icinga2/doc/2-getting-started.md

# <a id="getting-started"></a> Getting Started

This tutorial is a step-by-step introduction to installing Icinga 2 and
available Icinga web interfaces. It assumes that you are familiar with
the system you're installing Icinga 2 on.

Details on troubleshooting problems can be found [here](#troubleshooting).

## <a id="setting-up-icinga2"></a> Setting up Icinga 2

First of all you will have to install Icinga 2. The preferred way of doing this
is to use the official Debian or RPM package repositories depending on which
operating system and distribution you are running.

  Distribution            | Repository URL
  ------------------------|---------------------------
  Debian                  | http://packages.icinga.org/debian/
  Ubuntu                  | http://packages.icinga.org/ubuntu/
  RHEL/CentOS             | http://packages.icinga.org/epel/
  OpenSUSE                | http://packages.icinga.org/openSUSE/
  SLES                    | http://packages.icinga.org/SUSE/

Packages for distributions other than the ones listed above may also be
available. Please check http://packages.icinga.org/ to see if packages
are available for your favourite distribution.

The packages for RHEL/CentOS 5 depend on other packages which are distributed
as part of the [EPEL repository](http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL). Please
make sure to enable this repository.

You can install Icinga 2 by using your distribution's package manager
to install the `icinga2` package.

On RHEL/CentOS and SLES you will need to use `chkconfig` to enable the
`icinga2` service. You can manually start Icinga 2 using `/etc/init.d/icinga2 start`.

Some parts of Icinga 2's functionality are available as separate packages:

  Name                    | Description
  ------------------------|--------------------------------
  icinga2-ido-mysql       | IDO provider module for MySQL
  icinga2-ido-pgsql       | IDO provider module for PostgreSQL

In case you're running a distribution for which Icinga 2 packages are
not yet available you will have to use the release tarball which you
can download from the [Icinga website](https://www.icinga.org/). The
release tarballs contain an `INSTALL` file with further instructions.


### <a id="installation-paths"></a> Installation Paths

By default Icinga 2 uses the following files and directories:

  Path                                | Description
  ------------------------------------|------------------------------------
  /etc/icinga2                        | Contains Icinga 2 configuration files.
  /etc/init.d/icinga2                 | The Icinga 2 init script.
  /usr/bin/icinga2-*                  | Migration and certificate build scripts.
  /usr/sbin/icinga2*                  | The Icinga 2 binary and feature enable/disable scripts.
  /usr/share/doc/icinga2              | Documentation files that come with Icinga 2.
  /usr/share/icinga2/include          | The Icinga Template Library and plugin command configuration.
  /var/run/icinga2                    | PID file.
  /var/run/icinga2/cmd                | Command pipe and Livestatus socket.
  /var/cache/icinga2                  | status.dat/objects.cache.
  /var/spool/icinga2                  | Used for performance data spool files.
  /var/lib/icinga2                    | Icinga 2 state file, cluster feature replay log and configuration files.
  /var/log/icinga2                    | Log file location and compat/ directory for the CompatLogger feature.

### <a id="icinga2-conf"></a> icinga2.conf

An example configuration file is installed for you in `/etc/icinga2/icinga2.conf`.

Here's a brief description of the example configuration:

    /**
     * Icinga 2 configuration file
     * - this is where you define settings for the Icinga application including
     * which hosts/services to check.
     *
     * For an overview of all available configuration options please refer
     * to the documentation that is distributed as part of Icinga 2.
     */

Icinga 2 supports [C/C++-style comments](#comments).

    /**
     * The constants.conf defines global constants.
     */
    include "constants.conf"

The `include` directive can be used to include other files.

    /**
     * The zones.conf defines zones for a cluster setup.
     * Not required for single instance setups.
     */
     include "zones.conf"

    /**
     * The Icinga Template Library (ITL) provides a number of useful templates
     * and command definitions.
     * Common monitoring plugin command definitions are included separately.
     */
    include <itl>
    include <plugins>

    /**
     * The features-available directory contains a number of configuration
     * files for features which can be enabled and disabled using the
     * icinga2-enable-feature / icinga2-disable-feature tools. These two tools work by creating
     * and removing symbolic links in the features-enabled directory.
     */
    include "features-enabled/*.conf"

This `include` directive takes care of including the configuration files for all
the features which have been enabled with `icinga2-enable-feature`. See
[Enabling/Disabling Features](#features) for more details.

