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Home > Cloud & Networking > Networking > Cacti 0.8 Beginner's Guide
Cacti 0.8 Beginner's Guide
Cacti 0.8 Beginner's Guide

Cacti 0.8 Beginner's Guide: Learn Cacti and design a robust Network Operations Center

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Cacti 0.8 Beginner's Guide

Chapter 2. Using Graphs to Monitor Networks and Devices

After having installed and configured Cacti, you will now be able to add your first devices and graphs to the system. This chapter will show you how to add new devices and how to add some performance measurement graphs to them. You will also learn how to group devices using the Cacti tree.

This chapter is going to cover the following topics:

  • Introduction to graph creation with RRDtool

  • Adding devices to Cacti

  • Adding graphs to a device

  • Assigning host templates to a device

  • Adding a device to the Cacti tree

So let's get started…

An introduction to Cacti graphs and the RRDtool

You can learn more about how RRDtool stores data in Appendix C. Now, you'll be looking into the actual graph creation process and what features Cacti supports.

Creating graphs with the RRDtool

Cacti uses the RRDtool to store the polled data. In addition to just storing the data, the RRDtool is also used to create the actual performance graphs.

If you now expect to see a fully-featured charting application, you will be disappointed. The RRDtool graph functionality offers only a very limited range of chart types. They can either be line charts, area charts, or a combination of both. There is no 3D option available, nor are there any other types of charts such as Pie or Scatter charts. This may be a disadvantage for some at first, but concentrating on only a few basic chart types makes it a fast specialized rendering engine for these. Being fast in displaying the raw RRD data is the main focus of the RRDtool graphing engine.

There are several graphing...

Adding devices to Cacti

A device in Cacti can be anything which can be monitored remotely or locally. This can include storage devices, Windows or UNIX servers, and of course network devices. For Cacti to be able to monitor a device, it needs to be reachable by ping or SNMP, but the actual data retrieval can also be done using scripts and commands, or a set of SNMP queries.

Creating a device

Creating a device in Cacti can be achieved by using the Cacti web interface. You are going to add your first device here. While looking at the different steps it takes to add a device, you are not going too much into the details of every field, as most of the user interface is self-explanatory and provides a detailed description of each field.

Tip

Before you start: Create a naming standard

If you have not already done so, you should now think about a naming standard for your devices. Creating and keeping to a naming standard is the first step to automation. Later in this book you will go through some...

Time for action – creating a new device in Cacti

  1. Login as an admin user to your new Cacti installation.

  2. Click on the Devices link under the Management menu. This will open a table with all devices added so far. For a new installation there should only be the localhost device showing its status as Up.

  3. On the top right of the new page click on Add. This is the default position for this Add link.

  4. You will now be presented with the Devices [new] screen. Have a look at this screen and make yourself comfortable with the different fields.

  5. Enter a Description and Hostname (or IP address).

  6. If you add an SNMP-enabled device, select SNMP as the Downed Device Detection method. Otherwise select Ping. When selecting Ping you can choose the protocol type and port to use.

  7. Enter the SNMP community and select the correct version (some additional fields will show up when you choose SNMP Version 3). If the device is not SNMP compatible, you can select Not used.

  8. You can also add some notes. Click on the Create button...

Time for action – adding a host template to the device

  1. Go back to the device overview page by clicking on the Devices link under the Management menu.

  2. Click on the device (the description) you have just created.

  3. In the Host Template drop-down box, select a template that fits your device best.

  4. Click on the Save button.

  5. Note the additional entries in the Associated Graph Templates and Associated Data Queries fields.

What just happened?

By selecting a host template for the device, you have added a predefined package of graph templates and data queries to the host. This is a convenient way of reducing the administrative tasks of adding these manually through the provided drop-down lists. You will come back to templates later in the book, so you do not have to fully understand these right now.

Adding graphs to the device

Cacti displays performance data as graphs, therefore we are now going to add some basic graphs to the device which we have just added. The first graph which you are going to add...

