configuring NRPE Command Definition file

# vi /usr/local/nagios/etc/objects/commands.cfg 
###add following to the end of the file 
define command{ 
       command_name check_nrpe 
       command_line $USER1$/check_nrpe -H $HOSTADDRESS$ -c $ARG1$ 
       } 

 

3_4. Checking the configuration is done correctly

[root@emcl etc]# /usr/local/nagios/bin/nagios -v /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg

 

3_5. Restart the Nagios service on the Nagios server

[root@emcl etc]# systemctl restart nagios

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