Tracking Boeing Satellites With Nagios - Learn how Nagios Core redefined support of the on-orbit fleet of Boeing satellites and changed the way Mission Operations are performed with the next generation of satellites.

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Nagios Core
From Terrestrial to Celestial
By Thomas Schmainda
thomas.a.schmainda@boeing.com

2. Copyright © 2015 Boeing. All rights reserved.Copyright © 2015 Boeing. All rights reserved.
• Boeing - Information Technology
– 16 years
– Versatile Technologist
• Satellite Development Center
• Computer Operations Lead
• Satellite Mission Control Center
• Customer Operations Support Center
• Supported 44 Spacecraft to date
Introduction

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• Terrestrial
– Mission Control Center
• 10 years + monitoring mission critical environment
with Nagios
• Celestial
– Customer Operations Support Center
• Monitoring On-orbit spacecraft (Satellites)
Terrestrial to Celestial

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Agenda
• What is a Satellite
• Why monitor a Satellite
• How to monitor a Satellite
• Guiding Principles

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What is a Satellite?
?

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“A satellite is a moon, planet or machine that
orbits a planet or star. For example, Earth is a
satellite because it orbits the sun. Likewise,
the moon is a satellite because it orbits Earth.
Usually, the word "satellite" refers to a
machine that is launched into space and
moves around Earth or another body in
space.” - NASA

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702HP-GEM
702HP
702MP
702SP
502

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Technical Specifications
702HP
Year of introduction
Payload Mass
Power
1997
600 to1620 kilograms
> 12 kilowatts
First Launch
Spacecraft Mass at launch
1999
5400 to 5900 kilograms
702MP
Year of introduction
Payload Mass
Power
2009
300 to 650 kilograms
6 to 12 kilowatts
First Launch
Spacecraft Mass at launch
2012
5800 to 6100 kilograms
702SP
Year of introduction
Payload Mass
Power
2012
200 to 680 kilograms
3 to 8 kilowatts
First Launch
Spacecraft Mass at launch
2015
1500 to 2000 kilograms
702HP-GEM
Year of introduction
Payload Mass
Power
1997
1250 to 1480 kilograms
8 to 10 kilowatts
First Launch
Spacecraft Mass at launch
2000
1500 to 2000 kilograms

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Heavens Above
GeostationaryGeostationaryGeostationaryGeostationary
35,78635,78635,78635,786 km (22,236km (22,236km (22,236km (22,236 mi) above sea levelmi) above sea levelmi) above sea levelmi) above sea level

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Why Monitor A Satellite with Nagios?
• Our support model and operational concepts changed
– Satellite Operators requested better support
– Longer mission durations changed mission operations
• Advanced Satellite Control System does not have
monitoring and notification capability
• Our support model and operational concepts changed
– Satellite Operators requested better support
– Longer mission durations changed mission operations
• Advanced Satellite Control System does not have
monitoring and notification capability

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• You need the following
– A satellite
– Telemetry
– An application to process telemetry
– An application to monitor and notify
How to monitor a satellite

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“Telemetry is the highly automated communications process by
which measurements are made and other data collected at
remote or inaccessible points and transmitted to receiving
equipment for monitoring.” - Wikipedia Copyright © 2015 Boeing. All rights reserved.

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ASCSASCSASCSASCS
Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)
Boeing’s Advanced Satellite Controls System (ASCS)
decommutates telemetry into engineering (human
readable) values
Local check routine
Subscribes to ASCS message bus
Converts the data into Nagios plugin API compatible
data
Submits a passive service check to the Nagios external
command file as required
Copyright © 2015 Boeing. All rights reserved.

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MK
Livestatus
Nagios (Global)Nagios (Global)Nagios (Global)Nagios (Global)
Check_MKCheck_MKCheck_MKCheck_MK MultisiteMultisiteMultisiteMultisite
The “global” Nagios server aggregates data from the
“spacecraft” Nagios instance running on the ASCS
server
MK Livestatus provides the query language
Check_MK Multisite provides the aggregate view
ASCSASCSASCSASCS
Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)
Copyright © 2015 Boeing. All rights reserved.

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MK
Livestatus
Nagios (Global)Nagios (Global)Nagios (Global)Nagios (Global)
Check_MKCheck_MKCheck_MKCheck_MK MultisiteMultisiteMultisiteMultisite
On-orbit fleet monitoring
ASCSASCSASCSASCS
Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)Nagios (Spacecraft)
Copyright © 2015 Boeing. All rights reserved.

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• Deployed an instance of Nagios per spacecraft
– Currently monitoring 17 on-orbit spacecraft and growing
• Passive service checks using the external command file
– Service checks can range from 8,000 to 20,000 per spacecraft
• Check_MK Multisite used for aggregate view
– Total number of services checked just over 221,000
• MK Livestatus used to access status data and by Multisite
• Operating systems: Fedora & Solaris (ASCS)
Details

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What’s Next
• 702SP
– All Electric
– Long assent duration
– Short contact windows
– Nagios event handler

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Guiding Principles
• “Do One Thing and Do It Well”
– Nagios and ASCS on their own each do one thing well
– Combined they create a whole new set of capabilities
• Keep it simple
• Make it modular
• Solaris+Open Source – Don’t try this at home or anywhere
• JSON everywhere

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Thank you!
Any Questions?

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