    /**
     * Although in theory you could define all your objects in this file
     * the preferred way is to create separate directories and files in the conf.d
     * directory. Each of these files must have the file extension ".conf".
     */
    include_recursive "conf.d"

You can put your own configuration files in the `conf.d` directory. This
directive makes sure that all of your own configuration files are included.

### <a id="constants-conf"></a> constants.conf

The `constants.conf` configuration file can be used to define global constants:

    /**
     * This file defines global constants which can be used in
     * the other configuration files.
     */

    /* The directory which contains the plugins from the Monitoring Plugins project. */
    const PluginDir = "/usr/lib/nagios/plugins"

    /* Our local instance name. This should be the common name from the API certificate */
    const NodeName = "localhost"

    /* Our local zone name. */
    const ZoneName = NodeName

### <a id="zones-conf"></a> zones.conf

The `zones.conf` configuration file can be used to configure `Endpoint` and `Zone` objects
required for a [distributed zone setup](#distributed-monitoring-high-availability). By default
a local dummy zone is defined based on the `NodeName` constant defined in
[constants.conf](#constants-conf).

> **Note**
>
> Not required for single instance installations.


### <a id="localhost-conf"></a> localhost.conf

The `conf.d/localhost.conf` file contains our first host definition:

    /**
     * A host definition. You can create your own configuration files
     * in the conf.d directory (e.g. one per host). By default all *.conf
     * files in this directory are included.
     */

    object Host "localhost" {
      import "generic-host"

      address = "127.0.0.1"
      address6 = "::1"

      vars.os = "Linux"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

This defines the host `localhost`. The `import` keyword is used to import
the `linux-server` template which takes care of setting up the host check
command.

The `vars` attribute can be used to define custom attributes which are available
for check and notification commands. Most of the templates in the Icinga
Template Library require an `address` attribute.

The custom attribute `os` is evaluated by the `linux-servers` group in
`groups.conf `making the host `localhost` a member.

    object HostGroup "linux-servers" {
      display_name = "Linux Servers"

      assign where host.vars.os == "Linux"
    }

A host notification apply rule in `notifications.conf` checks for the custom
attribute `sla` being set to `24x7` automatically applying a host notification.

    /**
     * The example notification apply rules.
     *
     * Only applied if host/service objects have
     * the custom attribute `sla` set to `24x7`.
     */

    apply Notification "mail-icingaadmin" to Host {
      import "mail-host-notification"

      user_groups = [ "icingaadmins" ]

      assign where host.vars.sla == "24x7"
    }

Now it's time to define services for the host object. Because these checks
are only available for the `localhost` host, they are organized below
`hosts/localhost/`.

> **Tip**
>
> The directory tree and file organisation is just an example. You are
> free to define your own strategy. Just keep in mind to include the
> main directories in the [icinga2.conf](#icinga2-conf) file.

    object Service "disk" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "disk"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

    object Service "http" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "http"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

    object Service "load" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "load"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

    object Service "procs" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "procs"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

    object Service "ssh" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "ssh"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

    object Service "swap" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "swap"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

    object Service "users" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "users"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

    object Service "icinga" {
      import "generic-service"

      host_name = "localhost"
      check_command = "icinga"
      vars.sla = "24x7"
    }

The command object `icinga` for the embedded health check is provided by the
[Icinga Template Library (ITL)](#itl) while `http_ip`, `ssh`, `load`, `processes`,
`users` and `disk` are all provided by the plugin check commands which we enabled
earlier by including the `itl` and `plugins` configuration file.

The Debian packages also ship an additional `apt` service check.

> **Best Practice**
>
> Instead of defining each service object and assigning it to a host object
> using the `host_name` attribute rather use the [apply rules](#apply)
> simplifying your configuration.

