The Cacti Manual

Ian Berry

Tony Roman

Larry Adams

J.P. Pasnak

Jimmy Conner

Reinhard Scheck

   Copyright © 2008 The Cacti Group

   This project is licensed under the terms of the GPL.

   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
   modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
   published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
   the License, or (at your option) any later version.

   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
   GNU General Public License for more details.

   All product names are property of their respective owners. Such
   names are used for identification purposes only and are not
   indicative of endorsement by or of any company, organization,
   product, or platform.
     __________________________________________________________

   Table of Contents
   I. Installation

        1. Requirements
        2. Installing Under Unix

              Required Packages for RPM-based Operating Systems
              Ports for FreeBSD
              Configure PHP
              Configure the Webserver (Apache)
              Configure MySQL
              Install and Configure Cacti
              (Optional) Install and Configure Spine
              Apply Patches

        3. Installing Under Windows
        4. Upgrading Cacti

   II. Basics

        5. Principles of Operation

              Data Retrieval
              Data Storage
              Data Presentation

        6. Graph Overview
        7. How to Graph Your Network

              Creating a Device
              Creating the Graphs

        8. Viewing Graphs

              Graph Trees

        9. User Management

              Editing an existing User
              Creating a New User
              Copying a user
              Enable/Disable Users
              Batch Copy Users
              Delete Users
              Guest (Anonymous) Access

   III. Advanced Topics

        10. Graph a Single SNMP OID
        11. Data Input Methods

              Creating a Data Input Method
              Making Your Scripts Work With Cacti

        12. Data Queries

              Creating a Data Query
              SNMP Query XML Syntax
              Script Query XML Syntax

        13. Templates

              Data Templates
              Graph Templates
              Host Templates
              Import Templates
              Export Templates

        14. PHP Script Server

              Using the Script Server
              Upgrade Steps for the Example HostMib Data Queries
              Migration of Existing PHP Scripts to Script Server
              Testing Your Script in the Script Server

        15. Spine

   IV. Help

        16. How To

              Simplest Method of Going from Script to Graph
                      (Walkthrough)

        17. Frequently Asked Questions

   V. Reference

        18. Variables

              Graph Variables
              Host Variables

        19. RRDTool Specific Features

              GPRINT Presets
              CDEFs

        20. Command Line Scripts

              Rebuild Poller Cache
              Re-Index Hosts
              Empty Poller Output Table
              Reapply Suggested Names to Graphs
              Copy Local Cacti Users
              Add a New Device
              Associate a Data Query to an existing Host
              Associate a Graph Template to an existing Host
              Add a New Graph
              Add Items to a Tree
              Add Graph Permissions

        21. Debugging

              Check Cacti Log File
              Check Basic Data Gathering
              Check cacti's poller
              Check MySQL updating
              Check rrd file updating
              Check rrd file ownership
              Check rrd file numbers
              Check rrdtool graph statement
              Miscellaneous
              RPM Installation?
              Not NaN, but 0 (zero) values?
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 1. Requirements

   Cacti requires that the following software is installed on your
   system.

     * RRDTool 1.0.49 or 1.2.x or greater
     * MySQL 4.1.x or 5.x or greater
     * PHP 4.3.6 or greater, 5.x greater highly recommended for
       advanced features
     * A Web Server e.g. Apache or IIS
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 2. Installing Under Unix

   Please make sure, the following packages are installed
   according to your operating systems requirements. Verify, that
   httpd and mysqld are started at system startup.
     __________________________________________________________

Required Packages for RPM-based Operating Systems

     * httpd
     * php
     * php-mysql
     * php-snmp
     * mysql
     * mysql-server
     * net-snmp
     __________________________________________________________

Ports for FreeBSD

     * www/apache2
     * net/rrdtool
     * net/net-snmp
     * www/php4-cgi
     * lang/php4 (With MySQL and SNMP Support)
     * databases/mysql323-server
     __________________________________________________________

Configure PHP

   Please ensure, that PHP support is either builtin or installed
   for the following PHP extension modules:

     * mysql (For configuration, see note below)
     * SNMP (For configuration, see note below)
     * XML
     * Session
     * Sockets
     * LDAP (Required only when using LDAP authentication)
     * GD (Required only for some Plugins)

   You may run the following command to get the list of all
   available PHP modules
php -m

   Please verify, that the modules are installed and configured
   correctly. There are several ways to do so, please consult PHP
   configuration instructions for a complete description.

   We will continue using the most recommended way of configuring
   php extension modules. Please find the file /etc/php.ini and
   make the following changes to it:
extension_dir = /etc/php.d

   This will enable PHP to find more configuration directives in
   that very directory. Other distros point to
   /usr/lib/php/modules instead. In each case, you should locate
   e.g. mysql.so in that directory.

   Activate the MySQL extension via /etc/php.d/mysql.ini
; Enable mysql extension module
extension=mysql.so

   Activate the SNMP extension via /etc/php.d/snmp.ini
; Enable snmp extension module
extension=snmp.so

   If using PHP 4.3.5 or less include the following line. If using
   4.3.6 or greater, you should remove this line if present.
session.save_path=/tmp

   If you want to allow template importing, uncomment the
   following line:
file_uploads = On
     __________________________________________________________

Configure the Webserver (Apache)

   If you are using Apache 1.3.x, installation of PHP 5 is not
   recommended.

   Please find the file /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf or equivalent
   and make the following changes to it:
# Load config files from the config directory "/etc/httpd/conf.d".
Include conf.d/*.conf

   Now, please locate the PHP configuration file at
   /etc/httpd/conf.d/php.conf

   If using PHP 5, then add the following lines.
# PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language which attempts to make it
# easy for developers to write dynamically generated webpages.
LoadModule php5_module modules/libphp5.so
#
# Cause the PHP interpreter to handle files with a .php extension.
AddHandler php5-script .php
AddType text/html .php
#
# Add index.php to the list of files that will be served as directory
# indexes.
DirectoryIndex index.php
     __________________________________________________________

Configure MySQL

   Set a password for the root user
shell> mysqladmin --user=root password somepassword
shell> mysqladmin --user=root --password reload
     __________________________________________________________

Install and Configure Cacti

    1. Extract the distribution tarball.
shell> tar xzvf cacti-version.tar.gz
    2. Create the MySQL database:
shell> mysqladmin --user=root create cacti
    3. Import the default cacti database:
shell> mysql cacti < cacti.sql
    4. Optional: Create a MySQL username and password for Cacti.
shell> mysql --user=root mysql
mysql> GRANT ALL ON cacti.* TO cactiuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'somepa
ssword';
mysql> flush privileges;
    5. Edit include/config.php and specify the database type,
       name, host, user and password for your Cacti configuration.
$database_type = "mysql";
$database_default = "cacti";
$database_hostname = "localhost";
$database_username = "cactiuser";
$database_password = "cacti";
    6. Set the appropriate permissions on cacti's directories for
       graph/log generation. You should execute these commands
       from inside cacti's directory to change the permissions.
shell> chown -R cactiuser rra/ log/
       (Enter a valid username for cactiuser, this user will also
       be used in the next step for data gathering.)
    7. Add a line to your /etc/crontab file similar to:
*/5 * * * * cactiuser php /var/www/html/cacti/poller.php > /dev/null 2>&
1
       Replace cactiuser with the valid user specified in the
       previous step.
       Replace /var/www/html/cacti/ with your full Cacti path.
    8. Point your web browser to:

     http://your-server/cacti/
       Log in the with a username/password of admin. You will be
       required to change this password immediately. Make sure to
       fill in all of the path variables carefully and correctly
       on the following screen.
     __________________________________________________________

(Optional) Install and Configure Spine

   Spine is a very fast poller engine, written in C. It is an
   optional replacement for cmd.php. If you decide to use it, you
   will have to install it explicitely. It does not come with
   cacti itself.

   The easiest way is to install Spine using rpm or ports. You
   will find packages for Spine at the main cacti site or from
   your distribution.

   To compile Spine, please download it to any location of your
   liking. Then, please issue from the downloaded directory
   following commands
shell>aclocal
shell>libtoolize --force  (glibtoolize --force on Max OS)
shell>autoheader
shell>autoconf
shell>automake
shell>./configure
shell>make
shell>make install

   Assuming, you've managed to install Spine correctly, you will
   have to configure it. The configuration file may be placed in
   the same directory as Spine itself or at /etc/Spine.conf.
DB_Host 127.0.0.1 or hostname (not localhost)
DB_Database     cacti
DB_User         cactiuser
DB_Password     cacti
DB_Port         3306

   All other pre 0.8.6 settings are obsolete.
     __________________________________________________________

Apply Patches

   Please visit the Cacti website at
   http://www.cacti.net/download_patches.php If any patch has been
   released, you will find installation instructions there.

   As an example, please find patch installation instructions for
   cacti 0.8.6j here. Do not apply those patches to recent
   releases!
wget http://www.cacti.net/downloads/patches/0.8.6j/ping_php_version4_snm
pgetnext.patch
wget http://www.cacti.net/downloads/patches/0.8.6j/tree_console_missing_
hosts.patch
wget http://www.cacti.net/downloads/patches/0.8.6j/thumbnail_graphs_not_
working.patch
wget http://www.cacti.net/downloads/patches/0.8.6j/graph_debug_lockup_fi
x.patch
wget http://www.cacti.net/downloads/patches/0.8.6j/snmpwalk_fix.patch
patch -p1 -N < ping_php_version4_snmpgetnext.patch
patch -p1 -N < tree_console_missing_hosts.patch
patch -p1 -N < thumbnail_graphs_not_working.patch
patch -p1 -N < graph_debug_lockup_fix.patch
patch -p1 -N < snmpwalk_fix.patch

   You might need to reapply file/folder security on the files
   patched. Double check they are correct.

   Please pay attention not to break cacti when using SELinux or
   using NTFS file security. If you encounter

   PHP Warning: include_once(./lib/html_tree.php) [<a
   href='function.include-once'>function.include-once</a>]: failed
   to open stream: Permission denied in /var/www/cacti/graphs.php
   on line 33, referer: http://localhost/cacti/graphs.php

   or the like, it is very likely that your permissions are wrong.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 3. Installing Under Windows

   Software Components Required
    1. (Optional) Apache> - This software is optional if running
       Windows Internet Information Server.
    2. Cacti> - Install from the zip distribution and install in
       the web root or your choice. Many choose to install into a
       "Cacti" sub folder.
    3. Spine - Install from the zip distribution into the c:\cacti
       directory. Make sure your spine.conf.dist is located in
       that directory as well.
    4. RRDTool - Install from the Cacti website. Install it into
       the c:\cacti directory.
    5. PHP 4.3.6+ or 5.x - Install into the c:\php folder. If you
       choose to install into c:\Program Files\php, you will have
       to use 8.3 filenames to reference it's binaries in Cacti.
    6. MySQL 4.x or MySQL 5.x - Install into the default location.
       This is typically c:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server X.XX.
    7. (Optional) Cygwin - Download and execute setup.exe from the
       Cygwin website. Keep the setup.exe file for later use.
    8. (Optional) Net-SNMP - Install to the c:\net-snmp directory.
       If you choose to use c:\Program Files\net-snmp you will
       have tu use 8.3 filenames to reference it's binaries in
       Cacti.

   Configure PHP
    1. If using PHP 4, move the files in c:\php\dlls to c:\php
    2. Add the following directory to the existing Windows System
       PATH environment variable: c:\php. The Windows path can be
       accessed via the Control Panel at: System | Advanced |
       Environment Variables | System Variables.
    3. Add the following directory to a new Windows System
       environment variable called PHPRC: c:\php.
    4. Add a new Windows System environment variable called
       MIBDIRS. If using PHP 4, set it to c:\php\mibs. If using
       PHP 5, set it to c:\php\extras\mibs
    5. If using PHP 4.3.5 or less, create the following directory
       c:\tmp.
    6. Rename the file c:\php\php.ini.dist to php.ini, and make
       the following changes to it:
       If using PHP 4 add/uncomment the following lines.
extension_dir = c:\php\extensions
extension=php_snmp.dll
extension=php_sockets.dll
cgi.force_redirect = 0
       If using PHP 5 uncomment the following lines.
extension_dir = c:\php\ext
extension=php_mysql.dll
extension=php_snmp.dll
extension=php_sockets.dll
cgi.force_redirect = 0
       If using PHP 4.3.5 or less include the following line. If
       using 4.3.6 or greater, you should remove this line if
       present.
session.save_path=c:\tmp
    7. In earlier installation guides to PHP, they recommended
       moving certain DLL's to the c:\winnt\system32 directory. If
       so, you will have to remove those files. Please review the
       PHP installation documentation for instructions on removing
       those files.
    8. If you want to allow template importing, uncomment the
       following line:
file_uploads = On
    9. Give the user who will be running the scheduled task,
       modify rights to the .index file in the location pointed to
       by the MIBDIRS Windows System environment variable.

   Configure the Webserver (Apache)
    1. Make sure you have stopped any IIS web servers before you
       proceed with Apache installation, or make sure Apache is
       configured on an alternate port.
    2. If you are using Apache 1.3.x, installation of PHP 5 is not
       recommended. If using PHP 4, add the following lines to
       your httpd.conf file. You can edit that file by selecting
       Start | All Programs | Apache HTTP Server X.XX | Configure
       Server | Edit the httpd.conf file pick from the Taskbar.
       If using Apache 1.3.x and PHP 4, then add the following
       lines:
LoadModule php4_module c:\php\sapi\php4apache.dll
AddModule mod_php4.c
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.php
       If using Apache 2.x and PHP 4, then add the following
       lines:
LoadModule php4_module c:\php\sapi\php4apache2.dll
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.php
       If using Apache 2.x and PHP 5, then add the following
       lines.
LoadModule php5_module c:\php\php5apache2.dll
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm index.php

   Configure the Webserver (IIS)
    1. Start the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager,
       right click on the Default Web Site (in most cases) and
       select Properties.
    2. Under the Home Directory tab, select Configuration and
       click Add. Browse to the path of php4isapi.dll or
       php5isapi.dll, and type in .php as the extension. Note: if
       using IIS6, Enable All Verbs and Script Engine.
    3. Under the ISAPI Filters tab, click Add and browse to the
       php4isapi.dll or php5isapi.dll file. Name the filter "php"
       and click OK.
    4. Under the Documents tab, add index.php to the list.
    5. If using IIS6, goto Web Service Extensions and add a new
       Web Service Extension. Name the extension "php", and click
       Add and browse to the php4isapi.dll or php5isapi.dll file,
       enable Set Extension status to Enable, and click OK.
    6. Give the IUSR_XXXX and IIS_WPG users read & execute
       permissions to the file %windir%\system32\cmd.exe. They
       will also need read permissions on cacti_web_root/cacti and
       it's subfolders.
    7. If using IIS6, give the IIS_WPG user modify permissions to
       the folders cacti_web_root/cacti/log and
       cacti_web_root/cacti/rrd.
    8. Completely stop and start the IIS service using the
       following commands:
net stop iisadmin
net start w3svc

   Install Cygwin (optional)
    1. Installing a single instance of Cygwin, and using it for
       all applications that require it is recommended so you do
       not have different versions of the Cygwin dlls laying
       around on your system, which can cause conflicts.
    2. Run setup.exe you previously download.
    3. Once you reach the portion of setup entitled Select
       Packages, install the following:
Base (include all items)
Libs
        libart_lgpl
        libfreetype26
        libpng12
        zlib
        openssl
Utils
        patch
Web
        wget
    4. Add c:\cygwin\bin to your Windows System PATH environment
       variable.
    5. Move setup.exe to c:\cygwin for future use.

   Install RRDTool
    1. Extract the RRDTool zip file from the Cacti web site to
       c:\cacti\rrdtool.exe.

   Install MySQL
    1. Extract the MySQL zip file to a temp directory and run
       setup.exe.
    2. Install MySQL to the default directory, or for the purposes
       of this manual to the c:\mysql directory.
    3. If running an older version of MySQL, start it by running
       c:\mysql\bin\winmysqladmin.exe. In more recent versions,
       this is not required.
    4. Set a password for the root user
shell> cd mysql\bin
shell> mysqladmin --user=root password somepassword
shell> mysqladmin --user=root --password reload
    5. Create the MySQL database:
shell> mysqladmin --user=root --password create cacti
    6. Import the default Cacti database:
shell> mysql --user=root --password cacti < c:\apache2\htdocs\cacti\cact
i.sql
    7. Create a MySQL username and password for Cacti.
shell> mysql --user=root --password mysql
mysql> GRANT ALL ON cacti.* TO cactiuser@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'somepa
ssword';
mysql> flush privileges;
    8. If you are running MySQl 4.1 and above, you will need to
       apply the old password setting in order to authenticate
       with Cacti. To make this change, stop the MySQL service and
       add the following to the Start Parameter field. Start it
       again once it has been added.
--old-password
       You will also need to update the cactiuser account with the
       old password style.
shell> UPDATE mysql.user SET Password = OLD_PASSWORD('cactipwd')
                                WHERE Host = 'localhost' AND User = 'cac
tiuser';
mysql> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

   Install Net-SNMP
    1. If you plan to use any hosts with SNMP v2c support, and are
       using early versions of PHP, you must download and install
       the Net-SNMP libraries. Net-SNMP provides installers to
       install their product. However, caution must be taken if
       you choose to use long file names as Cacti does not them as
       long file names. You will have to user 8.3 notation. For
       example c:\Program Files\Net-SNMP\bin becomes
       c:\progra~1\net-snmp\bin.

   Install Spine
    1. Extract the Spine zip file to c:\cacti and modify the
       spine.conf.dist file to include the following statements.
DB_Host 127.0.0.1 or hostname (not localhost)
DB_Database     cacti
DB_User         cactiuser
DB_Password     cacti
DB_Port         3306
       All other pre 0.8.6 settings are obsolete.
    2. Spine now comes with a binary distribution. However, we
       strongly suggest that you install Cygwin and then remove
       all the DLL files and sh.exe from the c:\cacti directory.

