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Nagios XI Offloading MySQL to Remote Server

Purpose
This document is meant to show a step-by-step guide for offloading the MySQL services from
the central Nagios XI server to an external, remote server.

Target Audience
This document is intended for use by Nagios XI Administrators who are desiring to reduce CPU load on their
central Nagios XI server.

Important Information
Historically MySQL has been the database used by Nagios XI, however in more recent operating systems
(OS) MariaDB is used instead of MySQL. MariaDB is simply a fork of the MySQL database however some of
the command differ slightly. This document will highlight the different commands for each scenario.

Separate to this, Nagios XI versions before 5.x used a PostgreSQL database for storing the Nagios XI
preferences. In Nagios XI 5.x this was moved over to the MySQL database. The following applies:
• Fresh installations of Nagios XI will no longer use PostgreSQL
• Upgrading a previous version of Nagios XI will continue to use the PostgreSQL database

This is highlighted where necessary in the steps below. If you are unsure, execute the following command on
your Nagios XI server:

awk '/"nagiosxi" => array\(/{getline;print}' /usr/local/nagiosxi/html/config.inc.php

Which should output one of the following:

• "dbtype" => 'pgsql',
◦ or
• "dbtype" => 'mysql',

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The following guide creates three separate use accounts in MySQL / MariaDB. It is very important that you do
not try and use one account as this will break Nagios XI. You MUST follow the instructions to create
separate accounts.

Nagios XI requires the STRICT_TRANS_TABLES to be disabled. Please see the Nagios XI -

STRICT_TRANS_TABLES article for more information.

It's also worth considering implementing jumbo frames for the network traffic between the Nagios XI server
and the offloaded database server. Please refer to the Jumbo Frames section in this documentation for more
information.

Summary
This document walks you through setting up a remote MySQL server for Nagios XI. Here is a list of the steps
that will be performed:
• Create Remote DB Server
◦ Setup/Install MySQL server
◦ Create Databases
◦ Adjust firewall rules to allow the MySQL traffic
◦ Test Databases
◦ Rollover Databases *Requires Downtime
• Adjust settings on Nagios Server
◦ Edit ndo2db.cfg (XI 5.6.x and lower) OR ndo.cfg (XI 5.7.x and higher) to make NDOUtils use an
external database
◦ Edit config.inc.php to make Nagios XI use an external database
◦ Edit settings.php for NagiosQL to use an external database
◦ Start Nagios XI Services

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◦ Modify the backup script

◦ Stop and disable MySQL / MariaDB
◦ Remove OLD MySQL / MariaDB database files

Editing Files
In many steps of this documentation you will be required to edit files. This documentation will use the vi text
editor. When using the vi editor:

• To make changes press i on the keyboard first to enter insert mode

• Press Esc to exit insert mode
• When you have finished, save the changes in vi by typing :wq and press Enter

Create Remote DB Server

Setup/Install MySQL Server
The following steps will define the MySQL root user account the password mYr00tP@ssw0rd. This is a poor
password and you should not use it, this guide is using it to keep it simple.

RHEL 7.x +| CentOS 7.x +| Oracle Linux 7.x +

Follow these steps if your offloaded server is running RHEL | CentOS | Oracle Linux 7.x or higher. On your
remote server install MariaDB with these steps:

RHEL 7.x + | CentOS 7.x +:

yum -y install mariadb mariadb-server mariadb-devel

Oracle Linux 7.x +:

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yum remove mysql-community-libs mysql-community-common

yum -y install mariadb mariadb-server mariadb-devel

Initiate and check the install of MariaDB and install root password:

systemctl start mariadb.service

/usr/bin/mysqladmin -u root password 'mYr00tP@ssw0rd'
systemctl enable mariadb.service
systemctl status mariadb.service

This should show MariaDB running, please proceed to the Edit Config File section of this document.

Ubuntu
Follow these steps if your offloaded server is running Ubuntu. On your remote server install MySQL with these
steps:

apt-get update
apt-get install -y mysql-server libmysqlclient-dev libdbd-mysql-perl

During the install you will be prompted for the password of the root user (except Ubuntu 18.x +).

Debian 9.x
Follow these steps if your offloaded server is running Debian 9. On your remote server install MySQL with
these steps:

apt-get update
apt-get install -y mysql-server default-libmysqlclient-dev

Debian 10.x
Follow these steps if your offloaded server is running Debian 10. On your remote server install MySQL with

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these steps:

apt-get update
apt-get install -y default-mysql-server default-libmysqlclient-dev

Debian 9.x + | Ubuntu 18.x +

You are required to set the root password at the command line:

/usr/bin/mysqladmin -u root password 'mYr00tP@ssw0rd'

Check to make sure MySQL is running:

Ubuntu 16.x/18.x +

systemctl status mysql.service

Debian 9.x +

systemctl status mariadb.service

This should show MySQL running, please proceed to the Edit Config File section of this document.

