Icinga 2 provides many new features compared to Icinga 1 including Icinga Web 2, modules that can be enabled or disabled, new programming language features like constants and operators, improved time granularity, templates to reduce typing, flexible commands, and powerful apply and tag features to selectively configure hosts and services. It also supports new notification methods, distributed monitoring zones, and the monitoring-plugins package.

1. What’s new in Icinga 2?
Random notes from migration 600+ hosts
from Icinga 1 to 2
Věroš Kaplan
@verosk
http://inuits.eu/
http://veroskaplan.cz/

2. Initial state
- 400+ stores
- grouped into 13 regions
- each with own Mikrotik router
- each with own server (Dell || HP)
- list in .CSV
- backend servers in HQ
- Windows
- Linux

3. Icinga Web 2 (the reason)

4. Playground
Vagrant VM
http://docs.icinga.org/icinga2/latest/doc/module/icinga2/chapter/getting-started#vagrant

5. Modules & features
icinga2 feature enable
icinga2 feature disable
IDOUtils
graphite
classic-web (CGIs)
…
… use only what you need

6. Yet another
New programming language
Types
- lists, strings, numbers, ...
- operators
Rules
VIM syntax highlighting
https://github.com/Icinga/icinga2/tree/master/tools/syntax/vim
… you are screwed without syntax highlighting

7. Include
include <magic_file>
include “not_so_magic_file”
include “lot_of_files/*.conf”
include_recursive “directory”
// only *.conf

8. Constants (resources)
/etc/icinga2/constants.conf
/* check_be_ssh_identity */
const CheckBySshIdentity = "/etc/icinga2/ssh/icinga2"
/* Check By SSH prefix */
const CheckBySsh = "/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_by_ssh"
/* Socksify binary */
const Socksify = "/usr/bin/socksify"
… monitoring with check_by_ssh made easier.

9. Operators
http://docs.icinga.
org/icinga2/latest/doc/module/icinga2/chapter/c
onfiguring-icinga2#expression-operators
display_name = Icinga2Daemon + “ rocks”
… compose complex service definitions easily

10. Time granularity
define service “is_it_friday” {
check_interval = 1h
retry_interval = 30m
...
}
check_interval = 1min
retry_check_interval
… 30 seconds check_interval possible

11. Templates
template Host “Foo-Bar” {
some_definition
}
object Host “Foo-Bar-Praha” {
import “Foo-Bar”
}
… less typing

12. Commands
define CheckCommand “ssh” { … }
define NotificationCommand “hipchat” { … }
define EventCommand “ipmi-restart” { … }

13. Define command
define command “check” {
command = [ … “/check_ping” ]
args = {
“-H” = host.address
“-w” = host.vars.warn_timeout
...
}
}

15. Tag & apply
define host “random-server” {
vars.location = ‘prague”
}
happly Service “foo” {
...
assign where (host.vars.location == ‘prague’)
}
… tag machines before and apply services later

16. Apply (more selectively)
apply Service “check_disk_c_nrpe” {
… define_test ...
assign where ((host.vars.has_disk_c)
&& (hosts.vars.is_windows))
}

17. Apply (even more selectively)
apply Service “check_system_load” {
… define_test ...
assign where (host.vars.is_mikrotik)
assign where (host.vars.is_linux)
ignore where (host.vars.is_degraded)
}

18. structured vars …
object Host "core-switch" {
import "generic-host"
address = "127.0.0.1"
vars.interfaces["0"] = {
port = 1
vlan = "internal"
address = "127.0.0.2"
}
}

19. for Loops
apply Service for (portid => config in host.vars.interfaces) {
import "generic-service"
check_command = "check_port"
…
}

20. Show processed config?
icinga2 object list
icinga2 object list --type Host

21. Na^H^HMonitoring plugins!
s/nagios-plugins/monitoring-plugins/
Extra opts:
/etc/monitoring-plugins.ini
https://www.monitoring-plugins.org/doc/extra-opts.html

23. Random notes
- new notifications
- first notification by mail
- second notification by SMS

24. Random notes
- distributed monitoring zones / cluster / zones
- Icinga Web 2 (again)

25. EOF