Icinga

Icinga is an open-source computer system and network monitoring application. It was originally created as a fork of the Nagios system monitoring application in 2009.[2][3]

Icinga
Initial releaseMay 2009 (2009-05)
Stable release
2.12 (Icinga 2) / August 5, 2020 (2020-08-05)[1]
Repository
Written inC++, PHP
Operating systemCross-platform (master on Linux only)
TypeNetwork monitoring
LicenseGPLv2
Websiteicinga.com
Operating principle of Nagios

Icinga is attempting to get past perceived shortcomings in Nagios' development process,[4] as well as adding new features[5][6] such as a modern Web 2.0 style user interface, additional database connectors (for MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL), and a REST API that lets administrators integrate numerous extensions without complicated modification of the Icinga core.

The Icinga developers also seek to reflect community needs more closely and to integrate patches more quickly. The first stable version, 1.0, was released in December 2009, and the version counter had risen every couple of months as of January 2010.[7]

Icinga was included by Jeffrey Hammond of Forrester Research in a list of "waxing" (as opposed to "waning") open source projects based on its rate of commits.[8]

The name Icinga is a Zulu word meaning "it looks for", "it browses" or "it examines"[9] and is pronounced with a click consonant.[10]

History

In May 2009, a group of developers from the Nagios community announced the fork Icinga, citing their dissatisfaction with the stagnant development of the Nagios software at the time and their desire to open its development to a broader base.[4]

In their first year, Icinga developers released separate versions of Core, API and Web, and celebrated their 10,000th download.[11]

In their second year, the Icinga project released unified and stable Core and Web; added dual-stack IPv6 / IPv4 support, optimized database connectivity and revamped the Icinga Web user interface, integrating various community add-ons (PNP4Nagios, LConf, Heatmap and Business Process Addon). The project achieved more than 70,000 downloads and grew to 23 team members.[11]

In their second year, Icinga celebrated their 100,000th download, integrated the Icinga API component into Icinga Web; improved SLA reporting; opened an official Freenode IRC group and extended the Icinga virtual appliances to the Debian, OpenSUSE and CentOS operating systems.[12]

In October 2012, the Icinga project released a technology preview of a core framework replacement and parallel development branch, Icinga 2. The developers expressed their intentions to rewrite the core to correct shortcomings such as complicated configuration and scalability limitations in large deployments.[13] The project signposted plans to write the Icinga 2 core mainly in C++, design a new component loader architecture and remodel the process of executing monitoring checks.[14]

In June 2014, the Icinga project released the first stable release of Icinga 2.[15] New features, for example an agent or api feature, are scheduled for later releases.

