Install Nagios with Debian or Ubuntu

The BigPanda agent is a low-footprint utility installed on the master host of your monitoring tool. It consumes alerts from the tool in real-time and then transmits them to BigPanda via TLS-encrypted HTTP calls.

❗️

Python Compatibility

To use the Open Integration Manager for Agent-based integrations, Python version>= 3.8.0 and an Agent version >= 10.2 are required.

Prerequisites

python >= 3.8 and python-pip3 should be installed prior to installing the bigpanda-agent package.

1. Ensure python3 is installed with the following command:

   $ sudo apt install -y python3
   

2. Verify the install with the following commands:

   $ python3 --version
   $ pip3 --version
   

Note: If pip3 was not installed as a dependency, it can be installed with sudo apt install -y python3-pip.

Note: Access to JFrog, pypi, and yum repositories are required to install all dependencies.

Install the BigPanda Agent on Debian or Ubuntu

Connect to the host where your Nagios server is installed, and install the BigPanda agent package.

1. Ensure packages are installed prior to downloading the BigPanda agent package:

   $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y gnupg2 curl lsb-release
   

2. Add the BigPanda repository and download the OpenPGP key:

       $ echo deb https://bigpandaio.jfrog.io/artifactory/int-deb `lsb_release -c -s` main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bigpanda.list
       $ curl -sL https://bigpandaio.jfrog.io/artifactory/api/security/keypair/bigpanda/public | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/bigpanda.gpg > /dev/null
   

   • The --dearmor option is for unpacking input from an OpenPGP ASCII armored key.
   • Since apt-key is marked to be deprecated on future releases of Debian or Ubuntu, it is preferred to manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead.
   • Note: apt-key can still be used in place of OpenPGP, but it is less secure.

     $ curl -sL https://bigpandaio.jfrog.io/artifactory/api/security/keypair/bigpanda/public | sudo apt-key add -
     

3. Update the repo list and install the BigPanda agent package.

   $ sudo apt update
   $ sudo apt install -y bigpanda-agent
   

   Note: For the OIM, bigpanda-agent v10.0.0+ is required.

Troubleshooting:

Error:

E: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found.
N: Is the package apt-transport-https installed?

Solution:

$ sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/apt/methods/http /usr/lib/apt/methods/https
$ sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https
$ sudo apt update

Configure the BigPanda Agent

1. Generate the agent's configuration file:

   $ sudo bigpanda-config --init --token <Your Org Bearer Token>
   $ sudo bigpanda-config --add nagios
   -notifications --app-key <Your App Key>
   
   

2. Add the Nagios user to the bigpanda group by running the following command:

   sudo usermod -a -G bigpanda <Nagios username>
   

3. Start the BigPanda agent service by running the following command:

    sudo service bigpanda start
   

Configure Nagios

Configure Nagios to send notifications to BigPanda.

1. Edit the main configuration file (nagios.cfg). The default location is: /usr/local/nagios/etc/nagios.cfg.

   • Add the following line: cfg_file=/etc/bigpanda/bigpanda-contact.cfg
   • Ensure that notifications are enabled enable_notifications=1

2. In the file where your host objects are defined (for example, templates.cfg):

   • Add the bigpanda contact to the contact_groups.
   • Set the notification_options for the host to: d,r,u,f,s.

   For example:

    define host{
            name                            generic-host
            contact_groups                  admins,bigpanda
            notification_period             24x7
            notification_options            d,r,u,f,s
    } 
   

   If the contact_groups option is not already listed in your definitions, you can add it.

3. In the file where your service objects are defined (for example, templates.cfg):

   • Add the bigpanda contact to the contact_groups.
   • Set the notification_options for the service to: c,r,w,u,f,s.

   For example:

    define service{
            name                            generic-service
            check_period                    24x7
            contact_groups                  admins,bigpanda
            notification_interval           60
            notification_period             24x7
            notification_options            c,r,w,u,f,s
    } 
   

   If you have already configured notification options on a more specific template or definition, those settings will take precedence over the generic settings.

   To get the most out of this integration, ensure all of the desired notifications are sent to BigPanda.

4. Restart the Nagios service.

    sudo service nagios restart
   

Test the Integration

1. Run the following command:

    /usr/bin/bigpanda-notification --send-test
   

   A test alert should arrive in a few moments.

2. In BigPanda, click the Incidents tab at the top of the screen.

3. Confirm that the test alert was received.

4. Since it's a test alert, it won't be resolved automatically. Click Resolve incident to manually resolve it.

Success

You should be able to see all your active Nagios alerts in the Incidents tab.