Required software(s)
You need to install the following software on RHEL / Fedora / CentOS Linux:
MySQL Server : Store cacti data.
NET-SNMP server – SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a protocol used for network management.
PHP with net-snmp module – Access SNMP data using PHP.
Apache / lighttpd / ngnix webserver : Web server to display graphs created with PHP and RRDTOOL.
Install the software
First, login as root user and type the following command to install mysql, apache and php:
# yum install mysql-server mysql php-mysql php-pear php-common php-gd php-devel php php-mbstring php-cli php-snmp php-pear-Net-SMTP php-mysql httpd
Configure MySQL server
First, set root password:
# mysqladmin -u root password NEWPASSWORD
Create cacti MySQL database
Create a database called cacti, enter:
# mysql -u root -p -e 'create database cacti'
Create a user called cacti with a password called zYn95ph43zYtq, enter:
# mysql -u root -p
mysql> GRANT ALL ON cacti.* TO cacti@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'zYn95ph43zYtq';
mysql> FLUSH privileges;
mysql> \q
Install snmpd
Type the following command to install net-snmpd
# yum install net-snmp-utils php-snmp net-snmp-libs
Configure snmpd, open /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf
# vi /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf
rocommunity public
# /etc/init.d/snmpd start
# chkconfig snmpd on
Make sure you are getting information from snmpd:
# snmpwalk -v 1 -c public localhost IP-MIB::ipAdEntIfIndex
Sample ouptut:
IP-MIB::ipAdEntIfIndex.10.10.29.68 = INTEGER: 2
IP-MIB::ipAdEntIfIndex.67.yy.zz.eee = INTEGER: 3
IP-MIB::ipAdEntIfIndex.127.0.0.1 = INTEGER: 1
Install cacti
First, DAG repo is created.
#nano /etc/yum.repos.d/DAG.rep
[dag]
name=Dag RPM Repository for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
baseurl=http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el$releasever/en/$basearch/dag
gpgcheck=0
enabled=1
protect=0
Type the following command to install cacti:
# yum install cacti
Install cacti tables
Type the following command to find out cacti.sql path:
# rpm -ql cacti | grep cacti.sql
Sample output:
/usr/share/doc/cacti-0.8.7d/cacti.sql
Type the following command to install cacti tables (you need to type the cacti user password):
# mysql -u cacti -p cacti < /usr/share/doc/cacti-0.8.7d/cacti.sql
Configure cacti
Open /etc/cacti/db.php file, enter:
# vi /etc/cacti/db.php
Make changes as follows:
/* make sure these values refect your actual database/host/user/password */
$database_type = "mysql";
$database_default = "cacti";
$database_hostname = "localhost";
$database_username = "cacti";
$database_password = "zYn95ph43zYtq";
$database_port = "3306";
Save and close the file.
Configure httpd
Open /etc/httpd/conf.d/cacti.conf file, enter:
# vi /etc/httpd/conf.d/cacti.conf
You need to update allow from line. Either set to ALL or your LAN subnet to allow access to cacti:
#
# Cacti: An rrd based graphing tool
#
Alias /cacti /usr/share/cacti
<Directory /usr/share/cacti/>
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
Allow from 10.0.0.0/8
</Directory>
Another option is create /usr/share/cacti/.htaccess file and password protect the directory. Finally, restart httpd:
# service httpd restart
Setup cacti cronjob
Open /etc/cron.d/cacti file, enter:
# vi /etc/cron.d/cacti
Uncomment the line:
*/5 * * * * cacti /usr/bin/php /usr/share/cacti/poller.php > /dev/null 2>&1
Save and close the file.
Run cacti installer
Now cacti is ready to install. Fire a webbrowser and type the url:
http://your.example.com/cacti/
OR
http://your.server.ip.address/cacti/
Just follow on screen instructions. The default username and password for cacti is admin / admin. Upon first login, you will be force to change the default password.
How do I configure SNMP data collection?
SNMP can be used to monitor server traffic. Once installed login to cacti.
=> Click on Devices
=> Select Localhost
=> Make sure SNMP options are selected as follows:
Finally, click on Save button.