Timeline of releases
DateRelease[16]Notes
19 September 2019Icinga 2 v2.11"biggest release ever done", including network stack rewrite, clustering, running in Docker containers, TLS 1.2, Windows client, documentation, ...
19 March 2019Icinga 2 v2.10.4Bugfix release. Fixes bugs with the InfluxDB and Elasticsearch metric writers when connecting through TLS.
26 February 2019Icinga 2 v2.10.3Bugfix release. Fixes TLS connections with masters and agents on reload.
14 November 2018Icinga 2 v2.10.2Bugfix release. Fixed a bug with hanging HTTP request sessions. Fixed a regression with the cache file including legacy 1.x objects.
18 October 2018Icinga 2 v2.10.1Bugfix release. Fixed a regression with the namespace support. Fixed a bug with the application reload and missing event states.
11 October 2018Icinga 2 v2.10.0Feature release with support for namespaces, improved TLS connection handling, updated syntax highlighting and updates to the technical concepts documentation.
24 July 2018Icinga 2 v2.9.1Bugfix release. Fixed a bug when using the daemonize option or an init system different to systemd. Fixes a bug within the SELinux policy and sourcing in init script on non-posix systems.
17 July 2018Icinga 2 v2.9.0Feature release with Elasticsearch 6 support, TLS support for IDO PostgreSQL and improvements for the setup wizard, check scheduling, downtime notification handling and memory handling.
25 April 2018Icinga 2 v2.8.4Bugfix release. Fixed a regression where check execution leads to a crash.
24 April 2018Icinga 2 v2.8.3Bugfix release. Fixed a bug where Sysconfig file settings are not taken into account. Fixes a crash when using the Elasticsearch feature. Documentation updates.
22 March 2018Icinga 2 v2.8.2Bugfix release. Fixed several security related issues.
17 January 2018Icinga 2 v2.8.1Bugfix release. Fixed a bug within the API when an object was created at runtime. Fixed installer problems on Windows with missing DLLs. Documentation updates.
17 November 2017Icinga 2 v2.8.0Feature Release with new CA proxy feature. New flapping detection algorithm. ElasticsearchWriter feature with HTTP proxy support. CORS support for the REST API. The "bottom up" cluster mode and the classicui got removed.
9 November 2017Icinga 2 v2.7.2Bugfix release. Fixed invalid attribute names in the systemd unit file and fixed incorrect unique constraint for IDO DB. Documentation updates
21 September 2017Icinga 2 v2.7.1Bugfix release. Fix issue with DB IDO, Livestatus, acknowledgement notifications. Notification scripts update. Documentation update.
2 August 2017Icinga 2 v2.7.0Feature Release with new notifications scripts, Work queues, Check plugin for NSClient++ API & stability improvements & fixes
13 December 2016Icinga 2 v2.6.0Feature Release with bundled NSClient++ & stability improvements & fixes
23 August 2016Icinga 2 v2.5.0Feature Release with InfluxDB, IDO Performance, Timeperiod Excludes & fixes
16 November 2015Icinga 2 v2.4.0Feature Release with new API (REST API)
9 March 2015Icinga 2 v2.3.0Feature release with configuration enhancements (functions, loops, conditionals, object accessors, time dependent thresholds, etc.), OpenTSDB support and troubleshoot cli command
19 November 20141.12Classic UI enhancements & fixes
17 November 2014Icinga 2 v2.2.0Feature release with remote clients, CSR auto-signing, cli, arrays/dictionaries in custom attributes
29 August 2014Icinga 2 v2.1.0Feature release with enhanced configuration analysis, logging, cluster High Availability features
16 June 2014Icinga 2 v2.0.0First stable release
16 May 2014Icinga 2 v0.0.11Redesigned cluster feature with High Availability and load-balanced zones, command arguments & conditionals
29 April 2014Icinga 2 v0.0.10Advanced apply rules for notifications, dependencies, custom attributes, etc.
31 March 2014Icinga 2 v0.0.9Rule-based 'apply' logic, configuration usability, database schema update (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
13 March 20141.11Interoperability (with Solaris, Oracle, IE) and user interface improvements
11 March 2014Icinga 2 v0.0.8Dependencies as in-line dictionaries, cluster health checks, recursive 'config includes'
7 February 2014Icinga 2 v0.0.7Automated tests in Vagrant, database IDO stability
19 December 2013Icinga 2 v0.0.6Recurring downtimes, log command arguments, latency statistics
3 December 2013Icinga 2 v0.0.5Performance improvements & bugfixes
12 November 2013Icinga 2 v0.0.4IDO PostgreSQL, Livestatus history
24 October 2013Icinga 2 v0.0.3IDO MySQL, Livestatus, Graphite, cluster setup, documentation
24 October 20131.10Classic UI live search and on-demand filter selection, performance improvements
2 July 2013Icinga 2 v0.0.2Technology preview with core 1.x compatibility layer
7 May 20131.9Performance improvements and usability fixes
25 October 2012Icinga 2 v0.0.1Technology preview of core framework replacement
18 October 20121.8Community requested improvements to both optional user interfaces and Icinga Reporting
15 May 20121.7Packaging simplified
30 November 20111.6SLA reporting extension (optional)
24 August 20111.5Icinga Reporting integrated into Icinga Web interface
11 May 20111.4Improvements to both optional user interfaces
16 February 20111.3Dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 support
13 October 2010Icinga MobileUser interface for smartphones and tablets
6 October 20101.2Unified, stable release
18 August 20101.0.3Unified release, unstable Icinga Web
30 July 20101.0.2 Core, 1.0.1 WebPerformance improvements
3 March 20101.0.1 Core, 0.9.1 Web BetaPerformance improvements, Icinga Web enhancements
16 December 20091.0 Core, 0.9.1 Web AlphaStable core, Oracle and PostgreSQL database support
28 October 20091.0 RC CoreInitial Oracle database support
15 September 20090.8.4IDOUtils bugfixes
2 September 20090.8.3Initial PostgreSQL database support
12 August 20090.8.2Icinga API integration
16 June 20090.8.1Core bugfixes
15 May 20090.8Initial release

Features

Due to its nature as a fork, Icinga offers Nagios’ features with some additions such as optional reporting module with improved SLA accuracy, additional database connectors for PostgreSQL and Oracle, and distributed systems for redundant monitoring.

Icinga also maintains configuration and plug-in compatibility[11] with Nagios, facilitating migration between the two monitoring software.

