Using the network map as an overlay

In this recipe, you'll learn how to use a background for the legacy network map and deliberate the placement of hosts in specific points on it to make a kind of network status weathermap to see host statuses at a glance in a geographical context. At the time of writing, this method only works for the legacy map, which is available by clicking on (Legacy) to the right of the Map entry in the left-hand side menu.

Getting ready

You will need Nagios Core 4.0 or a newer server and have shell access to change its backend configuration. You should also have at least a couple of hosts configured to place on the map and understand the basics of using the Nagios network map and icons for hosts. These are discussed in the Using the network map and Choosing icons for hosts recipes, both in this chapter.

You should also select a background image on which you can meaningfully place hosts. If you are monitoring an office network, this could be a floor plan of the building...