Time for action – adding graphs to the device

  1. Go back to the device overview page by clicking on the Devices link under the Management menu.

  2. Click on the device you have just created.

  3. In the Associated Graph Templates section select the Unix - Ping Latency from the drop-down list and click on the Add button.

  4. Click on the Save button at the bottom of the page.

  5. Go to the top of the page and click on, Create Graphs for this Host .

  6. Select Create: Unix - Ping Latency.

  7. Click on the Create button.

  8. A new screen will appear, where you can choose a legend color and text, but for now, just click on Create.

  9. You will be redirected back to the graphs selection screen with the entry we selected being greyed out.

What just happened?

You just added your first graph to a Cacti device by adding a graph template to the device and selecting it during the graph creation screen. Cacti will now start to poll the data for this graph and generate the associated RRD file for it.

Tip

The Unix templates

Except for...

Time for action – adding interface graphs to a device

  1. Go back to the device overview page by clicking on the Devices link under the Management menu.

  2. Click on the device you have just created or create any other SNMP capable device having network interfaces.

  3. Configure the device to use SNMP and click on the Save or Create button.

  4. Make sure that the following information appears at the top of the page. This will show that the device is SNMP capable.

  5. In the Associated Data Queries section select the SNMP – Interface Statistics from the drop-down list and click on the Add button. If it is already there, then skip this step.

  6. Click on the Save button at the bottom of the page.

  7. Go to the top of the page and click on Create Graphs for this Host.

  8. On the new page which appears, select the interfaces you want to monitor and select a Graph type from the drop-down list.

  9. Click on the Create button.

What just happened?

You added the SNMP – Interface data query to the device and selected some interfaces from...

Adding devices to the Cacti tree

The Cacti tree lists sub-trees, hosts, and graphs in a tree-like interface. It is the main user interface for the Graphs tab. There can be more than one tree which allows for a granular definition of the tree structure.

Note

Before creating the Cacti tree, think about a good structure for it. Changing the tree later is going to involve quite some manual work, so it is better to have this set up correctly beforehand, so it is better to have this set up correctly beforehand.

Creating a tree

Cacti already has a default tree defined which holds the localhost. You are going to leave this default tree empty and create your very own tree.

Time for action – creating a Cacti tree

  1. Click on Graph Trees under the Management menu.

  2. You will see the Default Tree. Click on the Add link to the top right of that table.

  3. Enter a name, for example, Customer A.

  4. Click on the Create button.

What just happened?

You created a new Cacti Tree called Customer A which you can now use to add all Customer A-specific entries. Using separate trees for customers or business units will enable you to better allow or deny access to these for specific users. You are going to see the interaction between a tree and the users later in the book.

Sub-tree items

A sub-tree item enables the creation of sub-entries to the Cacti tree. These can be entries such as "Country", "Site", or a "Business Unit". Creating sub-tree items allows end users to easily find their devices on the Cacti Tree.

Time for action – adding a sub-tree

  1. Click on Add at the top right of the Tree Items table.

  2. Select Header as the Tree Item Type.

  3. Enter Country A as the title.

  4. Click on the Create button.

  5. Click on the (Add) link next to the new Country A entry.

  6. Keep the Parent Item to Country A and the Tree Item Type to Header.

  7. Enter Site A as the title.

  8. Click on the Create button.

What just happened?

You created your first site for Customer A. You can now use this tree to fit all countries, sites, and buildings into a nice manageable tree structure. Your end users will immediately recognize the structure and will be able to quickly find the necessary information.

Adding a device to the tree

Now that you have created a tree and its sub-tree items, you can move on and add a device to the tree.

Time for action – adding a device to the Cacti tree

  1. Click on the (Add) link next to the Site A entry.

  2. Select Host as Tree Item Type.

  3. From the Host drop-down list, select the host which you created earlier. There should also be a Localhost listed. This is the Cacti server.

  4. Leave all the others to their defaults.

  5. Click on the Create button.

What just happened?