   Configure Cacti
    1. Edit cacti_web_root/cacti/include/config.php and specify
       the MySQL user, password, database, and database port for
       your Cacti configuration.
$database_default = "cacti";
$database_hostname = "localhost";
$database_username = "cactiuser";
$database_password = "cacti";
$database_port = "3306";
    2. Point your web browser to:
http://your-server/cacti/
       Log in using the username and password of admin/admin. You
       will be required to change this password immediately.
    3. From Cacti, go to Settings->Paths and verify/udate your
       paths to point to the correct locations. Recommended
       examples are posted below. If you plan on using Spine, then
       it is very important that all paths include forward slashes
       instead of backslashes.
       PHP Binary Path:
c:/php/php.exe
       RRDTool Binary Path:
c:/cacti/rrdtool.exe
       SNMPGET, SNMPWALK, SNMPBULKWALK, SNMPGETNEXT Paths:
c:/progra~1/net-snmp/bin/snmpget.exe
c:/progra~1/net-snmp/bin/snmpwalk.exe
c:/progra~1/net-snmp/bin/snmpbulkwalk.exe
c:/progra~1/net-snmp/bin/snmpgetnext.exe
       Cacti Logfile Path:
c:/mycacti/website/cacti/log/cacti.log
       Spine Path:
c:/cacti/Spine.exe
    4. Click on Devices. Delete the Localhost devices as it
       intended for Linux environments In the upper right corner,
       click Add. Fill in the following information and then click
       Add.
Description: My Windows localhost
Hostname: localhost
Host Template: Windows 2000/XP
    5. You should now be looking at the localhost device screen.
       Right under it's name, there should be some SNMP
       information listed, if not you should double check the SNMP
       settings on the server and firewall settings. In the upper
       right-hand corner, click on Create Graphs for this Host. On
       the following screen, select a disk partition and network
       interface. At the bottom of the page, click on Create.
    6. Log into the user account you'll be using for the scheduled
       task and verify starting a Cacti polling cycle works. Do
       this by running the following from the command prompt:
php c:/cacti_web_root/cacti/poller.php
       The output should look something like the following:
C:\>php c:\inetpub\wwwroot\cacti\poller.php
OK u:0.00 s:0.06 r:1.32
OK u:0.00 s:0.06 r:1.32
OK u:0.00 s:0.16 r:2.59
OK u:0.00 s:0.17 r:2.62
10/28/2005 04:57:12 PM - SYSTEM STATS: Time:4.7272 Method:cmd.php Proces
ses:1 Threads:N/A Hosts:1 HostsPerProcess:2 DataSources:4 RRDsProcessed:
2
       After this has ran once, you should have cacti.log in
       /cacti/log/ and rrd files in /cacti/rra/.
    7. You are going to need to schedule a task while logged on as
       an Administrator. This task is required to you can run
       poller.php every 5 minutes. Make sure the Task Scheduler
       service is started and follow the steps below to begin.
       Note: The following instructions are based on Windows XP
       and Windows Server 2003. You should be able to follow these
       instructions close enough for Windows 2000 as well.
         a. Select Start --> Settings --> Control Panel and double
            click on Scheduled Tasks.
         b. Double click on Add Scheduled Task.
         c. Click Next and Browse on the following screen. Find
            c:\php and select php.exe. Choose Daily on and click
            Next.
         d. Click Next again without changing the time or date
            settings.
         e. When entering a username and password make sure the
            user has read and write access to the following
            directories:
cacti_web_root/cacti/rra
cacti_web_root/log
            Make sure the user has read, write, and execute access
            to the following directories:
c:\php
c:\php\sapi
         f. Click Next and Finish to close the wizard.
         g. Right click on the task you just created, and select
            Properties.
         h. Select the Schedule tab.
         i. Make sure Daily is selected and click the Advanced
            button.
         j. Check the Repeat checkbox, set it for 5 minutes and
            set the duration for 24 hours.
         k. Click Ok
         l. In the Run textbox enter the following text making
            sure to use the appropriate paths.
c:\php\php.exe c:\mycacti\website\cacti\poller.php
            The start in box should say c:\mycacti\website\cacti.

   Apply Patches
    1. There are two methods of applying patches to Cacti:
         a. If you have Cygwin installed, then the patch
            instructions which use wget and patch, will work.
         b. The other method requires you to visit
            http://www.cacti.net/downloads/patches/0.8.6h/pre-patc
            hed/ and manually download and replace the patched
            files.
    2. You might need to reapply file/folder security on the files
       patched. Double check they are correct.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 4. Upgrading Cacti

    1. Backup the old Cacti database.
shell> mysqldump -l --add-drop-table cacti > mysql.cacti
       Note: You will probably have to specify the -u and -p flags
       for the MySQL username and password. This user must have
       permission to read from Cacti's database or you will end up
       with an empty backup.
    2. Backup the old Cacti directory.
shell> mv cacti cacti_old
    3. Extract the distribution tarball.
shell> tar xzvf cacti-version.tar.gz
    4. Rename the new Cacti directory to match the old one.
shell> mv cacti-version cacti
    5. Edit include/config.php and specify the MySQL user,
       password and database for your Cacti configuration.
$database_type = "mysql";
$database_default = "cacti";
$database_hostname = "localhost";
$database_username = "cactiuser";
$database_password = "cacti";
    6. Copy the *.rrd files from the old Cacti directory.
shell> cp cacti_old/rra/* cacti/rra/
    7. Copy any relevant custom scripts from the old Cacti
       directory. Some script are updated between versions.
       Therefore, make sure you only over write if the scripts
       either don't exist or are newer than the distribution's.
shell> cp -u cacti_old/scripts/* cacti/scripts/
    8. Copy any relevant custom resource XML files from the old
       Cacti directory. Some resource XML files are updated
       between versions. Therefore, make sure you only over write
       if the XML files either don't exist or are newer than the
       distribution's.
shell> cp -u -R cacti_old/resource/* cacti/resource/
    9. Set the appropriate permissions on Cacti's directories for
       graph/log generation. You should execute these commands
       from inside Cacti's directory to change the permissions.
shell> chown -R cactiuser rra/ log/
       (Enter a valid username for cactiuser, this user will also
       be used in the next step for data gathering.)
   10. Point your web browser to:

     http://your-server/cacti/
       Follow the on-screen instructions so your database can be
       updated to the new version.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 5. Principles of Operation

   Cacti operation may be divided into three different tasks:

   Figure 5-1. Principles of Operation

   [principles_of_operation.png]
     __________________________________________________________

Data Retrieval

   First task is to retrieve data. Cacti will do so using its
   Poller. The Poller is executed from the operating system's
   scheduler, e.g. crontab for Unix flavored OSes.

   In current IT installations, you're dealing with lots of
   devices of different kind, e.g. servers, network equipment,
   appliances and the like. To retrieve data from remote
   targets/hosts, cacti will mainly use the Simple Network
   Management Protocol SNMP. Thus, all devices capable of using
   SNMP will be eligible to be monitored by cacti.

   Later on, we demonstrate how to extend cacti's capabilities of
   retrieving data to scripts, script queries and more.
     __________________________________________________________

Data Storage

   There are lots of different approaches for this task. Some may
   use an (SQL) database, others flat files. Cacti uses RRDTool to
   store data.

   RRD is the acronym for Round Robin Database. RRD is a system to
   store and display time-series data (i.e. network bandwidth,
   machine-room temperature, server load average). It stores the
   data in a very compact way that will not expand over time, and
   it can create beautiful graphs. This keeps storage requirements
   at bay.

   Likewise, rrdtool will perform some specific tasks. It performs
   consolidation to combine raw data (a primary data point in
   rrdtool lingo) to consolidated data (a consolidated data
   point). This way, historical data is compressed to save space.
   rrdtool knows different consolidation functions: AVERAGE,
   MAXIMUM, MINIMUM and LAST.
     __________________________________________________________

Data Presentation

   One of the most appreciated features of RRDTool is the built-in
   graphing function. This comes in useful when combining this
   with some commonly used webserver. Such, it is possible to
   access the graphs from merely any browser on any plattform.

   Graphing can be done in very different ways. It is possible, to
   graph one or many items in one graph. Autoscaling is supported
   and logarithmic y-axis as well. You may stack items onto
   another and print pretty legends denoting characteristics such
   as minimum, average, maximum and lots more.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 6. Graph Overview

   Almost everything in Cacti is somehow related to a graph. At
   any time, you can list all available graphs by clicking on the
   Graph Management menu item. While it is possible to manually
   create graphs through this screen, new users should follow the
   instructions provided in the next chapter for creating new
   graphs in Cacti.

   For users that are familiar with RRDTool , you will immediately
   recognize that a graph in Cacti is closely modeled after
   RRDTool's graphs. This makes sense since Cacti provides a user
   friendly interface to RRDTool without requiring users to
   understand how RRDTool works. With this in mind, every graph in
   Cacti has certain settings and at least one graph item
   associated with it. While graph settings define the overall
   properties of a graph, the graph items define the data that is
   to be represented on the graph. So the graph items define which
   data to display and how it should displayed, and also define
   what should be displayed on the legend.

   Each graph and graph item has a set of parameters which control
   various aspects of the graph. Fortunately through the use of
   graph templates, it is not necessary to understand the function
   of each field to create graphs for your network. When you are
   ready to take on the task of creating your own graph templates,
   extensive field descriptions for both graphs and graph items
   are provided in that section of the manual.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 7. How to Graph Your Network

   At this point, you probably realize that graphing is Cacti's
   greatest strength. Cacti has many powerful features that
   provide complex graphing and data acquisition, some which have
   a slight learning curve. Do not let that stop you however,
   because graphing your network is incredibly simple.

   The next two sections will outline the two basic steps which
   are typically required to create graphs for most devices.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a Device

   The first step to creating graphs for your network is adding a
   device for each network device that you want to create graphs
   for. A device specifies important details such as the network
   hostname, SNMP parameters, and host type.

   To manage devices within Cacti, click on the Devices menu item.
   Clicking Add will bring up a new device form. The first two
   fields, Description and Hostname are the only two fields that
   require your input beyond the defaults. If your host type is
   defined under the host template dropdown, be sure to select it
   here. You can always choose "Generic SNMP-enabled Host" if you
   are just graphing traffic or "None" if you are unsure. It is
   important to remember that the host template you choose will
   not lock you into any particular configuration, it will just
   provide more intelligent defaults for that type of host.

   Figure 7-1. Adding a New Device

   [new_device.png]

   The field definitions are as follows

   Table 7-1. Device Field Definitions
   Field Description
   Description This description will show up in the first column
   of the device list. You may refer to it e.g. in graph titles
   Hostname Either an IP address or a hostname. The hostname will
   be resolved using the standard host resolving mechanisms, e.g.
   Dynamic Name Services (DNS)
   Host Template A Host Template is a container for a list of
   graph templates that will be related to this host.
   Notes New with cacti 0.8.7. Add notes to a host to add
   arbitrary text.
   Disable Host Exclude this host from being polled. This is of
   particular value, if a device is no longer available, but
   should be kept e.g. as a reference.
   Availability/Reachability Options
   Downed Device Detection

   NONE: Deactivate downed host detection

   PING and SNMP: perform both tests

   SNMP: verify SNMP check on OID .1 and .1.3

   ICMP: perform a ping test, see below
   Ping Method

   Available only for "PING and SNMP" or "PING"

   ICMP: perform ICMP tests. Requires permissions

   UDP: perform a UDP test

   TCP: perform a TCP test
   Ping Port

   Available only for UDP/TCP PING test types.

   Please define the port to be tested here. Make sure, that no
   firewall intercepts the tests
   Ping Timeout Value After this time, the test fails. Measured in
   units of milliseconds
   Ping Retry Count The number of times Cacti will attempt to ping
   a host before failing.
   SNMP Options
   SNMP Version

   Version 1: Use SNMP Version 1. Be aware, that 64bit counters
   are not supported in this SNMP version

   Version 2: Referred to as SNMP V2c in most SNMP documentations

   Version 3: SNMP V3, supporting authentication and encryption
   SNMP Community SNMP read community for this device.
   SNMP Port Enter the UDP port number to use for SNMP (default is
   161).
   SNMP Timeout The maximum number of milliseconds Cacti will wait
   for an SNMP response (does not work with php-snmp support).
   Maximum OID's Per Get Request

   This is a performance feature. Specifies the number of OID's
   that can be obtained in a single SNMP Get request.

   NOTE: This feature only works when using Spine

   NOTE: Some devices do not support values > 1
   Security Options for SNMP V3
   SNMP Username The username of an SNMP V3 createUser statement
   or equivalent
   SNMP Password The authpassphrase of an SNMP V3 createUser
   statement or equivalent
   SNMP Auth Protocol The authentication type of an SNMP V3
   createUser statement or equivalent. Select either MD5 or SHA.
   This entry defaults to MD5.
   SNMP Privacy Passphrase The privacy passphrase of an SNMP V3
   createUser statement or equivalent.
   SNMP Privacy Protocol The privacy protocol of an SNMP V3
   createUser statement or equivalent. Select either DES or AES.
   This entry defaults to DES.
   SNMP Context When using the View-Based Access Control Model
   (VACM), it is possible to specify an SNMP Context when mapping
   a community name to a security name with a com2sec directive,
   with the group directive and the access directive. This allows
   for defining special access models. If using such a parameter
   with your target's SNMP configuration, specify the context name
   to be used to access that target here.

   After saving your new device, you should be redirected back to
   the same edit form with some additional information. If you
   configured SNMP for this host by providing a valid community
   string, you should see various statistics listed at the top of
   the page. If you see "SNMP error" instead, this indicates an
   SNMP problem between Cacti and your device.

   Towards the bottom of the page there will be two addition
   boxes, Associated Data Queries, and Associated Graph Templates.
   If you selected a host template on the previous page, there
   will probably be a few items in each box. If there is nothing
   listed in either box, you will need to associate at least one
   data query or graph template with your new device or you will
   not be able to create graphs in the next step. If no available
   graph template or data query applies to your device, you can
   check the Cacti templates repository or create your own if
   nothing currently exists.
     __________________________________________________________

A Word About SNMP

   The SNMP version that you choose can have a great effect on how
   SNMP works for you in Cacti. Version 1 should be used for
   everything unless you have reason to choose otherwise. If you
   plan on utilizing (and your device supports) high-speed
   (64-bit) counters, you must select version 2. Starting with
   Cacti 0.8.7, version 3 is fully implemented.

   The way in which Cacti retrieves SNMP information from a host
   has an effect on which SNMP-related options are supported.
   Currently there are three types of SNMP retrieval methods in
   Cacti and are outlined below.

   Table 7-2. SNMP Retrieval Types
   Type Description Supported Options Places Used
   External SNMP Calls the net-snmp snmpwalk and snmpget binaries
   that are installed on your system. All SNMP options Web
   interface and PHP poller (poller.php)
   Internal SNMP (php-snmp) Uses PHP's SNMP functions which are
   linked against net-snmp or ucd-snmp at compile time. Version 1
   Only (Community and Port) Web interface and PHP poller
   (poller.php)
   Spine SNMP Links directly against net-snmp or ucd-snmp and
   calls the API directly. All SNMP options C-Based Poller (Spine)
     __________________________________________________________

SNMP V3 Options Explained

   SNMP supports authentication and encryption features when using
   SNMP protocol version 3 known as View-Based Access Control
   Model (VACM). This requires, that the target device in question
   supports and is configured for SNMP V3 use. In general,
   configuration of V3 options is target type dependant. The
   following is cited from man snmpd.conf concerning user
   definitions

[   SNMPv3 Users
       createUser [-e ENGINEID] username (MD5|SHA) authpassphrase [DES|A
ES] [privpassphrase]

              MD5 and SHA are the authentication types to use.  DES and
AES are the privacy
              protocols  to  use. If  the  privacy  passphrase  is not s
pecified, it is assumed
              to be the same as the authentication passphrase.  Note tha
t the users created will
              be useless unless they are also added  to  the  VACM acces
s control tables
              described above.

              SHA  authentication  and DES/AES privacy require OpenSSL t
o be installed and the
              agent to be built with OpenSSL support.  MD5 authenticatio
n may be used without
              OpenSSL.

              Warning: the minimum pass phrase length is 8 characters.]

   VACM directives are explained from man snmpd.conf as follows

[   VACM Configuration
       The full flexibility of the VACM is available using four configur
ation directives -
       com2sec, group,  view and access.  These provide direct configura
tion of the underlying
       VACM tables.

       com2sec  [-Cn CONTEXT] SECNAME SOURCE COMMUNITY
              map  an  SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c community string to a security
name - either from a
              particular range of source addresses, or globally ("defaul
t").  A restricted
              source can either be a specific  hostname (or  address),
or  a  subnet -
              represented as IP/MASK (e.g. 10.10.10.0/255.255.255.0), or
 IP/BITS
              (e.g. 10.10.10.0/24), or the IPv6 equivalents.

              The same community string can be specified in several sepa
rate directives
              (presumably with different  source  tokens), and the first
 source/community
              combination that matches the incoming request will be sele
cted.  Various
              source/community combinations can also map to the same sec
urity name.

              If a CONTEXT is specified (using -Cn), the community strin
g will be mapped
              to a security  name  in the named SNMPv3 context. Otherwis
e the default
              context ("") will be used.

       group GROUP {v1|v2c|usm} SECNAME
              maps  a  security name (in the specified security model) i
nto a named group.
              Several group directives can specify the same group name,
allowing a single
              access setting to apply to several  users and/or community
 strings.

              Note  that  groups must be set up for the two community-ba
sed models separately -
              a single com2sec (or equivalent) directive will typically
be accompanied by two
              group directives.

       view VNAME TYPE OID [MASK]
              defines a named "view" - a subset of the overall OID tree.
 This is most commonly
              a single subtree, but  several view directives can be give
n with the same view
              name, to build up a more complex collection of OIDs.  TYPE
 is either included
              or excluded, which can again define a more complex view (e
.g by excluding certain
              sensitive objects from an otherwise accessible subtree).

              MASK is a list of hex octets (separated by "." or ":")
              with the set bits indicating which subidentifiers in the v
iew OID to match against.
              This can be used to define a view covering a particular ro
w  (or  rows) in a table.
              If not specified, this defaults to matching the OID exactl
y (all bits set), thus
              defining a simple OID subtree.

       access GROUP CONTEXT {any|v1|v2c|usm} LEVEL PREFX READ WRITE NOTI
FY
              maps from a group of users/communities (with a particular
security model
              and  minimum  security level, and in a specific context) t
o one of three views,
              depending on the request being processed.

              LEVEL is one of noauth, auth, or priv.  PREFX specifies ho
w CONTEXT should be
              matched against  the context  of  the  incoming  request,
either exact or prefix.
              READ, WRITE and NOTIFY specifies the view to be used for G
ET*, SET and
              TRAP/INFORM requests (althought the NOTIFY view is not cur
rently used).  For
              v1 or v2c access, LEVEL will need to be noauth.]

   As an example, following definitions in the snmpd configuration
   create a set of definitions for use with SNMP V3
# sample configuration for SNMP V3

# create an SNMP V3 user with an authpassphrase and a privacy passphrase
##         username   authProto  authpassphrase  privProto  privpassphra
se
##         --------   ---------  --------------  ---------  ------------
--
createUser gandalf    MD5        myauthpass      DES        myprivpass


# Second, map the security name into a group name:
##    groupName    securityModel  securityName
##    ---------    -------------  ------------
group groupv3      usm            gandalf


# Third, create a view for us to let the group have rights to:
##          incl/excl  subtree   mask
##          ---------  -------   ----
view    all included   .iso      80


# Fourth, create the access for that group without context
##                context sec.model sec.level prefix read   write  notif
##                ------- --------- --------- ------ ----   -----  -----
access groupv3    ""      any       auth      exact  all    all    all

   When adding this stuff to your snmp configuration, please
   remember to restart the agent. Verify this setting using
shell>snmpwalk -v 3 -a MD5 -A myauthpass -x DES \
-X myprivpass -u gandalf -l authpriv localhost interface
IF-MIB::ifNumber.0 = INTEGER: 3
IF-MIB::ifIndex.1 = INTEGER: 1
IF-MIB::ifIndex.2 = INTEGER: 2
IF-MIB::ifIndex.3 = INTEGER: 3
IF-MIB::ifDescr.1 = STRING: lo
IF-MIB::ifDescr.2 = STRING: irda0
IF-MIB::ifDescr.3 = STRING: eth0
IF-MIB::ifType.1 = INTEGER: softwareLoopback(24)
IF-MIB::ifType.2 = INTEGER: other(1)
IF-MIB::ifType.3 = INTEGER: ethernetCsmacd(6)
...
     __________________________________________________________

Creating the Graphs

   Now that you have created some devices, it is time to create
   graphs for these devices. To do this, select the New Graphs
   menu option under the Create heading. If you're still at the
   device edit screen, select Create Graphs for this Host to see a
   screen similar to the image pictured below.