Edit Config File

Once you've confirmed MySQL / MariaDB is installed and running you need to edit the config file by executing
the following command:

RHEL | CentOS | Oracle Linux

vi /etc/my.cnf

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Ubuntu 16.x/18.x +

vi /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf

Debian 9.x +

vi /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf

Add the following two lines under the [mysqld] section, or edit them if they already exist (if the [mysqld]
section header does not exist you need to add it):

[mysqld]
bind-address=<IP address of this computer, the computer with MySQL or MariaDB>
port=3306

The following parameters are OPTIONAL however they are implemented as part of a default Nagios XI
installation and hence it would be beneficial to also implement on the offloaded DB server.

query_cache_size=16M
query_cache_limit=4M
tmp_table_size=64M
max_heap_table_size=64M
key_buffer_size=32M
table_open_cache=32
innodb_file_per_table=1

Save the file and restart the service to apply the changes:

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RHEL 7.x + | CentOS 7.x +| Oracle Linux 7.x +| Debian 9.x +

systemctl restart mariadb.service

Please proceed to the Create Databases section of this document.

Ubuntu 16.x/18.x +

systemctl restart mysql.service

Please proceed to the Create Databases section of this document.

Create Databases
You will now create the nagios, nagiosql and nagiosxi databases along with the respective user
accounts. You should use your own username and passwords, this entire documented example will be using:

• nagios database:
◦ username = nagios
◦ password = nagiosP@ssw0rd
• nagiosql database:
◦ username = nagiosql
◦ password = nagiosqlP@ssw0rd
• nagiosxi database:
◦ username = nagiosxi
◦ password = nagiosxiP@ssw0rd

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It is very important that you do not try and use one account as this will break Nagios XI. You MUST follow
the instructions to create separate accounts.

In the following commands you need to replace <IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER> with the IP Address of your
Nagios XI server, for example nagios@'10.26.5.12'. It is very important that the address is enclosed
within 'single quotes'.

Execute the following command to enter the mysql command interface (replace mYr00tP@ssw0rd with your
password):

mysql -u root -p'mYr00tP@ssw0rd'

You are now logged into the mysql command interface, this is indicated by the mysql> OR MariaDB
[(none0]> prompt.

NOTE: If you are using MySQL 8.0 or above, you can no longer create a user directly from the GRANT
command. You will need to use the CREATE USER command to create the user and then grant privileges.
Also, to properly connect to MySQL clients before 8.0 you will need to run an ALTER USER command to use
the MySQL native password to authenticate. The concept is presented in this example:

CREATE USER nodeuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'nodeuser@1234';

GRANT ALL privileges on node.* to nodeuser@localhost;
ALTER USER 'nodeuser'@localhost IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY
'nodeuser@1234';

Execute the following commands to create the nagios and nagiosql databases.

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create database nagios;

GRANT ALL ON nagios.* TO nagios@'<IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER>' IDENTIFIED BY 'nagiosP@ssw0rd';

create database nagiosql;

GRANT ALL ON nagiosql.* TO nagiosql@'<IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER>' IDENTIFIED BY 'nagiosqlP@ssw0rd';

The next commands only apply if this instance of Nagios XI was deployed from 5.x onwards (refer to the
Important Information section at the beginning of this document).

create database nagiosxi;

GRANT ALL ON nagiosxi.* TO nagiosxi@'<IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER>' IDENTIFIED BY 'nagiosxiP@ssw0rd';

The last command grants the root user full access to all the databases (used by the
/root/scripts/automysqlbackup on the Nagios XI server) [replace mYr00tP@ssw0rd with your
password]:

GRANT ALL ON *.* TO root@'<IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER>' IDENTIFIED BY 'mYr00tP@ssw0rd';

You can now quit the mysql command interface.

quit;

The databases have been created and you are ready to proceed to the Firewall Rules step.

Adjust firewall rules to allow the MySQL / MariaDB traffic

Firewall rules need to be added to allow the MySQL / MariaDB traffic. These steps are performed on your
remote MySQL / MariaDB server. In the following commands you need to replace
<IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER> with the IP Address of your Nagios XI server, for example 10.26.5.12.

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RHEL 7.x +| CentOS 7.x +| Oracle Linux 7.x +

These first three lines are to be typed as one long command.

firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-rich-rule="rule family="ipv4" source

address="<IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER>" port protocol="tcp" port="3306" accept"
--permanent

firewall-cmd --reload

Please proceed to the Test Databases section of this document.

