Icinga is an open-source monitoring system which checks the availability of network resources, notifies users of outages, and generates performance data for reporting. It was originally forked from the Nagios project in 2009 due to differences in development direction and governance.
History and Development
The creation of Icinga was spurred by dissatisfaction among contributors to Nagios regarding the project's management and direction. Key developers forked Nagios and founded Icinga to foster a community-driven approach with more transparency and a focus on modularity and scalability. The name Icinga comes from the Icelandic word for 'frost', reflecting the project's origins in a cold climate.
Since its inception:
- In 2009, Icinga 1.0 was released.
- In 2012, Icinga 2 was introduced, which was a complete rewrite aimed at improving performance, scalability, and ease of use.
- Icinga 2 brought significant changes like the introduction of a configuration language, Icinga DSL, and a REST API.
- In 2018, Icinga Web 2 was released, enhancing the user interface and providing more advanced features for monitoring and visualization.
Key Features
- Scalability: Designed to monitor large environments with hundreds of thousands of hosts and services.
- Modular Architecture: Allows for easy extension with modules like Icinga Business Process, Icinga Director for configuration management, and Icinga DB IDO for database storage.
- API: Provides a REST API for integration with other systems and tools.
- Configuration: Uses a domain-specific language (DSL) for configuration, which simplifies management and reduces errors.
- Notification: Supports multiple notification methods and can integrate with various notification services.
- Reporting: Generates reports on system performance and availability with tools like Icinga Reporting.
Community and Support
Icinga has a vibrant community with:
- Regular releases and patches.
- An active forum for discussion and support.
- Documentation available in multiple languages.
- Commercial support available through Icinga GmbH, which also develops and maintains the core software.
Sources
Related Topics