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NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:03 pm
by brandon.pal
Ok I'm a little confused.
In my testing of Nagios I have been using xinetd by installing the linux client by doing the following:
Code: Select all
wget http://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nagiosxi/agents/linux-nrpe-agent.tar.gz
tar xzf linux-nrpe-agent.tar.gz
cd linux-nrpe-agent
./fullinstall
In above everything works as planned.
Our production admin would just like to use NRPE only.
Now I have NRPE up and running and I can run one check on disk size. But now I want to run a check on services and it's not able to find check_init_service. Now I looked at a server running xinetd and it does not have check_init_service and it works.
So Server A:
- xinetd
- nrpe
- check_init_service works but no file found locally
Server B:
- nrpe
- check_init_service does not work
Thank you

Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:12 pm
by slansing
It is likely that you are just missing the command definition in the source installed version of NRPE. Take a look at the configuration file on the xinetd system and copy that definition, change it if the path to your plugin is different, paste it in the nrpe.cfg of the standard NRPE server, and restart.
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:37 pm
by brandon.pal
Maybe I'm Missing something but:
Server A With xinetd
Code: Select all
#############################################################################
# Sample NRPE Config File
# Written by: Ethan Galstad ([email protected])
#
# Last Modified: 11-23-2007
#
# NOTES:
# This is a sample configuration file for the NRPE daemon. It needs to be
# located on the remote host that is running the NRPE daemon, not the host
# from which the check_nrpe client is being executed.
#############################################################################
# LOG FACILITY
# The syslog facility that should be used for logging purposes.
log_facility=daemon
# PID FILE
# The name of the file in which the NRPE daemon should write it's process ID
# number. The file is only written if the NRPE daemon is started by the root
# user and is running in standalone mode.
pid_file=/var/run/nrpe/nrpe.pid
# PORT NUMBER
# Port number we should wait for connections on.
# NOTE: This must be a non-priviledged port (i.e. > 1024).
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
server_port=5666
# SERVER ADDRESS
# Address that nrpe should bind to in case there are more than one interface
# and you do not want nrpe to bind on all interfaces.
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
#server_address=127.0.0.1
# NRPE USER
# This determines the effective user that the NRPE daemon should run as.
# You can either supply a username or a UID.
#
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
nrpe_user=nrpe
# NRPE GROUP
# This determines the effective group that the NRPE daemon should run as.
# You can either supply a group name or a GID.
#
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
nrpe_group=nrpe
# ALLOWED HOST ADDRESSES
# This is an optional comma-delimited list of IP address or hostnames
# that are allowed to talk to the NRPE daemon. Network addresses with a bit mask
# (i.e. 192.168.1.0/24) are also supported. Hostname wildcards are not currently
# supported.
#
# Note: The daemon only does rudimentary checking of the client's IP
# address. I would highly recommend adding entries in your /etc/hosts.allow
# file to allow only the specified host to connect to the port
# you are running this daemon on.
#
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
allowed_hosts=127.0.0.1
# COMMAND ARGUMENT PROCESSING
# This option determines whether or not the NRPE daemon will allow clients
# to specify arguments to commands that are executed. This option only works
# if the daemon was configured with the --enable-command-args configure script
# option.
#
# *** ENABLING THIS OPTION IS A SECURITY RISK! ***
# Read the SECURITY file for information on some of the security implications
# of enabling this variable.
#
# Values: 0=do not allow arguments, 1=allow command arguments
dont_blame_nrpe=0
# BASH COMMAND SUBTITUTION
# This option determines whether or not the NRPE daemon will allow clients
# to specify arguments that contain bash command substitutions of the form
# $(...). This option only works if the daemon was configured with both
# the --enable-command-args and --enable-bash-command-substitution configure
# script options.
#
# *** ENABLING THIS OPTION IS A HIGH SECURITY RISK! ***
# Read the SECURITY file for information on some of the security implications
# of enabling this variable.
#
# Values: 0=do not allow bash command substitutions,
# 1=allow bash command substitutions
allow_bash_command_substitution=0