   Figure 7-2. Creating New Graphs

   [new_graphs.png]

   The dropdown menu that contains each device should be used to
   select the host that you want to create new graphs for. The
   basic concept to this page is simple, place a check in each row
   that you want to create a graph for and click Create.

   If you are creating graphs from inside a "Data Query" box,
   there are a few additional things to keep in mind. First is
   that you may encounter the situation as pictured above with the
   "SNMP - Interface Statistics" data query. If this occurs you
   may want to consult the section on debugging data queries to
   see why your data query is not returning any results. Also, you
   may see a "Select a graph type" dropdown box under some data
   query boxes. Changing the value of this dropdown box affects
   which type of graph Cacti will make after clicking the Create
   button. Cacti only displays this dropdown box when there is
   more than one type to choose from, so it may not be displayed
   in all cases.

   Once you have selected the graphs that you want to create,
   simply click the Create button at the bottom of the page. You
   will be taken to a new page that allows you to specify
   additional information about the graphs you are about to
   create. You only see the fields here that are not part of each
   template, otherwise the value automatically comes from the
   template. When all of the values on this page look correct,
   click the Create button one last time to actually create your
   graphs.

   If you would like to edit or delete your graphs after they have
   been created, use the Graph Management item on the menu.
   Likewise, the Data Source menu item allows you to manage your
   data sources in Cacti.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 8. Viewing Graphs

Graph Trees

   A graph tree can be thought of as a hierarchical way of
   organizing your graphs. Each graph tree consists of zero or
   more headers or branch nodes that contain leaf nodes such as
   graphs or trees. Multiple graph trees or branches within a
   single tree can be combined to form a very powerful way of
   organizing your graphs.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a Graph Tree

   To create a new graph tree, select the Graph Trees menu item
   under the Management header. Select Add on this page to create
   a new tree. The following page will prompt you for a tree name,
   which will be used to identify the graph tree throughout Cacti.
   Along with the Name, you may select one of four currently
   supported Sorting Types

   Table 8-1. Tree Sporting Type Definitions
   Field Description
   Name Name of the tree entry. The sort order of all trees
   themselves is always alphabetical
   Sorting Type

   Manual Ordering (No Sorting): You may chance the sequence at
   your will

   Alphabetical Ordering: All subtrees are ordered alphabetically,
   unless specifies otherwise (you may chance sort options at
   subtree lebel), i.e. 1, Ab, ab

   Natural Ordering: ie. ab1, ab2, ab7, ab10, ab20

   Numeric Ordering: Leading zeroes are not taken into account
   when ordering numerically, i.e. 01, 02, 4, 04

   Once you type a name, click the Create button to continue. You
   will be redirected to a page similar to the one below, but
   without all of the items.

   Figure 8-1. Editing a Graph Tree

   [graph_tree.png]

   To start adding items to your tree, click add in the Tree Items
   box. There are currently three different types of tree items
   you can choose from: header, graph, or host. Simply choose the
   type you want, fill in the value for that type, and click
   Create to make your new graph tree item. Clicking the Add link
   to the right of any branch will add the new item below that
   branch, you can change the branch that any item belongs to by
   changing its Parent Item field.

   Please note the "++" and the "--" buttons. They will help you
   managing large trees. Pressing the "--" will collapse all tree
   levels while "++" expands all of them. You may expand each
   single subtree of a collapsed tree to reorder, add or delete
   entries without much scrolling.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 9. User Management

   In addition to giving you the tools to create sophisticated
   graphs, Cacti enables you to create users that are tailored
   specifically to their requirements. Each user has certain
   settings such as login actions, as well as graph viewing
   settings. There are also two levels of permissions control,
   realm permissions and graph permissions which enable you to
   control what the user can see and change.

   Figure 9-1. User Management

   [user_management_list.png]

   Out of the box, there are two users that come with every Cacti
   installation. The "admin" user, is the main user that by
   default has access to see and change everything in Cacti. This
   is the user that you first login with in Cacti, and is probably
   a good idea to keep around unless you know otherwise. The
   second user is the "guest" user, which controls which
   areas/graphs are allowed for unauthenticated users. By default
   this user only has rights to view, but not change all graphs.
   This enables any unauthenticated user to visit 'graph_view.php'
   and view your graphs. This behavior can be changed by either
   changing the realm permissions for the "guest" user, or
   disabling the guest user altogether under Cacti Settings. By
   default in 0.8.7 and later, the "guest" user is not set in the
   setting, effectively disabling "guest" (Unauthenticated) access
   to Cacti.
     __________________________________________________________

Editing an existing User

   To edit an existing user, select the User Management item under
   the Utilities heading on the Cacti menu. Once at the user
   management screen, click username of the user you wish to edit.
   You will see a screen that looks similar to the image below.

   Figure 9-2. Editing a User

   [user_management_edit.png]

   At minimum, you must specify a User Name and a Password for
   each user. Each user field is described in more detail below.
   In addition to these fields, each user can have their own realm
   permissions", graph permissions, and graph settings. Each of
   these items are described in this section of the manual.

   Table 9-1. Field Description: User Management
   Name Description
   User Name This field contains the actual login name for the
   user. There are no character limits this field, but it would
   make sense to keep it to alphanumeric characters to maintain
   simplicity.
   Full Name (Optional) You can use this field as a more
   descriptive identifier for the user. It is currently only used
   for display on the user management page.
   Password Enter the password for the user twice, once in each
   text box. Keep in mind that passwords are case sensitive and
   the password will remain unchanged if the boxes are both left
   empty.
   Account Options There are currently two account related options
   that can be set for each user. The first, 'User Must Change
   Password at Next Login', forces a password change immediately
   after the user logs in. The second option, 'Allow this User to
   Keep Custom Graph Settings', dictates whether the user can
   maintain their own custom graph viewing settings which includes
   expanding and collapsing trees.
   Graph Options There are three permission related options that
   can be set for each user here. The 'User Has Rights to
   {Tree,List,Preview} View' checkboxes dictate which graph
   viewing areas the user can see.
   Login Options These options dictate what occurs immediately
   after the user logs in. The first option, 'Show the page that
   user pointed their browser to.' will point the user to whatever
   page they were heading to before being interrupted by the login
   page. The 'Show the default console screen.' option will always
   point the user to 'index.php' after a successful login. The
   last option, 'Show the default graph screen.' will point the
   user to 'graph_view.php' after a successful login.
   Authentication Realm Multiple types of users can exist in
   Cacti. This setting allows you to specify a user for use with
   Local, Web Basic or LDAP Authentication. Template users must be
   Local.
     __________________________________________________________

Realm Permissions

   Realm permissions control which areas of Cacti a user can
   access. You can edit a user's realm permissions by selecting
   User Management and choosing the user you want to edit the
   permissions for. The Realm Permissions box will be displayed in
   the lower part of the screen. Each "realm" is a grouping that
   represents common tasks in Cacti, making it easier to fine tune
   each user's access.

   If you want to create a user that can only view graphs, you
   should select the View Graphs realm and leave everything else
   unchecked. See the Graph Permissions section for more
   information about how to fine tune this even more on a
   per-graph basis. Conversely, if the user needs to access the
   console, they will need Console Access and any additional
   realms that you see fit.
     __________________________________________________________

Graph Permissions

   Graph permissions control which graphs a user is allowed to
   view, it does not apply to editing graphs. You can edit a
   user's graph permissions by selecting User Management and
   choosing the user you want to edit the permissions for. Now
   select the Graph Permissions tab to view this user's graph
   permissions. There are three different ways that you can apply
   graph permissions, by graph, by host, or by graph template.
   This works by allowing or denying the user to all graphs
   associated with the particular group. So you can deny a user to
   a single graph, all graphs associated with a particular host,
   or all graphs associated with a particular graph template.
   Combining these three types of assigning graph permissions
   results in a very powerful graph policy editor.

   Each assignment type contains a Default Policy dropdown which
   can be used to control whether the user should be allowed to
   view everything or be denied from everything by default in the
   particular group. It is very important to remember that these
   policies are evaluated in the order: graph, host, graph
   template. Therefore, if you set graph's default policy to Deny,
   but kept host and graph template at Allow, the user's effective
   policy would be Deny since the graph assignment type is
   evaluated first. You typically either want to set all default
   policies to Deny for a restrictive user, or Allow for a
   non-restrictive user. If you thoroughly understand Cacti's
   graph permissions system, these default policies can be
   combined to provide very complex results.
     __________________________________________________________

Graph Settings

   Cacti stores certain graph viewing settings for each user,
   which enables each user to view graphs in an optimal way. These
   preferences controls things such as the preview graph size or
   the default graph viewing mode to use. In addition to managing
   these settings here under user management, each user can change
   their own settings by clicking on the Graphs tab and selecting
   the Settings tab on the following page. If you want to prevent
   a user from being able to keep their own graph preferences,
   uncheck the Allow this User to Keep Custom Graph Settings
   checkbox in user management. The user will be presented with an
   "Access Denied" error message if they attempt to click the
   Settings tab when this box is checked.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a New User

   To create a new user, select the User Management item under the
   Utilities heading on the Cacti menu. Once at the user
   management screen, click Add.

   Figure 9-3. Adding a User

   [user_management_new.png]

   At minimum, you must specify a User Name and a Password for
   each user. Each user field is described in more detail in the
   Editing an existing User section previous to this one. In
   addition to these fields, each user can have their own realm
   permissions", graph permissions, and graph settings. Each of
   these items are described in editing existing users section of
   the manual.
     __________________________________________________________

Copying a user

   Figure 9-4. Copy a User Part 1

   [user_management_copy_1.png]

   To copy a user to a new user, select the User Management item
   under the Utilities heading on the Cacti menu. Once at the user
   management screen, select the user you would like to copy from
   and select copy from the Action selection box, click Go to
   continue. If you select multiple users, only the first selected
   user will be used as the source user.

   Figure 9-5. Copy a User Part 2

   [user_management_copy_2.png]

   Specify the New Username, New Full Name and New Realm of the
   new user. Click Yes to copy the selected template user to the
   the designated new user. An error will be returned if you
   attempt to copy over an existing user. If you would like to
   copy over an existing user, use Batch Copy.
     __________________________________________________________

Enable/Disable Users

   Figure 9-6. Enable/Disable Users Part 1

   [user_management_enable_disable_1.png]

   To enable or disable a set of or a single user, select the User
   Management item under the Utilities heading on the Cacti menu.
   Once at the user management screen, select the user(s) you
   would like to enable or disable and select enable or disable
   from the Action selection box, click Go to continue.

   Figure 9-7. Enable/Disable Users Part 2

   [user_management_enable_disable_2.png]

   Confirm that you want to disable or enable the listed users.
   Click Yes to perform the action. Disabling your own account is
   possible and not recommended, as once you logoff you will not
   be able to return.
     __________________________________________________________

Batch Copy Users

   Batch Copy is a helpful utility that helps Cacti Administrators
   maintain users. Because Cacti does not yet support groups, it
   is important that there is some way to mass update users. This
   what Batch Copy does for you.

   Figure 9-8. Batch Copy Users Part 1

   [user_management_batch_copy_1.png]

   To Batch Copy a set of or a single user, select the User
   Management item under the Utilities heading on the Cacti menu.
   Once at the user management screen, select the user(s) you
   would like to batch copy information to and select "Batch Copy"
   from the Action selection box, click Go to continue.

   Figure 9-9. Batch Copy Users Part 2

   [user_management_batch_copy_2.png]

   Select the Template User and confirm that you want to Batch
   Copy the listed users. Click Yes to perform the action.

   It is important to note that when using Batch Copy the original
   user(s) Full Name, Password, Realm and Enable status will be
   retained, all other fields will be overwritten with values from
   the selected template user.
     __________________________________________________________

Delete Users

   Figure 9-10. Delete Users Part 1

   [user_management_delete_1.png]

   To delete a set of or a single user, select the User Management
   item under the Utilities heading on the Cacti menu. Once at the
   user management screen, select the user(s) you would like to
   delete and select delete from the Action selection box, click
   Go to continue.

   Figure 9-11. Delete Users Part 2

   [user_management_delete_2.png]

   Confirm that you want to delete the listed users. Click Yes to
   perform the action. Deleting your own account is possible and
   not recommended.
     __________________________________________________________

Guest (Anonymous) Access

   By default in 0.8.7 and later of Cacti, Guest or Anonymous
   access is disabled. This is shift from previous release that
   came with the "Guest" user enabled and set.

   Enabling "Guest" access is easy. But, you must understand that
   you should only allow the designated "Guest" user access to
   what you authorized. It is not sugguested that you give the
   designated "Guest" user more than just access to graphs. To
   enable guest access, first, need a designated "Guest" user.
   Cacti by default comes with one already created that has access
   to only graphs. It is important to note that the default guest
   user has access to all graphs on the system. Once you have
   created the "Guest" user, you need to tell Cacti what the
   "Guest" user is. This is done by updating the Authenication
   Settings and selecting the "Guest" user you have designated.
   The "Guest" user must be enabled and be set as the guest user
   for anonymous access to work.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 10. Graph a Single SNMP OID

   When dealing with SNMP-enabled devices, there are often times
   when you want to graph the value of a single OID. This tutorial
   explains how to do this in Cacti. It also assumes that you have
   the "SNMP - Generic OID Template" graph template, which is now
   included in Cacti as of version 0.8.5. If you do not see this
   template listed under Graph Templates, download the template
   from the Cacti website in XML form and import it using the
   Import Templates menu item.

   To start the process of creating a new graph for your OID,
   click the New Graphs menu item and select the host that
   contains the target OID from the dropdown. Under the Graph
   Templates box, you will see a dropdown on the last line that
   reads (Select a graph type to create). From this dropdown,
   choose "SNMP - Generic OID Template" and click the Create
   button at the bottom of the page.

   You will be presented with several fields that will require
   input before the new graph can be created. They are described
   in more detail below.

   Table 10-1. Field Description: SNMP - Generic OID Template
   Name Description
   (Graph) Title The title that is to be used for the new graph.
   It is generally a good idea to keep |host_description| in the
   title, as to make the graph easier to identify later.
   (Graph) Vertical Label The text that will be printed along the
   y-axis of the graph. It is generally used to describe units,
   such as 'bytes' or 'percent'.
   (Graph Items) Legend Color The color that will be used to
   represent the data on the graph.
   (Graph Items) Opacity/Alpha Channel This optionally provides an
   opacity (not available with rrdtool-1.0.x) for a colored item.
   (Graph Items) Legend Text The text that will be used to
   describe the data on the graph legend.
   (Data Source) Name The title that is to be used for the new
   data source. It is generally a good idea to keep
   |host_description| in the title, as to make the data source
   easier to identify later.
   (Data Source) Maximum Value [snmp_oid] The maximum value that
   will be accepted from the OID. Make sure you choose a value
   that is reasonable for the data you are trying to graph because
   anything larger than the maximum will be ignored. If you are
   graphing a percentage, you should use '100' as the value should
   never exceed this.
   (Data Source) Data Source Type [snmp_oid] How the data from the
   OID should be stored by RRDTool and interpreted on the graph.
   If the value of the OID represents the actual data, you should
   use GAUGE for this field. If the OID value is a constantly
   incrementing number, you should use COUNTER for this field. The
   two remaining field values, DERIVE and ABSOLUTE can be ignored
   in most situations.
   (Custom Data) OID The actual SNMP OID to graph. It is typically
   a good idea to enter the number OID here as opposed to using
   MIB names. For instance, to get the number of open files on a
   Netware server, you would use ".1.3.6.1.4.1.23.2.28.2.7.0" as
   the OID.

   When finished filling in values for these fields, click the
   Create button. Your new graph can now be accessed through the
   Graph Management page or the Graphs tab inside of Cacti.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 11. Data Input Methods

   Data input methods allow Cacti to retrieve data to insert into
   data sources and ultimately put on a graph. There are different
   ways for Cacti to retrieve data, the most popular being through
   an external script or from SNMP.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a Data Input Method

   To create a new data input method, select the Data Input
   Methods option under the Management heading. Once on that
   screen, click Add on the right. You will be presented with a
   few fields to populate on the following screen.

   Table 11-1. Field Description: Data Input Methods
   Name Description
   Name Give the data query a name that you will use to identify
   it. This name will be used throughout Cacti to identify the
   data input method.
   Input Type Select the type of data input method you are trying
   to create. Valid options here are 'Script/Command', 'SNMP',
   'SNMP Query', and 'Script Query'.
   Input String

   This field is only used when the Input Type is set to
   'Script/Command'. It specifies the full path to the script
   including any per data source variables inside <>'s from the
   user. For instance, if you are passing an IP address to a
   script, your input string might look something like:

   /path/to/script.pl <ip>

   When the user creates a data source based on this data input
   method, they will be prompted for an IP address to pass onto
   the script.
   Output String This field is only here for legacy purposes and
   will probably go away in a future version of Cacti.

   When you are finished filling in all necessary fields, click
   the Create button to continue. You will be redirected back to
   the same page, but this time with two new boxes, Input Fields
   and Output Fields. The Input Fields box is used to define any
   fields that require information from the user. Any input fields
   referenced to in the input string must be defined here. The
   Output Fields box is used to define each field that you expect
   back from the script. All data input methods must have at least
   one output field defined, but may have more for a script.
     __________________________________________________________

Data Input Fields

   To define a new field, click Add next to the input or output
   field boxes. You will be presented with some or all of the
   fields below depending on whether you are adding an input or
   output field.

   Table 11-2. Field Description: Data Input Fields
   Name Description
   Field/Field Name Either select or type in the name of the field
   you want to define. No spaces or other non-alphanumeric
   characters (except '-' or '_') should be used in this field.
   Friendly Name Enter a more descriptive name for this field
   which will be used for identification throughout Cacti.
   Regular Expression Match (Input Only) If you want to enforce a
   certain regular expression pattern when the user enters a value
   for this field, enter it here. The regular expression must
   follow POSIX syntax as it will be passed to PHP's ereg()
   function.
   Allow Empty Input (Input Only) Select whether you want to allow
   the user to leave the value of this field blank or not.
   Special Type Code (Input Only) Sometimes Cacti needs to
   reference a field internally, but needs to rely on more than
   just the field name. For instance, if your field requires an IP
   address from the user, you can enter 'management_ip' here and
   Cacti will fill this field in with the current IP address of
   the selected host. Valid values for this field are: 'hostname',
   'management_ip', 'snmp_community', 'snmp_username',
   'snmp_password', and 'snmp_version'.
   Update RRD File (Output Only) Check this box if you want Cacti
   to insert the return value from this field into the RRD file.
   Obviously, this box needs to be checked for at least one output
   field per data input source, but can be left blank to have
   Cacti store the value in the database instead.

