Biggest Problem with Nagios: Poor Setup/Installation

[Cook, Garry]

Atwal, Steve wrote:
> :-) No insults intended. I truly want to use this product. My
> biggest peeve is that I didn't get anywhere with it, and I
> did post some messages to the list without any useful
> responses, except to "read the docs" :-) And yes, I did read the .pdf
> file and so did our other Linux admin. It is way too unweildy...we
> don't need a course on how to be a gourmet chef...we need
> some basic meat & potatoes so we don't go hungry :-) I still
> think that a simply 5-page setup/config guide, not only for the
> server part but also for the "clients" to be monitored is missing. We
> got to the point where the software was working on the server,
> but could get no info from the clients to be monitored...and
> my posts to the list went unanswered.
> 
> Steve

As with any software, OpenSource or otherwise, documentation is usually
the last piece of the puzzle. Since Nagios is OpenSource, it's mainly
the people who use it that contribute back to it. If you do stick with
it, and get it up and running, I hope that you'll keep that in mind and
submit what you've learned in a format that is easy for new users to
understand.

The docs that you require may indeed be missing from the project. They
may be out there somewhere, but if they are, I've not seen them.
The only way that we'll ever see this type of doc is:
A) Ethan decides that Nagios is finished. He spends the rest of his days
documenting the project.
B) Someone in a posistion such as yours writes the docs.
C) An experienced Nagios user reads this thread, takes pity on new
users, and writes the docs.

I wouldn't trust docs written in scenario C, because like I said above,
only a new user is far enough removed from Nagios to know what problems
are likely to crop up when you don't yet know anything about the
software.

At this point, I think you've got the attention of most of the people on
the list. If you still want to use Nagios, and are still having some
issues, try reposting your original questions to the list. Perhaps
you'll get some feedback that can be added to the 'Nagios Quick Setup
Guide'.

Garry W. Cook, CCNA
Network Infrastructure Manager
MACTEC, Inc. - http://www.mactec.com/
303.308.6228 (Office) - 720.220.1862 (Mobile)

> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cook, Garry [mailto:GWCOOK at mactec.com]
> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 12:24 PM
> To: Atwal, Steve
> Cc: nagios-users at lists.sourceforge.net
> Subject: RE: [Nagios-users] Biggest Problem with Nagios: Poor
> Setup/Installation 
> 
> 
> Atwal, Steve wrote:
>> :-) I did read all the docs. So did another Linux admin. Also, a few
>> articles on Nagios written by IBM. Nagios is a very impressive
>> product, don't get me wrong. But, I disagree that the docs explain
>> everything properly. It wasn't the last month that we
>> tried to set it up - it was earlier this year. I was hoping
>> that with a little prodding we can get a simple 5-page setup
>> guide, in very basic point form.
>> 
>> Steve
> 
> Fair enough.
> Did you see the pdf Installation guide that I mentioned
> below? If not, take a look and see if maybe this is what you
> are looking for. It's about 100 pages, not 5, but I still
> think it is 'simple' enough to get you going.
> 
> If you still want to try to get Nagios running, follow the
> guide and post specific questions to the list if/when you run
> into trouble. Like I said, the list is a very valuable
> resource, and most of the folks that subscribe are eager to help out
> new users, provided said users don't insult their favorite network
> monitoring app. ;) 
> 
> Garry W. Cook, CCNA
> Network Infrastructure Manager
> MACTEC, Inc. - http://www.mactec.com/
> 303.308.6228 (Office) - 720.220.1862 (Mobile)
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Cook, Garry [mailto:GWCOOK at mactec.com]
>> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 12:09 PM
>> To: Atwal, Steve; nagios-users at lists.sourceforge.net
>> Subject: RE: [Nagios-users] Biggest Problem with Nagios: Poor
>> Setup/Installation 
>> 
>> Atwal, Steve wrote:
>>> I'd like to use Nagios, but after wasting over a month, finally gave
>>> up. Setup instructions are very poor, and we ended up using Big
>>> Brother instead. I'd still like to use Nagios, but the following
>>> problems will stop people in their tracks when it comes to using it:
>> 
>> From what I've seen over the past few years, there aren't too many
>> people with a complaint such as this. Did you read all of the docs
>> included with the distribution? They can also be found at Nagios.org.
>> 
>> I'm guessing that you did not read all of the docs, or you would have
>> found the Installation Guide written by Andrew Kaplan, which is
>> linked from http://www.nagios.org/docs/. If you've got a copy of
>> that, and still can't get Nagios up and running correctly, then I
>> don't think that the developers are at fault here.
>> 
>> One last thing... I've searched through the last few weeks of posts
>> to the list, and I can't find another post from you besides this
>> one. I would think that if you had spent a month attempting to setup
>> Nagios, you would have mailed the list at least one
>> other time with a question or two. If not, then what you've
>> really wasted is a valuable resource, not a month of setup time.
>> 
>> Garry W. Cook, CCNA
>> Network Infrastructure Manager
>> MACTEC, Inc. - http://www.mactec.com/
>> 303.308.6228 (Office) - 720.220.1862 (Mobile)
>> 
>>> - poor setup/installation, for both the server and clients to be
>>> monitored 
>>> - poor documentation for admins, esp. related to above point
>>> - no easy configuration tool, e.g. one solution: create a good
>>> Webmin plug-in (someone else tried to do this, but it doesn't work)
>>> If the developers of Nagios can work on the above and get that
>>> polished, they will have a very good tool that a lot more people
>>> will be using. Until then....we'll leave it to those that have lots
>>> and lots of time to waste. Not being negative...just providing some
>>> feedback that might improve the product. Cheers Steve



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