Nagiosgraph
-----------

File:    $Id: README,v 1.10 2006/04/05 12:37:11 sauber Exp $
Author:  (c) Soren Dossing, 2005
License: OSI Artistic License
         http://www.opensource.org/licenses/artistic-license.php


Summary:

Collects perfdata from Nagios check scripts and inserts data into rrd
files. Data in the rrdfiles can be displayed in html pages with cgi
script.


Note:

Nagios is a registered trademark of Ethan Galstad.


Files:

CHANGELOG         - History of changes
INSTALL           - Dcoument for how to install and use nagiosgraph
README            - This file
README.map        - Document for how to create map file entries
insert.pl         - Reads perfdata log from nagios and insert into rrd 
                    files.
show.cgi          - Generates a html page for the host/sevice specified, 
                    and generates graphs on-the-fly.
nagiosgraph.conf  - paths and other configuration
nagiosgraph.css   - CSS stylesheet
map               - Regular expression to identify services and 
                    specification for how to create rrd files.
testcolor.cgi     - Preview of colors for keywords in each color scheme
testentry.pl      - A script for testing new map file entries.


Usage:

Follow the instructions in INSTALL for how to install and configure 
nagiosgraph.


Getting Help:

Discussions related to nagiosgraph are located in a Sourceforge help
forum; http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=394748 . A
Sourceforge account is necessary for posting.


Principles of Operation:

nagiosgraph is basically a simple interface between Nagios and rrd data
files. Simplicity comes from three factors; it doesn't do much, behavior
is programmed rather than configurable, and automatically detects new
data from Nagios.

nagiosgraphs is operating in two modes. One is to collect performance
data from servicechecks from nagios, and the other is to display graphs
of the performance data collected.

All the data collected are stored in rrd files by using rrdtools. A file
called 'map' defines how identify the data from nagios and how to store
it in the rrd files. Nagios passes all the service data collected to a
nagiosgraph script called 'insert.pl'. This script will look up in
'map', which rrd file to insert the data into, and how to name the data.

In Nagios it's also possible to have extended service information pages.
A nagiosgraph cgi script called 'show.cgi' can be used for such service
information links. 'show.cgi' will look up in 'map' which performance
data is stored in rrd files, and display graphs of this data. 

nagiosgraph will automatically detect when new hosts or services has
been added in Nagios, so generally no configuration of nagiosgraph is
necessary when configuration of Nagios changes.

nagiosgraph is designed to only require very little configuration.
Integrating with Nagios is a complicated process nevertheless. The
'README' file describes how to configure nagiosgraph and integrate with
Nagios.

The 'map' configuration file is actually perl code, that will be eval'ed
by 'insert.pl' and 'show.cgi'. Several examples of servicechecks are
included in the distributed 'map' file, but generally it's necessary to
make modifications or add entries to match the output of the particular
nagiosplugins in use. Knowing perl is helpful when making modifications,
but the examples supplied should cover most types of performance data.

By default all available data for a servicecheck will be displayed in
the same graph. With extra configuration, embedded in the url, it's
possible to display less data or to split values into multiple graphs.
There is also a general method for specifying any rrd graph options.