   When you are finished filling in all necessary fields, click
   the Create button to continue. You will be redirected back to
   the data input method edit page. From here you can continue to
   add additional fields, or click Save on this screen when
   finished.
     __________________________________________________________

Making Your Scripts Work With Cacti

   The simplest way to extend Cacti's data gathering functionality
   is through external scripts. Cacti comes with a number of
   scripts out of the box which are located in the scripts/
   directory. These scripts are used by the data input methods
   that are present in a new installation of Cacti.

   To have Cacti call an external script to gather data you must
   create a new data input method, making sure to specify
   Script/Command for the Input Type field. See the previous
   section, Creating a Data Input Method for more information
   about how to create a data input method. To gather data using
   your data input method, Cacti simply executes the shell command
   specified in the Input String field. Because of this, you can
   have Cacti run any shell command or call any script which can
   be written in almost any language.

   What Cacti is concerned with is the output of the script. When
   you define your data input method, you are required to define
   one or more output fields. The number of output fields that you
   define here is important to your script's output. For a data
   input method with only one output field, your script should
   output its value in the following format:
<value_1>

   So if I wrote a script that outputs the number of running
   processes, its output might look like the following:

   Example 11-1. Example script output using 1 field

   67

   Data input methods with more than one output field are handled
   a bit differently when writing scripts. Scripts that output
   more than one value should be formatted like the following:
<fieldname_1>:<value_1> <fieldname_2>:<value_2> ... <fieldname_n>:<value
_n>

   Lets say that I write a script that outputs the 1, 5, and 10
   minute load average of a Unix machine. In Cacti, I name the
   output fields '1min', '5min', and '10min', respectively. Based
   on these two things, the output of the script should look like
   the following:

   Example 11-2. Example script output using 3 fields

   1min:0.40 5min:0.32 10min:0.01

   One last thing to keep in mind when writing scripts for Cacti
   is that they will be executed as the user the data gatherer
   runs as. Sometimes a script may work correctly when executed as
   root, but fails due to permissions problems when executed as a
   less privileged user.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 12. Data Queries

   Data queries are not a replacement for data input methods in
   Cacti. Instead they provide an easy way to query, or list data
   based upon an index, making the data easier to graph. The most
   common use of a data query within Cacti is to retrieve a list
   of network interfaces via SNMP. If you want to graph the
   traffic of a network interface, first Cacti must retrieve a
   list of interfaces on the host. Second, Cacti can use that
   information to create the necessary graphs and data sources.
   Data queries are only concerned with the first step of the
   process, that is obtaining a list of network interfaces and not
   creating the graphs/data sources for them. While listing
   network interfaces is a common use for data queries, they also
   have other uses such as listing partitions, processors, or even
   cards in a router.

   One requirement for any data query in Cacti, is that it has
   some unique value that defines each row in the list. This
   concept follows that of a 'primary key' in SQL, and makes sure
   that each row in the list can be uniquely referenced. Examples
   of these index values are 'ifIndex' for SNMP network interfaces
   or the device name for partitions.

   There are two types of data queries that you will see referred
   to throughout Cacti. They are script queries and SNMP queries.
   Script and SNMP queries are virtually identical in their
   functionality and only differ in how they obtain their
   information. A script query will call an external command or
   script and an SNMP query will make an SNMP call to retrieve a
   list of data.

   All data queries have two parts, the XML file and the
   definition within Cacti. An XML file must be created for each
   query, that defines where each piece of information is and how
   to retrieve it. This could be thought of as the actual query.
   The second part is a definition within Cacti, which tells Cacti
   where to find the XML file and associates the data query with
   one or more graph templates.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a Data Query

   Once you have created the XML file that defines your data
   query, you must add the data query within Cacti. To do this you
   must click on Data Queries under the Data Gathering heading,
   and select Add. You will be prompted for some basic information
   about the data query, described in more detail below.

   Table 12-1. Field Description: Data Queries
   Name Description
   Name Give the data query a name that you will use to identify
   it. This name will be used throughout Cacti when presented with
   a list of data queries.
   Description (Optional) Enter a more detailed description of the
   data query including the information it queries or additional
   requirements.
   XML Path Fill in the full path to the XML file that defines
   this query. You can optionally use the <path_cacti> variable
   that will be substituted with the full path to Cacti. On the
   next screen, Cacti will check to make sure that it can find the
   XML file.
   Data Input Method This is how you tell Cacti to handle the data
   it receives from the data query. Typically, you will select
   "Get SNMP Data (Indexed)" for an SNMP query and "Get Script
   Data (Indexed)" for a script query.

   When you are finished filling in all necessary fields, click
   the Create button to continue. You will be redirected back to
   the same page, but this time with some additional information
   to fill in. If you receive a red warning that says 'XML File
   Does Not Exist', correct the value specified in the 'XML Path'
   field.
     __________________________________________________________

Associated Graph Templates

   Every data query must have at least one graph template
   associated with it, and possibly more depending on the number
   of output fields specified in the XML file. This is where you
   get to choose what kind of graphs to generate from this query.
   For instance, the interface data query has multiple graph
   template associations, used to graph traffic, errors, or
   packets. To add a new graph template association, simply click
   Add at the right of the Associated Graph Templates box. You
   will be presented with a few fields to fill in:

   Table 12-2. Field Description: Associated Graph Templates
   Name Description
   Name Give a name describing what kind of data you are trying to
   represent or graph. When the user creates a graph using this
   data query, they will see a list of graph template associations
   that they will have to choose from.
   Graph Template Choose the actual graph template that you want
   to make the association with.

   When you are finished filling in these fields, click the Create
   button. You will be redirected back to the same page with some
   additional information to fill in. Cacti will make a list of
   each data template referenced to in your selected graph
   template and display them under the Associated Data Templates
   box. For each data source item listed, you must selected the
   data query output field that corresponds with it. Do not forget
   to check the checkbox to the right of each selection, or your
   settings will not be saved.

   The Suggested Values box gives you a way to control field
   values of data sources and graphs created using this data
   query. If you specify multiple suggested values for the same
   field, Cacti will evaluate them in order which you can control
   using the up or down arrow icons. For more information about
   valid field names and variables, read the section on suggested
   values.

   When you are finished filling in all necessary fields on this
   form, click the Save button to return to the data queries edit
   screen. Repeat the steps under this heading as many times as
   necessary to represent all data in your XML file. When you are
   finished with this, you should be ready to start adding your
   data query to hosts.
     __________________________________________________________

SNMP Query XML Syntax

<query>
   <name>Get SNMP Interfaces</name>
   <description>Queries a host for a list of monitorable interfaces</des
cription>
   <oid_uptime>.1.3.x.x.x</oid_uptime>
   <oid_index>.1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.1</oid_index>
   <oid_index_parse>OID/REGEXP:.*\.([0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3})$</oid_index_
parse>
   <oid_num_indexes>.1.3.6.1.2.1.2.1.0</oid_num_indexes>
   <index_order>ifDescr:ifName:ifIndex</index_order>
   <index_order_type>numeric</index_order_type>
   <index_title_format>|chosen_order_field|</index_title_format>

   <fields>
      <ifIndex>
         <name>Index</name>
         <method>walk</method>
         <source>value</source>
         <direction>input</direction>
         <oid>.1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.1</oid>
      </ifIndex>
   </fields>
</query>

   Table 12-3. SNMP Query XML Field Reference
   Field Description
   query->name (Optional) You can enter a "friendly name" for the
   SNMP query here. It will not be used by Cacti, and is for
   identification only.
   query->description (Optional) You can enter a description for
   the SNMP query here. It will not be used by Cacti, and is for
   identification only.
   query->oid_uptime

   New with 0.8.7: If you have another OID that contains timetics,
   say for example a Java VM. Then, you can create a data query
   that specifies an alternate Uptime OID. To implement this for a
   data query, simply add the oid_uptime XML parameter to your XML
   file. Then, if you select your re-index method to be Uptime
   Goes Backaward, Cacti will use that OID to detect whether it is
   time to re-index the host instead of the standard snmp OID for
   uptime.
   query->oid_index

   Every SNMP query must have an OID that represents the index
   values for the query when walked. As described above, any data
   query in Cacti must contain a field that uniquely identifies
   each row returned by the query. In the example above, the
   oid_index points to the OID of ifIndex in the interface MIB.

   Note: Starting with version 0.8.6c, Cacti is able to parse
   unique indexes from the OID itself. While the regular
   expression used for parsing the value from the OID is defined
   below, you must still specify an OID that can be walked by
   Cacti in order to obtain the list of OID's. Any OID defined for
   one of your input fields should work in this case. The values
   returned from the snmpwalk walk will be completely disregarded.
   query->oid_index_parse This field should only be used if you
   are trying to parse the unique index from the OID itself. If
   this field is defined, to obtain a list of indexes, Cacti walks
   the OID provided in the oid_index field above. It then applies
   the regular expression provided in this field to the list of
   OID's that are returned. The matched substrings that remain
   become the list of indexes for this SNMP query.
   query->oid_num_indexes An OID that can be queried to determine
   the total number of available indexes. If specified, this will
   be used to determine when to automatically recache this SNMP
   query when it is attached to a device.
   query->index_order As of version 0.8.6, Cacti will attempt to
   find the best field to index off of based on whether each row
   in the query is unique and non-null. If specified, Cacti will
   perform this check on the fields listed here in the order
   specified. Only input fields can be specified and multiple
   fields should be delimited with a colon.
   query->index_order_type

   For sorting purposes, specify whether the index is numeric or
   alphanumeric.

   numeric: The indexes in this SNMP query are to be sorted
   numerically (ie. 1,2,3,10,20,31)

   alphabetic: The indexes in this SNMP query are to be sorted
   alphabetically (1,10,2,20,3,31).
   query->index_title_format Specify the title format to use when
   representing an index to the user. Any input field name can be
   used as a variable if enclosed in pipes (|). The variable
   |chosen_order_field| will be substituted with the field chosen
   by Cacti to index off of (see index_order above).
   query->fields Each field contained within the SNMP query must
   be defined under this tag.
   query->fields->ifIndex Each defined field in the SNMP query
   must have a unique name given to it. Do not use spaces or any
   non-alphanumeric characters, this name must be identifiable
   within Cacti.
   query->fields->ifIndex->name Here you can specify a "friendly
   name" for the field. This name will be used by Cacti to help
   the user identify this field.
   query->fields->ifIndex->method

   Tell Cacti how you want it to gather SNMP information for this
   field.

   get: The 'get' method performs an snmpget for the OID specified
   for this field appended by the index values derived from
   <oid_index>/<oid_index_parse>.

   walk: The 'walk' method does a walk of the OID specified for
   this field.

   If all OIDs belong to the same SNMP table, both methods will
   return the same values, even though the 'walk' method is
   typically more efficient.
   query->fields->ifIndex->source

   When Cacti obtains a list for this field, you need to tell it
   how to derive its value for each row.

   value: The 'value' option simply returns the result of the
   snmpget for each row.

   OID/REGEXP:(regexp_match): The 'OID/REGEXP:(regexp_match)' can
   be used when you need to use a POSIX-based regular expression
   to derive the value from the OID. The most common example of
   this is to retreive the IP address of an interface, and can be
   seen in the 'interface.xml' file.

   VALUE/REGEXP:(regexp_match): The 'OID/REGEXP:(regexp_match)'
   option can be used to parse the value based on a regular
   expression, returning the first match.

   index: Simply use the value of the index for this row as the
   value. If the index is being parsed from the OID using the
   oid_index_parse field, you must specify index here. Omit the
   <oid>...</oid> field, then.
   query->fields->ifIndex->direction

   input: Input values are the "known" values that you will use to
   derive the output values, this is where the "query" part of
   SNMP query comes in. When you create a graph based on an SNMP
   query, Cacti will prompt you to choose the input value to base
   the graph on.

   output: Output values are "unknown" values that are returned
   from the script. An SNMP query may return multiple statistics
   for a single index. For instance, a single interface could
   return bytes/sec in, errors, packets/sec, etc.

   A rule of thumb is that input fields contain semi-static data
   that is not graphable, while the output fields contain the data
   that will be graphed.
   query->fields->ifIndex->oid You must specify the actual OID
   that corresponds with the field. Each value for this field can
   be obtained by doing an snmpget on 'oid.(each)snmpindex'.
     __________________________________________________________

Script Query XML Syntax

<query>
   <name>Get Unix Mounted Partitions</name>
   <description>Queries a list of mounted partitions on a unix-based hos
t with the 'df' command.</description>
   <script_path>perl |path_cacti|/scripts/query_unix_partitions.pl</scri
pt_path>
   <arg_index>index</arg_index>
   <arg_query>query</arg_query>
   <arg_get>get</arg_get>
   <arg_num_indexes>num_indexes</arg_num_indexes>
   <output_delimeter>:</output_delimeter>
   <index_order>dskDevice:dskMount</index_order>
   <index_order_type>alphabetic</index_order_type>
   <index_title_format>|chosen_order_field|</index_title_format>

   <fields>
      <dskDevice>
         <name>Device Name</name>
         <direction>input</direction>
         <query_name>device</query_name>
      </dskDevice>
   </fields>
</query>

   Table 12-4. Script Query XML Field Reference
   Field Description
   query->name (Optional) You can enter a "friendly name" for the
   script query here. It will not be used by Cacti, and is for
   identification only.
   query->description (Optional) You can enter a description for
   the script query here. It will not be used by Cacti, and is for
   identification only.
   query->script_path Enter the complete path to the script or
   executable that is going to handle your script query. When in
   doubt, specify the pull path to all binaries referenced in this
   path, the query may not execute otherwise.
   query->arg_index Enter the argument that is to be passed to the
   script to retrieve a list of indexes.
   query->arg_query Enter the argument that is to be passed to the
   script to retrieve a list of values given a field name.
   query->arg_get Enter the argument that is to be passed to the
   script to retrieve a single value given a field name and index
   value.
   query->arg_num_indexes Enter the argument that is to be passed
   to the script to determine the total number of available
   indexes. If specified, this will be used to determine when to
   automatically recache this script query when it is attached to
   a device.
   query->output_delimeter Enter the one character delimiter that
   will be used to separate output values. This is only used when
   you "query" the script in which case it outputs
   'index(delimiter)value'.
   query->index_order As of version 0.8.6, Cacti will attempt to
   find the best field to index off of based on whether each row
   in the query is unique and non-null. If specified, Cacti will
   perform this check on the fields listed here in the order
   specified. Only input fields can be specified and multiple
   fields should be delimited with a comma.
   query->index_order_type

   For sorting purposes, specify whether the index is numeric or
   alphanumeric.

   numeric: The indexes in this script query are to be sorted
   numerically (ie. 1,2,3,10,20,31)

   alphabetic: The indexes in this script query are to be sorted
   alphabetically (1,10,2,20,3,31).
   query->index_title_format Specify the title format to use when
   representing an index to the user. Any input field name can be
   used as a variable if enclosed in pipes (|). The variable
   |chosen_order_field| will be substituted with the field chosen
   by Cacti to index off of (see index_order above).
   query->fields Each field contained within the script query must
   be defined under this tag.
   query->fields->dskDevice Each defined field in the script query
   must have a unique name given to it. Do not use spaces or any
   non-alphanumeric characters, this name must be identifiable
   within Cacti.
   query->fields->dskDevice->name Here you can specify a "friendly
   name" for the field. This name will be used by Cacti to help
   the user identify this field.
   query->fields->dskDevice->direction

   input: Input values are the "known" values that you will use to
   derive the output values, this is where the "query" part of
   script query comes in. When you create a graph based on a
   script query, Cacti will prompt you to choose the input value
   to base the graph on.

   output: Output values are "unknown" values that are returned
   from the script. A script query may return multiple statistics
   for a single index. For instance, a single partition could
   return free disk space, total disk space, fragmentation
   percentage, etc.

   A rule of thumb is that input fields contain semi-static data
   that is not graphable, while the output fields contain the data
   that will be graphed.
   query->fields->dskDevice->query_name Enter the name that Cacti
   must use when asking the script for information about this
   field. For instance, the following should return values:
   '(script_name) query (query_name)'.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 13. Templates

   The real strength of Cacti is unleashed by using templates.
   There are three different types of templates with the basic
   Cacti installation: Data Templates, Graph Templates and Host
   Templates. While it is perfectly fine to define all data
   sources and graphs without using Templates at all, the burden
   of this approach is high. In most installations, there are lots
   of devices of the same kind. And there are lots of data of the
   same kind, e.g. traffic information is needed for almost every
   device. Therefor, the parameters needed to create a traffic rrd
   file are defined by a Data Template, in this case known as
   "Interface - Traffic". These definitions are used by all
   Traffic-related rrd files.

   The same approach is used for defining Graph Templates. This is
   done only once. And all parameters defined within such a Graph
   Template are copied to all Graphs that are created using this
   Template.

   The last type of Templates are the Host Templates. They are not
   related to some rrdtool stuff. The purpose of Host Templates is
   to group all Graph Templates and Data Queries (these are
   explained later) for a given device type. So you will make up a
   Host Template e.g. for a specific type of router, switch, host
   and the like. By assigning the correct Host Template to each
   new Device, you'll never forget to create all needed Graphs.

   There's no need to create all Templates on your own! Apart from
   the fact, that many common templates are provided
   out-of-the-box, there's a very simple machnism to Import
   Templates and to Export Templates.
     __________________________________________________________

Data Templates

   In Cacti, a data template provides a skeleton for an actual
   data source. If you have many data sources that share most of
   their characteristics, using a data template would probably
   make sense. No change of a Data Template is propagated to
   already existing rrd files. But most of them may be changed by
   using rrdtool tune from command line. Pay attention to not
   append new Data Source Items to already existing rrd files.
   There's no rrdtool command to achieve this!
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a Data Template

   To create a new data template, select Data Templates under the
   Templates heading and click Add.

   The first thing you must do is give the template a name. This
   name has nothing to do with the data source name, but is what
   you will use to identify the template throughout Cacti.

   Second, you will notice a list of data source/data source item
   field names with Use Per-Data Source Value checkboxes next to
   each one. The nice thing about templates in Cacti is that you
   can choose whether to template each field on a per-field basis.
   If you leave the checkbox unchecked, every data source attached
   to the template will inherit its value from the template. If
   the checkbox is checked, every data source attached to the
   template will contain its own value for that particular field.
   When generating a real data source, you will be prompted to
   fill those non-templated fields.

   Table 13-1. Data Templates: Field Description of the Data
   Source Section
   Name Description
   Name The name of the Data Source that will be created by using
   this Template. You can use the keyword |host_description| in
   this field, which will be automatically substituted with the
   current host description.
   Data Input Method Here is where you tell cacti how it is
   supposed to fetch data for this data source. There are several
   data input sources that come with cacti, and you can add your
   own by going to Data Input Methods. If this RRD file is being
   populated outside of cacti, make sure to leave this field set
   to "None".
   Associated RRAs You need to associate the data source with at
   least one RRA so RRDTool knows how often and for how long to
   keep its data. You will almost always want to select all of
   these values however so you can render daily, weekly, monthly,
   and yearly graphs.
   Step This tells RRDTool how many seconds there will be between
   updates. The default is 300 seconds (5 minutes), and is
   sufficient for most installations.
   Data Source Active This is a quick and easy to tell Cacti to
   stop gathering data for this data source. The data source can
   still be used on graphs, but no data will be fed to it until it
   is made active again.

