Monitor your network with ease! Install and setup Cacti to monitor your network and assign permissions to this setup in no time at allCreate, edit, test, and host a graph template to customize your output graph Create new data input methods, SNMP, and Script XML data queryFull of screenshots and step-by-step instructions to monitor your network with Cacti
In Detail Cacti is a network monitoring tool that provides graphic solutions to your everyday monitoring issues. It has a wide variety of features and misusing them can mean that you are not monitoring your network as closely as you think. This book takes you through all of the key features of Cacti and shows how to use them for maximum effectiveness.
This book will teach you how to use Cacti effectively to monitor your network through its web interface leaving aside all the heavy chunks of code. You will be introduced to all the features of Cacti in an easy-to-understand format.
This book introduces Cacti and goes through its complete installation and setup. After a quick look, it will teach you to use Cacti's amazing graph templating and user management features. You will learn to customize graphs and make them better looking and easier to understand. It will teach you to provide the paths to any external script or command using Cacti. Then it will take you through importing and managing new templates and also customizing them. Creating users and assigning permissions to them is the next step in this book. Towards the end, you will learn to take backups and restore the system.
What you will learn from this book? Implement SNMP with Cacti using the Net-SNMP application suiteRetrieve raw data from the system using Net-SNMPCreate graphs using the RRDtool for easy understandingAdd devices to Cacti and use graph templates to monitor your networkUse built-in data queries to check the status of your networkImport and export your templates and exchange them with the communityCreate users and assign permissions to them to view or edit graphs Understand how Net-SNMP application suite implements SNMP with Cacti and use Net-SNMP to retrieve raw data from the system, then use the RRDtool to create graphsUnderstand Cacti's folder structure along with methods of backing up and restoringUse advanced command-line scripts for easy access and managing network
Approach
With loads of screenshots and illustrations and easy step-by-step instructions, this book is ideal for beginners in the network monitoring business.
Who this book is written for?
This book is for anyone who wants to manage a network using Cacti. You don't have to be a Linux Guru to use this book.
User review
Book review
According to publisher's page this book is targetted for people not very experienced with Linux and/or Cacti. And I confirm this. This book walks through setup and provides very detailed information about everything that needs to be done. Authors also introduce SNMP and how data is organized in an easy to understand way without introducing irrelevant details that non-advanced users will not need to know.
This book starts with taking the reader through every step that is needed to set up Cacti. While there are Linux distributions that provide Cacti, the book also shows how to set it up manually, which is a good solution for users that want to have more control over Cacti. Every step is shown in an easy to follow way which makes setting it up trivial. The only downside is that the book focuses on Debian/Ubuntu and APT packaging system - it would be of great benefit to also show similar path for RPM packages.
The book then goes on to configuring Cacti along with explaining underlying technologies like RRD, which is the Round Robin Database that is used for data and graphs. It also explains the concept of templates, reusability and why it is important to use them. The book also introduces SNMP, which is used for retrieving information from network aware devices and XML used by Cacti.
While the book introduces every concept related to Cacti the thing I found missing is extending some of them, such as more details on RRDTool - better understanding of RRDTool would allow making graphs better. SNMP chapter was also introducing the basics, but a continuation for readers interested in more details would also be beneficial. The book is only 116 pages and additional 2-3 chapters would be enough to introduce features for more advanced users.
I would recommend this book for new users of Cacti users. It should help them set up graphs much faster. This book will not provide much value for experienced Cacti users as it focuses only on the basics.
User review
Terrible!
My initial inclination is to say that this book is worthless. Given that I spent $35 on it, it's worse that worthless. At around 100 pages in length, the first 40 are dedicated toward understanding what a network is, a general overview of RRD and Cacti and a very poorly written install guide. With only about 60 pages remaining, a full 10 are wasted explaining what SNMP is and giving a very weak overview of how it works. Fifty pages to go. Don't expect much. Having used Cacti for 3 days when this book arrived, I found that ingesting it cover to cover yielded nothing new. Nothing. Zero. Honestly, the readme files are better. The online user manual is a thousand times better than this book. I cannot warn you enough to avoid this piece of trash.
