Is it possible to deploy NConf when you already have a running/working/configured Nagios Instance on your Debian Linux server?

Question

I've already got 4 running Nagios Instances on my Nagios (Debian Linux) server, but for one of them I want to install NConf (web-based Nagios Configuration Tool).

I've already found a lot of tutorials of which I found this one the most helpfull :

.. but all of them assume that you start a nagios installation from scratch.

In my case I'm already monitoring 127 hosts and 391 services. I've already made a logic layout in my Nagios Config files (contacts, contactgroups, hosts, hostgroups, services, hostextinfo, commands, timeperiods etc etc ..)

Thanks in advance, horaasje!

Answer 1

Yes it is possible. Nconf is a great tool and it's advanced features will let you define pretty much anything you want. For example, a default nconf installation will not let you assign a "contact" to a specific "host", however, with a few configuration changes that can easily be accomplished. I say all this because once get nconf all configured you should be able to import your nagios .cfg files without any problems at all.

If you're managing an advanced Nagios setup, I'd recommend reading through the detailed nconf documentation so you know it's limitations. Also, don't forget that nconf is open source and with a little hacking you can have it do just about anything you need.

From the NConf website: "NConf stores its data in a proprietary database, meaning that external data has to be parsed and imported into the NConf data structure in order to make it manageable though NConf.

The import mechanisms are not intended to be used to keep multiple data sources in sync. Importing data is a semi-automatic process. Often, data has to be “tuned” before it can be imported. It can therefore be a tedious process which is intended to be done as a one-time migration."

Import Guide: http://www.nconf.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=nconf:help:how_tos:import:import_guide

Detailed NConf documentation: http://www.nconf.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=nconf:help:documentation:detail:main

Answer 2

I am using NConf and I started from scratch. It seams that NConf provides an import script: link

But it seams, that more complex setups are not really supported.