May 27th, 2013 by zarzuelo
Four months after the latest stable version was released, the new release candidate of Pandora FMS is available and ready to be used.
More than 75 contributions since the 4.0.3 was released including:
- Several bug fixes
- A totally new HTML5 Pandora Mobile console
- New Appliance CD (CentOS)
- Lighter enviroment
- Update Manager now supports proxies
- Improved SNMP performance and compatibility
- Now GIS information calculates the distance between measures and the total distance.
- More flexible image configuration for GIS
- Improved Graphs configuration for Dashboard
- Some views were simplified and new help tips were added
- General interface improvements
CLICK HERE to download Pandora FMS 4.1 for SUSE or DEBIAN based systems, the CentOS Appliance CD or the source code so you can install it manually in your system.
Keep in mind that it’s the first Release Candidate for this new version. If you detect any malfunction or bug, please, report it to us through our bugs tracker. We do appreciate it.
We hope that you will enjoy it.
Posted in Pandora FMS, Release | No Comments »
May 24th, 2013 by nil
Hello everybody,
From 4.1 the “first” Linux distro choosen for Pandora FMS has changed to CentOS. This is because several technical reasons, one of them -but not the most important- is the faulty release of OpenSUSE 12.3 flooded with critical bugs, like Net-SNMP corrupted package or the mysql-community-server installation problems. Another big reason is the powerful way to create LiveCD/Installation with CentOS.
So, next release will come with a new Live CD, with an option to install to a physical server. This will replace current SUSE Images and we will have only CentOS images in the future.
RC1 ISO Image has been uploaded to sourceforge. take a look !
Posted in Pandora FMS, Release | 2 Comments »
May 20th, 2013 by victoria
We have just posted a new entry in Openideas wiki for those users who have doubts on how to configure alerts via e-mail. With this feature, you will easily receive alerts on any device where your mail account is configured. Therefore, you can be sure that you will receive alerts on any device you like if an unexpected change or problem occurs before they became a worse issue for your organization.
Click here to learn how to set alerts via e-mail. Check it out! 
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
April 5th, 2013 by victoria
Varnish is a web application accelerator. It is a reverse proxy that acts like a HTTP cache. Since it allows speeding up the service through content caching, it’s a very useful app for web apps or services with a high traffic volume. The typical app architecture used by HTTP cache is like the one below.
All the HTTP traffic goes through the Vanish server. Before requesting information to the backend server, it uses Varnish cache to obtain information.
As the cache server processes all the requests, Varnish cache becomes a crucial piece everywhere it runs. That is why it is essential to be sure that Varnish cache is working fully as expected. Otherwise, it could become a bottleneck that would slow down the entire app. The best way to watch closely the proper performance of Varnish is by monitoring the key performance variables of this server.
Varnish Cache Performance parameters
Once installed, Varnish Cache allows us to use several apps to evaluate the server by means of statistics. These apps are the ones mentioned below.
- varnishtop: grouped list with the most usual entries from different logs.
- varnishhist: a histogram that shows the time taken for the requests processing.
- varnishsizes: it performs the same task as “varnishhist” but showing the size of the objects.
- varnishstat: it shows many contents on cache hits, resource consumption, etc..
- varnishlog: it allows us to see all the requests made to the web backend server.
If you need further information on these commands or additional ones, check the Varnish cache documentation out! (https://www.varnish-cache.org/docs/3.0/index.html).
Vanishstat is the command that gives us the most useful information to check the performance. The rest of commands provide detailed information about requests and logs. These commands are very useful when you need to configure and debug the cache server operation (performance).
Once the “varnishstat -1″command has been executed in the same server as varnish cache, we will get a log list of metrics.
The basic metrics to check the performance level are the following ones.