There are two generic services applied to all hosts in the host group `linux-servers`
and `windows-servers` by default: `ping4` and `ping6`. Host objects without
a valid `address` resp. `address6` attribute will be excluded.

    apply Service "ping4" {
      import "generic-service"

      check_command = "ping4"
      vars.sla = "24x7"

      assign where "linux-servers" in host.groups
      assign where "windows-servers" in host.groups
      ignore where host.address == ""
    }

    apply Service "ping6" {
      import "generic-service"

      check_command = "ping6"
      vars.sla = "24x7"

      assign where "linux-servers" in host.groups
      assign where "windows-servers" in host.groups
      ignore where host.address6 == ""
    }

Each of these services has the custom attribute `sla` set to `24x7`. The
notification apply rule in `notifications.conf` will automatically apply
a service notification matchting this attribute pattern.

    apply Notification "mail-icingaadmin" to Service {
      import "mail-service-notification"

      user_groups = [ "icingaadmins" ]

      assign where service.vars.sla == "24x7"
    }

Don't forget to install the [check plugins](#setting-up-check-plugins) required by the services and
their check commands.

Further details on the monitoring configuration can be found in the
[monitoring basics](#monitoring-basics) chapter.

## <a id="setting-up-check-plugins"></a> Setting up Check Plugins

On its own Icinga 2 does not know how to check external services. The
[Monitoring Plugins Project](https://www.monitoring-plugins.org/) provides
an extensive set of plugins which can be used with Icinga 2 to check whether
services are working properly.

The recommended way of installing these standard plugins is to use your
distribution's package manager.

> **Note**
>
> The `Nagios Plugins` project was renamed to `Monitoring Plugins`
> in January 2014. At the time of this writing the packages are still
> using the old name.

For your convenience here is a list of package names for some of the more
popular operating systems/distributions:

OS/Distribution        | Package Name       | Installation Path
-----------------------|--------------------|---------------------------
RHEL/CentOS (EPEL)     | nagios-plugins-all | /usr/lib/nagios/plugins or /usr/lib64/nagios/plugins
Debian                 | nagios-plugins     | /usr/lib/nagios/plugins
FreeBSD                | nagios-plugins     | /usr/local/libexec/nagios
OS X (MacPorts)        | nagios-plugins     | /opt/local/libexec

Depending on which directory your plugins are installed into you may need to
update the global `PluginDir` constant in your Icinga 2 configuration. This macro is used
by the service templates contained in the Icinga Template Library to determine
where to find the plugin binaries.

### <a id="integrate-additional-plugins"></a> Integrate Additional Plugins

For some services you may need additional check plugins which are not provided
by the official Monitoring Plugins project.

All existing Nagios or Icinga 1.x plugins should work with Icinga 2. Here's a
list of popular community sites which host check plugins:

* [MonitoringExchange](https://www.monitoringexchange.org)
* [Icinga Wiki](https://wiki.icinga.org)

The recommended way of setting up these plugins is to copy them to a common directory
and create an extra global constant, e.g. `CustomPluginDir` in your `constants.conf`
configuration file:

    # cp check_snmp_int.pl /opt/plugins
    # chmod +x /opt/plugins/check_snmp_int.pl

    # cat /etc/icinga2/constants.conf
    /**
     * This file defines global constants which can be used in
     * the other configuration files. At a minimum the
     * PluginDir constant should be defined.
     */

    const PluginDir = "/usr/lib/nagios/plugins"
    const CustomPluginDir = "/opt/monitoring"

Prior to using the check plugin with Icinga 2 you should ensure that it is working properly
by trying to run it on the console using whichever user Icinga 2 is running as:

    # su - icinga -s /bin/bash
    $ /opt/plugins/check_snmp_int.pl --help

Additional libraries may be required for some plugins. Please consult the plugin
documentation and/or README for installation instructions.

Each plugin requires a [CheckCommand](#objecttype-checkcommand) object in your
configuration which can be used in the [Service](#objecttype-service) or
[Host](#objecttype-host) object definition. Examples for `CheckCommand`
objects can be found in the [Plugin Check Commands](#plugin-check-commands) shipped
with Icinga 2.
For further information on your monitoring configuration read the
[monitoring basics](#monitoring-basics).


## <a id="configuring-ido"></a> Configuring IDO

The IDO (Icinga Data Output) modules for Icinga 2 take care of exporting all
configuration and status information into a database. The IDO database is used
by a number of projects including Icinga Web.

There is a separate module for each database back-end. At present support for
both MySQL and PostgreSQL is implemented.