   Note: For most data templates, you will want to check the Use
   Per-Graph Value checkbox for the name field so each data source
   using this template has its own unique name. It also makes
   sense to enter an inital value in this field that includes the
   variable |host_description| for organizational purposes.

   When you are finished filling in values for the data template,
   click Create and you will be presented with a screen similar to
   the data source edit screen.

   Figure 13-1. Adding a Data Template

   [data_template.png]
     __________________________________________________________

Data Source Items

   Like a graph, a data source can have more than one items. This
   is useful in situations where a script returns more than piece
   of data at one time. This also applies to data queries, so you
   can have a single data template that contains both inbound and
   outbound traffic, rather than having to create a separate data
   template for each.

   Table 13-2. Data Templates: Field Description of the Data
   Source Items Section
   Name Description
   Internal Data Source Name This is the name used by RRDTool to
   identify this particular data source within the RRD file.
   RRDTool places a limit of 19 alphanumeric characters (plus '_'
   and '-') on this field.
   Minimum Value Here is where you specify the minimum value that
   is expected for this data source in the RRD file. If a value
   lower than the minimum is given, it will be stored as Unknown
   (U).
   Maximum Value

   Here is where you specify the maximum value that is expected
   for this data source in the RRD file. If a value higher than
   the maximum is given, it will be stored as Unknown (U).

   Note: It often makes sense to define a reasonable maximum value
   here to avoid spikes in case of a COUNTER wrap
   Data Source Type

   Cacti currently supports four types of data that RRDTool can
   represent for any given data source:

   COUNTER: is for continuous incrementing counters like the
   ifInOctets counter in a router. The COUNTER data source assumes
   that the counter never decreases, except when a counter
   overflows. It is always a whole INTEGER, floating point numbers
   are invalid. The update function takes the overflow into
   account. The counter is stored as a per-second rate. When the
   counter overflows, RRDTool checks if the overflow happened at
   the 32bit or 64bit border and acts accordingly by adding an
   appropriate value to the result.

   GAUGE: numbers that are not continuously incrementing, e.g. a
   temperature reading. Floating point numbers are accepted.

   ABSOLUTE: counters that are reset upon reading

   DERIVE: like COUNTER but without overflow checks
   Heartbeat As defined by RRDTool: "The maximum amount of time
   that can pass before data is entered as "unknown". This field
   is usually '600' or 2 data gathering intervals".
     __________________________________________________________

Custom Data

   Assuming you selected a data input source on the previous
   screen, you should now be presented with a Custom Data box. It
   will show a single line for every single parameter required for
   that very data input method. This is how the Data Source glues
   together with the data input method to provide all run time
   parameters.

   Each custom data field is per-field templatable as all of the
   other data source fields are. Even if you select the Use
   Per-Data Source Value checkbox, it might be useful to specify a
   value that will be used as an "inital value" for any data
   source using this data template.
     __________________________________________________________

Applying Data Templates to Data Sources

   Applying a data template to a data source is a very simple
   process. The first thing you must do is select the data source
   you want to apply the template to under Data Sources. Under the
   Data Template Selection box, select the data template that you
   want to apply to the data source and click Save.

   Once the template is applied to the data source, you will
   notice that you can only change values for the fields that you
   checked Use Per-Data Source Value for.

   Now any time a change is made to the data template, it will be
   automatically propagated to the data sources attached to it.

   No change of existing rrd files

   When changing parameters of a Data Template, existing rrd files
   will never be changed. If this is required, you will have to
   apply rrdtool tune commands to any related rrd file manually.
     __________________________________________________________

Graph Templates

   In Cacti, a graph template provides a skeleton for an actual
   graph. If you have many graphs that share most of their
   characteristics, using a graph template would probably make
   sense. After a graph is attached to a particular graph
   template, all changes made to the graph template will propagate
   out to all of its graphs, unless Use Per-Graph Value has been
   checked.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a Graph Template

   To create a new graph template, select Graph Templates under
   the Templates heading and click Add.

   The first thing you must do is give the template a name. This
   name has nothing to do with the graph title, but is what you
   will use to identify the template throughout Cacti. Second, you
   will notice a list of graph field names with Use Per-Graph
   Value checkboxes next to each one. The nice thing about
   templates in Cacti is that you can choose whether to template
   each field on a per-field basis. If you leave the checkbox
   uncheked, every graph attached to the template will inherit its
   value from the template. If the checkbox is checked, every
   graph attached to the template will contain its own value for
   that particular field.

   Table 13-3. Field Description: Graph Templates
   Name Description
   Title

   The title of the graph within Cacti and the title that will be
   printed on the actual graph itself.

   Note: You can use the keyword |host_description| in this field,
   which will be automatically substituted with the current host
   description.
   Image Format Choose whether you would prefer to output your
   graph images in PNG or SVG. GIF is supported only with rrdtool
   1.0.x and has been deleted from rrdtool 1.2.x and later
   Height The height of the graph area in pixels
   Width The width of the graph area in pixels
   Slope Mode RRDtool graphs are composed of stair case curves by
   default. This is in line with the way RRDtool calculates its
   data. Some people favor a more "organic" look for their graphs.
   RRDTool version 1.2 and above support smoothing of graphs, know
   as slope mode.
   Auto Scale Enable auto scale for the graph. This option must be
   check to use the next two options. Upper/Lower limit values are
   ignored when using autoscale since these boundaries are
   determined automatically.
   Auto Scale Options

   Choose whether you would like to use

     * --alt-autoscale (ignoring given limits),
     * --alt-autoscale-max (accepting a lower limit),
     * --alt-autoscale-min (accepting an upper limit, requires
       rrdtool 1.2.x) or
     * --alt-autoscale (accepting both limits, rrdtool default) on
       the graph.

   The RRDTool graph manual says:

   Limits

   [-u|--upper-limit value] [-l|--lower-limit value] [-r|--rigid]

   By default the graph will be autoscaling so that it will adjust
   the y-axis to the range of the data. You can change this
   behaviour by explicitly setting the limits. The displayed
   y-axis will then range at least from lower-limit to
   upper-limit. Autoscaling will still permit those boundaries to
   be stretched unless the rigid option is set.

   [-A|--alt-autoscale]

   Sometimes the default algorithm for selecting the y-axis scale
   is not satisfactory. Normally the scale is selected from a
   predefined set of ranges and this fails miserably when you need
   to graph something like "260 + 0.001 * sin(x)". This option
   calculates the minimum and maximum y-axis from the actual
   minimum and maximum data values. Our example would display
   slightly less than "260-0.001" to slightly more than
   "260+0.001" (this feature was contributed by Sasha Mikheev).

   [-J|--alt-autoscale-min]

   Where "--alt-autoscale" will modify both the absolute maximum
   AND minimum values, this option will only affect the minimum
   value. The maximum value, if not defined on the command line,
   will be 0. This option can be useful when graphing router
   traffic when the WAN line uses compression, and thus the
   throughput may be higher than the WAN line speed.

   [-M|--alt-autoscale-max]

   Where "--alt-autoscale" will modify both the absolute maximum
   AND minimum values, this option will only affect the maximum
   value. The minimum value, if not defined on the command line,
   will be 0. This option can be useful when graphing router
   traffic when the WAN line uses compression, and thus the
   throughput may be higher than the WAN line speed.
   Logarithmic Scaling Choose if you want logarithmic y-axis
   scaling.
   Scientific Units for Logarithmic Scaling This option is not
   available for rrdtool-1.0.x. For linear graphs, scientific
   units (in magnitudes of k=kilo, M=mega, ...) is default. But
   for logarithmic graphs, exponential notation is default. Choose
   if you want logarithmic y-axis scaling and scientific units.
   Rigid Boundaries Mode From the RRDTool manual "Normally
   rrdgraph will automatically expand the lower and upper limit if
   the graph contains a value outside the valid range. With this
   option you can disable this behavior".
   Auto Padding If you have ever created RRDTool-based graphs
   manually, you may have realized how annoying it can be to get
   text to line up properly. With this option Cacti will do its
   best to make the columns on your graph legend line up. This
   option works best when your graph legend has a consistent
   number of columns.
   Allow Graph Export If you choose to use Cacti's static
   HTML/image export, you can choose whether you want each
   individual graph to be exported.
   Upper Limit The maximum value that will be displayed on the
   y-axis. This value is ignored is auto-scaling is turned on.
   Lower Limit The minimum value that will be displayed on the
   y-axis. This value is ignored is auto-scaling is turned on.
   Base Value Whether you want to base the y-axis labels on 1000
   or 1024. This field will typically be set to 1024 for memory
   and 1000 for traffic measurements.
   Unit Grid Value Sets the unit value for the y-axis (--y-grid).
   You should probably keep the unit short as to keep it readable.
   Unit Exponent Value Sets the 10^e scaling of the y-axis. Valid
   values for this field are between -18 and 18. For example, you
   could use 3 to display everything in 'k' (kilo) or -6 to
   display everything in 'u' (micro).
   Vertical Label The text to print on the left edge of the graph.
   Usually is the units the data on the graph is measured in.

   Note: For most graph templates, you will want to check the Use
   Per-Graph Value checkbox for the title field so each graph
   using this template has its own unique title. It also makes
   sense to enter an initial value in this field that includes the
   variable |host_description| for organizational purposes.

   When you are finished filling in values for the graph template,
   click Create and you will be presented with a page similar to
   the graph edit page.

   Figure 13-2. Adding a Graph Template

   [graph_template.png]
     __________________________________________________________

Graph Items

   The first thing you should do is create graph items for this
   graph template, just like for a regular graph. One difference
   you will notice is that the Data Sources dropdown will contain
   a list of data template items rather than data source items. It
   is important that Cacti can make this association here, so that
   Cacti doesn't have to make unnecessary assumptions later.

   Table 13-4. Field Description: Graph Template Items
   Name Description
   Data Source If this graph item is to represent some sort of
   data, you must select a your data source here. Keep in mind
   that not all graph items have a data source. Graph item types
   such as COMMENT, VRULE, and HRULE typically do not.
   Color Depending on the graph item type, you can select a color
   for the graph item. This field only applies to the graph item
   types AREA, STACK, LINE1, LINE2, and LINE3.
   Opacity/Alpha Channel For a colored graph item, you may
   optionally select an opacity (alpha channel). This option is
   not available with rrdtool-1.0.x.
   Graph Item Type

   This field is important because it defines what kind of graph
   item this is. Types such as AREA, STACK, LINE1, LINE2, and
   LINE3 are used to represent data on the graph, while COMMENT
   and GPRINT are used put on the legend. The LEGEND type is
   specific to Cacti only and can be used if you want to Cacti to
   automatically create a
   GPRINT-LAST/GPRINT-AVERAGE/GPRINT-MAXIMUM graph item for you.

   Note:: You must always put an AREA item before using STACK or
   your graph will not render.
   Consolidation Function This tells RRDTool which consolidation
   function to use when representing this data on the graph. You
   will typically use AVERAGE for most things on the graph area,
   and LAST/MAXIMUM as well for GPRINT items.
   CDEF Function If you want to apply a CDEF function to the graph
   item, select one here. Check out the CDEF section of the manual
   for more information.
   Value This field is only used with the HRULE/VRULE graph item
   types. Type any valid integer to draw the line at for HRULE or
   the time of the day HH:MM for VRULE.
   GPRINT Type If this item is a GPRINT, you can choose how you
   want the number to be formatted. You can add your own in the
   GPRINT Presets section of Cacti.
   Text Format You can enter text to be displayed on the legend
   here. This field is applicable for all graph item types except
   for the virtual LEGEND type.
   Hard Return Check this box to force graph items onto the next
   line.
     __________________________________________________________

Graph Item Inputs

   After creating graph items for your template, you will need to
   create some graph item inputs. Graph item inputs are unique to
   graph templates because of the large number of items they
   sometimes contain. Graph item inputs enable you to take one
   graph item field, and associate it with multiple graph items.

   To create a new graph item input, click Add on the right of the
   Graph Item Inputs box. There are various fields that must be
   filled in for every graph item input:

   Table 13-5. Field Description: Graph Template Items
   Name Description
   Name This will be the name used to identify the graph item
   input on both the graph template and graph edit pages.
   Description (Optional) This description will be displayed on
   the graph edit page of any graph using this template if
   specified.
   Field Type You must choose the field that you are going to
   associate with one or more graph items.
   Associated Graph Items Choose one or more graph items to
   associate with the field selected for "Field Type". When the
   user specifies a value for the field, it will be applied to all
   of the items you select here.
     __________________________________________________________

Applying Graph Templates to Graphs

   Applying a graph template to a graph is a very simple process.
   The first thing you must do is select the graph you want to
   apply the template to under Graph Management. Under the Graph
   Template Selection box, select the graph template that you want
   to apply to the graph and click Save. If this is a new graph or
   the graph and graph template contains an equal number of graph
   items, the graph template will be automatically applied. If
   number of graph items varies from the graph to the target graph
   template, you will be propmted with a warning that your graph
   will be changed.

   Once the template is applied to the graph, you will notice that
   you can only change values for the fields that you checked Use
   Per-Graph Value for. You will also notice a new box, called
   Graph Item Inputs. This is where you can specify values for the
   graph items inputs that you defined in the graph template. The
   values specified here will be applied to each graph item tied
   to the graph item input.

   Now any time a change is made to the graph template, it will be
   automatically propagated to the graphs attached to it.
     __________________________________________________________

Host Templates

   Host templates in Cacti serve a different purpose then data and
   graph templates. Instead of abstracting the fields of a host, a
   host template allows you to associate graph templates and data
   queries with a given host type. This way when you assign a host
   template to a host, all of the relevant graphs to that host
   type are only one click away from the user.
     __________________________________________________________

Adding a Host Template

   To create a new host template in Cacti, select the Host
   Templates option under the Templates heading. Once on that
   screen, click Add on the right. Type a unique name for the host
   template and click the Create button. You will be redirected
   back to the edit page with the Associated Graph Templates and
   Associated Data Queries boxes. These two boxes allow you to
   associate certain graph templates or data queries with the host
   template. Simply select something from the dropdown menu and
   click Add to associate it with your host template.

   Figure 13-3. Adding a Host Template

   [host_template.png]
     __________________________________________________________

Import Templates

   Assume, you're searching for a specific set of templates to
   monitor a special type of device. Apart from designing
   templates from scratch, there's a good chance to find a
   solution in the Scripts and Templates Forum. The set of
   templates is usually provided as a single XML file holding all
   required definitions for a data template and a graph template.
   Depending on the goal of the original author, he/she may have
   provided a host template as well as part of this XML file.

   Figure 13-4. Import Templates

   [import_template.png]

   If the XML file was downloaded, you may import it from the
   filesystem via the search button. As an alternative, you may
   want to cut and paste the XML into the textbox.

   Please pay attention the the Import RRA Settings. By default,
   current RRA settings will be preserved, even if the imported
   XML file specifies different settings. This is recommended to
   avoid accidentally overwriting these global RRA definitions. If
   you are sure, you may override this default.

   For a single OID based template, this will be all. For a script
   based template, the author will provide the script that has to
   be downloaded to the Cacti ./scripts directory. For a
   SNMP/SCRIPT Data Query, a second XML file holding the Data
   Query definitions will have to be downloaded to the appropriate
   directory under ./resources.

   When importing templates, Cacti will perform a version check.
   All XML templates hold the version of the Cacti system that
   generated this XML set. Cacti will import only, if your current
   Cacti version equals or is higher than the exporting one.
     __________________________________________________________

Export Templates

   Now that you know how to import, you may want to know in which
   way to export as well. Selecting the Export Templates gives

   Figure 13-5. Export Templates

   [export_template.png]

   You may select to export a graph template, a data template, a
   host template or a data query. When selecting Include
   Dependencies, e.g. a host template will include all referred
   templates (graph template, data template and, if defined, data
   query). Output may be written to the browser or to a file for
   uploading.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 14. PHP Script Server

   The PHP Script Server is a new feature in Cacti 0.8.6. This new
   feature allows for the rapid execution of PHP based Data
   Queries in Cacti. The Script Server process is launched by the
   poller during every polling cycle. It listens for commands from
   the poller, executes them, and then waits for an quit signal.

   The reason that it is so fast is that PHP is started in memory
   only one time, and for every Data Query called, it's code is
   interpreted only once. The resulting Data Query binaries are
   therefore very efficient. Using the Script Server process over
   the traditional POPEN process nets a 20+ fold speed improvement
   in Cacti.

   Since PHP scripts are so powerful, this new feature in Cacti,
   makes it an excellent choice for collecting non-SNMP and SNMP
   based data.
     __________________________________________________________

Using the Script Server

   Cacti 0.8.6 contains two sample script server routines. They
   are for the collection of HostMib CPU and Disk Partition
   information. These two examples are based off the traditional
   POPEN version of the HostMib functions found in earlier
   versions of Cacti.

   For new installs, the HostMib functions are defaulted to using
   the PHP Script Server, therefore, you don't need to do anything
   to use it.

   For upgrades, you must make several changes to start using the
   PHP Script Server for the HostMib CPU and HostMib Partitions
   Data Queries. To migrate you must follow the step below.
     __________________________________________________________

Upgrade Steps for the Example HostMib Data Queries

   If you are using the two built in script queries, "SNMP - Get
   Mounted Partitions" and "SNMP - Get Processor Information", you
   can migrate to the PHP Script Server using the steps below:

    1. Verify the existence of New Data Input Method - Go to Data
       Input Methods, verify that you see the "Get Script Server
       Data (Indexed)" Data Input Method exists and that it is
       using the "Script Query - Script Server" method.
    2. Disable the Poller - Goto Settings->Poller and uncheck the
       Poller Enabled checkbox. Press Save.
    3. Update Your Data Queries - Go to Data Queries and Edit the
       two Data Queries below. Change both their Data Input Method
       to "Get Script Server Data (Indexed)" and in the XML path
       replace "script_query" with "script_server" as shown below:
         a. SNMP - Get Mounted Partitions
            <path_cacti>/resource/script_server/host_disk.xml
         b. SNMP - Get Processor Information
            <path_cacti>/resource/script_server/host_cpu.xml
    4. Update Your Data Templates - Goto Data Templates, locate
       the following two data templates and change their data
       input method to "Get Script Server Data (Indexed)".
         a. Host MIB - Hard Drive Space
         b. Host MIB - CPU Utilization
    5. Re Enable the Poller - Go to Settings->Poller and check the
       Poller Enabled checkbox. Press Save.

   Following those steps should complete your migration to the new
   PHP Script Server for the two example HostMIB Data Queries.
     __________________________________________________________

Migration of Existing PHP Scripts to Script Server

   If you have other PHP scripts that you wish to migrate, you
   must follow the steps below to migrate your scripts to the PHP
   Script Server required format.
     __________________________________________________________

Script File Changes

   Each PHP Script file must be changed to the new Script Server
   format. The changes are not dramatic, but required for the
   proper operation of the PHP Script Server. Follow the steps
   below to complete.

