Nagios installation gives a default generic contact template that can be used as a reference to build your contacts. Please note that all the directives mentioned in the generic-contact template below are mandatory. So, if you\u2019ve decided not to use the generic-contact template definition in your contacts, you should define all these mandatory definitions inside your contacts yourself.
\n
\nThe following generic-contact is already available under \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/templates.cfg. Also, the templates.cfg is included in the nagios.cfg by default as shown below.
\n
\nPlease note that any of these directives mentioned in the templates.cfg can be overridden when you define a real contact using this generic-template.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# grep templates \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/nagios.cfg\ncfg_file=\/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/templates.cfg\n\nNote<\/strong>: generic-contact is available under\n \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/templates.cfg\n\ndefine contact{\n name generic-contact\n service_notification_period 24x7\n host_notification_period 24x7\n service_notification_options w,u,c,r,f,s\n host_notification_options d,u,r,f,s\n service_notification_commands notify-service-by-email\n host_notification_commands notify-host-by-email\n register 0\n }<\/pre>\n\n\n\n- Name <\/strong>– This defines the name of the contact template (generic-contact).<\/li>
- service_notification_period<\/strong> \u2013 This defines when nagios can send notification about services issues (for example, Apache down). By default this is 24\u00d77 timeperiod, which is defined under \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/timeperiods.cfg<\/li>
- host_notification_period<\/strong> \u2013 This defines when nagios can send notification about host issues (for example, server crashed). By default, this is 24\u00d77 timeperiod.<\/li>
- service_notification_options<\/strong> \u2013 This defines the type of service notification that can be sent out. By default this defines all possible service states including flapping events. This also includes the scheduled service downtime activities.<\/li>
- host_notification_options<\/strong> \u2013 This defines the type of host notifications that can be sent out. By default this defines all possible host states including flapping events. This also includes the scheduled host downtime activities.<\/li>
- service_notification_commands<\/strong> \u2013 By default this defines that the contact should get notification about service issues (for example, database down) via email. You can also define additional commands and add it to this directive. For example, you can define your own notify-service-by-sms command.<\/li>
- host_notification_commands<\/strong> \u2013 By default this defines that the contact should get notification about host issues (for example, host down) via email. You can also define additional commands and add it to this directive. For example, you can define your own notify-host-by-sms command.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2. Define Individual Contacts in contacts.cfg<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
One you\u2019ve confirmed that the generic-contact templates is defined properly, you can start defining individual contacts definition for all the people in your organization who would ever receive any notifications from nagios. Please note that just by defining a contact doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019ll get notification. Later you have to associate this contact to either a service or host definition as shown in the later sections below. So, feel free to define all possible contacts here. (for example, Developers, DBAs, Sysadmins, IT-Manager, Customer Service Manager, Top Management etc.)
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note:<\/strong> Define these contacts in \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/contacts.cfg\ndefine contact{\n contact_name sgupta\n use generic-contact\n alias Sanjay Gupta (Developer)\n email sgupta@thegeekstuff.com\n pager 333-333@pager.thegeekstuff.com\n }\ndefine contact{\n contact_name jbourne\n use generic-contact\n alias Jason Bourne (Sysadmin)\n email jbourne@thegeekstuff.com\n }<\/pre>\n\n\n\n3. Define Contact Groups with Multiple Contacts in contacts.cfg<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Once you\u2019ve defined the individual contacts, you can also group them together to send the appropriate notifications. For example, only DBAs needs to be notified about the database down service definition. So, a db-admins group may be required. Also, may be only Unix system administrators needs to be notified when Apache goes down. So, a unix-admins group may be required. Feel free to define as many groups as you think is required. Later you can use these groups in the individual service and host definitions.
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note<\/strong>: Define contact groups in \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/contacts.cfg\n\ndefine contactgroup{\ncontactgroup_name db-admins\n<\/strong>alias Database Administrators\nmembers jsmith, jdoe, mraj\n}\n\ndefine contactgroup{\ncontactgroup_name unix-admins<\/strong>\nalias Linux System Administrator\nmembers jbourne, dpatel, mshankar\n}<\/pre>\n\n\n\n4. Attach Contact Groups or Individual Contacts to Service and Host Definitions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Once you\u2019ve defined the individual contacts and contact groups, it is time to start attaching them to a specific host or service definition as shown below.
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note<\/strong>: Following host is defined under\n \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/servers\/email-server.cfg.\n This can be any host definition file.\n\ndefine host{\nuse linux-server\nhost_name email-server\nalias Corporate Email Server\naddress 192.168.1.14\ncontact_groups unix-admins<\/strong>\n}\n\nNote<\/strong>: Following is defined under\n \/usr\/local\/nagios\/etc\/objects\/servers\/db-server.cfg.\n This can be any host definition file.\n\ndefine service{\nuse generic-service\nhost_name prod-db\nservice_description CPU Load\ncontact_groups unix-admins<\/strong>\ncheck_command check_nrpe!check_load\n}\n\ndefine service{\nuse generic-service\nhost_name prod-db\nservice_description MySQL Database Status\ncontact_groups db-admins<\/strong>\ncheck_command check_mysql_db\n}<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1. Define Generic Contact Template in templates.cfg Nagios installation gives a default generic contact template that can be used as a reference to build your contacts. Please note that all the directives mentioned in the generic-contact template below are mandatory. … Continue reading