Icinga 2 uses the Icinga 1.x IDOUtils database schema starting with version
`1.11.0`. Icinga 2 may require additional features not yet released with
Icinga 1.x and therefore require manual upgrade steps during pre-final
milestone releases.

> **Tip**
>
> Only install the IDO feature if your web interface or reporting tool requires
> you to do so (for example, [Icinga Web](#setting-up-icinga-web) or [Icinga Web 2](#setting-up-icingaweb2)).
> [Icinga Classic UI](#setting-up-icinga-classic-ui) does not use IDO as backend.

### <a id="configuring-ido-mysql"></a> Configuring IDO MySQL

#### <a id="setting-up-mysql-db"></a> Setting up the MySQL database

First of all you have to install the `icinga2-ido-mysql` package using your
distribution's package manager. Once you have done that you can proceed with
setting up a MySQL database for Icinga 2:

> **Note**
>
> The Debian packages can optionally create and maintain the database for you
> using Debian's `dbconfig` framework. This is the recommended way of setting up
> the database.

    # mysql -u root -p

    mysql>  CREATE DATABASE icinga;

    mysql>  GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DROP, CREATE VIEW, INDEX, EXECUTE ON icinga.* TO 'icinga'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'icinga';

    mysql> quit


After creating the database you can import the Icinga 2 IDO schema using the
following command:

    # mysql -u root -p icinga < /usr/share/doc/icinga2-ido-mysql-*/schema/mysql.sql

The Icinga 2 RPM packages install the schema files into
`/usr/share/doc/icinga2-ido-mysql-*/schema` (`*` means package version).

On SuSE-based distributions the schema files are installed in
`/usr/share/doc/packages/icinga2-ido-mysql/schema`.

The Debian/Ubuntu packages put the schema files into
`/usr/share/icinga2-ido-mysql/schema`.

#### <a id="upgrading-mysql-db"></a> Upgrading the MySQL database

Check the `schema/upgrade` directory for an incremental schema upgrade file.
If there isn't an upgrade file available there's nothing to do.

> **Note**
>
> During pre release status (0.x.y releases) small snippets called for example
> `0.0.10.sql` will ship the required schema updates.

Apply all database schema upgrade files incrementially.

    # mysql -u root -p icinga < /usr/share/doc/icinga2-ido-mysql-*/schema/upgrade/0.0.10.sql

The Icinga 2 IDO module will check for the required database schema version on startup
and generate an error message if not satisfied.

#### <a id="installing-ido-mysql"></a> Installing the IDO MySQL module

The package provides a new configuration file that is installed in
`/etc/icinga2/features-available/ido-mysql.conf`. You will need to update the
database credentials in this file.

You can enable the `ido-mysql` feature configuration file using `icinga2-enable-feature`:

    # icinga2-enable-feature ido-mysql
    Module 'ido-mysql' was enabled.
    Make sure to restart Icinga 2 for these changes to take effect.

After enabling the ido-mysql feature you have to restart Icinga 2:

    # /etc/init.d/icinga2 restart


### <a id="configuring-ido-postgresql"></a> Configuring IDO PostgreSQL

#### Setting up the PostgreSQL database

First of all you have to install the `icinga2-ido-pgsql` package using your
distribution's package manager. Once you have done that you can proceed with
setting up a PostgreSQL database for Icinga 2:

> **Note**
>
> The Debian packages can optionally create and maintain the database for you
> using Debian's `dbconfig` framework. This is the recommended way of setting up
> the database.

    # cd /tmp
    # sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE ROLE icinga WITH LOGIN PASSWORD 'icinga'";
    # sudo -u postgres createdb -O icinga -E UTF8 icinga
    # sudo -u postgres createlang plpgsql icinga

Locate your pg_hba.conf (Debian: `/etc/postgresql/*/main/pg_hba.conf`,
RHEL/SUSE: `/var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf`), add the icinga user with md5
authentication method and restart the postgresql server.

