What open source solutions does GroundWork Monitor integrate into its platform

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Q: What open source solutions does GroundWork Monitor integrate into its platform?
A: GroundWork Monitor Enterprise integrates several open source solutions into its platform.

  • Apache - Apache is a widely-used Web server. GroundWork Monitor utilizes Apache as the Web server for the GroundWork Portal. The version of the Apache Web server incorporated into the release is 2.4.25.
  • Cacti - Cacti is a complete RRDtool-based graphing solution. Cacti can be used to collect metric data, especially from network nodes. The GroundWork Monitor Cacti integration module provides thresholding and centralized control of notifications. 
  • Elastic - A component of the GroundWork Log Bridge™ this tool provides a robust query engine for event-based data.
  • Fping - A ping like program which uses the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo request to determine if a host is up. GroundWork Monitor's fping feeder is a script that runs the fping tool to ping all the hosts in a GroundWork Monitor installation and feeds the results to the Nagios command pipe. It can run either as a daemon feeder or as a plugin.
  • Ganglia - Ganglia is a scalable distributed monitoring system for high-performance computing systems such as clusters and Grids. Ganglia can be used to collect metric data, especially in large grids where scalability is a key concern. GroundWork's Ganglia Integration Module provides thresholding and notification when metrics are out of range.
  • Grafana - A hybrid of Kibana and Graphite, Grafana offers a powerful query engine and comparative graphing interface. GroundWork uses Grafana as a presentation layer for performance data analysis.
  • ICEfaces - An open source Ajax framework and an Ajax JSF component library. Additionally, it's an J2EE Ajax framework for developing and deploying rich enterprise applications (REAs). GroundWork Monitor utilizes ICEfaces in its user interface. All of the widgets in the Status and Event Console applications are ICEfaces components.
  • Icinga - Based on a fork of Nagios, Icinga 2 is an updated, streamlined, and modern enhancement that allows automated configuration and information harvesting with GroundWork Monitor.
  • InfluxDB - A robust, storage-efficient data store for time series metrics, InfluxDB has begun to be used as a standard back-end for monitoring tools. GroundWork uses it to store performance data in original detail (unsummarized), from multiple sources.
  • JBoss - The JBoss Portal provides an open source and standards-based environment for hosting and serving a portal's Web interface, publishing and managing its content, and customizing its experience. GroundWork Monitor 7 utilizes JBoss Portal Platform 6.
  • Nagios - Nagios is an open source Host, Service and Network monitoring program. Nagios is a registered trademark of Ethan Galstad. GroundWork Monitor utilizes Nagios as a polling and notification engine for monitoring the network infrastructure. GroundWork Monitor continues to take advantage of the new Nagios features offering faster performance while GroundWork's configuration tool supports the new Nagios directives. Nagios plugins enable Nagios to monitor various network and system components. Plugins are required before you can start to monitor anything with Nagios. GroundWork Monitor uses the Nagios version 4.3.1.
  • NeDi - NeDi stands for Network Discovery. It is a powerful suite of tools for finding all of your networking assets, placing them in a clear topological structure, and making it easier to automatically track changes. It is an ideal way to generate automated input for monitoring. NeDi uses SNMP and information container in device CDP, CAM and ARP tables to step from device to device. Along the way it identifies any nodes attached to those devices. Device configurations can also be pulled and stored for comparison between executions of NeDi. Changes can be communicated to network administrators. GroundWork Monitor uses data from NeDi to populate the Configuration tool (Monarch) for monitoring using Nagios. Additionally, GroundWork Monitor NMS uses NeDi to support efficient discovery of network devices and nodes.
  • NRPE - Nagios Remote Plugin Executor (NRPE) allows you to execute local plugins on remote hosts. NRPE is an agent compiled for different platforms.
  • NSCA - An addon for Nagios that is designed to accept passive service check results from clients and pass them along to the Nagios process by using the external command interface. This is useful when implementing redundant and distributed servers. GroundWork Monitor uses the Nagios Service Check Acceptor (NSCA) to listen for passive host and service check results in distributed monitoring configurations. In GroundWork Monitor, NSCA is embedded in Bronx, GroundWork's version of the Nagios Event Broker. The current version used in GroundWork Monitor is NSCA 2.7.2.
  • Ntop - A network traffic probe that shows the network usage, similar to what the popular top UNIX command does. GroundWork Monitor NMS uses Ntop to analyze and report on network protocol usage patterns. GroundWork Monitor typically configures Ntop to use the NetFlow plugin to support analysis of network usage from many points across a customer network.
  • Perl - A stable, cross platform programming language. It is used for mission critical projects in the public and private sectors. Perl is open source software, licensed under its Artistic License, or the GNU General Public License. Supported Operating Systems include UNIX systems, Macintosh - (OS 7-9 and X), Windows, and VMS.
  • PHP - A widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. GroundWork Monitor supports PHP applications. The distribution of PHP incorporated into the current release of GroundWork Monitor is 5.6.30.** PHP: http://www.php.net
  • PostgreSQL - Often simply Postgres, is an object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) available for many platforms including Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, MS Windows and Mac OS X.It is released under the PostgreSQL License, which is an MIT-style license, and is thus free and open source software. As with many other open-source programs, PostgreSQL is not controlled by any single company - a global community of developers and companies develop the system. It is ACID-compliant, is fully transactional (including all DDL statements), implements the majority of the SQL:2008 standard has extensible data types, operators and indexes, and there are a large number of extensions that have been written for it. GroundWork Monitor utilizes PostgreSQL as the data store for all configuration and monitoring data. GroundWork Monitor uses the PostgreSQL version 9.6.1.** PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org/
  • RRDtool - If you know MRTG, you can think of RRDtool as a reimplementation of MRTGs graphing and logging features. Magnitudes faster and more flexible than you ever thought possible RRD is the Acronym for Round Robin Database. RRD is a system to store and display time-series data (e.g. network bandwidth, machine-room temperature, server load average). It stores the data in a very compact way that will not expand over time, and it presents useful graphs by processing the data to enforce a certain data density. It can be used either via simple wrapper scripts (from shell or Perl) or via frontends that poll network devices and put a friendly user interface on it. RRDtool is not a replacement for MRTG, as it does not implement the frontend and data acquisition features of MRTG (MRTG can be configured to use RRDtool as its database backend and together with a cgi grapher like 14all or mrtg-rrd all your mrtg graphs can be generated on demand). If you can program yourself you can use RRDtool right out of the box or if you don't program you can use one of several frontends,which use RRDtool. GroundWork Monitor utilizes RRDtool for generating performance graphs for any checks of the monitoring infrastructure.
  • Selenium (Se) - Designed as a web application testing tool, Selenium allows for the repeatable execution of scripted browser operations. As such it is an ideal tool for monitoring web applications, and reporting the performance from an end-user perspective.
  • SNMPTT - GroundWork Monitor uses SNMP trap translator (SNMPTT) to parse incoming SNMP traps and format them in a human readable fashion for display in alarms and the web interface. It also allows for customizing the severities of each trap based on customer requirements. SNMP Trap Translator (SNMPTT) is an SNMP trap handler written in Perl for use with the Net-SNMP / UCD-SNMP snmptrapd program. SNMPTT supports Linux, UNIX and Windows. Many network devices including but not limited to network switches, routers, remote access servers, UPSs, printers and operating systems such as UNIX and Windows NT have the ability to send notifications to an SNMP manager running on a network management station. The notifications can be either SNMP Traps, or SNMP Inform messages. The notification can contain a wide array of information such as port failures, link failures, access violations, power outages, paper jams, hard drive failures etc. The MIB (Management Information Base) available from the vendor determines the notifications supported by each device. The MIB file contains TRAP-TYPE (SMIv1) or NOTIFICATION-TYPE (SMIv2) definitions, which define the variables that are passed to the management station when a particular event occurs. The Net-SNMP program snmptrapd is an application that receives and logs SNMP trap and inform messages via TCP/IP.
    • SNMPTT website: http://www.snmptt.org
    • Net-SNMP website: http://www.net-snmp.org
      • Sample SYSLOG Entry - Following is a sample syslog entry for a Compaq cpqDa3LogDrvStatusChange trap that notifies that the drive array is rebuilding: 
        Feb  12 13:37:10 server11 snmptrapd[25409]: 192.168.110.192: Enterprise  Specific Trap (3008) Uptime: 306 days, 23:13:24.29, .1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5.0 =  SERVER08, .1.3.6.1.4.1.232.11.2.11.1.0 = 0,  .1.3.6.1.4.1.232.3.2.3.1.1.4.8.1 = rebuilding(7)