    1. Copy you existing script to a new name. The name must begin
       "ss_" followed by your script name. The "ss_" identifies
       the script as being a script server variety of the a PHP
       script. For example, if you previously had a script called
       "get_mysql_stats.php", it's new name would be
       "ss_get_mysql_stats.php".
    2. Edit the new PHP script and add the following required
       lines to the file, where "ss_myfunction" is the same as
       your filename.
<?php
$no_http_headers = true;

/* display No errors */
error_reporting(E_ERROR);

include_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/../include/config.php");
include_once(dirname(__FILE__) . "/../lib/snmp.php");

if (!isset($called_by_script_server)) {
        array_shift($_SERVER["argv"]);
        print call_user_func_array("ss_myfunction", $_SERVER["argv"]);
}
    3. What was originally just mainline code, must be replaced
       with a function name. For example, if your program
       previously contained the following three lines of code:
<?php
$a = 100;
$b = $a / 10;
print $b;
?>
       Would become:
function ss_myfunction() {
        $a = 100;
        $b = $a / 10;
        Print $b;
}
    4. If you have any additional functions declared within your
       script file, you must prefix them to make them unique
       amongst all functions. Our recommendation would be to
       prefix all functions with the name of the main function.
       For example if you have a function called "meme" you would
       rename it to "ss_myfunction_meme". This guarantee's correct
       Script Server functionality.
    5. The last step is to change the function call that could
       have traditionally returned the value to the Cacti poller
       using the PRINT function. You must change that line or
       lines in your code to utilize the RETURN function instead.
       However, this does not apply to PRINT statements that are
       not called from the Poller. For a simple script, this
       results in
function ss_myfunction() {
        $a = 100;
        $b = $a / 10;
        Return $b;
}
       Be careful, when writing Script Server Data Queries. Use
       the RETURN function for returning results of the GET
       operation. But use PRINT for INDEX and QUERY operations,
       e.g.
        if (($cmd == "index")) {
                ...
                print $some_index_data . "\n";
                }
        } elseif ($cmd == "query") {
                ...
                print $some_query_data . "\n";
        } elseif ($cmd == "get") {
                ...
                result $some_get_data;
}
     __________________________________________________________

XML File Changes

   If you are using a "Script Query" type function, then you must
   also change your XML file. Please reference the XML files in
   the <path_cacti>/resource/script_server directory for the
   specifics related to your required modifications. However, you
   may also follow the instructions below:

    1. Modify the <script_path> tag. Change it from:
<script_path>|path_php_binary| -q |path_cacti|/scripts/myfucntion.php</s
cript_path>
       to simply the following:
<script_path>|path_cacti|/scripts/ss_myfunction.php</script_path>
    2. Add the following two XML tags below the <script_path> tag.
       Replace ss_myfunction with your function name:
<script_function>ss_myfunction</script_function>
<script_server>php</script_server>
    3. Save the XML file.
     __________________________________________________________

Data Query & Data Template Changes

   Your Data Queries and Data Templates must be also changed.
   Although somewhat self explanatory by now, you must make the
   following changes:

    1. Change it's Input Method to "Get Script Server Data" or
       "Get Script Server Data (Index)" depending on it's type.
       Change the XML file path to point to the new XML file in
       the <path_cacti>/resources/script_server/*.xml path.
       For all data templates that use the data query you must
       change their "Data Input Method" accordingly.

   Your final step is to go to the System Utilities and Clear
   Poller Cache to apply the new settings. If you script is
   operating correctly, you should now be migrated to the script
   server.
     __________________________________________________________

Testing Your Script in the Script Server

   To test your script in the script server, simply follow the
   instructions below. When you have finished you testing, simply
   type "quit" <cr< at the Script Server command line to exit the
   script server.

    1. Start the script server - You can do this by typing the
       following command:
shell> php <path_cacti>/script_server.php
       NOTE: Due to a bug in Windows implementation of PHP, you
       must type the full path name to the script_server.php file.
    2. Type in your command - Using the example from above, you
       would type in the following:
script server> <path_myfunction> my_function argument1 argument2 ...
       In the Windows environment, your example could be the
       following:
script server> c:\wwwroot\cacti\scripts\ss_myfunction.php ss_myfunction
localhost public 1 get duddle
    3. If your function is operating properly, you should get a
       result.
    4. To quit the script server, simply type "quit" <cr> at the
       command line.

   NOTE: If there are errors in your script, you must restart the
   script server before your retest your code.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 15. Spine

   Spine is the fast replacement for cmd.php. It is written in C
   to ensure ultimate performance for device polling. Expect a
   decrease in polling time of an order of magnitude. Polling
   times far less than 60 seconds for about 20,000 data sources
   are achievable e.g. on a dual XEON system supplied with 4 GB
   RAM and standard local disks.

   When using Spine, don't change crontab settings! Always use
   poller.php with crontab! To activate Spine instead of cmd.php,
   please visit Settings and select the Poller tab. Select Spine
   and save. Now, poller.php will use Spine on all subsequent
   polling cycles.

   While Spine is really fast, choosing the correct setup will
   ensure, that all processor resources are used. Required
   settings for Maximum Concurrent Poller Processes are 1-2 times
   the number of CPU cores available for Spine.

   Table 15-1. Spine Specific Execution Parameters
   Name Description
   Maximum Threads per Process The maximum threads allowed per
   process. Using a higher number when using Spine will improve
   performance. Required settings are 10-15. Values above 50 are
   most often insane and may degrade preformance
   Number of PHP Script Servers The number of concurrent script
   server processes to run per Spine process. Settings between 1
   and 10 are accepted. Script Servers will pre-load a PHP
   environment. Then, the Script Server Scripts are included into
   that environment to save the overhead of reloading PHP each and
   every time.
   Script and Script Server Timeout Value The maximum time that
   Spine will wait on a script to complete, in units of seconds.
   If a Script Server Script is terminated due to timeout
   conditions, the value entered into the rrd file will be NaN
   The Maximum SNMP OID's Per SNMP Get Request The maximum number
   of snmp get OID's to issue per snmp request. Increasing this
   value speeds poller performance over slow links. The maximum
   value is 60 OID's. Please bear in mind, that some type of
   devices do not accept huge OID numbers and may fail if set
   above 1. That's why cacti 0.8.7 allows to define this value at
   device level
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 16. How To

Simplest Method of Going from Script to Graph (Walkthrough)

   Written by Kevin der Kinderen, http://kdeuja.com/~kevin/

   This HOWTO walks you through the simplest steps of graphing the
   output of a single value from a script. As a new user of cacti,
   I had a difficult time understanding how to graph anything that
   wasn't canned with the original load. After a lot of playing
   around, I came up with these procedures which can be built upon
   for more sophisticated collections and graphs.

   I do not use templates in this HOWTO. Templates provide a
   significant advantage if you are graphing the output for
   multiple instances or creating graphs for multiple hosts. They
   help to maintain consistency and simplify setup.

   The example here is not realistic, but can be used and expanded
   upon as a model for creating your own graphs.

   I've not put a lot of explanations in the procedures. Refer to
   the Cacti manual for more details.

   Have a tested script ready to go. I used the following script
   located in /home/cactiuser/bin called random2.pl:
#!/usr/bin/perl -w

print int(rand(10));

   This script simply prints out a random integer between 0 and 9
   every time it's called.

   The minimal steps to create a graph from a script are simply:
    1. Create a Data Input Method to tell Cacti how to call the
       script and what to expect from it.
    2. Create a Data Source to tell cacti how and where the data
       will be stored.
    3. Create a Graph to tell cacti how the data will be presented
       in graph form.
    4. Add Graph to Graph View so you can view the graph.
    5. View the Graph

   The details are below:
    1. Create Data Input Method
          + Click the Console tab at the top
          + Click Data Input Methods under Management
          + Click Add
          + Name: Random 2 Input
          + Input Type: Script/Command
          + Input String: /home/cactiuser/bin/random2.pl
          + Click Create
          + Should see "Save Successful." at the top of the page.
          + Click Add by Output Fields (there are no input fields
            for this example)
          + Field [Output]: random_number
          + Friendly Name: Random Number
          + Update RRD File: checked
          + Click Create
          + Should see "Save Successful." and random_number listed
            under Output Fields.
          + Click Save
          + Should see "Save Successful." and Random Input listed
            in Data Input Methods.
    2. Create a Data Source
          + Click Data Sources under Management
          + Click Add in the top right
          + The Data Template Section should be None and None,
            we're not using templates for this example.
          + Click Create.
          + Name: random2ds
          + Data Source Path: blank (Cacti will fill this in)
          + Data Input Source: Random 2 Input (this is the data
            input method you created in step 1)
          + Highlight each of the Associated RRA's using
            control-click
          + Step: 300 (300 seconds = 5 minutes)
          + Data Source Active: checked
          + Describe the Data Source Item inside the RRA by...
          + Internal Data Source Name: random_number
          + Minimum Value: 0
          + Maximum Value: 0
          + Data Source Type: GAUGE
          + Heartbeat: 600
          + Click Create
          + Should see "Save Successful." at the top and the Data
            Source Path should now have a value (my example
            <path_rra>/random_number_286.rrd)
          + Click Turn On Data Source Debugging Mode to see the
            results of this step.
          + Click Save
          + Should see "Save Successful" and your new Data Source
            listed.
    3. Create Graph
          + Select Graph Management under Management
          + Click Add
          + Selected Graph Template: None
          + Host: None
          + Click Create
          + Title: RANDOM NUMBERS
          + Image Format: PNG
          + Height: 120
          + Width: 500
          + Auto Scale: checked
          + Auto Scale Options: Use --alt-autoscale-max
          + Logarithmic Scaling: unchecked
          + Rigid Boundaries: unchecked
          + Auto Padding: checked
          + Allow Graph Export: checked
          + Upper Limit: 100
          + Lower Limit: 0
          + Base Value: 1000
          + Unit Value: blank
          + Unit Exponent Value: 0
          + Vertical Label: Random Number
          + Click Create
          + Should see "Save Successful."
          + If you click "Turn On Graph Debug Mode." now you will
            see: "Error: can't make a graph without contents." We
            need to add Graph Items:
          + Click Add by Graph Items
          + Data Source: (from list) No Host - random2ds
            (random_number)
          + Color: 0000FF (Blue)
          + Graph Item Type: LINE2
          + Consolidation Function: AVERAGE
          + CDEF Function: None
          + Value: blank
          + GPRINT Type: Normal
          + Text Format: blank
          + Insert Hard Return: unchecked
          + Click Create
          + Should see "Save Successful.", Item #1 listed and a
            graph under debug (probably with nothing in it yet)
          + To add a legend, click Add by Graph Items again
          + Data Source: No Host - random2ds (random_number)
          + Color: None
          + Graph Item Type: GPRINT
          + Consolidation Function: LAST
          + CDEF Function: None
          + Value: blank
          + GPRINT Type: Normal
          + Text Format: Cur:
          + Insert Hard Return: unchecked
          + Click Create
          + Should see "Save Successful." and the graph will have
            a legend showing the current value. Note: your integer
            random number has been averaged over the past 5
            minutes. At the bottom of the page, click save.
          + At the bottom of the page, click Save.
          + Should see "Save Successful." and your graph listed.
    4. Add graph to the graph view
          + Click Graph Trees under Management
          + We'll create a tree called "test" to place our graph
          + Click Add
          + Name: test
          + Should see "Save Successful"
          + Click Add beside Tree Items (to add our graph to this
            tree)
          + Under Tree Items [graph]...
          + Graph: RANDOM NUMBERS (we named this in step 3)
          + Round Robin Archive: Daily (5 Minute Average)
          + Click Create
          + Should see "Save Successful." and RANDOM NUMBERS
            listed under Tree Items
          + Click Save
          + Should see "Save Successful." and test listed under
            Graph Trees
    5. View Graph
          + Select Graphs tab
          + Select tree view (Tree beside settings tab)
          + Select test tree on left
          + You may see "Random Graph" but no graph. It takes two
            or three polls (10 - 15 minutes) to see a graph. I
            believe poll 1 to create the rrd, poll 2 to get the
            first data point and poll 3 to have graphable points.
          + While waiting, you can click the RANDOM NUMBERS graph.
            You'll see place holders for 4 graphs. Select [source]
            under Daily (5 Minute Average). You'll see the source
            for the call to rrdtool graph. Give it a sanity check.
          + Now be patient. Hit your refresh button every few
            minutes. After the first poll I got a few empty
            graphs. A few minutes later data started showing up.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 17. Frequently Asked Questions

   1. Using Cacti

        How do I create traffic graphs?

   2. General

        I get a "Undefined variable: _SERVER" error message from
                Cacti.

        I get a "Call to undefined function: mysql_connect()"
                error message from Cacti.

        I have forgotten my 'admin' password to Cacti, how do I
                reset it?

   3. Monitoring

        I am polling thousands of items and poller.php takes more
                than 5 minutes to run.

        I changed x, and now some of my graphs are not updating.
        I am using Redhat 8.0 and SNMP is not working.
        How do I configure net-snmp so it will work with Cacti?

   4. Graphs

        I just installed Cacti and all of my graphs appear as
                broken images.

        My graphs render, but they do not contain any data.
        A lot of my graphs contain long ifAlias names, but they
                are being truncated to 15 characters.

        One of my devices rebooted and now I have a huge spike on
                my graph!

        RRDTool Says: ERROR: unknown option '--slope-mode' or
                RRDTool Says: ERROR: Garbage ':39:24 To 2005/10/22
                16:39:24\c' after command: COMMENT:From 2005/10/21
                16:39:24 To 2005/10/22 16:39:24\c

   5. Windows Related

        I get a "Fatal error: Cannot redeclare title_trim()" error
                message from Cacti.

1. Using Cacti

   How do I create traffic graphs?

   Before you can create traffic graphs, Cacti must have working
   SNMP support. One way to do this is to compile PHP with SNMP
   support built in, many times you can install the 'php-snmp'
   package to do this. The second option is to have Cacti call the
   snmpget and snmpwalk binaries from your ucd-snmp or net-snmp
   installation. You can use the about page to determine whether
   to are using "built-in" or "external" SNMP support.

   Now that you have working SNMP support, follow these steps.

    1. Click Devices on Cacti's menu.
    2. Click Add to add a new device.
    3. Type a description, hostname, management IP, and SNMP
       community. Make sure to select "Generic SNMP-enabled Host"
       under Host Template and click Create.
    4. Click Create Graphs for this Host at the top of the page.
    5. You should see one or more interfaces listed under the Data
       Query [SNMP - Interface Statistics] box. Place a check next
       to each interface that you want to graph. Below the box,
       select type of graph that you want to create (bits, bytes,
       summation, etc).
    6. Click Create, and Create again on the following screen to
       create your graphs.

2. General

   I get a "Undefined variable: _SERVER" error message from Cacti.

   Cacti 0.8.6 and above requires that you have at least PHP 4.1
   or greater installed.

   I get a "Call to undefined function: mysql_connect()" error
   message from Cacti.

   Your installation of PHP does not have MySQL installed or
   enabled. On binary-based distributions, make sure you have the
   'php-mysql' package installed. Also make sure that
   'extension=mysql.so' is uncommented in your php.ini file.

   I have forgotten my 'admin' password to Cacti, how do I reset
   it?

   To reset the admin account password back to the default of
   'admin', connect to your Cacti database at the command line.
shell> mysql -u root -p cacti

   Now execute the following SQL:
mysql> update user_auth set password=md5('admin') where username='admin'
;

3. Monitoring

   I am polling thousands of items and poller.php takes more than
   5 minutes to run.

   Give Spine, the fast replacement for poller.php a try. Unlike
   poller.php, Spine is written in c and makes use of pthreads. On
   a typical installation, it is not uncommon for Spine to poll
   about 500 items in less then 10 seconds.

   I changed x, and now some of my graphs are not updating.

   The best thing to do here is to force Cacti to rebuild its
   poller cache. To do this click Utilities on the Cacti menu, and
   select Clear Poller Cache.

   I am using Redhat 8.0 and SNMP is not working.

   Redhat 8.0 comes with a broken php-snmp package. Updating your
   'php-snmp' and 'net-snmp' packages to their latest versions
   should fix this problem.

   How do I configure net-snmp so it will work with Cacti?

   Run snmpconf -g basic_setup and follow the prompts. Also check
   that the file being used by snmpd is the correct config file.
   For Redhat Linux, snmpconf creates the /etc/snmpd.conf, but
   snmpd uses /etc/snmpd/snmpd.conf.

   If this doesn't work a very simple config file is:
# contact
syslocation Something
syscontact "root@someone.com"

# auth
rocommunity public

# disk monitoring
disk /

4. Graphs

   I just installed Cacti and all of my graphs appear as broken
   images.

   For you to actually get graph images, poller.php must run at
   least once so it can create .rrd files in Cacti's 'rra/'
   directory. Double check that you configured your /etc/crontab
   file to execute poller.php every five minutes. Also make sure
   that the user poller.php runs as has permission to create new
   files in Cacti's 'rra/' directory.

   If all of your settings appear correct, try running poller.php
   manually by cd'ing to Cacti's directory and typing:
shell> php poller.php

   If you have files in your 'rra/' directory, but your graphs
   still appear as broken images, you should enable graph debug
   mode see exactly why the graphs are not rendering. To do this
   go into Cacti, select Graph Management from the menu, select
   any graph listed, and select Turn On Graph Debug Mode.

   My graphs render, but they do not contain any data.

   More often than not, this problem's cause is permissions. For
   instance if you run poller.php manually as root for testing,
   any .rrd files that it creates will be owned by root. Now when
   poller.php runs from cron, it will not be able to update these
   .rrd files because they are owned by root. You can double check
   the owner of your .rrd files by running the following command
   in your Cacti directory:
shell> ls -al rra/

   If only some of your graphs are not updating correctly, double
   check the Maximum Value field for all data sources used by
   these graphs. If the value being fed to the .rrd file exceeds
   its Maximum Value, RRDTool will insert an Unknown and you will
   see no data on the graph.

   A lot of my graphs contain long ifAlias names, but they are
   being truncated to 15 characters.

   Cacti does this by default to better control graph title
   formatting. You can change this limit, by going to Cacti
   Settings on the Cacti menu, selecting the Visual tab, and
   changing the value for Data Queries - Maximum Field Length.

   One of my devices rebooted and now I have a huge spike on my
   graph!

   This occurs because the reboot causes SNMP's counters to reset,
   which can cause a rather large spike on the graph when RRDTool
   tries to determine the change between the new small counter
   value and the large previous value. One way to combat this
   issue is to specify realistic maximum values for your data
   sources. RRDTool will ignore any value that is larger than the
   maximum value.

   If you already have a spike on one or more of your graphs,
   there is a really useful Perl script that will remove them for
   you.

   RRDTool Says: ERROR: unknown option '--slope-mode' or RRDTool
   Says: ERROR: Garbage ':39:24 To 2005/10/22 16:39:24\c' after
   command: COMMENT:From 2005/10/21 16:39:24 To 2005/10/22
   16:39:24\c

   This occurs because the version of RRDTool that you are running
   does not match the RRDTool version Cacti is configured to use.
   Double check your Cacti Settings and make sure that the RRDTool
   version matches what version of RRDTool you are running.