Ubuntu

ufw allow proto tcp from <IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER> to any port 3306

ufw reload

Please proceed to the Test Databases section of this document.

Debian

iptables -I INPUT -s <IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER> -p tcp --dport 3306 -j ACCEPT

Please proceed to the Test Databases section of this document.

Test Databases
Now you need to test that your Nagios XI server can actually access these databases. In the following
commands you need to replace <IP_ADDRESS_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER> with the IP Address of

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your offloaded MySQL / MariaDB server, for example -h 10.26.7.11. Make sure you are using your
usernames/passwords in these commands.

Execute the following commands from your Nagios XI server to perform the tests:

mysql -u nagios -p'nagiosP@ssw0rd' -h <IP_ADDRESS_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER> -e STATUS;

mysql -u nagiosql -p'nagiosqlP@ssw0rd' -h <IP_ADDRESS_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER> -e STATUS;

The next command only applies if this instance of Nagios XI was deployed from 5.x onwards (refer to the
Important Information section at the beginning of this document).

mysql -u nagiosxi -p'nagiosxiP@ssw0rd' -h <IP_ADDRESS_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER> -e STATUS;

If these commands do not output some status text then you need to go back over the previous steps to
ensure you have correctly followed them. An example error message would appear like:

ERROR 2003 (HY000): Can't connect to MySQL server on '10.26.7.11' (113)

If the commands produce valid database status output you can proceed to the Rollover Databases step.

Rollover Databases
Now it is time to move the data in the local Nagios XI MySQL/MariaBD databases to the remote
MySQL/MariaDB databases. This task will require downtime as you need to stop the nagios and ndo2db
services using the following commands on your Nagios XI server:

RHEL 7.x +| CentOS 7.x +| Oracle Linux 7.x +| Debian | Ubuntu 16.x/18.x +

systemctl stop nagios.service

systemctl stop ndo2db.service (Nagios XI 5.6.x and lower only)

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The following commands to copy the databases need to be executed on the Nagios XI server with the
following considerations:
• The -u and -p for the mysqldump command (left side of the pipe | symbol) are for the databases on
the Nagios XI server. The commands are using the MySQL/MariabDB root user account with the
default password nagiosxi.

• The -u and -p for the mysql command (right side of the pipe | symbol) are associated with the remote
MySQL/MariaDB server. Make sure you are using your usernames/passwords in these commands.
• You must be logged onto the Nagios XI server as a linux root user
These commands can take a while to run if the Nagios XI server has been in production for some time as the
databases will have grown in size.

For simplicity, the following commands will use ip_mysql as the IP address of the MySQL/MariaDB server,
please change this to the correct IP address.
mysqldump -u root -p'nagiosxi' nagios | mysql -u nagios -p'nagiosP@ssw0rd' -h ip_mysql nagios
mysqldump -u root -p'nagiosxi' nagiosql | mysql -u nagiosql -p'nagiosqlP@ssw0rd' -h ip_mysql nagiosql

The next command only applies if this instance of Nagios XI was deployed from 5.x onwards (refer to the
Important Information section at the beginning of this document).

mysqldump -u root -p'nagiosxi' nagiosxi | mysql -u nagiosxi -p'nagiosxiP@ssw0rd' -h ip_mysql nagiosxi

It's worth noting that if you have a corrupt database, you will experience errors when running these
commands. Refer to the Common Problems section at the end of this documentation if you experience such
issues.

If the commands completed successfully you can move onto the next step.

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Adjust Settings on Nagios XI Server

Now the databases have been copied over, you need to configure Nagios XI to use the databases on the
remote server. Several configuration files are required to be updated.

Edit ndo2db.cfg or ndo.cfg

The /usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo2db.cfg file needs to be updated for Nagios XI 5.6.x and lower. The
/usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo.cfg file needs to be updated for Nagios XI 5.7.x and higher. For safety
reasons its a good idea to make a backup first:

cp /usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo2db.cfg /usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo2db.bak
OR
cp /usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo.cfg /usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo.bak

Execute the following command to edit the file:

vi /usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo2db.cfg
OR
vi /usr/local/nagios/etc/ndo.cfg

Find the following:

db_host=localhost

Change this to the IP address of your remote MySQL/MariaDB server, for example:

db_host=10.26.7.11

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Find the following:

db_user=ndoutils
db_pass=n@gweb

Change this to the username and password of the nagios database on your remote MySQL/MariaDB server,
for example:

db_user=nagios
db_pass=nagiosP@ssw0rd

Save the file once making the changes.