        or

        Feb  12 13:37:10 server11 snmptrapd[25409]: 192.168.110.192: Enterprise  Specific Trap (3008) Uptime: 306 days, 23:13:24.29, sysName.0 =  SERVER08, cpqHoTrapFlags.0 = 0, cpqDaLogDrvStatus.8.1 = rebuilding(7)

        The output from snmptrapd can be changed via the -O option to display numeric or symbolic OIDs and other display options, but it generally follows the format of variable name = value, variable name = value etc.

        A more descriptive/friendly trap message can be created using SNMPTT's variable substitution. Following is the same trap, logged with SNMPTT:

        Feb  12 13:37:13 server11 TRAPD: .1.3.6.1.4.1.232.0.3008 Normal "XLOGONLY"  server08 - Logical Drive Status Change: Status is now rebuilding

        The definition for the cpqDa3LogDrvStatusChange trap in the SNMPTT configuration file would be defined as follows:

        FORMAT Logical Drive Status Change: Status is now $3.

        The $3 represents the third variable as defined in the MIB file, which for this particular trap, is the cpqDaLogDrvStatus variable.

        Another example of an SNMPTT configuration entry is:

        FORMAT Compaq Drive Array Spare Drive on controller $4, bus $5, bay $6 status is $3.

        Which could result in the following output:

        "Compaq Drive Array Spare Drive on controller 3, bus 0, bay 3 status is Failed."

        SNMPTT can log to any of the following destinations: text log, syslog, NT Event log or a SQL database. External programs can also be run to pass the translated trap to an email client, paging software, Nagios etc.
        In addition to variable substitution, SNMPTT allows complex configurations allowing:

        • The ability to accept or reject a trap based on the host name, ip address, network range, or variable values inside of the trap enterprise variables.
        • Execute external programs to send pages, emails etc.
        • Perform regular expression search and replace on the translated message such as translating the variable value "Building alarm 4" to "Moisture detection alarm".
  • Syslog-ng - As the name shows, is a syslogd replacement, but with new functionality for the new generation. The original syslogd allows messages only to be sorted based on priority/facility pairs; syslog-ng adds the possibility to filter based on message contents using regular expressions. The new configuration scheme is intuitive and powerful. Forwarding logs over TCP and remembering all forwarding hops makes it ideal for firewalled environments. GroundWork Monitor uses syslog-ng to parse incoming syslog messages from remote systems. Syslog-ng is used to suppress uninteresting messages and pass critical messages directly into  Nagios and into the GroundWork Foundation database for alarming and reporting.

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