5. Windows Related

   I get a "Fatal error: Cannot redeclare title_trim()" error
   message from Cacti.

   Contrary to previous versions of Cacti, you must not put Cacti
   in your PHP include path. Check your php.ini file to make sure
   there is not something like include_path =
   C:/Apache2/htdocs/cacti.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 18. Variables

Graph Variables

   The following variables can be used in the Text Format and
   Value graph item fields. Below is a description of each of
   these variables.
     __________________________________________________________

Date/Time

|date_time|

   This variable will place the date and time of the last poller
   run on the graph. It can be used to replicate MRTG's "graph
   last updated" feature.
     __________________________________________________________

Data Source Title

|data_source_title|

   This variable, |data_source_title|, gets replaced with the name
   of the data source associated with a particular graph item in a
   graph template. This change allows the creation of generic
   graph templates (2-variable line graph, 3-variable stack, etc.)
   which can be reused with large numbers of data sources. See
   attached examples to understand usage.

   Figure 18-1. Example of a Graph Template using
   |data_source_title|

   [data_source_title_template.png]

   Figure 18-2. Example 1 of a Graph making use of
   |data_source_title|

   [data_source_title_example1.png]

   Figure 18-3. Example 2 of a Graph making use of
   |data_source_title|

   [data_source_title_example2.png]
     __________________________________________________________

Data Query Fields

|query_field_name|

   You can place the value of any data query field on the by
   including this variable. Make sure to substitute "field_name"
   with the actual data query field name.

   Example 18-1. Print the IP Address on a traffic graph

   |query_ifIP|

   Example 18-2. Print the mount point on net-snmp disk graph

   |query_dskPath|
     __________________________________________________________

Nth Percentile

|[0-9]:(bits|bytes):[0-9]:(current|total|max|total_peak|all_max_current|
all_max_peak|aggregate_max|aggregate_sum|aggregate_current|aggregate):[0
-9]|

   Nth percentile is often used by hosting providers to bill
   customers based on their peak traffic usage while ignoring
   their top (100 - Nth) percent. This way if a customer has a
   fairly consistent traffic pattern and decides to download a
   huge file one day, the large spike will be ignored. Common Nth
   percentile is 95, which would cut off the top 5% of the
   traffic.

   In Cacti, Nth percentile works just like any other graph
   variable. To use this variable you must give it five arguments:

   Table 18-1. Nth Percentile Argument Description
   Name Description
   [0-9] The first argument is a number between 1 and 99. This
   number represents the Nth percentile that you would like to
   calculate.
   (bits|bytes) Choose whether you want to represent your Nth
   percentile in bits or bytes. The only valid values for this
   field are 'bits' and 'bytes'.
   [0-9] This field determines the power of 10 divisor that will
   be applied to your Nth percentile number. Enter '0' to leave
   the number alone, '3' for kilo or '6' for mega, etc.
   ( current | total | max | total_peak | all_max_current |
   all_max_peak | aggregate_max | aggregate_sum |
   aggregate_current | aggregate ) Nth Percentile Type - Refer to
   Nth Types
   [0-9] Enter the number of digits to use for floating point
   precision when printing out the final number. The default value
   for this field is two decimal places.

   Table 18-2. Nth Percentile Types
   Type Description
   current Calculates the Nth percentile based off the selected
   data source on the graph item wich the variable is used. This
   type requires a selected Data Source Item in the graph item in
   which it is defined.
   total Calculates the Nth percentile based off the selected data
   source on the graph item wich the variable is used. But unlike
   current, this function totals the Nth percentile results of all
   same named data source names on the graph. Example, all
   traffic_in would have their Nth percentile calculated and then
   totaled. This type requires a selected Data Source Item in the
   graph item in which it is defined.
   max Calculates the Nth percentile based off the selected data
   source on the graph item which the variable is used, but it is
   important to note that it selects the higher of the values for
   each row in data source and then uses the resulting set to
   calculate the Nth percentile. Example, you have selected a
   interface data source for traffic_in, this will evaluate
   traffic_out and traffic_in for that selected data source
   (rrdtool file) and select the higher of the two values for each
   row of data. The resulting max values are used to calculate the
   Nth percentile value. This type requires a selected Data Source
   Item in the graph item in which it is defined.
   total_peak Calculates the Nth percentile based on the max for
   each data source defined on the graph. Example, the max is
   taken for each data source defined on the graph, but it's the
   max of traffic_in or traffic_out for that data source (rrdtool
   file). The resulting max values are summed and returned.
   all_max_current Calculates the Nth percentile based off the
   selected data source on the graph item which the variable is
   used, but it only selects the highest (max) value of all the
   data source items on the graph. Example, there are 3 data
   sources defined on the graph, the selected data source is
   traffic_in, all data sources for traffic_in will be compared
   against each other and the highest Nth value of all graph items
   will be selected as the result. This type requires a selected
   Data Source Item in the graph item in which it is defined.
   all_max_peak Calculates the Nth percentile by selecting the
   highest (max) calculated max Nth percentile value for each data
   source (rrdtool file) selected on the graph. Example, 3 data
   sources are defined on the graph, for each data source, the max
   Nth percentile is calculated, and out of the resulting set of
   values, the highest value is selected and returned.
   aggregate_max Calculates the Nth percentile by selecting the
   highest value for each summed value of like data sources and
   selecting the maximum value of that set to calculate the Nth
   percentile value. Example, you have a graph with 5 traffic_in
   and 18 traffic_out data sources. The traffic_in rows are summed
   together, then the traffic_out rows are summed together, then
   for each row, the higher of the 2 values is selected. The Nth
   percentile is calculated from the resulting maximum values.
   aggregate_sum Calculates the Nth percentile by summing all data
   sources on the graph row for row and calculates the Nth value
   on the resulting summed data. Example, you have a graph with 4
   traffic_in and 3 traffic_out data sources defined. All the
   defined traffic_in and traffic_out are summed together and then
   the Nth percentile value is calculated from that set.
   aggregate_current Calculates the Nth percentile by summing
   items matching the selected data source name row for row from
   each data source defined on the graph with the same data source
   name and then returning the Nth percent value calculated.
   Example, you have a graph with 3 traffic_out and 5 traffic_in
   data sources defined. The traffic_in is selected on the graph
   item where this variable is used, so all graph items for
   traffic_in are summed and then the Nth value is calculated and
   returned as the variable.
   aggregate Calculates the Nth percentile by summing like data
   source names row for row from each data source defined on the
   graph and then returning the highest Nth percent value
   calculated for like data source names. Example, you have a
   graph with 3 traffic_out and 5 traffic_in data sources defined.
   The traffic_in and traffic_out are summed then the Nth value is
   calculated and the higher of the 2 values is returned as the
   variable.

     Concerning aggregate Nth percentile functions and rra
     definitions: All data sources used in a graph MUST have the
     same rra definitions. If the number of rows do not match
     when calculations are attempted, the results may produce
     errors and invalid results. Please also be aware the
     aggregate functions take more memory and processor power
     when used. Recommended minimum of 64 megs memory limit for
     php when querying large ranges or graphs with a large
     ammount of aggregated data sources.

   Example 18-3. Output in the following format, for 95th
   percentile: 42.58 mbit

   |95:bits:6:max:2|
     __________________________________________________________

Bandwidth Summation

|sum:([0-9]|auto):(current|total):([0-9]):([0-9]+|auto)|

   Bandwidth summation is useful for summing up all values in an
   RRD file for a given time range. This is typically useful on
   traffic graphs where you can see a total of all traffic that
   has gone through an interface in a given time period.

   In Cacti, bandwidth summation works just like any other graph
   variable. To use this variable you must give it three
   arguments:

   Table 18-3. Bandwidth Summation Argument Description
   Name Description
   ([0-9]|auto) This field determines the power of 10 divisor that
   will be applied to your number. Enter '0' to leave the number
   alone, '3' for kilo or '6' for mega, etc. You can also enter
   'auto' for this field to have Cacti automatically scale the
   number and insert the appropriate label.
   (current|total) You can choose to calculate the summation based
   on the current data source or a total of all data sources used
   on the graph. The only valid values for this field are
   'current' and 'total'.
   [0-9] Enter the number of digits to use for floating point
   precision when printing out the final number. The default value
   for this field is two decimal places.
   ([0-9]+|auto) Enter the number of seconds in the past to
   perform the summation calculation for. For instance '86400' for
   24 hours, '172800' for 48 hours, etc. You can also enter 'auto'
   for this field to have Cacti use the graph timespan.

   Example 18-4. Output in the following format: 36.47 GB

   |sum:auto:current:2:auto|
     __________________________________________________________

Host Variables

   Host variables represent host data and can be placed in graph
   or data source titles. The following table describes which host
   variables can be used and which host fields the correspond to.

   Table 18-4. Host Variables
          Variable Name                      Description
   |host_description|          Description
   |host_hostname|             Hostname
   |host_snmp_community|       SNMP Community
   |host_snmp_version|         SNMP Version
   |host_snmp_username|        SNMP Username (v3)
   |host_snmp_password|        SNMP Password (v3)
   |host_snmp_auth_protocol|   SNMP Authetication Protocol (v3)
   |host_snmp_priv_passphrase| SNMP Privacy Passphrase (v3)
   |host_snmp_priv_protocol|   SNMP Privace Protocol (v3)
   |host_snmp_context|         SNMP Context (v3)
   |host_snmp_port|            SNMP Port
   |host_snmp_timeout|         SNMP Timeout
   |host_ping_retries|         SNMP Retries
   |host_max_oids|             SNMP Maximum OIDs on a bulkwalk (v2, v3)
   |host_id|                   Cacti internal ID for that Host
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 19. RRDTool Specific Features

GPRINT Presets

   A GPRINT is a graph item type that enables you to print the
   values of data sources on a graph. They are typically used to
   represent legend values on the graph. The output format of
   these numbers are controlled by a printf-like format string.
   Cacti enables you to keep a global list of these strings that
   can be applied to any graph item throughout Cacti.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a GPRINT Preset

   To create a new GPRINT preset, select the Graph Management menu
   item under the Management heading, and select GPRINT Presets.
   Click Add to the right and you will be presented with an edit
   page containing two fields. Enter a name for your GPRINT
   preset, and the actual printf-like string in the GPRINT Text
   field. When you are finished, click the Create button to create
   your new GPRINT preset.
     __________________________________________________________

CDEFs

   CDEFs allow you to apply mathematical functions to graph data
   to alter output. The concept of a CDEF comes straight from
   RRDTool, and are written in reverse polish notation (RPN). For
   more information regarding the syntax of CDEFs, check out the
   CDEF tutorial.
     __________________________________________________________

Creating a CDEF

   To create a new CDEF in Cacti, select the Graph Management
   option under the Management heading, and select CDEFs. Once at
   this screen, click Add to the right. You will be prompted for a
   CDEF name, for which you can type anything used to describe
   your CDEF. Click the Create button so you are redirected back
   to the edit page, now with an empty CDEF Items box. Construct
   your CDEF by adding an item for each element in the CDEF
   string, common types such as operators and functions are
   enumerated for your convenience. Below is a basic description
   of each CDEF item type.

   Table 19-1. CDEF Item Types
   Type Description
   Function You can choose a CDEF function to use as the item. The
   RRDTool graph manual describes the purpose of each CDEF
   function.
   Operator Just your standard math operators, including modulo
   (%).
   Special Data Source A special data source is basically a flag
   to tell Cacti to do some special processing when it encounters
   this CDEF item. The "Current Graph Item Data Source" type
   basically inserts the name of the data source that is
   referenced by the graph item that references to this CDEF. Both
   of the "All Data Sources" types insert a summation of all data
   sources used on a graph.
   Another CDEF You can recursively use another CDEF within this
   CDEF.
   Custom String Sometimes it's just easier to type out the
   literal CDEF string manually. When referencing to data sources
   on the graph, remember that Cacti names them 'a', 'b', 'c',
   '...', starting with the first data source on the graph.
     __________________________________________________________

Special Data Source

   The Special Data Souce selection introduces some variables not
   known to plain vanilla rrdtool. Let's spend some few words of
   them to unleash their power.

   Table 19-2. CDEF Special Data Source
   Special Data Source Description
   Current Graph Item Data Source Will be replaced by the DEF name
   of the rrdtool data source referred by the graph item this CDEF
   is associated to.
   All Data Sources (Don't Include Duplicates) Will add up all
   data sources of the whole graph to form a total. A data source
   that appears more than once will be counted only once. Data
   sources that differ by consolidation functions only are NOT
   counted as different data sources (e.g. traffic_in:AVERAGE and
   traffic_in:MAX are counted only once). It is NOT required to
   associate the graph item to any data source!
   All Data Sources (Include Duplicates) Will add up all data
   sources of the whole graph to form a total. A data source that
   appears more than once will be counted for each time of it's
   appearance. Data sources that differ by consolidation functions
   only are NOT counted as different data sources (e.g.
   traffic_in:AVERAGE and traffic_in:MAX are counted only once).
   It is NOT required to associate the graph item to any data
   source!
   Similar Data Sources (Don't Include Duplicates) It is REQUIRED
   to associate the graph item to the data source that shall be
   totalled! Let's assume the data source is named "traffic_in".
   Then, cacti will add up all data sources "traffic_in" of the
   whole graph to form a data source specific total (e.g. Total
   traffic In). Data sources with different consolidation
   functions are counted as same data sources (e.g.
   traffic_in:AVERAGE and traffic_in:MAX are counted once)
   Similar Data Sources (Include Duplicates) It is REQUIRED to
   associate the graph item to the data source that shall be
   totalled! If a data source appears multiple times, it will be
   added this many times.
   Current Data Source Item: Minimum Value Taken from the Data
   Template - Data Source Item related to this graph item: fetches
   the minimum value defined for the given data template. Caution:
   This is NOT the smallest entry of the given data source!
   Current Data Source Item: Maximum Value Taken from the Data
   Template - Data Source Item related to this graph item: fetches
   the maximum value defined for the given data template. Caution:
   This is NOT the highest entry of the given data source!
   Graph: Lower Limit Taken from the Graph Template: fetches the
   Lower Limit defined to the Graph Template. This is independant
   of all --alt-autoscaling options. It is NOT the dynamically
   determined lower boundary of the graph!
   Graph: Upper Limit Taken from the Graph Template: fetches the
   Upper Limit defined to the Graph Template. This is independant
   of all --alt-autoscaling options. It is NOT the dynamically
   determined upper boundary of the graph!
   Count of All Data Sources (Don't Include Duplicates) Will count
   the number of all data sources of the whole graph. A data
   source that appears more than once will be counted only once.
   Data sources that differ by consolidation functions only are
   NOT counted as different data sources (e.g. traffic_in:AVERAGE
   and traffic_in:MAX are counted only once). It is NOT required
   to associate the graph item to any data source!
   Count of All Data Sources (Include Duplicates) Will count the
   number of all data sources of the whole graph. A data source
   that appears more than once will be counted for each time of
   it's appearance. Data sources that differ by consolidation
   functions only are NOT counted as different data sources (e.g.
   traffic_in:AVERAGE and traffic_in:MAX are counted only once).
   It is NOT required to associate the graph item to any data
   source!
   Count of Similar Data Sources (Don't Include Duplicates) It is
   REQUIRED to associate the graph item to the data source that
   shall be counted! Let's assume the data source is named
   "traffic_in". Then, cacti will count all data sources
   "traffic_in" of the whole graph. Data sources with different
   consolidation functions are counted as same data sources (e.g.
   traffic_in:AVERAGE and traffic_in:MAX are counted once)
   Count of Similar Data Sources (Include Duplicates) It is
   REQUIRED to associate the graph item to the data source that
   shall be counted! If a data source appears multiple times, it
   will be counted this many times.

   While the All Data Sources/Similar Data Sources pseudo CDEF
   variables perform totaling, the Count All Data Sources/Count
   Similar Data Sources pseudo CDEF Variables simply count the
   occurences of the related data sources. Thus, it is easy to
   compute e.g. an average of all similar data sources by creating
   the CDEF
CDEF=SIMILAR_DATA_SOURCES_NODUPS,COUNT_SIMILAR_DS_NODUPS,/
     __________________________________________________________

Using Special Data Source

   Let's have some examples:

   Example 19-1. Sum up all Data Sources Omitting Duplicates

   This is the list of graph items defined. Please note, that
   Item#17-20 are duplicates of Item#1-4. Even if it usually does
   not make sense, for this discussion it is very valuable.
   Item#21-24 are related to a cdef=ALL_DATA_SOURCES_NODUPS
Graph Item  Data Source                         Graph Item Type  CF Type
Item # 1    (traffic_in): 1. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 2    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 3    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 4    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 5    (traffic_in): 2. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 6    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 7    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 8    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 9    (traffic_out): 1. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 10   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 11   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 12   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 13   (traffic_out): 2. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 14   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 15   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 16   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 17   (traffic_in): 1. Target Again Traffic In      LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 18   (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 19   (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 20   (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 21   (No Task): AllDsNoDups                        LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 22   (No Task): Current:                          GPRINT     LAST
Item # 23   (No Task): Average:                          GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 24   (No Task): Maximum:[HR]                      GPRINT      MAX

   And this is the rrd graph statement:
/usr/bin/rrdtool graph - \
--imgformat=PNG \
--start=-86400 \
--end=-300 \
--title="Traffic AllDsNoDups" \
--base=1000 \
--height=120 \
--width=500 \
--alt-autoscale-max \
--lower-limit=0 \
--vertical-label="" \
--slope-mode \
--font TITLE:12: \
--font AXIS:8: \
--font LEGEND:8: \
--font UNIT:8: \
DEF:a="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:AV
ERAGE \
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MA
X \
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVER
AGE \
DEF:d="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:MAX
\
DEF:e="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:A
VERAGE \
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:M
AX \
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVE
RAGE \
DEF:h="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:MAX
 \
CDEF:cdefca=TIME,1202925514,GT,a,a,UN,0,a,IF,IF,TIME,1202925514,GT,c,c,U
N,0,c,IF,IF,TIME,1202925514,GT,e,e,UN,0,e,IF,IF,TIME,1202925514,GT,g,g,U
N,0,g,IF,IF,+,+,+ \
LINE1:a#FFFF00FF:"1. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:c#FFD660FF:"2. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:c:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:c:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:d:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:e#CAF100FF:"1. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:e:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:e:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:f:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:g#CCBB00FF:"2. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:g:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:g:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:h:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:a#FF0000FF:"1. Target Again Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:cdefca#000000FF:"AllDsNoDups"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:LAST:"               Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"

   The data sources are denoted by the letters a to h. cdefca
   represents the important part. You surely notice, that all data
   sources using consolidation function AVERAGE are taken into
   account while MAX is skipped. Please pay attention to the data
   source denoted by a. Even though the data source appears twice,
   the cdef shows it only once. This is due to the duplicate
   suppression.