You just added your first device to your newly created Cacti tree. You can also add single graphs to the tree by changing the Tree Item type.

Before we continue

You now have a basic knowledge of the RRDtool graph functionality and have also added your first device to Cacti.

Pop quiz – a few questions about Chapter 2

  1. If you want to add an additional threshold line, what do you need to add?

    a. A LINE2 item

    b. A THRESHOLD item

    c. An HRULE item

  2. What information will be displayed when you create an SNMP-enabled device?

    a. The hardware configuration of the device

    b. A message of the day

    c. The contact information and hostname of the device

  3. Where do you add the "Cisco - CPU Usage" graph?

    a. At the Cacti tree

    b. At the RRDtool command prompt

    c. At the Device screen

Summary

In this chapter you have learned quite a bit about the RRDtool graph generation features.

Specifically you have covered the following:

  • Creating some basic graphs using the RRDtool

  • Adding advanced features such as threshold line and color changes based on the threshold

  • Adding a device to Cacti

  • Assigning graphs and interface graphs to a device

  • Creating a new Cacti tree containing sub-tree items and devices

You now have a running Cacti server, which is capable of polling and graphing at least one device.

In the next chapter, you are going to learn more on creating and using graph and device templates.

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Key benefits

  • A complete Cacti book that focuses on the basics as well as the advanced concepts you need to know for implementing a Network Operations Center
  • A step-by-step Beginner's Guide with detailed instructions on how to create and implement custom plugins
  • Real-world examples, which you can explore and make modifications to as you go
  • Written by Thomas Urban – creator of the "Network Management Inventory Database" plugins for Cacti

Description

Cacti is a performance measurement tool that provides easy methods and functions for gathering and graphing system data. You can use Cacti to develop a robust event management system that can alert on just about anything you would like it to. But to do that, you need to gain a solid understanding of the basics of Cacti, its plugin architecture, and automation concepts. Cacti 0.8 Beginner's Guide will introduce you to the wide variety of features of Cacti and will guide you on how to use them for maximum effectiveness. Advanced topics like the plugin architecture and Cacti automation using the command-line interface will help you build a professional performance measurement system.Designed as a beginner's guide, the book starts off with the basics of installing and using Cacti, and also covers the advanced topics that will show you how to customize and extend the core Cacti functionalities. The book offers essential tutorials for creating advanced graphs and using plugins to create enterprise-class reports to show your customers and colleagues. From data templates to input methods and plugin installation to creating your own customized plugins, this book provides you with a rich selection of step-by-step instructions to reach your goals. It covers all you need to know to implement professional performance measurement techniques with Cacti and ways to fully customize Cacti to fit your needs. By the end of the book, you will be able to implement and extend Cacti to monitor, display, and report the performance of your network exactly the way you want.

Who is this book for?

If you are a network operator and want to use Cacti for implementing performance measurement for trending, troubleshooting, and reporting purposes, then this book is for you. You only need to know the basics of network management and SNMP.

What you will learn

  • Set up Cacti on Linux and Windows systems
  • Extend the core functionality by using the plugin architecture
  • Build your own custom plugins
  • Create your own custom data input method to retrieve data from your systems
  • Use SNMP, SSH, and WMI to retrieve remote performance data
  • Design and create enterprise-class reports with the reporting plugins
  • Implement threshold-based alerting using the Thold plugin
  • Automate common administrative tasks utilizing the command-line interface and the autom8 plugin
  • Enable mobile access to your Cacti installation for your end users
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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Mar 16, 2011
Length: 348 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849513920
Category :
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Languages :
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Concepts :
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Tools :
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Publication date : Mar 16, 2011
Length: 348 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849513920
Category :
Cloud & Networking
Languages :
PHP
Concepts :
Networking
Tools :
Cacti

