CentOS Install and Configure Cacti

Cacti is a network graphing tool similar to MRTG. How do I install and configure common options to collect SNMP data and various other data (such as system load, network link status, hard disk space, logged in users etc) into an RRD?

Required software(s)

You need to install the following software on CentOS Linux:

1. MySQL Server : Store cacti data.
2. NET-SNMP server - SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a protocol used for network management.
3. PHP with net-snmp module - Access SNMP data using PHP.
4. 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

Append / modify it as follows (see snmpd.conf man page for details):

com2sec local 	localhost       	public

group MyRWGroup v1     	local

group MyRWGroup v2c        local

group MyRWGroup usm        local

view all    included  .1                           	80

access MyRWGroup ""      any   	noauth    exact  all    all    none

syslocation Unknown (edit /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf)

syscontact Root  (configure /etc/snmp/snmp.local.conf)

pass .1.3.6.1.4.1.4413.4.1 /usr/bin/ucd5820stat

Save and close the file. Turn on snmpd service:

# /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, make sure EPEL repo is enabled. 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:

# nano /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:

# nano /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




        Order Deny,Allow

        Deny from all

        Allow from 10.0.0.0/8

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:

# nano /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: