How to Install Nagios on Ubuntu 22.04: Step-by-Step Guide

When it comes to monitoring your servers and ensuring their health, Nagios stands out as one of the most trusted open-source solutions. With the ability to track the performance of your servers, critical services, applications, and network protocols, it’s no wonder that Nagios has become a go-to for many system administrators. If you’re looking to install Nagios on an Ubuntu 22.04 server, you’ve come to the right place! In this guide, we’ll walk you through every step of the process—from installing the necessary dependencies to accessing the Nagios web interface.

Table of Contents

Configuring Nagios on Ubuntu

What Is Nagios?

Nagios is an open-source monitoring tool designed to help you keep a close eye on your infrastructure. It can track everything from servers and applications to network protocols and services. Whenever Nagios detects a potential issue, it sends an alert via email or SMS, helping you take proactive measures before problems escalate. Whether you're managing a single server or a complex network, Nagios gives you the power to stay on top of your system's health.

Prerequisites for Installing Nagios on Ubuntu

Before diving into the installation process, there are a few things you’ll need to ensure:

A VPS or Dedicated Server running Ubuntu 22.04.
A non-root user with sudo privileges to perform administrative tasks.
Access to a terminal on your server.

Once these prerequisites are in place, you’re ready to begin.

Installing Nagios on Ubuntu 22.04

Installing Nagios on Ubuntu involves several steps, but don’t worry—we’ll break it down for you. From installing dependencies to configuring the software, we’ll guide you through the process one step at a time.

Step 1: Install Nagios Dependencies

The first step in installing Nagios is to ensure that all required dependencies are installed on your system. These dependencies include Apache, PHP, OpenSSL, and others necessary for Nagios to function properly.

Update your system: Open your terminal and run the following command to update the package list:

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sudo apt-get update -y

Install dependencies: Install the necessary packages by running the following command:

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sudo apt install build-essential apache2 php libgd-dev unzip -y

When prompted, select "Yes" to continue with the installation.

Step 2: Download Nagios Core

Once the dependencies are installed, the next step is to download the Nagios Core software.

Download the latest version: Head to the Nagios Core download page to get the most recent version. You can also download it directly via the terminal:

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wget https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nagioscore/releases/nagios-4.4.7.tar.gz

Verify the download: Check that the file has been downloaded successfully:

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ls -l nagios-4.4.7.tar.gz

Extract the archive: Uncompress the downloaded file with the following command:

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tar -zxvf nagios-4.4.7.tar.gz

Step 3: Install Nagios

Now that the core files are in place, let’s compile and install Nagios.

Navigate to the Nagios directory: Move to the Nagios directory where the files were extracted:

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cd nagios-4.4.7

Run the configuration command: This will prepare Nagios for compilation:

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sudo ./configure --with-Nagios-group=nagios --with-command-group=nagcmd --with-httpd_conf=/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/

Compile Nagios: Run the following command to compile the source code:

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make all

Install Nagios: After compiling, install Nagios by running:

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sudo make install

Install configuration files:

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sudo make install-config

Install command mode:

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sudo make install-commandmode

Step 4: Install Nagios Plugins

To enhance the functionality of Nagios, you will need to install Nagios plugins. These plugins allow Nagios to monitor different services and systems.

Download the plugins: Fetch the latest plugins:

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wget https://github.com/nagios-plugins/nagios-plugins/releases/download/release-2.4.0/nagios-plugins-2.4.0.tar.gz

Extract the plugins: Uncompress the plugins archive:

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tar -xzf nagios-plugins-2.4.0.tar.gz

cd nagios-plugins-2.4.0

Configure and install plugins:

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./configure --with-nagios-user=nagios --with-nagios-group=nagios

make

sudo make install

Configuring Nagios on Ubuntu

With Nagios and the plugins installed, it’s time to configure the software. Let’s walk through the configuration steps.

Step 5: Nagios Configuration Files

Nagios configuration files are located in the /usr/local/nagios/etc directory. You’ll need to make some adjustments to these files to customize your setup.

Edit the contacts file: Open the contacts.cfg file to configure the email address where Nagios will send alerts:

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sudo vi /usr/local/nagios/etc/objects/contacts.cfg

Update the email address in the file:

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sed -i 's/nagios@localhost/myemail@domain.com/' /usr/local/nagios/etc/objects/contacts.cfg

Step 6: Configuring the Nagios Web Interface

Nagios includes a web interface that allows you to monitor your systems visually. To enable it:

Create a Nagios admin user:

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sudo htpasswd -c /usr/local/nagios/etc/htpasswd.users nagiosadmin

Enable Apache modules:

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sudo a2enmod rewrite cgi

Restart Apache:

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sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 7: Set Nagios to Start Automatically

To ensure that Nagios starts automatically when your server boots up:

Enable Nagios to start at boot:

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sudo systemctl enable nagios

Start the Nagios service:

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sudo systemctl start nagios

Accessing the Nagios Dashboard

Now that Nagios is up and running, it’s time to access the web interface.

Access Nagios through the web: Open a browser and visit:

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http://your-server-ip/nagios/

Replace your-server-ip with your actual server’s IP address.

Log in: Use the credentials for the nagiosadmin user to log in.
Begin monitoring: After logging in, you’ll be able to see the Nagios dashboard and start adding hosts and services to monitor.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed and configured Nagios on your Ubuntu 22.04 server. With Nagios in place, you can now monitor your systems and receive real-time alerts to ensure everything runs smoothly. Whether you're managing a small VPS or a larger network, Nagios gives you the tools to keep an eye on your infrastructure.

FAQs

1. What is Nagios for, and is it free to use?
Nagios is an open-source monitoring tool used to track the health of servers and infrastructure. Yes, it is completely free to use and modify.

2. What are the prerequisites for installing Nagios?
You need a server running Ubuntu 22.04, a non-root user with sudo privileges, and terminal access to install Nagios.

3. How do I find my Nagios server IP?
Use the following command to find your server’s IP address:

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hostname -I

4. Can I monitor multiple systems with Nagios?
Yes! Nagios can monitor multiple servers, applications, and services across your network.

5. How can I get alerts from Nagios?
Nagios sends alerts via email or SMS whenever a monitored service goes down or encounters an issue. You can configure the email address in the contacts.cfg file.

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