    # vim /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf

    # icinga
    local   icinga      icinga                            md5
    host    icinga      icinga      127.0.0.1/32          md5
    host    icinga      icinga      ::1/128               md5

    # "local" is for Unix domain socket connections only
    local   all         all                               ident
    # IPv4 local connections:
    host    all         all         127.0.0.1/32          ident
    # IPv6 local connections:
    host    all         all         ::1/128               ident

    # /etc/init.d/postgresql restart


After creating the database and permissions you can import the Icinga 2 IDO schema
using the following command:

    # export PGPASSWORD=icinga
    # psql -U icinga -d icinga < /usr/share/doc/icinga2-ido-pgsql-*/schema/pgsql.sql

The Icinga 2 RPM packages install the schema files into
`/usr/share/doc/icinga2-ido-pgsql-*/schema` (`*` means package version).

On SuSE-based distributions the schema files are installed in
`/usr/share/doc/packages/icinga2-ido-pgsql/schema`.

The Debian/Ubuntu packages put the schema files into
`/usr/share/icinga2-ido-pgsql/schema`.

#### <a id="upgrading-postgresql-db"></a> Upgrading the PostgreSQL database

Check the `schema/upgrade` directory for an incremental schema upgrade file.
If there isn't an upgrade file available there's nothing to do.

> **Note**
>
> During pre release status (0.x.y releases) small snippets called for example
> `0.0.10.sql` will ship the required schema updates.

Apply all database schema upgrade files incrementially.

    # export PGPASSWORD=icinga
    # psql -U icinga -d icinga < /usr/share/doc/icinga2-ido-pgsql-*/schema/upgrade/0.0.10.sql

The Icinga 2 IDO module will check for the required database schema version on startup
and generate an error message if not satisfied.

#### <a id="installing-ido-postgresql"></a> Installing the IDO PostgreSQL module

The package provides a new configuration file that is installed in
`/etc/icinga2/features-available/ido-pgsql.conf`. You will need to update the
database credentials in this file.

You can enable the `ido-pgsql` feature configuration file using `icinga2-enable-feature`:

    # icinga2-enable-feature ido-pgsql
    Module 'ido-pgsql' was enabled.
    Make sure to restart Icinga 2 for these changes to take effect.

After enabling the ido-pgsql feature you have to restart Icinga 2:

    # /etc/init.d/icinga2 restart


## <a id="setting-up-livestatus"></a> Setting up Livestatus

The [MK Livestatus](http://mathias-kettner.de/checkmk_livestatus.html) project
implements a query protocol that lets users query their Icinga instance for
status information. It can also be used to send commands.

> **Tip**
>
> Only install the Livestatus feature if your web interface or addon requires
> you to do so (for example, [Icinga Web 2](#setting-up-icingaweb2)).
> [Icinga Classic UI](#setting-up-icinga-classic-ui) and [Icinga Web](#setting-up-icinga-web)
> do not use Livestatus as backend.

The Livestatus component that is distributed as part of Icinga 2 is a
re-implementation of the Livestatus protocol which is compatible with MK
Livestatus.

Details on the available tables and attributes with Icinga 2 can be found
in the [Livestatus Schema](#schema-livestatus) section.

You can enable Livestatus using icinga2-enable-feature:

    # icinga2-enable-feature livestatus

After that you will have to restart Icinga 2:

    # /etc/init.d/icinga2 restart

By default the Livestatus socket is available in `/var/run/icinga2/cmd/livestatus`.

In order for queries and commands to work you will need to add your query user
(e.g. your web server) to the `icingacmd` group:

    # usermod -a -G icingacmd www-data

The Debian packages use `nagios` as the user and group name. Make sure to change `icingacmd` to
`nagios` if you're using Debian.

Change "www-data" to the user you're using to run queries.

In order to use the historical tables provided by the livestatus feature (for example, the
`log` table) you need to have the `CompatLogger` feature enabled. By default these logs
are expected in `/var/log/icinga2/compat`. A different path can be set using the `compat_log_path`
configuration attribute.

    # icinga2-enable-feature compatlog


## <a id="setting-up-icinga2-user-interfaces"></a> Setting up Icinga 2 User Interfaces

Icinga 2 is compatible to Icinga 1.x user interfaces by providing additional
features required as backends.

Furthermore these interfaces (and somewhere in the future an Icinga 2
exclusive interface) can be used for the newly created `Icinga Web 2`
user interface.

Some interface features will only work in a limited manner due to
[compatibility reasons](#differences-1x-2), other features like the
statusmap parents are available dumping the host dependencies as parents.
Special restrictions are noted specifically in the sections below.