Monitoring
  • Monitoring of network services (SMTP, POP3, HTTP, NNTP, ping, etc.)
  • Monitoring of host resources (CPU load, disk usage, etc.)
  • Monitoring of server components (switches, routers, temperature and humidity sensors, etc.)
  • Simple plug-in design that allows users to easily develop their own service checks
  • Parallelized service checks
  • Ability to define network host hierarchy using “parent” hosts, allowing detection of and distinction between hosts that are down and those that are unreachable
  • Ability to define event handlers to be run during service or host events for proactive problem resolution

Notification
  • Notification of contact persons when service or host problems occur and get resolved (via email, pager, instant message,[17] or user-defined method)
  • Escalation of alerts to other users or communication channels

Visualisation & Reporting
  • Two optional user interfaces (Icinga Classic UI and Icinga Web) for visualization of host and service status, network maps, reports, logs, etc.
  • Icinga Reporting module based on open source Jasper Reports for both Icinga Classic and Icinga Web user interfaces
  • Template based reports (e.g. Top 10 problematic hosts or services, synopsis of complete monitoring environment, availability reports, etc.)
  • Report repository with varying access levels and automated report generation and distribution
  • Optional extension for SLA reporting that distinguishes between critical events from planned and unplanned downtimes and acknowledgement periods[18]
  • Capacity utilization reporting
  • Performance graphing via add-ons such as PNP4Nagios, NagiosGrapher and InGraph

Architecture
Icinga modular architecture with Core, Icinga Data Out Database, Web as of v1.5

Icinga Core is written in C[19] and has a modular architecture with standalone core, user interface and database on which users can integrate various add-ons and plug-ins.

The latter communicate via Icinga's Doctrine abstraction layer, REST and plug-in APIs – that mediate between the external data and internal structures. This bundling of components allows users to distribute Icinga's system for redundant monitoring. It also offers users freedom to customise Icinga to suit their needs.[20]

Icinga Core

The Icinga Core manages monitoring tasks, receiving check results from various plug-ins. It then communicates these results to the IDODB (Icinga Data Out Database) through the IDOMOD (Icinga Data Out Module) interface and IDO2DB (Icinga Data Out to Database) service daemon over SSL encrypted TCP sockets. Though both come packaged (also known as IDOUtils) with the Core; they are single standing components, which can be separated to distribute the data and processes across multiple servers for distributed systems monitoring.

The Icinga Classic user interface also comes packaged with Icinga Core and can be used as a substitute to the PHP-based, Icinga Web interface

Icinga 2

Icinga 2 manages monitoring tasks, running checks, sending alert notifications. The Icinga 2 features can be enabled on-demand, be it default features such as the 'checker' or 'notification' component, or external interfaces compatible with Icinga 1.x and its user interfaces, for example the IDO DB (Icinga Data Out Database). Icinga 2 ships a built-in cluster stack secured by SSL x509 certificates attempting to make distributed monitoring setups more easy.

The configuration syntax is different to Icinga Core 1.x and Nagios and requires a migration on upgrade.

Icinga's User Interface

Icinga offers a web interface for users to view monitoring results and send commands to the Icinga Core, called Icinga Web (also referred to as New Web) is the project's Agavi and PHP based, Web 2.0 inspired front end that uses Cronks (widgets) to offer drag-n-drop customized dashboards. Icinga Web is a standalone piece of software. It communicates to the core, database and 3rd party add-ons through component layers: Doctrine abstraction layer (Input/Database), REST API (external scripts) and Command Control Interface (writing to pipe, executing commands).

The interface presents information on host and service status, history, notifications and status maps to show the health of a network in real-time and also supports IPv4 as well as IPv6 addresses.

Icinga Data Out Database

The Icinga Data Out Database (IDODB) is a storage point for historical monitoring data for add-ons or the Icinga Web interface to access. In contrast to its predecessor Nagios, Icinga supports PostgreSQL and Oracle databases in addition to MySQL.

Icinga Reporting

The Icinga project offers an optional Icinga Reporting module based on the open source Jasper Reports. It can be integrated into both Icinga Classic and Icinga Web user interfaces. The module provides template-based reports (e.g. Top 10 problematic hosts or services, synopsis of complete monitoring environment, availability reports etc.) that can be saved to a repository with varying access levels and automated report generation and distribution. Reports can also be viewed in both of Icinga's optional user interfaces.

