Nagios Support Forum

Hello support.

I have already received advice from sales@nagios about licensing but I have not received advice regarding the configuration of an additional Nagios XI server that will work as a backup server. I am advised that the backup server can be a cloned production server only if all hosts are disabled (Config/Core Config Manager, select all host, set to disable) or the Engine monitoring process is stopped. Since it is not possible to test an individual service/command/plugin/host by stopping the process, I am interested in what is the best way not to turn off the engine monitoring service process without disabling the hosts?

Furthermore, since the nagios xi production server is set to a static IP address and all monitored hosts are configured to send information to the Nagios XI server via the SNMP protocol to the production IP address, I wonder if the backup of the production server can be at a different IP address but to keep existing license from production server?

Is there a solution to revert to saved configuration and no to apply new configuration?

And the last question concerns migration. In some part of the forum I read that CentOS 8 Stream is not currently supported and that you are not sure in which direction the cooperation with CentOS will continue. Our production server is CentOS 6.9 and the Nagios XI version is 5.7.4. The newer version of Nagios XI is no longer supported on CentOS 6, so it is necessary to plan the correct procedure for migrating to the new production server. A week ago, in a test environment (without the Internet) I was able to restore the existing backup version 5.7.4 Nagios XI to a new server in a test environment on OS CentOS 7. Restore also activated the license from the production server and I can say that the migration was successful (only in the test) even though the additional packages had to be installed according to your instructions. Question. Does restoring also restore custom written commands and services located within the /usr/local/nagios/libexec folder?

Is it possible and supported to migrate directly from CentOS 6 (Nagios 5.7.4) to CentOS 8, with same version of Nagios XI?

BR.
BIB.

I am interested in what is the best way not to turn off the engine monitoring service process without disabling the hosts?

You can technically disable these things on the backup server after restoring or testing in Admin > System Settings > Program URL to maintain compliance:

- Active Service Checks
- Passive Service Checks
- Active Host Checks
- Passive Host Checks
- Notifications

I wonder if the backup of the production server can be at a different IP address but to keep existing license from production server?

Yes, as long as the above items are disabled on it (see the license entitlements link below for more info).

Is there a solution to revert to saved configuration and no to apply new configuration?

Not an automated one, generally I see customers setup Admin > Scheduled Backups > SSH to also send backups to that system, then use a cron job to restore it. That would be something that you would need to write/setup if you wanted it automated. Make sure that after you restore from prod over the backup server that you follow the After the Restore section of the backup/restore guide (linked below) to change the Program URL/etc.

Is it possible and supported to migrate directly from CentOS 6 (Nagios 5.7.4) to CentOS 8, with same version of Nagios XI?

You can install XI 5.7.4 on the CentOS 8 system as EL8 support was added before then migrate to that same XI version via the process below.

For the Migration from EL6 to a currently supported distribution:

Because EL6 is end of life by the vendor you will need to migrate to a later distribution in order to upgrade further.

Is your current system running 32-bit or 64-bit?
The XI backup/restore process makes this pretty easy:

The process is this:
- Spin up new server running EL7/EL8 latest (or any supported distribution from the install guide below)

- Install the exact same version of XI that the old server has on the new server, no need to configure it, just install it and go through the initial setup (do not try to restore over different versions of XI you will cause issues)

https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... -Linux.pdf

- If you have a RAMDisk installed, are using RRDCacheD, or are running Mod_Gearman on the old system, set them up before restoring:

https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... giosXI.pdf
https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... ios-XI.pdf
https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... ios_XI.pdf

If you are monitoring vmware/oracle you'll need to reinstall the proper supporting packages on the new server again following these guides:

https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... ios-XI.pdf
https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... ios-XI.pdf

- Backup the old/transfer to new/restore to the new

- Follow the After The Restore section from the backup/restore guide completely (set Program URL/etc to the new IP)

- Since you're changing OS versions, run the restore_repair script from the backup/restore guide

https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... ios-XI.pdf

- Shutdown (or re-IP) the old, set the old IP on the new system so you don't have to update agent configs/FW rules

https://support.nagios.com/kb/article/c ... s-549.html

That's pretty much it. Please be aware of what a single XI license entitles you to:

https://support.nagios.com/kb/article.php?id=145

Then apply configuration and upgrade the new server to the latest XI version.

If your current system is 32-bit you need to follow this as well to migrate the performances, if it's 64-bit already, no need to follow this:

https://support.nagios.com/kb/article.php?id=166

Hello ssax.

Thank you for responding.
If you look at the attached picture (1.), you can see that it is a bit impossible to disable hosts here because almost all of them have dependent services or are members of some host groups. Is there a quick way to turn off dependency on all hosts and thus provide an option to disable hosts rather than disable services?

If you look at another image from the attachment (2.), you can see that applying is necessary after trying to disable hosts. My question regarding reverting is just because if there are more hosts, undo takes a very long time (and restore making some errors, attached picture 3.). Is there a possibility that only certain things are backed up and later restored if the applying failed and not to backup database and everything?

We use CentOS 6 x64 so we have no problems with the architecture. We will stay on CentOS 7 (x64) until the state of support according to RedHat clone is sorted out. Installation of Nagios XI, installation of additional packages (with restore_repair script) and restoration of backup from production went without problems. What I notice is that there is a difference between production and test that the rrdcached package is not installed. When should the rrdcached package be installed? Is any configuration required other than what is described in the pdf you submitted?

If rpm -qa --last on the production server says there is nothing on the "gear", does that mean that the Gearman package is not installed?

Thank you for support.
BR.
BIB.

You don't need to disable the hosts/services, you only need to click the toggles for items below following the below instructions (I had the wrong location in the last instructions, use these):

You can technically disable these things on the backup server after restoring or testing in Admin > Monitoring Engine Status to maintain compliance:

- Active Service Checks
- Passive Service Checks
- Active Host Checks
- Passive Host Checks
- Notifications

You can install rrdcached at any time:

https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... ios-XI.pdf

Correct, no RPMs means gearman is not installed.

@ssax... thank you...

best regards.
BIB.