> **Tip**
>
> Choose your preferred interface. There's no need to install [Classic UI](#setting-up-icinga-classic-ui)
> if you prefer [Icinga Web](#setting-up-icinga-web) or [Icinga Web 2](#setting-up-icingaweb2) for example.

### <a id="setting-up-icinga-classic-ui"></a> Setting up Icinga Classic UI

Icinga 2 can write `status.dat` and `objects.cache` files in the format that
is supported by the Icinga 1.x Classic UI. External commands (a.k.a. the
"command pipe") are also supported. It also supports writing Icinga 1.x
log files which are required for the reporting functionality in the Classic UI.

#### <a id="installing-icinga-classic-ui"></a> Installing Icinga Classic UI

The Icinga package repository has both Debian and RPM packages. You can install
the Classic UI using the following packages:

  Distribution  | Packages
  --------------|---------------------
  Debian        | icinga2-classicui
  all others    | icinga2-classicui-config icinga-gui

The Debian packages require additional packages which are provided by the
[Debian Monitoring Project](http://www.debmon.org) repository.

On all distributions other than Debian you may have to restart both your web
server as well as Icinga 2 after installing the Classic UI package.

Verify that your Icinga 1.x Classic UI works by browsing to your Classic
UI installation URL:

  Distribution  | URL                                                                      | Default Login
  --------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
  Debian        | [http://localhost/icinga2-classicui](http://localhost/icinga2-classicui) | asked during installation
  all others    | [http://localhost/icinga](http://localhost/icinga)                       | icingaadmin/icingaadmin

### <a id="setting-up-icinga-web"></a> Setting up Icinga Web

Icinga 2 can write to the same schema supplied by `Icinga IDOUtils 1.x` which
is an explicit requirement to run `Icinga Web` next to the external command pipe.
Therefore you need to setup the [DB IDO feature](#configuring-ido) remarked in the previous sections.

#### <a id="installing-icinga-web"></a> Installing Icinga Web

The Icinga package repository has both Debian and RPM packages. You can install
the Classic UI using the following packages:

  Distribution  | Packages
  --------------|-------------------------------------
  RHEL/SUSE     | icinga-web icinga-web-{mysql,pgsql}
  Debian        | icinga-web

Additionally you need to setup the `icinga_web` database.

The Icinga Web RPM packages install the schema files into
`/usr/share/doc/icinga-web-*/schema` (`*` means package version).
The Icinga Web dist tarball ships the schema files in `etc/schema`.

On SuSE-based distributions the schema files are installed in
`/usr/share/doc/packages/icinga-web/schema`.

Icinga Web requires the IDO feature as database backend using MySQL or PostgreSQL.
Enable that feature, e.g. for MySQL.

    # icinga2-enable-feature ido-mysql

If you've changed your default credentials you may either create a read-only user
or use the credentials defined in the IDO feature for Icinga Web backend configuration.
Edit `databases.xml` accordingly and clear the cache afterwards. Further details can be
found in the [Icinga Web documentation](http://docs.icinga.org/latest/en/icinga-web-config.html).

    # vim /etc/icinga-web/conf.d/databases.xml

    # icinga-web-clearcache

Additionally you need to enable the `command` feature:

    # icinga2-enable-feature command

Then edit the Icinga Web configuration for sending commands in `/etc/icinga-web/conf.d/access.xml`
(RHEL) or `/etc/icinga-web/access.xml` (SUSE) setting the command pipe path
to the default used in Icinga 2. Make sure to clear the cache afterwards.

    # vim /etc/icinga-web/conf.d/access.xml

                <write>
                    <files>
                        <resource name="icinga_pipe">/var/run/icinga2/cmd/icinga.cmd</resource>
                    </files>
                </write>

    # icinga-web-clearcache

Verify that your Icinga 1.x Web works by browsing to your Web installation URL:

  Distribution  | URL                                                         | Default Login
  --------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------
  Debian        | [http://localhost/icinga-web](http://localhost/icinga-web)  | asked during installation
  all others    | [http://localhost/icinga-web](http://localhost/icinga-web)  | root/password


### <a id="setting-up-icingaweb2"></a> Setting up Icinga Web 2

Icinga Web 2 currently supports `status.dat`, `DB IDO`, or `Livestatus` as backends.
Please consult the INSTALL documentation shipped with `Icinga Web 2` for
further instructions.