- client_conn : accepted client connections
- client_req : received client requests
- backend_fail : backend connection failure
- cache_miss : cache misses
- n_object : number of instantiated objects
- n_wrk : number of worker threads
- n_wrk_create : number of created worker threads
- n_wrk_failed : number of failures when creating worker threads
- n_wrk_max : maximum number of worker threads
- n_wrk_drop : number of abandoned work requests
- n_lru_nuked : number LRU objects
- esi_errors : ESI parsing errors
- n_expired: number of expired objects
With this command, you can get a snapshot of the performance statistics. A single snapshot is not enough to check the trend. To accomplish this task, you need older data, for example, data from the previous week or the previous month in order to compare different configurations over time.
To get this information, the most important variables over a period of time must be monitored. With this information, you can easily see if the changes made in the varnish configuration improves the performance. We will use Pandora FMS and the varnish cache plugging that is available in the library to monitor Varnish cache. Pandora allows us to set alerts that will notify us on performance problems and will send us reports with the evolution of different metrics. With these features, we can be sure that we will be reported on any problem in our server.
How to monitor Varnish with Pandora FMS
The first thing to do is downloading and installing Pandora FMS. You can find an OS image or a preconfigured virtual machine for VMware here: http://pandorafms.com/Community/download/en
Once the plugin is in the right location, we can configure it. To accomplish this task, you have to edit the configuration file. The default file is called “varnish-plugin.conf” and has the following structure:
METRIC
hit_ratio
connect_accept_ratio
backend_success_ratio
work_thread_ratio
STATS
client_conn
client_req
backend_fail
cache_miss
n_object
n_wrk
n_wrk_create
n_wrk_failed
n_wrk_max
n_wrk_drop
n_lru_nuked
esi_errors
n_expired
This file allows you to configure two kinds of metrics: statistics and ratios. Statistics are defined by the token STATS. This category can pick any value that appears when you run the command “varnishstats -1″. Different parameters can be selected by the name that appears in the first column of the output returned by the command. Ratios are defined by the token ratios METRIC. The ratios help understanding of the Varnish performance values by providing normalized information as percentages. The available ratios are:
- hit_ratio: cache hit ratio.
- connect_accept_ratio: accepted connections / received requests ratio.
- backend_success_ratio: successful backend server connections ratio.
- work_thread_ratio: working thread / created threads ratio.
If you wish to add or remove some variables or metrics to monitor, you can make changes in the configuration file, so that the monitoring will suit your company better.
For the agent to run Pandora FMS plugin periodically, a new module must be added to the plugin configuration file. First at all, you need edit the agent configuration file (by default in “/ etc / pandora / pandora_agent.conf”) by adding the following line:
module_plugin /etc/pandora/plugins/varnish-plugin.pl /etc/pandora/plugins/varnish-plugin.conf
Once the agent sends data to the Pandora server, the modules and their values will appear.
For this example, as well as monitoring the variables related to the cache Varnish proxy (backend_fail, backend_success_ratio, cache_miss, etc), we would like to add some other variables related to the machine performance (User CPU, load average, Mem Usage and Proctotal). With this configuration, we will get an overview of the performance and the resources consumed by the cache server.
After finishing this process, we can be sure that Pandora FMS is currently collecting data from which will generate reports to evaluate the ongoing performance.
As we also wish to use the alert Pandora FMS features, we need to perform some additional configuration modules. The next step is to set all the values that define the state of the module. These values will use normalized values between 0 and 100 according to the modules that represent ratios. They will provide enough information to evaluate, in a first instance, the performance of Varnish. The threshold settings would be like this:
 With this configuration, for example, the hit_ratio module will turn automatically into a critical status when the number of cache hits is between 0% and 50%. It will change into a Warning status when the number of cache hits is between 51% and 70%. Besides, we have also defined thresholds to set alerts on system modules, specifically on the use of CPU and memory. Now that the modules show clearly their status, we can create Pandora alerts to warn us when detecting any problems.
We have defined different reporting methods depending on how critical the status is. Thus, Pandora will send an email to the list of system administrators when the status is not that critical. However, when the status is very critical, a SMS will be sent to the leaders and managers of the IT architecture of the website.