# COMMAND PREFIX
# This option allows you to prefix all commands with a user-defined string.
# A space is automatically added between the specified prefix string and the
# command line from the command definition.
#
# *** THIS EXAMPLE MAY POSE A POTENTIAL SECURITY RISK, SO USE WITH CAUTION! ***
# Usage scenario:
# Execute restricted commmands using sudo. For this to work, you need to add
# the nagios user to your /etc/sudoers. An example entry for alllowing
# execution of the plugins from might be:
#
# nagios ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/
#
# This lets the nagios user run all commands in that directory (and only them)
# without asking for a password. If you do this, make sure you don't give
# random users write access to that directory or its contents!
# command_prefix=/usr/bin/sudo
# DEBUGGING OPTION
# This option determines whether or not debugging messages are logged to the
# syslog facility.
# Values: 0=debugging off, 1=debugging on
debug=0
# COMMAND TIMEOUT
# This specifies the maximum number of seconds that the NRPE daemon will
# allow plugins to finish executing before killing them off.
command_timeout=60
# CONNECTION TIMEOUT
# This specifies the maximum number of seconds that the NRPE daemon will
# wait for a connection to be established before exiting. This is sometimes
# seen where a network problem stops the SSL being established even though
# all network sessions are connected. This causes the nrpe daemons to
# accumulate, eating system resources. Do not set this too low.
connection_timeout=300
# WEEK RANDOM SEED OPTION
# This directive allows you to use SSL even if your system does not have
# a /dev/random or /dev/urandom (on purpose or because the necessary patches
# were not applied). The random number generator will be seeded from a file
# which is either a file pointed to by the environment valiable $RANDFILE
# or $HOME/.rnd. If neither exists, the pseudo random number generator will
# be initialized and a warning will be issued.
# Values: 0=only seed from /dev/[u]random, 1=also seed from weak randomness
#allow_weak_random_seed=1
# INCLUDE CONFIG FILE
# This directive allows you to include definitions from an external config file.
#include=<somefile.cfg>
# COMMAND DEFINITIONS
# Command definitions that this daemon will run. Definitions
# are in the following format:
#
# command[<command_name>]=<command_line>
#
# When the daemon receives a request to return the results of <command_name>
# it will execute the command specified by the <command_line> argument.
#
# Unlike Nagios, the command line cannot contain macros - it must be
# typed exactly as it should be executed.
#
# Note: Any plugins that are used in the command lines must reside
# on the machine that this daemon is running on! The examples below
# assume that you have plugins installed in a /usr/local/nagios/libexec
# directory. Also note that you will have to modify the definitions below
# to match the argument format the plugins expect. Remember, these are
# examples only!
# The following examples use hardcoded command arguments...
command[check_users]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_users -w 5 -c 10
command[check_load]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_load -w 15,10,5 -c 30,25,20
command[check_hda1]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_disk -w 20% -c 10% -p /dev/hda1
command[check_zombie_procs]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_procs -w 5 -c 10 -s Z
command[check_total_procs]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_procs -w 150 -c 200
# The following examples allow user-supplied arguments and can
# only be used if the NRPE daemon was compiled with support for
# command arguments *AND* the dont_blame_nrpe directive in this
# config file is set to '1'. This poses a potential security risk, so
# make sure you read the SECURITY file before doing this.
#command[check_users]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_users -w $ARG1$ -c $ARG2$
#command[check_load]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_load -w $ARG1$ -c $ARG2$
#command[check_disk]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_disk -w $ARG1$ -c $ARG2$ -p $ARG3$
#command[check_procs]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_procs -w $ARG1$ -c $ARG2$ -s $ARG3$