Icinga Web 2 is still under development. Rather than installing it
yourself you should consider testing it using the available Vagrant
demo VM.


### <a id="additional-visualization"></a> Additional visualization

There are many visualization addons which can be used with Icinga 2.

Some of the more popular ones are PNP, inGraph (graphing performance data),
Graphite, and NagVis (network maps).


## <a id="configuration-tools"></a> Configuration Tools

Well known configuration tools for Icinga 1.x such as [LConf](http://www.netways.de/en/de/produkte/icinga/addons/lconf/),
[NConf](http://www.nconf.org/) or [NagiosQL](http://www.nagiosql.org/)
store their configuration in a custom format in their backends (LDAP or RDBMS).
Currently only LConf 1.4.x supports Icinga 2 configuration export. If you require
your favourite configuration tool to export Icinga 2 configuration, please get in
touch with their developers.

If you're looking for puppet manifests, chef cookbooks, ansible recipes, etc - we're happy
to integrate them upstream, so please get in touch at [https://support.icinga.org](https://support.icinga.org).


## <a id="running-icinga2"></a> Running Icinga 2

### <a id="init-script"></a> Init Script

Icinga 2's init script is installed in `/etc/init.d/icinga2` by default:

    # /etc/init.d/icinga2
    Usage: /etc/init.d/icinga2 {start|stop|restart|reload|checkconfig|status}

  Command             | Description
  --------------------|------------------------
  start               | The `start` action starts the Icinga 2 daemon.
  stop                | The `stop` action stops the Icinga 2 daemon.
  restart             | The `restart` action is a shortcut for running the `stop` action followed by `start`.
  reload              | The `reload` action sends the `HUP` signal to Icinga 2 which causes it to restart. Unlike the `restart` action `reload` does not wait until Icinga 2 has restarted.
  checkconfig         | The `checkconfig` action checks if the `/etc/icinga2/icinga2.conf` configuration file contains any errors.
  status              | The `status` action checks if Icinga 2 is running.

By default the Icinga 2 daemon is running as `icinga` user and group
using the init script. Using Debian packages the user and group are set to `nagios`
for historical reasons.

### <a id="cmdline"></a> Command-line Options

    $ icinga2 --help
    icinga2 - The Icinga 2 network monitoring daemon.

    Supported options:
      --help                show this help message
      -V [ --version ]      show version information
      -l [ --library ] arg  load a library
      -I [ --include ] arg  add include search directory
      -D [ --define] args   define a constant
      -c [ --config ] arg   parse a configuration file
      -C [ --validate ]     exit after validating the configuration
      -x [ --debug ] arg    enable debugging with severity level specified
      -d [ --daemonize ]    detach from the controlling terminal
      -e [ --errorlog ] arg log fatal errors to the specified log file (only works
                            in combination with --daemonize)
      -u [ --user ] arg     user to run Icinga as
      -g [ --group ] arg    group to run Icinga as

    Report bugs at <https://dev.icinga.org/>
    Icinga home page: <http://www.icinga.org/>

#### Libraries

Instead of loading libraries using the [`library` config directive](#library)
you can also use the `--library` command-line option.

#### Constants

[Global constants](#global-constants) can be set using the `--define` command-line option.

#### Config Include Path

When including files you can specify that the include search path should be
checked. You can do this by putting your configuration file name in angle
brackets like this:

    include <test.conf>

This would cause Icinga 2 to search its include path for the configuration file
`test.conf`. By default the installation path for the Icinga Template Library
is the only search directory.

Using the `--include` command-line option additional search directories can be
added.

#### Config Files

Using the `--config` option you can specify one or more configuration files.
Config files are processed in the order they're specified on the command-line.

#### Config Validation

The `--validate` option can be used to check if your configuration files
contain errors. If any errors are found the exit status is 1, otherwise 0
is returned.

### <a id="features"></a> Enabling/Disabling Features

Icinga 2 provides configuration files for some commonly used features. These
are installed in the `/etc/icinga2/features-available` directory and can be
enabled and disabled using the `icinga2-enable-feature` and `icinga2-disable-feature` tools,
respectively.