At this point, we have already configured a reactive monitoring in our Varnish cache server. It means that we will be notified on problems so we can react fast to find a solution. However, although this process is accomplished, we should fix trends and act accordingly to have a proactive monitoring.
Pandora also allows you to create reports to see the grouped information about the trends easily. In this case, we have created a report on Varnish performance with the system performance parameters.
Besides, Pandora FMS allows you to configure the sending procedure. You can decide when to receive the emails with the reports: every week, every month, every fortnight, etc. So that we can have a complete study of trends Varnish automatically in our email, without having to go to the Pandora FMS.
Conclusion
With this configuration, you will be notified on any failures on the Varnish Cache server. Thanks to the alert features, you will be notified on any problems that may arise in your web application cache. Furthermore, by means of the reports, you can see trends and perform a preventative maintenance on the server to prevent future failures. Since Varnish is the only entry point for all web traffic, this way of monitoring will allow you to be protected from bottlenecks that slow down your systems.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
February 26th, 2013 by zarzuelo
The architecture of Pandora FMS allows to create a light software pieces called “Agents” to gather and send information of the host to the server.
The latest agent created is for Windows Phone 7. Thanks to Patricio Martínez, member of Frameworks (Ecuador), one of our certified partners. Great Work!.
With a simple configuration, the agent will report the data to the choosed server:
This
agent retrieve the following data from a Windows Phone 7 device:
- GPS coordinates
- OS Version
- Current Application Memory Usage
- Peak Memory Usage
- Memory Usage Limit per Application
- Device Manufacturer
- Device Name
- Device Firmware Version
- Device Hardware Version
- Device Total Memory
- Is Keyboard Present in Device
- Power Source
- Unique Id of the device
- Operating System Platform
- Operating System Version
Most of this data will be reported in modules, other data as the OS Version and the GPS coordinates will be stored in the Agent configuration.
The
GPS coordinates are really useful to track the device in a Pandora FMS console’s map.
You can download this Agent and a complete documentation from our Modules library.
Posted in Agent, Mobile, Windows | No Comments »
February 22nd, 2013 by junichi
Today was the first day of ‘Open Source Conference 2o13 Tokyo/Spring’.
Although the event is named “Spring”, it is still winter in Japan. It was a cold day today. But, many people who are interested in open source software and related services in Japan joined the event. Japanese developers (including me) and team members of Pandora FMS talked with many people. Thank you!
Exhibition (Junichi, Shinichi, and Koichiro):
Seminar (presenter: Koichiro):
!!???:
Posted in Japan, Pandora FMS | No Comments »
February 12th, 2013 by victoria
It is obvious that the Internet has become one of the main sources to learn. The Internet is plenty of video-tutorials, forums and other sources of information which help us activating our self-taught side. The learning process occurs naturally and people get advanced skills without even noticing how much they are learning. They became experts by themselves.
Last week, we ran an experiment in Artica ST. We wanted to find out how easy is to install Pandora FMS. A fifteen-year-old guy helped us with the experiment. We provided him with a computer with no OS and we sent him the link of the website of Pandora. We did not give him any further information or instructions to accomplish one mission: installing Pandora FMS in the computer.
First of all, the guy had to install an operating system in the computer, and he chose Ubuntu. Despite being the very first time he used Linux and his poor knowledge in computing, the guy handled the situation. He went to the download section in the website, he picked and installed the right version for Ubuntu and he installed all the packages required to run Pandora FMS. He did all these things with the only help of Pandora’s manual and Google. He just had one problem with MYSQL. Since the manual is conceived for system administrators, it does not explain how to install the server. So the guy had to find another way to accomplish that task.
