Pro Nagios 2.0 (Expert's Voice in Open Source)

After reading this book, I now have a clear understanding of how Nagios works, how to implement it across all types of networked equipment, and even how to shut it off during my week of on-call. I give this book a 10/10.

— Joe Topjian, Adminspotting.net

Pro Nagios 2.0 explains how to install and administer Nagios, the web-based enterprise management tool that helps monitor Unix, Windows, network devices, infrastructure equipment, and applications. Youll learn how to architect Nagios installations, deploy agents and plug-ins, and monitor a variety of assets, which include applications across a variety of platforms and operating systems. Nagios has the power to alert you to current and future incidents that could impact the availability, performance, and security of monitored assets.

The books real-world configurations and supporting materials will enable you to deploy Nagios and integrate other tools (like MRTG and Snort) on a helpful step-by-step basis. Integrating Nagios with a variety of other tools can add more functionality to its internal monitoring and alerting capabilities. The book covers additional topics like security, redundancy and failover, and plug-in development. And it shows you how to create your own Nagios plug-ins, to monitor devices for which Nagios may not provide plug-ins.

About The Author


James Turnbull works for the National Australia Bank as a security architect. He is the author of Hardening Linux, which focuses on hardening the Linux host, and Pro Nagios 2.0, which focuses on enterprise management using the Nagios open source tool.



James has previously worked as an executive manager for IT security at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the CIO of a medical research foundation, manager of the architecture group of an outsourcing company, and in a number of IT roles in gaming, telecommunications, and government. He is an experienced infrastructure architect with a background in Linux/Unix, AS/400, Windows, and storage systems. He has
been involved in security consulting, infrastructure security design, SLA, and service definition, and has an abiding interest in security metrics and measurement.

Reader Reviews
I recently received review copies of Pro Nagios 2.0 (PN2) by James Turnbull and Nagios: System and Network Monitoring (NSANM) by Wolfgang Barth. I read PN2 first, then NSANM. Both are excellent books, but I expect potential readers want to know which is best for them. The following is a radical simplification, and I could honestly recommend readers buy either (or both) books. If you are completely new to Nagios and want a very well-organized introduction, I recommend PN2. If you are somewhat familiar with Nagios and want detailed descriptions of a wide variety of Nagios plug-ins, I recommend NSANM. PN2 is an extremely well-written book. James Turnbull's style is very easy to understand and his message is well thought-out. One of my favorite aspects of PN2 is the author's multiple recommendations. He doesn't just explain options and features; he says what he thinks works best. Turnbull's syntax examples are very helpful and thorough. I found PN2's approach to be just what I expected and needed. A basic Nagios user could read the first five chapters (Installation, Basic Object Configuration, Security and Administration, Using the Web Console, and Monitoring Hosts and Services) and have a working, capable Nagios installation. The last five chapters (Advanced Commands, Advanced Object Configuration, Distributing Monitoring, Redundancy, and Failover, Integration Nagios, and Developing Plug-ins) address more advanced topics. I was particularly glad to see security addressed as an important topic. I liked his explanation of why not to use .htaccess files with Apache (p 92-93). PN2 also introduces working solutions for redundancy and failover (topics not explicitly covered in NSANM). The author takes steps to ensure readers really understand Nagios; for example, he explains macros well, while NSANM mentions them without much thought. I did not encounter any real technical problems with PN2, hence its high rating. I saw the author mention TCP as the transport protocol for SNMP on p 181; it should be UDP. PN2 is an ideal book for anyone who wants to run Nagios. I believe new Nagios readers should read PN2, and strongly consider NSANM as a complementary reference volume.