The `icinga2-enable-feature` tool creates symlinks in the `/etc/icinga2/features-enabled`
directory which is included by default in the example configuration file.

You can view a list of available feature configuration files:

    # icinga2-enable-feature
    Syntax: icinga2-enable-feature <feature>
    Enables the specified feature.

    Available features: statusdata

Using the `icinga2-enable-feature` command you can enable features:

    # icinga2-enable-feature statusdata
    Module 'statusdata' was enabled.
    Make sure to restart Icinga 2 for these changes to take effect.

You can disable features using the `icinga2-disable-feature` command:

    # icinga2-disable-feature statusdata
    Module 'statusdata' was disabled.
    Make sure to restart Icinga 2 for these changes to take effect.

The `icinga2-enable-feature` and `icinga2-disable-feature` commands do not
restart Icinga 2. You will need to restart Icinga 2 using the init script
after enabling or disabling features.

### <a id="config-validation"></a> Configuration Validation

Once you've edited the configuration files make sure to tell Icinga 2 to validate
the configuration changes. Icinga 2 will log any configuration error including
a hint on the file, the line number and the affected configuration line itself.

The following example creates an apply rule without any `assign` condition.

    apply Service "5872-ping4" {
      import "test-generic-service"
      check_command = "ping4"
      //assign where match("5872-*", host.name)
    }

Validate the configuration with the init script option `checkconfig`

    # /etc/init.d/icinga2 checkconfig

or manually passing the `-C` argument:

    # /usr/sbin/icinga2 -c /etc/icinga2/icinga2.conf -C

    [2014-05-22 17:07:25 +0200] <Main Thread> critical/config: Location:
    /etc/icinga2/conf.d/tests/5872.conf(5): }
    /etc/icinga2/conf.d/tests/5872.conf(6):
    /etc/icinga2/conf.d/tests/5872.conf(7): apply Service "5872-ping4" {
                                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    /etc/icinga2/conf.d/tests/5872.conf(8):   import "test-generic-service"
    /etc/icinga2/conf.d/tests/5872.conf(9):   check_command = "ping4"

    Config error: 'apply' is missing 'assign'
    [2014-05-22 17:07:25 +0200] <Main Thread> critical/config: 1 errors, 0 warnings.
    Icinga 2 detected configuration errors.


### <a id="config-change-reload"></a> Reload on Configuration Changes

Everytime you have changed your configuration you should first tell  Icinga 2
to [validate](#config-validation). If there are no validation errors you can
safely reload the Icinga 2 daemon.

    # /etc/init.d/icinga2 reload

> **Note**
>
> The `reload` action will send the `SIGHUP` signal to the Icinga 2 daemon
> which will validate the configuration in a separate process and not stop
> the other events like check execution, notifications, etc.


## <a id="vagrant"></a> Vagrant Demo VM

The Icinga 2 Git repository contains support for [Vagrant](http://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/)
with VirtualBox. Please note that Vagrant version `1.0.x` is not supported. At least
version `1.2.x` is required.

In order to build the Vagrant VM first you will have to check out
the Git repository:

    $ git clone git://git.icinga.org/icinga2.git

Once you have checked out the Git repository you can build the VM using the
following command:

    $ vagrant up

The Vagrant VM is based on CentOS 6.x and uses the official Icinga 2 RPM
packages from `packages.icinga.org`. The check plugins are installed from
EPEL providing RPMs with sources from the Monitoring Plugins project.

### <a id="vagrant-demo-guis"></a> Demo GUIs

In addition to installing Icinga 2 the Vagrant puppet modules also install the
Icinga 1.x Classic UI and Icinga Web.

  GUI             | Url                                                                  | Credentials
  ----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------
  Classic UI      | [http://localhost:8080/icinga](http://localhost:8080/icinga)         | icingaadmin / icingaadmin
  Icinga Web      | [http://localhost:8080/icinga-web](http://localhost:8080/icinga-web) | root / password


### <a id="vagrant-ssh"></a> SSH Access

You can access the Vagrant VM using SSH:

    $ vagrant ssh

Alternatively you can use your favorite SSH client:

  Name            | Value
  ----------------|----------------
  Host            | 127.0.0.1
  Port            | 2222
  Username        | vagrant
  Password        | vagrant