Nagios Observability and Monitoring
This course outline is designed to help learners understand and master Nagios, a powerful open-source monitoring tool. This course is suitable for system administrators, DevOps engineers, and IT professionals who want to monitor infrastructure, applications, and services effectively.
Module 1: Introduction to Nagios
What is Nagios?
Overview of Nagios and its purpose
Benefits of using Nagios for monitoring
Key features of Nagios
Nagios Architecture
Core components (Nagios Core, plugins, add-ons)
How Nagios works (checks, alerts, notifications)
Nagios server and client architecture
Use Cases for Nagios
Server monitoring
Network monitoring
Application monitoring
Cloud infrastructure monitoring
Module 2: Installing and Configuring Nagios
System Requirements
Hardware and software prerequisites
Supported operating systems (Linux, Windows)
Installing Nagios Core
Step-by-step installation on Linux (Ubuntu/CentOS)
Installing Nagios plugins and dependencies
Basic Configuration
Understanding Nagios configuration files
Key configuration files (nagios.cfg, objects, commands.cfg)
Setting up hosts, services, and contacts
Module 3: Monitoring Basics
Hosts and Services
Defining hosts and services in Nagios
Configuring host and service checks
Plugins
Overview of Nagios plugins
Using default plugins (CPU, memory, disk, network)
Writing custom plugins (scripting basics)
Notifications
Configuring email and SMS notifications
Setting up notification escalations
Defining notification periods and thresholds
Module 4: Advanced Monitoring Configuration
Templates
Using templates for hosts and services
Creating custom templates
Dependencies
Configuring host and service dependencies
Avoiding alert storms
Event Handlers
Automating responses to alerts
Writing custom event handlers
Distributed Monitoring
Setting up distributed Nagios environments
Using Nagios Remote Plugin Executor (NRPE)
Module 5: Visualization and Reporting
Nagios Web Interface
Navigating the Nagios web dashboard
Understanding status maps and trends
Graphing and Visualization
Integrating Nagios with graphing tools (PNP4Nagios, Grafana)
Visualizing performance data
Reporting
Generating availability and performance reports
Scheduling and exporting reports
Module 6: Nagios Add-ons and Integrations
Nagios XI
Overview of Nagios XI (enterprise version)
Features and benefits of Nagios XI
Nagios Log Server
Centralized log monitoring with Nagios Log Server
Setting up log monitoring and alerts
Third-Party Integrations
Integrating Nagios with Slack, PagerDuty, and other tools
Using Nagios with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Module 7: Troubleshooting and Maintenance
Common Issues
Troubleshooting Nagios installation and configuration
Debugging plugin and check issues
Performance Optimization
Optimizing Nagios for large environments
Reducing latency and improving scalability
Backup and Recovery
Backing up Nagios configurations and data
Restoring Nagios after failures
Module 8: Security Best Practices
Securing Nagios
Configuring Nagios for secure access (SSL/TLS)
Restricting access to the Nagios web interface
User Management
Creating and managing users
Role-based access control (RBAC)
Auditing and Logging
Monitoring Nagios logs for security events
Implementing audit trails
Module 9: Real-World Use Cases and Projects
Hands-On Projects
Setting up Nagios to monitor a web server
Configuring Nagios to monitor a network device (router/switch)
Monitoring a multi-tier application with Nagios
Case Studies
Real-world examples of Nagios implementations
Lessons learned from Nagios deployments
Module 10: Certification and Career Guidance
Nagios Certification
Overview of Nagios certification programs
Preparing for Nagios Certified Professional (NCP) exam
Career Opportunities
Roles that require Nagios expertise (System Administrator, DevOps Engineer, Network Engineer)
Building a resume with Nagios skills
Interview Preparation
Common Nagios interview questions
Tips for technical interviews
Additional Resources
Books
Learning Nagios 4 by Wojciech Kocjan
Nagios Core Administration Cookbook by Tom Ryder
Online Resources
Nagios documentation and official forums
Tutorials and blogs on Nagios
Tools and Plugins
Exploring Nagios Exchange for plugins and add-ons
Using Nagios Fusion for multi-site monitoring
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