# INCLUDE CONFIG DIRECTORY
# This directive allows you to include definitions from config files (with a
# .cfg extension) in one or more directories (with recursion).
include_dir=/etc/nrpe.d/
Server B - Just NRPE
Code: Select all
#############################################################################
# Sample NRPE Config File
# Written by: Ethan Galstad ([email protected])
#
# Last Modified: 11-23-2007
#
# NOTES:
# This is a sample configuration file for the NRPE daemon. It needs to be
# located on the remote host that is running the NRPE daemon, not the host
# from which the check_nrpe client is being executed.
#############################################################################
# LOG FACILITY
# The syslog facility that should be used for logging purposes.
log_facility=daemon
# PID FILE
# The name of the file in which the NRPE daemon should write it's process ID
# number. The file is only written if the NRPE daemon is started by the root
# user and is running in standalone mode.
pid_file=/var/run/nrpe/nrpe.pid
# PORT NUMBER
# Port number we should wait for connections on.
# NOTE: This must be a non-priviledged port (i.e. > 1024).
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
server_port=5666
# SERVER ADDRESS
# Address that nrpe should bind to in case there are more than one interface
# and you do not want nrpe to bind on all interfaces.
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
#server_address=127.0.0.1
# NRPE USER
# This determines the effective user that the NRPE daemon should run as.
# You can either supply a username or a UID.
#
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
nrpe_user=nrpe
# NRPE GROUP
# This determines the effective group that the NRPE daemon should run as.
# You can either supply a group name or a GID.
#
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
nrpe_group=nrpe
# ALLOWED HOST ADDRESSES
# This is an optional comma-delimited list of IP address or hostnames
# that are allowed to talk to the NRPE daemon. Network addresses with a bit mask
# (i.e. 192.168.1.0/24) are also supported. Hostname wildcards are not currently
# supported.
#
# Note: The daemon only does rudimentary checking of the client's IP
# address. I would highly recommend adding entries in your /etc/hosts.allow
# file to allow only the specified host to connect to the port
# you are running this daemon on.
#
# NOTE: This option is ignored if NRPE is running under either inetd or xinetd
allowed_hosts=127.0.0.1,nagios.cloud.com
# COMMAND ARGUMENT PROCESSING
# This option determines whether or not the NRPE daemon will allow clients
# to specify arguments to commands that are executed. This option only works
# if the daemon was configured with the --enable-command-args configure script
# option.
#
# *** ENABLING THIS OPTION IS A SECURITY RISK! ***
# Read the SECURITY file for information on some of the security implications
# of enabling this variable.
#
# Values: 0=do not allow arguments, 1=allow command arguments
dont_blame_nrpe=1
# BASH COMMAND SUBTITUTION
# This option determines whether or not the NRPE daemon will allow clients
# to specify arguments that contain bash command substitutions of the form
# $(...). This option only works if the daemon was configured with both
# the --enable-command-args and --enable-bash-command-substitution configure
# script options.
#
# *** ENABLING THIS OPTION IS A HIGH SECURITY RISK! ***
# Read the SECURITY file for information on some of the security implications
# of enabling this variable.
#
# Values: 0=do not allow bash command substitutions,
# 1=allow bash command substitutions
allow_bash_command_substitution=0
# COMMAND PREFIX
# This option allows you to prefix all commands with a user-defined string.
# A space is automatically added between the specified prefix string and the
# command line from the command definition.
#
# *** THIS EXAMPLE MAY POSE A POTENTIAL SECURITY RISK, SO USE WITH CAUTION! ***
# Usage scenario:
# Execute restricted commmands using sudo. For this to work, you need to add
# the nagios user to your /etc/sudoers. An example entry for alllowing
# execution of the plugins from might be:
#
# nagios ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/
#
# This lets the nagios user run all commands in that directory (and only them)
# without asking for a password. If you do this, make sure you don't give
# random users write access to that directory or its contents!
# command_prefix=/usr/bin/sudo
# DEBUGGING OPTION
# This option determines whether or not debugging messages are logged to the
# syslog facility.
# Values: 0=debugging off, 1=debugging on
debug=1
# COMMAND TIMEOUT
# This specifies the maximum number of seconds that the NRPE daemon will
# allow plugins to finish executing before killing them off.
command_timeout=60
# CONNECTION TIMEOUT
# This specifies the maximum number of seconds that the NRPE daemon will
# wait for a connection to be established before exiting. This is sometimes
# seen where a network problem stops the SSL being established even though
# all network sessions are connected. This causes the nrpe daemons to
# accumulate, eating system resources. Do not set this too low.
connection_timeout=300
# WEEK RANDOM SEED OPTION
# This directive allows you to use SSL even if your system does not have
# a /dev/random or /dev/urandom (on purpose or because the necessary patches
# were not applied). The random number generator will be seeded from a file
# which is either a file pointed to by the environment valiable $RANDFILE
# or $HOME/.rnd. If neither exists, the pseudo random number generator will
# be initialized and a warning will be issued.
# Values: 0=only seed from /dev/[u]random, 1=also seed from weak randomness
#allow_weak_random_seed=1
# INCLUDE CONFIG FILE
# This directive allows you to include definitions from an external config file.
#include=<somefile.cfg>