Edit config.inc.php
The /usr/local/nagiosxi/html/config.inc.php file needs to be updated, for safety reasons its a
good idea to make a backup first:

cd /usr/local/nagiosxi/html/
cp config.inc.php config.inc.php.bak

Execute the following command to edit the file:

vi config.inc.php

This file contains credentials for the databases that Nagios XI uses. Find the line:

"ndoutils" => array(

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This entry is for the nagios database. Under this entry, update the dbserver, user and pwd values:

"dbserver" => '<IP_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER>',

"user" => 'nagios',
"pwd" => 'nagiosP@ssw0rd',

Find the line:

"nagiosql" => array(

This entry is for the nagiosql database. Under this entry, update the dbserver, user and pwd values:

"dbserver" => '<IP_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER>',

"user" => 'nagiosql',
"pwd" => 'nagiosqlP@ssw0rd',

The next section only applies if this instance of Nagios XI was deployed from 5.x onwards (refer to the
Important Information section at the beginning of this document).

Find the line:

"nagiosxi" => array(

This entry is for the nagiosxi database. Under this entry, update the dbserver, user and pwd values:

"dbserver" => '<IP_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER>',

"user" => 'nagiosxi',
"pwd" => 'nagiosxiP@ssw0rd',

Save the file once making the changes.

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Edit settings.php
This section only applies to versions of Nagios XI before 5.5.0. If you are running 5.5.0 or newer please
proceed to the Start Nagios XI Services section.

The /var/www/html/nagiosql/config/settings.php file needs to be updated, for safety reasons its

a good idea to make a backup first:

cd /var/www/html/nagiosql/config/
cp settings.php settings.php.bak

Execute the following command to edit the file:

vi settings.php

This file contains credentials for the database that the Core Config Manager uses. Find the lines that say:

server = localhost
port = 3306
database = nagiosql
username = nagiosql
password = n@gweb

Change them to:

server = <IP_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER>
port = 3306
database = nagiosql
username = nagiosql
password = nagiosql

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Save the file once making the changes.

Start Nagios XI Services

After making all of those changes your Nagios XI server is ready to go back online. Execute the following
commands:

RHEL 7.x +| CentOS 7.x +| Oracle Linux 7.x +| Debian | Ubuntu 16.x/18.x +

systemctl start ndo2db.service (Nagios XI 5.6.x and lower only)

systemctl start nagios.service

At this point you should go into the Nagios XI web interface and check that it is all working as expected. The
main items to check are:
• You can login
• Core Configuration Manager works (objects appear)
• Force an immediate check on a host/service and make sure the Last Check/Next Check fields update
If you've made it this far then you have successfully migrated your databases to an offline server and Nagios
XI is now back online.

The following steps need to be completed to ensure additional functionality (like backups) continue to work.

Modify the backup script

The /root/scripts/automysqlbackup script on your Nagios XI server needs updating. Edit the file by
executing this command:

vi /root/scripts/automysqlbackup

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Change line #34 from this:

DBHOST=localhost

To the IP address of the offloaded MySQL / MariaDB server:

DBHOST=<IP_OF_MYSQL_OR MARIADB_SERVER>

Change line #31 from this:

PASSWORD=nagiosxi

To the IP address of the offloaded MySQL / MariaDB server:

PASSWORD=mYr00tP@ssw0rd

Save the file once making the changes.

Stop and disable MySQL / MariaDB

Now its time to verify the migration went smoothly and to prove its actually using the remote database. If you
have other applications on the Nagios XI server that depend on MySQL / MariaDB then you should not
perform the next step.

RHEL 7.x +| CentOS 7.x +| Oracle Linux 7.x +| Debian 9.x +

systemctl stop mariadb.service

Ubuntu 16.x/18.x +

systemctl stop mysql.service

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Nagios XI Offloading MySQL to Remote Server

Now refresh the Nagios XI interface, if the screen goes blank, go back and review the previous steps. If the
web interface is working and it's receiving fresh data, the offload was successful! If everything is working OK
after stopping MySQL / MariaDB then you can disable it from starting on boot as it is no longer required.

RHEL 7.x +| CentOS 7.x +| Oracle Linux 7.x +| Debian 9.x +

systemctl disable mariadb.service

Ubuntu 16.x/18.x +

systemctl disable mysql.service

Remove OLD MySQL / MariaDB database files

The following step is completely optional. The old database files that are no longer used on your Nagios XI
server can be deleted to recover disk space. This might be something you will do after a couple of days "just
in case".

cd /var/lib/mysql/
rm -rf nagios nagiosql nagiosxi

This completes the steps required to offload MySQL to a remote server. The remaining documentation talks
about jumbo frames and some troubleshooting tips.

