The Industry Standard In Infrastructure Monitoring

Nagios XI Distributed Monitoring With NRDP

Purpose
This document describes how to use Nagios Remote Data Processor (NDRP) as a distributed
monitoring solution. You will be shown how a central Nagios XI server can receive check
results from Nagios XI and Nagios Core servers.

Target Audience
This document is intended for use by Nagios Administrators that require a central Nagios XI server that will
receive check results from Nagios XI or Nagios Core servers.

Overview
Nagios XI comes bundled with NRDP, a flexible data transport mechanism that can be used to accept check
results from Nagios XI and Nagios Core servers. With this solution, the central Nagios XI server does not
perform any active monitoring, it is simply receiving passive check results from Nagios XI and Nagios Core
servers.
• Nagios XI Central Server
◦ Accepts incoming NRDP check results via http or https (https is
more secure)
◦ Configured via Inbound Transfers
• Nagios XI Distributed Servers
◦ Sends host and service check results to the central Nagios XI
server
◦ Configured via Outbound Transfers
• Nagios Core Distributed Servers
◦ Sends host and service check results to the central Nagios XI
server
◦ Configured using the Obsessive Compulsive Processor
Commands

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 The Industry Standard In Infrastructure Monitoring

Nagios XI Distributed Monitoring With NRDP

Configure Central Nagios XI Server

Nagios XI already has the NDRP components installed, the only step required is to define the token(s) to be
used by the remote servers. The NDRP configuration is located at Admin > Check Transfers > Inbound
Transfers. Detailed documentation on configuring inbound checks is located in the following documentation:
Nagios XI - Configuring Inbound Checks

It is recommended that NRDP is configured to use SSL/TLS (https) for security and encryption. Please refer
to the following documentation for steps on how to implement this:
NRDP - Configuring SSL/TLS

Configure Distributed Nagios XI Server(s)

When using Nagios XI as the distributed monitoring server, the NDRP components are already installed, all
that is required is to define the target host to send the check results to (the central Nagios XI server). This
setting is located at Admin > Check Transfers > Outbound Transfers. Detailed documentation on
configuring outbound checks is located in the following documentation:
Nagios XI - Configuring Outbound Checks

It is worth mentioning that Host Name Filters can be applied so that check results for specific hosts and
services can be excluded.

Once configured please proceed to the Unconfigured Objects section in this document.

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 The Industry Standard In Infrastructure Monitoring

Nagios XI Distributed Monitoring With NRDP

Configure Distributed Nagios Core Server(s)

When using Nagios Core as the distributed monitoring server you will need to perform the following:
• Install send_nrdp.php script
• Create host and service command definitions for the send_nrdp.php script
• Define Obsessive Compulsive Processor Commands in nagios.cfg
• Disable obsession on specific host or service objects
• Restart Nagios Core

Install send_nrdp.php script

Execute the following commands on your Nagios Core server:

cd /usr/local/nagios/libexec/
wget -O send_nrdp.php https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NagiosEnterprises/nrdp/master/clients/send_nrdp.php
chmod +x send_nrdp.php
chown nagios:nagios send_nrdp.php

Create Host And Service Commands

You will now need to create the commands that will be used by the obsessive compulsive processor
commands. The .cfg file that you need to place these commands will be specific to your Nagios Core
deployment, this example will use the /usr/local/nagios/etc/objects/commands.cfg file. These
command definitions require:
• The NRDP token defined on the central Nagios XI server, these examples use
◦ --token XXXXX
• The NRDP URL of the central Nagios XI server, these examples use
◦ --url https://10.25.5.17/nrdp/
• command_line should be typed as one long line (wrapped over multiple lines below)

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 The Industry Standard In Infrastructure Monitoring

Nagios XI Distributed Monitoring With NRDP

define command{
command_name send_nrdp_host
command_line $USER1$/send_nrdp.php --url=https://10.25.5.17/nrdp/ --token=XXXXX
--host="$HOSTNAME$" --state=$HOSTSTATEID$ --output="$HOSTOUTPUT$"
}

define command{
command_name send_nrdp_service
command_line $USER1$/send_nrdp.php --url=https://10.25.5.17/nrdp/ --token=XXXXX
--host="$HOSTNAME$" --service="$SERVICEDESC$" --state=$SERVICESTATEID$
--output="$SERVICEOUTPUT$"
}

Define Obsessive Compulsive Processor Commands

The next step is to configure nagios.cfg to use these commands and to enable the obsessive compulsive
processor commands. This example will use the /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg file, edit it and
make the following changes.

obsess_over_hosts=1
obsess_over_services=1
ochp_command=send_nrdp_host
ocsp_command=send_nrdp_service

Disable Obsession On Specific Host Or Service Objects

By default the obsess directive on host and service objects will be set to 1 if it is not defined. There are some
objects on your distributed server that should not be reported back to the central Nagios XI server. The most
common is the localhost host object and it's services. These objects already exist on the central Nagios XI
server and if your distributed server is sending the same check results back then it will be really confusing
when there is an issue. All that is required is the directive obsess 0 to be defined on any of these host and
service objects.

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Nagios XI Distributed Monitoring With NRDP

Restart Nagios Core

After making all of those changes you need to restart Nagios Core to implement them. Execute the restart
command specific to your operating system, for example in CentOS/RHEL:

service nagios restart

You can now proceed to the Unconfigured Objects section in this document.

Unconfigured Objects
Once the central Nagios XI server receives the check results from the distributed Nagios servers they need to
be added to the Nagios XI configurations so they appear in the interface. Navigate to Admin > Monitoring
Config > Unconfigured Objects.

Using the icons on this page you will add these objects to your monitoring configuration using the
Unconfigured Passive Object wizard.

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 The Industry Standard In Infrastructure Monitoring

Nagios XI Distributed Monitoring With NRDP

Once the wizard has finished, the objects will remain in a Pending state until the next check result is received.

More detailed information about unconfigured objects and passive services can be found in the following
documentation:
Monitoring Unconfigured Objects With Nagios XI

Configuring Passive Services With Nagios XI

An overview of NRDP can be found in the following documentation:

NRDP Overview

Finishing Up
This completes the documentation on distributed monitoring with NRDP and Nagios XI.
If you have additional questions or other support related questions, please visit us at our Nagios Support
Forums:

https://support.nagios.com/forum

The Nagios Support Knowledgebase is also a great support resource:

https://support.nagios.com/kb

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