# COMMAND DEFINITIONS
# Command definitions that this daemon will run. Definitions
# are in the following format:
#
# command[<command_name>]=<command_line>
#
# When the daemon receives a request to return the results of <command_name>
# it will execute the command specified by the <command_line> argument.
#
# Unlike Nagios, the command line cannot contain macros - it must be
# typed exactly as it should be executed.
#
# Note: Any plugins that are used in the command lines must reside
# on the machine that this daemon is running on! The examples below
# assume that you have plugins installed in a /usr/local/nagios/libexec
# directory. Also note that you will have to modify the definitions below
# to match the argument format the plugins expect. Remember, these are
# examples only!
# The following examples use hardcoded command arguments...
command[check_users]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_users -w 5 -c 10
command[check_load]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_load -w 15,10,5 -c 30,25,20
command[check_hda1]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_disk -w 20% -c 10% -p /dev/hda1
command[check_zombie_procs]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_procs -w 5 -c 10 -s Z
command[check_total_procs]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_procs -w 150 -c 200
# The following examples allow user-supplied arguments and can
# only be used if the NRPE daemon was compiled with support for
# command arguments *AND* the dont_blame_nrpe directive in this
# config file is set to '1'. This poses a potential security risk, so
# make sure you read the SECURITY file before doing this.
#command[check_users]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_users -w $ARG1$ -c $ARG2$
#command[check_load]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_load -w $ARG1$ -c $ARG2$
command[check_disk]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_disk $ARG1$ $ARG2$ $ARG3$
#command[check_procs]=/usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_procs -w $ARG1$ -c $ARG2$ -s $ARG3$
# INCLUDE CONFIG DIRECTORY
# This directive allows you to include definitions from config files (with a
# .cfg extension) in one or more directories (with recursion).
include_dir=/etc/nrpe.d/
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 2:41 pm
by sreinhardt
Do you have configs in /etc/nrpe.d/ on either or both of those servers? Likely the command is defined in there, since it is not in either of your configs posted.
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 3:06 pm
by brandon.pal
Server A: /etc/nrpe.d is an empty folder
Server B: Does not exist
See why I'm confused :S
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 3:34 pm
by brandon.pal
Sorry the full error I get when running on Server B is:
COMMAND: /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_nrpe -H 10.91.101.25 -t 30 -c check_init_service -a 'sshd'
OUTPUT: NRPE: Command 'check_init_service' not defined
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 3:41 pm
by brandon.pal
Ok On Server A I have found a file called common.cfg that has more commands listed. These commands are not found on Server B.
So I will assume the linux installer is installing this extra file as well as all the commands itself ?
This is what I found in common.cfg
Code: Select all
### GENERIC SERVICES ###
command[check_init_service]=sudo /usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_init_service $ARG1$
command[check_services]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_services -p $ARG1$
### MISC SYSTEM METRICS ###
#command[check_users]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_users -w 5 -c 10
command[check_users]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_users $ARG1$
command[check_load]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_load $ARG1$
command[check_swap]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_swap $ARG1$
command[check_cpu_stats]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_cpu_stats.sh $ARG1$
command[check_mem]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/custom_check_mem -n $ARG1$
### YUM UPDATES ###
command[check_yum]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_yum
### DISK ###
command[check_disk]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_disk $ARG1$
command[check_ide_smart]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_ide_smart $ARG1$
### PROCESSES ###
command[check_all_procs]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/custom_check_procs
command[check_procs]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_procs $ARG1$
### OPEN FILES ###
command[check_open_files]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_open_files.pl $ARG1$
### NETWORK CONNECTIONS ###
command[check_netstat]=/usr/local/nagios/libexec/check_netstat.pl -p $ARG1$ $ARG2$
~
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 4:51 pm
by abrist
brandon.pal wrote:
So I will assume the linux installer is installing this extra file as well as all the commands itself ?
Yep. The XI Linux agent tarball includes the common.cfg file which contains a number of extra commands that our wizard can potentially use. If you installed the other server's agent from source, you will most likely be missing the common.cfg and the extra associated plugins.
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:42 am
by brandon.pal
Do my question is.
What is the best way to install NRPE.
NRPE on it's own or NRPE under xinetd?
Re: NRPE VS XINETD
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 11:21 am
by slansing
Brandon,
You can install NRPE either way, there is not a 'best practice' you can either install it quickly by using the XI-agent installation method, or compile it by hand your self. It's completely up to you as the user.