Tuning in with Hobbit, Nagios, and monit
FREE MONITOR
Open source tools such as Hobbit, Nagios, and monit provide system monitoring for large or small networks.
If you look after more than one computer, eventually you’ll realize you could benefit from some form of automatic monitoring – certainly after someone surprises you with the announcement that a system you are responsible for just crashed. In addition to reducing the response time for a downed system, system monitoring can also help you identify problems in advance – before the situation becomes an emergency. Even if you only have one computer, advanced notification that your disks are getting full or that sshd is down can save considerable time and stress.
If you have a specific service or situation you want to monitor, you could, of course, brew your own custom monitoring script and trigger it with cron. However, you really do not need to go reinventing wheels when several open source applications will handle the job for you. In this article, I look at three of the main contenders – Hobbit, Nagios, and monit. All are open source and freely available. All have good points and limitations. The ideal solution depends on your network, your experience, and your needs.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 Released
Notify your friends, loved ones, and colleagues that the latest version of RHEL is available with plenty of enhancements.
-
Linux Sees Massive Performance Increase from a Single Line of Code
With one line of code, Intel was able to increase the performance of the Linux kernel by 4,000 percent.
-
Fedora KDE Approved as an Official Spin
If you prefer the Plasma desktop environment and the Fedora distribution, you're in luck because there's now an official spin that is listed on the same level as the Fedora Workstation edition.
-
New Steam Client Ups the Ante for Linux
The latest release from Steam has some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve.
-
Gnome OS Transitioning Toward a General-Purpose Distro
If you're looking for the perfectly vanilla take on the Gnome desktop, Gnome OS might be for you.
-
Fedora 41 Released with New Features
If you're a Fedora fan or just looking for a Linux distribution to help you migrate from Windows, Fedora 41 might be just the ticket.
-
AlmaLinux OS Kitten 10 Gives Power Users a Sneak Preview
If you're looking to kick the tires of AlmaLinux's upstream version, the developers have a purrfect solution.
-
Gnome 47.1 Released with a Few Fixes
The latest release of the Gnome desktop is all about fixing a few nagging issues and not about bringing new features into the mix.
-
System76 Unveils an Ampere-Powered Thelio Desktop
If you're looking for a new desktop system for developing autonomous driving and software-defined vehicle solutions. System76 has you covered.
-
VirtualBox 7.1.4 Includes Initial Support for Linux kernel 6.12
The latest version of VirtualBox has arrived and it not only adds initial support for kernel 6.12 but another feature that will make using the virtual machine tool much easier.