Jumbo Frames
Offloading MySQL to an external server means that all of the database traffic must pass through the network.
It's important to make sure that the network connectivity is optimally configured between the Nagios XI server
and the MySQL server. This is where jumbo frames can make a difference.

Jumbo Frames allow each network packet to be 9,000 bytes in size, compared to the default of 1,500 bytes in

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Nagios XI Offloading MySQL to Remote Server

size. However using jumbo frames require all devices that the network traffic passes through need to support
it. This can add complexities which are outside the scope of this document, needless to say the benefits of
jumbo frames are worth mentioning in this document.

In an ideal scenario, you would add an extra network card (NIC) in both the Nagios XI server and MySQL
server with jumbo frames enabled. Those NICs should be connected to a separate network that supports
jumbo frames. The switches those NICs are connected to need to support jumbo frames.
In a virtual environment, if both the Nagios XI server and the MySQL server are on the same hypervisor (e.g.
ESXi) then you need to create an additional virtual switch (with jumbo frames enabled) to connect the two
VM's. If the VM's are running on separate hypervisors then you will need to make sure each hypervisor has a
virtual switch (with jumbo frames enabled) and the physical switches that connect the virtual switches support
jumbo frames.

The best way to confirm that jumbo frames is correctly configured is to perform a ping test that forces jumbo
sized packets to be sent. The command to use is:

ping -M do -s 8972 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the address of the other server you are testing against. If it is NOT correctly
configured then you will see messages like the following:

ping: local error: Message too long, mtu=1500

When implementing jumbo frames with dedicated NICs, in all of the steps in this document you will need to
make sure that you use the IP addresses of these NICs. For example:

bind-address=<IP address of this computer, the computer with MySQL or MariaDB>

That would need to be the IP address of the NIC with jumbo frames enabled.

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GRANT ALL ON nagios.* TO nagios@'<IP_OF_NAGIOS_XI_SERVER>' IDENTIFIED BY 'nagios';

That would need to be the IP address of the NIC on the Nagios XI server with jumbo frames enabled.

Common Problems
Issue - Now everything is blank, none of my tables show up.

This means that Nagios XI cannot access the nagiosql database. Make sure the:

• Credentials given in the config.inc.php under the "nagiosql" => array ( are correct
• Firewall on the MySQL / MariaDB server is allowing traffic through
• nagiosql database has been created on the remote MySQL / MariaDB server
• Check the file /usr/local/nagiosxi/etc/components/ccm_config.inc.php to ensure the
nagiosql settings are correctly defined, these should automatically be updated.

Issue - The tables show up but they don't hold any information

Blank tables mean that Nagios XI can access the nagiosql database but cannot access the nagios
database.
• Make sure that the credentials in config.inc.php under "ndoutils" => array( are correct.

Issue - No new information is being displayed and my /usr/local/nagios/var/nagios.log has

"Unable to connect to data sink..." in the latest log.

This is a problem with ndomod.cfg and/or ndo2db.cfg. The log is written if Nagios cannot connect to the
nagios database on the remote server. Make sure the:

• Socket information matches for ndomod.cfg and ndo2db.cfg

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• Make sure the ndo2db daemon is running by executing:

◦ ps aux | grep ndo2db
• Revisit the ndomod.cfg and ndo2db.cfg edit sections in this document to check all the credential
information is correct
• If the problem persists, try to access the MySQL / MariaDB server from the Nagios XI server by following
the Test Database steps again

Issue - When I migrate databases I get this:

mysqldump: Got error: 144: Table './DATABASENAME/TABLE' is marked as crashed
and last (automatic?) repair failed when using LOCK TABLES

This is due to a MySQL table being corrupt and you must fix it. The following documentation explains how to
repair the MySQL / MariaDB databases: https://support.nagios.com/kb/article.php?id=24

Issue - How to use a port other than the default 3306?

In all of the steps you follow it should be clear when you need to change the port from the default. The only
section where it is not clear is in the config.inc.php file, you need to define it as:

"dbserver" => '<IP_OF_MYSQL_OR_MARIADB_SERVER>:<PORT>',

Example: "dbserver" => '192.168.5.88:55555',

Finishing Up
This completes the documentation on how to offload the Nagios XI databases to an external MySQL /
MariaDB server.
If you have additional questions or other support related questions, please visit us at our Nagios Support
Forums:

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https://support.nagios.com/forum

The Nagios Support Knowledgebase is also a great support resource:

https://support.nagios.com/kb

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