View Source: Cacti - Waikato Linux Users Group

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[Cacti | http://www.cacti.net/] is a [PHP]/[MySQL] frontend to [rrdtool]. It handles the storage of all the information required to create and populate [rrdtool] graphs. Along with being able to maintain Graphs, Data Sources, and RoundRobin Archives in a DataBase, [Cacti] handles the data gathering also. There is also [SNMP] support for those used to creating traffic graphs with [MRTG].

You can use [Cacti] to gather any sort of data, or fetch information from [SNMP] capable hosts.

To "manually" handle data gathering, you can feed [Cacti] the CommandLine for any external script/command along with any data that the user will need to "fill in" ([IP] addresses etc). [Cacti] will then gather this data in a cron job and populate a [MySQL] database/the RoundRobin Archives.

Data Sources can also be created, which correspond to actual data on the graph. For instance, if a user wants to graph the ping times to a host, they could create a data source, choosing a script that pings a host and returns it's value in milliseconds. After defining options for [rrdtool] such as how to store the data you will be able to define any additional information that the data input source requires, such as a host to ping in this case. Once a data source is created, it is automatically mantained at 5 minute intervals.

For people who are used to creating traffic graphs in [MRTG], this process has become much simplier in [Cacti]. An [SNMP] interface allows you to enter [SNMP] capable hosts and [Cacti] will display that host's interfaces, all of which can be graphed with once click from that point.

Once one or more data sources are defined, an [rrdtool] graph can be created using the data. [Cacti] allows you to create almost any imaginable [rrdtool] graph using all of the standard [rrdtool] graph types and consolidation functions. A color selection area and automatic text padding function also aid in the creation of graphs to make the process easier.

[Cacti] has a user management system so you can allocate people various levels of access to the program and their own settings.

See the notes on setting up:

* CactiDataInput~s
* CactiDataSource~s
* CactiGraph~s
* [CactiLMSensors]
* CactiSmart
* [CactiUPS]

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Part of CategorySystemAdministration, CategoryNetworking
9 pages link to Cacti:
Last edited on Saturday, July 23, 2005 1:01:28 pm by AristotlePagaltzis
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