Icinga 2 Introduction Workshop

Every beginning is hard

If you have been using Nagios, Naemon, Icinga 1 or another open source monitoring solution, the first steps into Icinga 2 might look pretty difficult. Icinga 2 introduces a new configuration syntax and there seems to be more "coding" involved using the so-called "apply rules". There are satellites and zones and endpoints and so on. This can be overwhelming at the begin and this is where we can help jumpstart your new monitoring architecture or migration project.

Advancing faster with a workshop

A workshop in our eyes is a mix between sharing theoretical knowledge and working together on practical use-cases.

The theoretical part mainly covers the introduction into Icinga 2, including the new configuration syntax, an understanding of the config files and where to configure what, getting to know and use apply rules, how to configure clusters and zones and satellites, usage of ITL and self-defined commands, etc.

The practical part consists of a brain storming session to define the new monitoring architecture. This could be a single monitoring server for an internal network or a clustered monitoring core for thousands of machines to be monitored. It could be a simple yet powerful setup or a fully highly available monitoring setup. This is where our experience kicks in and helps you making a decision based on pro and contras.

Once the architecture and main settings are defined, the first config files are written and activated together. Icinga 2 slowly becomes alive.

A workshop example

This is how the Icinga 2 introduction workshop could look at your place.

Day 1: Introduction into Icinga 2

• Differences to Icinga 1, Nagios and Naemon
• The new config syntax, Comparison to previous syntax
• Config files and features - where are they and what do they do
• Custom attributes and their usage
• Apply rules and the power of automation
• Zones and Satellites - remote monitoring as if you were 'there'
• Clustering and clustered architectures
• Icingaweb 2 - the new user interface

Day 2: Definition of architecture and settings

• Definition of the architecture - where do we need monitoring
• Definition of the targets - physical, virtual servers, printers, network devices, ...
• Definition of base templates and custom attributes
• Definition of common monitoring checks - cpu usage, memory usage, disk usage, ...

Days 3+4: Hands-on

• Icinga 2 (core) setup
• Creation of the base configuration (and clean-out unnecessary settings)
• Enabling features and installing their components (e.g. InfluxDB and Grafana)
• Zone, Endpoint and Cluster configuration
• Adding hosts and single-host services
• Apply rules
• Icingaweb2 setup

Sounds good?

Wait, it gets even better. Depending on the progress during the workshop, the workshop can be adjusted to your environment and to your questions. If a certain topic (for example practical configuration of apply rules) require more time, we will spend more time on that. After all, this Icinga 2 Introduction workshop was created to help you get to know Icinga 2 and start to use it immediately.

If you'd like to know more, please do contact us now.