Install and Configure Server Monitoring Tools

1.    Munin

Munin is a network resource monitoring tool that can help analyze resource trends and “what just happened to kill our performance?” Munin graphs server performance over time, administrators can later use this information to make an informed decision about when to add more resources.

1.1.        Install Munin

Make sure apache, PHP and MySQL are properly installed and are working on your webserver.

Since Munin will be running on only one system we will need the master and client installed on the same system. Following is command to download and install munin

sudo aptitude install munin munin-node

1.2.        Configure Munin

When the installation in complete, open the Munin configuration file with your text editor of choice. Change the htmldir path from /var/cache/munin/www to /var/www/munin.

sudo vi /etc/munin/munin.conf

dbdir   /var/lib/munin

htmldir /var/cache/munin/www

logdir /var/log/munin

rundir  /var/run/Munin

New Path.

htmldir /var/www/munin

Now we need to move the Munin directory out of /var/cache/munin/www into /var/www/munin with the help of the mv command.

sudo mv /var/cache/munin/www/ /var/www/munin

Assign the Munin directory right permissions and now you can start Munin.

sudo /etc/init.d/munin-node start

Munin can be accessed by pointing the web browser to:

http://your-ip.com/munin

 

2.    Monit

Monit is a free open source utility for managing and monitoring, processes, files, directories and file systems on a UNIX system. Monit conducts automatic maintenance and can send alert emails in error situations.

2.1.        Install Monit

sudo apt-get install monit

2.2.        Edit the Monit Config File

cd /etc/monit

sudo vi monitrc

2.3.        Enable the web interface

set httpd port 2812
allow admin:pa$$w0rd # require user 'admin' with password 'pa$$w0rd'

2.4.        Start Monit

sudo service monit start                                                                      

2.5.        Setup email alerts

set mailserver localhost

set mail-format { from: monit@myserver.domain.com }

set alert sysadmin@domain.com

2.6.        Monitor the machine itself

check system myserver.domain.com

    if loadavg (1min) > 4 then alert

    if loadavg (5min) > 3 then alert

    if memory usage > 75% then alert

    if cpu usage (user) > 70% then alert

    if cpu usage (system) > 30% then alert

    if cpu usage (wait) > 20% then alert

3.    New Relic

New Relic is the all-in-one web application performance tool that lets you see performance from the end user experience, through servers, and down to the line of application code. Following are steps to install new relic.

Create free account on www.newrelic.com

3.1.            Configure the New Relic apt repository.

Add the following line to

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/newrelic.list. (Create the file if it does not already exist.)

deb http://apt.newrelic.com/debian/ newrelic non-free

This step only needs to be done once on each system.

3.2.        Trust the New Relic GPG key.

This step is required to register New Relic as an authenticated source where apt-get will look for new packages. To get the New Relic public apt-key from global key servers, run the following command as root:

wget -O- http://download.newrelic.com/548C16BF.gpg | apt-key add -

Note: If you do not run this command as root, you may see an error message about the public key. If this occurs, include "sudo" in the command:

wget -O- http://download.newrelic.com/548C16BF.gpg | sudo apt-key add -

3.3.        Update the local package list

Execute the following command as root:

 apt-get update

3.4.        Install the Server Monitor

Execute the following command as root:

apt-get install newrelic-sysmond

If you see a warning about your license key at this point, you may ignore it.

3.5.        Configure your New Relic license key.

Your license key appears in the Account Information section of your New Relic Account Settings page. Execute the following command as root. (This step only needs to be done once on each system.)

nrsysmond-config --set license_key=YOUR_LICENSE_KEY

Optional: You can set the license_key configuration setting directly in

/etc/newrelic/nrsysmond.cfg instead.

3.6.        Start nrsysmond.

Execute the following command as root:

/etc/init.d/newrelic-sysmond start

Verify that a message indicates that nrsysmond has started successfully. Your server statistics will start being reported in the Servers area of your New Relic dashboard.

3.7.        Uninstalling

To uninstall New Relic, execute the following command as root:

For apt: apt-get remove newrelic-sysmond

4.    Htop

sudo apt-get install htop