The document outlines the new features in Nagios XI 2012, highlighting advancements in configuration management, reporting, and user interface improvements. Key updates include Nagios Business Process Intelligence (BPI) v2, bulk modification tools, escalation wizards, and enhanced notification settings management. Additional components like data visualization tools and scheduled reporting further enhance the functionality and usability of Nagios XI.

1. Nagios XI 2012
Mike Guthrie
Email: mguthrie@nagios.com
Twitter: mguthrie88
Projects: http://exchange.nagios.org/directory/Owner/mguthrie/1

2. New Feature Highlights
Improved Configuration Management
Nagios Business Process Intellgence (BPI) v2
Scheduled Reporting
Bandwidth Usage Report
Bulk Configuration Modifications
Escalation Wizard
Notification Settings Deployment
Bulk Renaming
Capacity Planning
Audit Logging
2012 2

3. Nagios CCM (Core Config Manager)
Based on the NagiosQL project
Front-end completely rebuilt
UI more responsive. Better performance
Improved feedback and usability
Easier learning curve
Object->group and Group->object relationships visible
Test services commands from the UI
View Plugin Documentation from the UI
Search feature on all pages
Static Configurations can be managed from the UI
2012 3

4. Nagios CCM (Core Config Manager)
2012 4

5. Nagios BPI v2
AJAX based updates refresh the data without a page reload.
Uses DB backend for faster performance.
BPI Groups can be automatically generated and synced with
existing host groups and service groups.
Improved permissions scheme. Only Admins can modify groups.
Nagios contact permissions honored.
Sort by problem “weight” for a quicker drill-down.
Group states now determined be health percentage instead of
problem counts.
Optionally account for “handled” problems.
More information in checks as to why a group is in a problem state.
Cached data for huge performance improvement with BPI checks.
2012 5

6. Nagios BPI v2
2012 6

7. New Reporting Highlights
Scheduled Reporting - allows regular PDF reports to be emailed.
Executive Summary Report – Combines Availability, Top Alert
Producers, Alert Histogram, and Latest Alerts into one report.
Bandwidth Usage – Tracks bandwidth usage on routers and
switches for quarterly, monthly, and daily usage.
Audit Logging – Tracks system events, configuration changes,
and user actions in the XI interface
2012 7

8. Capacity Planning Report
Utilize one of several algorithms to create data projections
Calculate dates for expected values, and vice versa
Nick Scott: Advanced Data Analytics For Nagios
2012 8

9. Bulk Modification Tool
Change a single config value for a list of hosts
and/or services
Add a contact or contact group to a list of
hosts/services
Remove contact or contact group from a list of
hosts/services
This tool should not replace templating or proven
tricks for large configuration management like
service->hostgroup relationships.
Handy tool to use with XI config wizards
2012 9

10. Bulk Modification Tool
2012 10

11. Notification Settings Management
Customize notification messages, settings, and
timeperiods and deploy them to users and/or
contact groups
Lock notification settings for non-administrative
users
Reset the default notification settings for all users
Create and save templates for notification
settings
Requires XI users to have valid notification
settings to deploy successfully
2012 11

12. Notification Settings Management
2012 12

13. Bulk Renaming Tool
Rename hosts or services while retaining historical data.
2012 13

14. Escalation Wizard
Creates escalation chains for a selection of hosts or
services
The challenges of this wizard:
Creating a configuration that will always pass verification,
particularly for service escalations.
Services can be assigned to 1 host, many hosts, or hostgroups.
The ideal wizard will look completely different for users who
utilize single host->service definitions, vs service->hostgroup
definitions.
Pair an escalation definition with a CCM “Config Name”
and “Service Description”.
Creates more escalation definitions, but configs will
always work, and bulk creation is still maintained.
2012 14

15. Escalation Wizard
2012 15

16. Additional Components with 2012
Actions – custom host/service actions
Nagios Operations Center (NOC Screen)
Metrics- compares similar metrics
Mass Acknowledgment- handle problems in bulk
Latest Alerts – Summarized alert table
BBMap – Data visualization for status
Minemap – Data visualization for status
Hypermap – Interactive status map
Autodiscovery – scan subnets, export lists
Alert Heatmap – Data visualization for alerts
2012 16