Eventually, the guy installed the software successfully. This fifteen-year-old boy with no advanced computing skills was able to do what system administrators specialized in networking and Linux with two year training do. Although the guy did not understand what he was doing or how the whole thing works, he managed to interpret the manual’s instructions and executed every single step beyond all the expectation. That is why we state that it is very easy to install Pandora. We strongly encourage all of you to go to the download section, download the software and enjoy all the benefits of Pandora FMS.
Posted in Pandora FMS | No Comments »
January 31st, 2013 by junichi
“Open Source Conference 2013 Tokyo/Spring” will be held in February 22nd and 23rd. That is an event for developers, users and sponsors(companies) engaged in open source communities in Tokyo, Japan.
Japanese developers including me will be there. Pandora FMS seminar (presenter: Koichiro Kikuchi) and exhibition are planed (in Japanese). In that seminar and exhibition, we will introduce new features of Pandora FMS 4.0.3 and 5.0. For those who are interested in Pandora FMS in Japan, it’s a good chance to know details. Join the event! (free)
Click here for details. (in Japanese)
Posted in Japan, Pandora FMS | No Comments »
January 28th, 2013 by nil
This way to monitor, possible from 4.0.3 version, allows you to capture output from commands, different from parsing a single value or string. This module stores the information as text, but with the purpose to get the exact output of the command, not as single data. It will show you the same output format and contents as was return by the command.
An image is better than words, so:
This is the “netstat -an” command output, captured by Pandora FMS, after clicking in the special icon for command snapshot, only available when we got a multiline text -non splitted- output.
For example, just imagine you got random events on big CPU % or Memory in the server, but you never know what is happening, because when you connect the server is everything OK, so the ideal thing will have a “photo” of the system to detect what happen in specific time lapse, something like a TOP screenshot.
Why not ?
In this way, you will, the agent will generate command snapshot almost for any command (just replace “netstat….” by your command). Some useful suggestions for Unix systems are:
* top -b -n 1
* ps aux
* vmstat 1 5
* who
* last -10
On Windows systems:
* tasklist
* netstat -an
* net start
You can get more technical information in our documentation.
Posted in Agent | No Comments »
January 25th, 2013 by zarzuelo
Last August we wrote a post about a little script to send alerts via Whatsapp to your smartphone with Pandora FMS using a WhatsAPI, a project to connect with Whatsapp with a simply scripts (We use the PHP one).
Since this moment, Whatsapp fighted with this kind of projects changing the way of authentication. We changed the script a couple of times to adapt to the new situation.
Whatsapp did it again, but this time harder.
Before, was possible to generate the password to auth with Whatsapp servers only with the device’s IMEI code. Now the password provides from the Whatsapp servers.
The solution (provided by jonnywilliamson in the WhatsAPI issues tracker) is to use another python project called Yowsup to request the password to Whatsapp server and then use it with an adapted WhatsAPI version.
I tested it and works fine. The only problem is that when you request a pass is like you install Whatsapp in another phone, so if you had installed Whatsapp previously in your phone, it will stop working without a new authentication.
Only is possible to install Whatsapp in one device simultaneously.
You can use a phone which you don’t use whatsapp or another kind of number like a Google Voice or Skype one.
The new way to use the script to send Alerts to Whatsapp:
- Fill the config.example file of Yowsup with your mobile phone.
- Request with Yowsup a confirmation code by voice mail or SMS (I tried SMS way and works)
python ./yowsup-cli -c config.example -d --requestcode voice
or
python ./yowsup-cli -c config.example -d --requestcode sms
- Request the Whatsapp auth password with the received number
python ./yowsup-cli -c config.example -d -R 123456
- Used the retrieved password to execute the script send_whatsapp.php (The before version was executed with the phone IMEI)
php5 send_whatsapp.php [phone_number_source] [password] [phone_number_target] [message]
All the process and necessary scripts are in our modules library more info in the original solution of the issue.
NOTE:
Obviously you need have python and php installed with the necessary dependences.
ADVICE:
Whatsapp is blocking the accounts that use it to Spam. Be careful with that.
Posted in Alerts, Plugins | 1 Comment »