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Table of Contents

12 Chapters
Installing Cacti Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Installing Cacti
Preparing the system—basic prerequisites
Installing Cacti on a CentOS 5 system
Time for action – installing the missing packages
Time for action – downloading Cacti
Time for action – creating the database
Time for action – configuring Cacti
Time for action – creating the poller's cron entry and Cacti's system account
Time for action – installing Spine
Installing Cacti on a Windows system
Time for action – starting the Windows setup
Upgrading Cacti
Time for action – upgrading Cacti
Using Cacti for the first time
Time for action – configuring Cacti
The Cacti web interface explained
Before we continue
Summary
Using Graphs to Monitor Networks and Devices Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using Graphs to Monitor Networks and Devices
An introduction to Cacti graphs and the RRDtool
Adding devices to Cacti
Time for action – creating a new device in Cacti
Time for action – adding a host template to the device
Time for action – adding graphs to the device
Time for action – adding interface graphs to a device
Adding devices to the Cacti tree
Time for action – creating a Cacti tree
Time for action – adding a sub-tree
Time for action – adding a device to the Cacti tree
Before we continue
Summary
Creating and Using Templates Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating and Using Templates
An introduction to templates
Defining a data template
Time for action – defining a data template
Defining a graph template
Time for action – defining a CDEF in Cacti
Time for action – defining the graph template
Time for action – defining a graph template
Time for action – adding the color areas
Time for action – adding a legend
Defining a host template
Time for action – defining a host template
Importing/exporting templates
Time for action – importing a template
Time for action – exporting a template
The template repository
Before we continue
Summary
User Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
User Management
An introduction to Cacti user management
Creating a user
Time for action – creating the first Cacti user
General user settings
Realm and graph permissions
Time for action – setting realm permissions
Time for action – setting graph permissions
The template user
Time for action – installing the missing packages
Time for action – the Batch Copy
Integrate LDAP/Active Directory authentication
Time for action – setting up Active Directory authentication
Managing users with the Cacti CLI
Time for action – importing users from the CLI
Before we continue
Summary
Data Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Data Management
An introduction to Cacti data management
Creating data input methods
Time for action – creating a data input method – Step 1
Time for action – creating a data input method – Step 2
Creating data queries
Time for action – creating a data query – Step 1
Time for action – creating a data query – Step 2
Create a remote SSH data input method
Time for action – create SSH keys with PuTTY Key Generator
Time for action – creating the data input method
Before we continue
Summary
Cacti Maintenance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Cacti Maintenance
An introduction to Cacti maintenance
The Cacti directory structure
Backup and restore procedures
Time for action – backup your Cacti database
Time for action – backup your Cacti files
Time for action – enhancing the backup script
Time for action – creating a cronjob
Time for action – restoring the Cacti database
Time for action – restoring all Cacti files
Time for action – restoring the Cacti config.php file
Log file management
Time for action – configuring Logrotate
Cacti maintenance
Time for action – finding orphaned RRD files
A short overview of the Cacti CLI functionality
Summary
Network and Server Monitoring Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Network and Server Monitoring
An introduction to network and server monitoring
Monitoring a network device
Time for action – set up SNMP on Cisco devices
Time for action – adding a Cisco switch to Cacti
Time for action – set up SNMP access on Cisco PIX
Time for action – adding a Cisco PIX Firewall to Cacti
Monitoring VMware ESX servers
Time for action – set up SNMP access on an ESXi 4 server
Time for action – set up SNMP access on an ESX 3.5 server
Time for action – adding a VMware ESX host to Cacti
Windows monitoring
Time for action – enabling the SNMP server feature
Time for action – configuring the Windows SNMP service
Time for action – setting up a Windows WMI user
Time for action – installing the CactiWMI add-on – Part 1
Time for action – installing the CactiWMI add-on – Part 2
Time for action – performance measurement with CactiWMI
Summary
Plugin Architecture Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Plugin Architecture
Introduction to the Plugin Architecture
Installing the Plugin Architecture
Time for action – installing the Plugin Architecture
Upgrading the Plugin Architecture
Time for action – upgrading the Plugin Architecture
Configuring the Plugin Architecture
Time for action – configuring the Plugin Architecture
Downloading and installing plugins
Time for action – installing the settings plugin
Time for action – removing the settings plugin
Updating a plugin
Adding plugin permissions
Summary
Plugins Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Plugins
Plugin design
Commonly used plugins
Time for action – adding an external page to Cacti
Creating a new plugin
Time for action – adding the realm permission functions
Time for action – adding additional fields to the host table
Time for action – retrieve data from the database
Time for action – presenting data on the tree view page
Time for action – deleting data
Time for action – sorting and retrieving data
The data presentation section
Time for action – presenting the data
Time for action – retrieving data from the form post
Time for action – creating a new database item
Time for action – updating an existing item
Summary
Threshold Monitoring with Thold Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Threshold Monitoring with Thold
Threshold monitoring
Installing Thold
Time for action – installing Thold
Configuring Thold
Using Thold
Time for action – give permission to a user
Time for action – creating your first threshold – Part 1
Time for action – creating your first threshold – Part 2
Time for action – installing the stress tool
Time for action – viewing breached thresholds
Time for action – creating your first threshold template
Time for action – assigning a threshold template
Summary
Enterprise Reporting Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Enterprise Reporting
Overview of Nectar and CereusReporting
Nectar
Time for action – installing Nectar
Time for action – create your first Nectar report
Time for action – adding report items
CereusReporting
Time for action – installing CereusReporting
Time for action – configure CereusReporting
Time for action – creating an on-demand report
Time for action – creating a pre-defined report
Time for action – scheduling a pre-defined report
Time for action – Backup and Restore a pre-defined report
Report scheduling and polling performance
Time for action – setup of a cron-based report generation
Advanced reporting features of CereusReporting
Summary
Cacti Automation for NOC Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Cacti Automation for NOC
Overview of Cacti automation
Using the Cacti CLI
Time for action – adding permissions to a user
Time for action – adding a Cacti tree
Time for action – adding a single device to Cacti
Autom8 – true Cacti automation
Time for action – installing the Autom8 plugin
Time for action – patching the Cacti files
Time for action – adding a new Tree Rule
Time for action – applying an Autom8 rule to devices
Time for action – adding a Graph Rule
Summary