Icinga Mobile

Icinga Mobile is a user interface for smartphones and tablet browsers that run on WebKit. These usually are available on iOS, Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS and webOS. Based on Javascript and Sencha Touch, Icinga Mobile is downloaded onto a server for access by authorized users via their mobile devices. Administration and updates can thus be made centrally, to automatically apply to all users of a computer network.[21]

Extended functionality
Screenshot of Icinga Web 1.8 with integrated Business Process View add-on

Icinga is compatible with all plug-ins and the majority of add-ons written for Nagios, especially for users opting for the Icinga Classic UI. Popular add-ons to extend Icinga's functionality include:

  • Performance graphing (e.g. PNP4Nagios, NagiosGrapher, InGraph)
  • Configuration interfaces and tools (e.g. Nconf (tool for configuring Nagios), NagiosQL, LConf)
  • Business process monitoring (e.g. Business Process Addons)
  • Network visualization (e.g. NagVis, Nagmap)
  • Windows monitoring (e.g. NSClient++, Cygwin)
  • SNMP trap monitoring (e.g. SNMPTT, NagTrap)

Large, enterprise environments

Icinga has been successfully deployed in large and complex environments with thousands of hosts and services, in distributed and failover setups.[22] The software's modular architecture with standalone Core, Web and IDODB (Icinga Data Out Database) facilitate distributed monitoring and distributed systems monitoring.

Nagios Remote Plugin Executor (NRPE) is an Icinga compatible agent that allows remote systems monitoring using scripts that are hosted on the remote systems. It allows for monitoring resources such as disk usage, system load or number of users currently logged in. Icinga periodically polls the agent on the remote system using the check_nrpe plug-in.

In setups using the optional Icinga Web user interface, monitoring data from multiple Icinga Core instances can be displayed as long as each instance writes to the same IDODB. In this way, distributed monitoring is also simpler to administer.

At a structural level, Icinga can have its various components split and scattered in a distributed set up. This distributed systems monitoring provides greater security and redundancy; if one component were to fail, another could take its place without disrupting the entire monitoring system.

The software also offers a fine-grained authentication system whereby user access, notifications and views can be customized to the detail of server groups, servers and services per individual.

gollark: Aha, "fixed".
gollark: Oh bee oh apiary form. It was intuitive enough with git (due to better editor support, not any intrinsic goodness).
gollark: <@231856503756161025> How do I deal with "merge conflicts"?
gollark: I need some way to make the post "permalinks" actually go to the right thread also.
gollark: The inescapability of this is increasingly evident.

See also

References
  1. "Releases". Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. Gewirtz, David (2019-04-11). "What's in a name? These DevOps tools come with strange backstories 6 - Page 6". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  3. Asay, Matt (6 May 2009). "Open-source working as advertised: ICINGA forks Nagios". CNET.
  4. "Why a fork? - Icinga: Open Source Monitoring". Icinga. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  5. Khamlichi, M.el. "ICINGA – An Advanced Opensource Monitoring Tool". Tutorial. Unixmen. Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
  6. "Open Source Monitoring: Icinga vs Nagios Sos open source". Sosopensource.com. 2010-11-25. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  7. Benthin, Falko (2010). "Monitoring network computers with the Icinga Nagios fork". Admin Network & Security (1).
  8. http://www.wuerth-phoenix.com/fileadmin/Nagios_Conference_2012/Presentations/02_9.30_JeffreyHammond_OSSMC.pdf
  9. "– Zulu-English online dictionary". Isizulu.net. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  10. "A lesson in Zulu: "Icinga" - "Eee-Chingaa", "Aye-Singa", 'c', 'see', 'g', 'ng - Icinga: Open Source Monitoring". Icinga. 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  11. Mobily, Tony (27 April 2012). "Nagios Vs. Icinga: the real story of one of the most heated forks in free software". Free Software Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  12. "3 years old & 100,000 downloads! - Icinga, Classic, Doctrine - Icinga: Open Source Monitoring". Icinga. 2012-05-06. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  13. Scherschel, Fabian (25 October 2012). "Technology preview of Icinga 2 brings extensive rewrite". The H Open.
  14. "Icinga 2 v.0.0.1 released! - What the hell is Icinga 2, download Icinga 2 the first technology preview v001 off Sourceforge now, What about Icinga 1x, testing, Development Roa". Icinga.org. 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  15. "Icinga 2.0 has arrived". Icinga.org. 2014-06-16. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
  16. "Major Releases - Icinga: Open Source Monitoring". Icinga. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  17. "Citunius Notifier® for Icinga - Citunius GmbH". www.citunius.de. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  18. Henning, Edward (6 December 2011). "Nagios fork Icinga 1.6 records SLA information". The H Open.
  19. "Intro - Icinga 2 - Icinga Wiki". Wiki.icinga.org. 2012-10-18. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  20. "Features - Icinga: Open Source Monitoring". Icinga. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
  21. "Mobile - Icinga: Open Source Monitoring". Icinga. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  22. "Users - Icinga: Open Source Monitoring". Icinga. Archived from the original on 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
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