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Customer reviews

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Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.3
(8 Ratings)
5 star 37.5%
4 star 50%
3 star 12.5%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
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Robert Willman Apr 18, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is an excellent Cacti guide and probably the best tech book I have ever read. It's a quick and easy read. I read the whole thing in a weekend. Very clear and to the point instructions that also gives a brief how and why into the Cacti architecture without droning on and on. If you are thinking about deploying Cacti buy this book. Cacti is great but the documentation is not the best. This book will save you a lot of time and headache. The only thing I can think to add would be some additional chapters about plugins. This book does cover some of them but there are a lot of other great plugins which are really the strength of Cacti that aren't documented well where I think this author could really do them justice.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Gideon Boakye Ansah Feb 18, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent book for beginners
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Clay S. Feb 21, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
A required book for anyone doing Cacti
Amazon Verified review Amazon
M. Pedraza Apr 05, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
It's still a work in progress, to many projects to get this really configured & taking of the way I would like. But it's a good book for the cacti beginner, like me!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Jens Albrecht Jun 13, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
Wie der Name schon sagt es ist in Beginner's Guid.Aber ein sehr guter. Er hilft vor allem bei den ersten schritten sehr weiter und sollte zur Standardlektüre eines Cacti Einsteigers gehören.
Amazon Verified review Amazon

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About the author

Profile icon Thomas Urban
Thomas Urban
LinkedIn icon
Thomas Urban is the owner of Urban-Software.de, a software and consulting services company providing add-ons, plugins, and services for the Cacti Performance Monitoring systems. He has been in the consulting business for more than 5 years and has been creating web applications for over 20 years building reporting interfaces, network management software, asset management sites, and much more. He is a part of the Cacti community and is known as Phalek in the Cacti forums, where he is among the Top 10 contributors. He started writing the first Cacti Beginners Guide for Cacti 0.8 back in 2011. The second edition is his second official effort.
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