   Example 19-2. Sum up all Data Sources Including Duplicates

   This is the list of graph items defined. Please note, that
   Item#17-20 are duplicates of Item#1-4. Even if it usually does
   not make sense, for this discussion it is very valuable.
   Item#21-24 are related to a cdef=ALL_DATA_SOURCES_DUPS
Graph Item  Data Source                         Graph Item Type  CF Type
Item # 1    (traffic_in): 1. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 2    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 3    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 4    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 5    (traffic_in): 2. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 6    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 7    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 8    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 9    (traffic_out): 1. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 10   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 11   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 12   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 13   (traffic_out): 2. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 14   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 15   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 16   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 17   (traffic_in): 1. Target Again Traffic In      LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 18   (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 19   (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 20   (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 21   (No Task): AllDsDups                          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 22   (No Task): Current:                          GPRINT     LAST
Item # 23   (No Task): Average:                          GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 24   (No Task): Maximum:[HR]                      GPRINT      MAX

   And this is the rrd graph statement:
/usr/bin/rrdtool graph - \
--imgformat=PNG \
--start=-86400 \
--end=-300 \
--title="Traffic AllDsDups" \
--base=1000 \
--height=120 \
--width=500 \
--alt-autoscale-max \
--lower-limit=0 \
--vertical-label="" \
--slope-mode \
--font TITLE:12: \
--font AXIS:8: \
--font LEGEND:8: \
--font UNIT:8: \
DEF:a="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:AV
ERAGE \
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MA
X \
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVER
AGE \
DEF:d="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:MAX
\
DEF:e="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:A
VERAGE \
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:M
AX \
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVE
RAGE \
DEF:h="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:MAX
 \
CDEF:cdefca=TIME,1202925583,GT,a,a,UN,0,a,IF,IF,TIME,1202925583,GT,c,c,U
N,0,c,IF,IF,TIME,1202925583,GT,e,e,UN,0,e,IF,IF,TIME,1202925583,GT,g,g,U
N,0,g,IF,IF,TIME,1202925583,GT,a,a,UN,0,a,IF,IF,+,+,+,+ \
LINE1:a#FFFF00FF:"1. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:c#FFD660FF:"2. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:c:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:c:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:d:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:e#CAF100FF:"1. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:e:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:e:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:f:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:g#CCBB00FF:"2. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:g:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:g:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:h:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:a#FF0000FF:"1. Target Again Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:cdefca#000000FF:"AllDsDups"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:LAST:"                 Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"

   Again, the data sources are denoted by the letters a to h and
   cdefca represents the important part. Please pay attention to
   the data source denoted by a appearing twice in this cdef. This
   is, because it appears twice (Item#17-20) in the graph item
   list and duplicate suppression is not in effect.

   Example 19-3. Sum up Similar Data Sources Omitting Duplicates

   Everything is very much like the above; again Item#17-20 are
   duplicates of Item#1-4. Item#21-24 are related to a
   cdef=SIMILAR_DATA_SOURCES_NODUPS and are associated with the
   data source traffic_in of the 1. target (it does not matter,
   which target is chosen, as long as you only choose a traffic_in
   data source)
Graph Item  Data Source                         Graph Item Type  CF Type
Item # 1    (traffic_in): 1. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 2    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 3    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 4    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 5    (traffic_in): 2. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 6    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 7    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 8    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 9    (traffic_out): 1. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 10   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 11   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 12   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 13   (traffic_out): 2. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 14   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 15   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 16   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 17   (traffic_in): 1. Target Again Traffic In      LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 18   (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 19   (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 20   (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 21   (traffic_in): SimilarDsNoDups                 LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 22   (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 23   (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 24   (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX

   And this is the rrd graph statement:
/usr/bin/rrdtool graph - \
--imgformat=PNG \
--start=-86400 \
--end=-300 \
--title="Traffic SimilarDsNoDups" \
--base=1000 \
--height=120 \
--width=500 \
--alt-autoscale-max \
--lower-limit=0 \
--vertical-label="" \
--slope-mode \
--font TITLE:12: \
--font AXIS:8: \
--font LEGEND:8: \
--font UNIT:8: \
DEF:a="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:AV
ERAGE \
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MA
X \
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVER
AGE \
DEF:d="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:MAX
\
DEF:e="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:A
VERAGE \
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:M
AX \
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVE
RAGE \
DEF:h="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:MAX
 \
CDEF:cdefca=TIME,1202924474,GT,a,a,UN,0,a,IF,IF,TIME,1202924474,GT,c,c,U
N,0,c,IF,IF,+ \
CDEF:cdefcd=TIME,1202924474,GT,b,b,UN,0,b,IF,IF,TIME,1202924474,GT,d,d,U
N,0,d,IF,IF,+ \
LINE1:a#FFFF00FF:"1. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:c#FFD660FF:"2. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:c:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:c:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:d:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:e#CAF100FF:"1. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:e:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:e:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:f:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:g#CCBB00FF:"2. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:g:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:g:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:h:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:a#FF0000FF:"1. Target Again Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:cdefca#000000FF:"SimilarDsNoDups"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:LAST:"           Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefcd:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"

   cdefca calculates the SUM of all traffic_in data sources, but
   pays attention only to consolidation function AVERAGE.
   Duplicate suppression makes sure, that the second occurrence of
   the 1. target is not taken into account. So it's only summing
   data source a and c. cdefca is used the the LINE1 graph item
   with exact match for consolidation function AVERAGE as well as
   for the best matched consolidation functions LAST and MIN.

   cdefcd calculates the SUM of all traffic_in data sources, but
   pays attention only to consolidation function MAX. Again,
   duplicate suppression is in effect. So it's only summing data
   source b and d. cdefcd is used for the graph item with exact
   match for consolidation function MAX only. This is, because my
   rra settings only define AVERAGE and MAX, where LAST and MIN
   are omitted. This may differ for installations defining LAST
   and MIN as well.

   Example 19-4. Sum up Similar Data Sources Including Duplicates

   Again, please note, that Item#17-20 are duplicates of Item#1-4.
   Item#21-24 are related to a cdef=SIMILAR_DATA_SOURCES_DUPS and
   are associated with the data source traffic_in of the 1. target
   (it does not matter, which target is chosen, as long as you
   only choose a traffic_in data source)
Graph Item  Data Source                         Graph Item Type  CF Type
Item # 1    (traffic_in): 1. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 2    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 3    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 4    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 5    (traffic_in): 2. Target Traffic In            LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 6    (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 7    (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 8    (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 9    (traffic_out): 1. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 10   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 11   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 12   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 13   (traffic_out): 2. Target Traffic Out          LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 14   (traffic_out): Current:                      GPRINT     LAST
Item # 15   (traffic_out): Average:                      GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 16   (traffic_out): Maximum:[HR]                  GPRINT      MAX
Item # 17   (traffic_in): 1. Target Again Traffic In      LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 18   (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 19   (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 20   (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX
Item # 21   (traffic_in): SimilarDsDups                   LINE1  AVERAGE
Item # 22   (traffic_in): Current:                       GPRINT     LAST
Item # 23   (traffic_in): Average:                       GPRINT  AVERAGE
Item # 24   (traffic_in): Maximum:[HR]                   GPRINT      MAX

   And this is the rrd graph statement:
/usr/bin/rrdtool graph - \
--imgformat=PNG \
--start=-86400 \
--end=-300 \
--title="Traffic SimilarDsDups" \
--base=1000 \
--height=120 \
--width=500 \
--alt-autoscale-max \
--lower-limit=0 \
--vertical-label="" \
--slope-mode \
--font TITLE:12: \
--font AXIS:8: \
--font LEGEND:8: \
--font UNIT:8: \
DEF:a="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:AV
ERAGE \
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MA
X \
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVER
AGE \
DEF:d="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:MAX
\
DEF:e="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:A
VERAGE \
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:M
AX \
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVE
RAGE \
DEF:h="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:MAX
 \
CDEF:cdefca=TIME,1202925634,GT,a,a,UN,0,a,IF,IF,TIME,1202925634,GT,c,c,U
N,0,c,IF,IF,TIME,1202925634,GT,a,a,UN,0,a,IF,IF,+,+ \
CDEF:cdefcd=TIME,1202925634,GT,b,b,UN,0,b,IF,IF,TIME,1202925634,GT,d,d,U
N,0,d,IF,IF,TIME,1202925634,GT,b,b,UN,0,b,IF,IF,+,+ \
LINE1:a#FFFF00FF:"1. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:c#FFD660FF:"2. Target Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:c:LAST:"      Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:c:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:d:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:e#CAF100FF:"1. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:e:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:e:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:f:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:g#CCBB00FF:"2. Target Traffic Out"  \
GPRINT:g:LAST:"     Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:g:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:h:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:a#FF0000FF:"1. Target Again Traffic In"  \
GPRINT:a:LAST:"Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:a:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:b:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"  \
LINE1:cdefca#000000FF:"SimilarDsDups"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:LAST:"             Current\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefca:AVERAGE:"Average\:%8.2lf%s"  \
GPRINT:cdefcd:MAX:"Maximum\:%8.2lf%s\n"

   cdefca and cdefcd represents the important part. You surely
   notice, that all data sources using consolidation function
   AVERAGE are taken into account for calculation cdefca, while
   MAX is calculated with cdefcd. Please pay attention to the data
   source denoted by a and b, respectively, appearing twice in
   those cdefs as expected.
     __________________________________________________________

More CDEF Examples

   Example 19-5. Disk Usage as a Percentage

   This example is based on the standard data template ucd/net -
   Hard Drive Space. Cacti ships an associated graph template
   named ucd/net - Available Disk Space. Often, users complain
   about the fact, tha tthis template prints free and used space
   as absolute figures only. But instead of knowing, that your
   data partition has about 10GB used space, you may be interested
   in the percentage used. So let's create a simple example to
   show the power of the recently introduced special data sources.

   To make it work, we need two new CDEFs. The first one may come
   in useful for a bunch of different graph templates. It's named
   Make Current Data Source 0. On a first glance, you may wonder
   why this CDEF is needed. It is used for those data sources,
   that will be used for calculations but shall not show up
   themselves. Here's the definition
cdef=CURRENT_DATA_SOURCE,0,*

   Now, the other one, named Current DS as Percentage of all DS
cdef=CURRENT_DATA_SOURCE,ALL_DATA_SOURCES_NODUPS,/,100,*

   Here's a short discussion. The first three elements read: Take
   the current data source and divide it by "The Sum of All Data
   Sources (Don't include Duplicates)". To form a percentage, you
   will have to multiply by 100. This is done by adding the
   elements four and five.

   Now, let's build up the new graph
Graph Item   Data Source         Graph Item Type  CF Type  Item Color
    Item#1   (hdd_used):         LINE1            AVERAGE
    Item#2   (hdd_free):         LINE1            AVERAGE
    Item#3   (hdd_used): % Used  AREA             AVERAGE  FF0000

   Item#1+2 in most cases will exceed the maximum percentage of
   100 by magnitudes. So they are associated with the CDEF named
   Make Current Data Source 0 to make them zero. This adds the
   data sources to the graph but avoids them showing up. The
   pseudo-color of "None" is associated to both of them.

   Iten#3 is associated to the data source hdd_used as we want to
   print the "% Used" of the partition. The CDEF is Current DS as
   Percentage of all DS, the color is set to "red (FF0000)".

   And this is the rrd graph statement:
/usr/bin/rrdtool graph - \
--imgformat=PNG \
--start=-86400 \
--end=-300 \
--title="gandalf - Disk Space - / %used" \
--rigid \
--base=1024 \
--height=120 \
--width=500 \
--alt-autoscale-max \
--lower-limit=0 \
--vertical-label="Percent" \
--slope-mode \
--font TITLE:12: \
--font AXIS:8: \
--font LEGEND:8: \
--font UNIT:8: \
DEF:a="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_hdd_free_236.rrd":hdd_used:AVERAG
E \
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_hdd_free_236.rrd":hdd_free:AVERAG
E \
CDEF:cdefa=a,0,* \
CDEF:cdefb=b,0,* \
CDEF:cdefc=a,TIME,1203272123,GT,a,a,UN,0,a,IF,IF,TIME,1203272123,GT,b,b,
UN,0,b,IF,IF,+,/,100,* \
LINE1:cdefa:""  \
LINE1:cdefb:""  \
AREA:cdefc#FF0000FF:"% Used"

   cdefa and cdefb are used to make the according graph items
   zero. cdefc performs the percentage calculation.

   You may of cource add GPRINT legends as usual. If you do this
   for the "% Used" entry only, you will get surprising results,
   if your rrd file holds either MAXIMUM, LAST and/or MINIMUM
   consolidation function(s). This is left as an exercise to you
   ;-)

   Example 19-6. Background Colors for Day and Night

   This set of CDEFs is used to colorize the background of a graph
   with different colors for day, night and weekends. The CDEFs
   are created as usual, we will show the CDEF definition only.
   Examples are taken from rrdtool-users mailing list courtesy
   Erik de Mare. Here are the definitions

   Background for Daytime
cdef=LTIME,86400,%,28800,GT,LTIME,86400,%,64800,LT,INF,UNKN,CURRENT_DATA
_SOURCE,*,IF,UNKN,CURRENT_DATA_SOURCE,*,IF

   Background for Nighttime
cdef=LTIME,86400,%,28800,LT,INF,LTIME,86400,%,64800,GT,INF,UNKN,CURRENT_
DATA_SOURCE,*,IF,IF

   Background for Weekend
cdef=LTIME,604800,%,172800,GT,LTIME,604800,%,345600,LT,INF,UNKN,CURRENT_
DATA_SOURCE,*,IF,UNKN,CURRENT_DATA_SOURCE,*,IF

   The value of 86400 represents the number of seconds of a day,
   whereas 28800 represents 8:00, defined as the start of the day.
   End of the day, 64800 is assumed at 18:00. Please replace those
   values if required. For weekends, same logic applies.

   Now, let's apply those new CDEFs to a Graph Template. For this
   example, I've chosen the Unix - Processes that applies to
   localhost only. In turn, please create three new graph items,
   associate the processes data source, make them AREAs, select a
   color and opacity. Choose the daytime , nighttime and weekend
   CDEF in this sequence. As a last step, move those three new
   graph items to the top. I've chosen opacity of 20% for Item#1
   to 3.
Graph Item  Data Source                Graph Item Type  CF Type  Item Co
lor
Item # 1    (proc):                    AREA             AVERAGE  FFFF00
Item # 2    (proc):                    AREA             AVERAGE  0000FF
Item # 3    (proc):                    AREA             AVERAGE  2E3127
Item # 4    (proc): Running Processes  AREA             AVERAGE  F51D30
Item # 5    (proc): Current:           GPRINT           LAST
Item # 6    (proc): Average:           GPRINT           AVERAGE
Item # 7    (proc): Maximum:           GPRINT           MAX
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 20. Command Line Scripts

   Cacti support a number of command line scripts. Please find
   them in the ./cli directory. As of current, following scripts
   are supported:
add_device.php
add_data_query.php
add_graph_template.php
add_graphs.php
add_perms.php
add_tree.php
copy_user.php
poller_graphs_reapply_names.php
poller_output_empty.php
poller_reindex_hosts.php
rebuild_poller_cache.php

   Numbers may vary!

   In the following examples, several numbers are shown as output
   from various scripts. They will vary between different
   installations. So don't bother, if your numbers will vary
     __________________________________________________________

Rebuild Poller Cache

   The poller cache holds all commands that cacti will issue
   during the polling process in an internal format. It is
   possible, to review the currenty contents of the poller cache
   by visiting System Utilities, View Poller Cache. It is possible
   to apply filters to this view; it will show up like
Localhost - Hard Drive Space    Script Server: /var/www/html/cacti/scrip
ts/ss_host_disk.php ss_host_disk 127.0.0.1 1 1:161:500:somesecret::::::
get total 6
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_h
dd_total_61.rrd
Localhost - Load Average        Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cact
i/scripts/loadavg_multi.pl
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_l
oad_1min_5.rrd
Localhost - Logged in Users     Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cact
i/scripts/unix_users.pl
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_u
sers_6.rrd
Localhost - Memory - Free       Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cact
i/scripts/linux_memory.pl MemFree:
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_m
em_buffers_3.rrd
Localhost - Memory - Free Swap  Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cact
i/scripts/linux_memory.pl SwapFree:
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_m
em_swap_4.rrd
Localhost - mtaReceivedMessages SNMP Version: 1, Community: somesecret,
OID: .1.3.6.1.2.1.28.1.1.1.1
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_m
tareceivedmessages_47.rrd
Localhost - mtaReceivedVolume   SNMP Version: 1, Community: somesecret,
OID: .1.3.6.1.2.1.28.1.1.4.1
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_m
tareceivedvolume_49.rrd

   There are several circumstances, that may result in the poller
   cache being out of sync. An example would be a change of the
   name of a script used in a Data Input Method. This change is
   not automatically propagated to the poller cache. It is
   required, to run php -q rebuild poller_cache.php manually.

   Calling the script with the parameter --help yields
shell>php -q rebuild_poller_cache.php --help
Cacti Rebuild Poller Cache Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti G
roup

usage: rebuild_poller_cache.php [-d] [-h] [--help] [-v] [--version]

-d            - Display verbose output during execution
-v --version  - Display this help message
-h --help     - Display this help message

   Debug mode lists the data sources items that are worked upon.
shell>php -q rebuild_poller_cache.php -d
WARNING: Do not interrupt this script.  Rebuilding the Poller Cache can
take quite some time
DEBUG: There are '38' data source elements to update.
DEBUG: Data Source Item '1' of '38' updated
DEBUG: Data Source Item '2' of '38' updated
DEBUG: Data Source Item '3' of '38' updated
DEBUG: Data Source Item '4' of '38' updated
....

   Without any parameter, some dots are shown as progress
   indicators.
shell>php -q rebuild_poller_cache.php
WARNING: Do not interrupt this script.  Rebuilding the Poller Cache can
take quite some time
......................................
shell>

   Stop the Poller when Rebuilding the Poller Cache

   Rebuilding the poller cache interferes with the poller
   operation. Please make sure, that the poller is not running and
   will not start during a rebuild operation
     __________________________________________________________

Re-Index Hosts

   Re-Indexing is required only for SNMP/Script Data Queries.
   Remember, that whan applying a Data Query to a Host, a Re-Index
   Method has to be chosen. This reindex method governs the
   automatic re-indexing based on specific events.

   Table 20-1. Re_Index Methods
   Re-Index Method Description
   Uptime Goes Backwards Refers to a system reboot. Cacti will
   detect if the target has been rebootet by querying sysUptime
   (.1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0). If the current value for the uptime is
   lower than the previous one (uptime goes backwards), a reboot
   is assumed and a re-index is performed
   Index Count Changed Refers to a change of the number of indexed
   items, e.g. interfaces, without checking sysUptime. It is of
   particular interest in cases, where indexed entries may change
   without the need of a reboot. As modern operating systems
   seldom require reboots for system configuration changes, you
   may want to consider this setting for many cases (e.g. creating
   of a new filesystem without a reboot). The index to be
   considered is defined by the according XML file.
   Verify All Fields All index fields of the according XML file
   are checked for changes. This is of particular interest e.g. in
   cases, where the index is non-numeric (e.g. a MAC address).

   If you feel the need for manual re-indexing, you may run it
   from cli. Calling the script with the parameter --help yields
shell>php -q poller_reindex_hosts.php --help
Cacti Reindex Host Script 1.2, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti Group

usage: poller_reindex_hosts.php --id=[host_id|All] [--qid=[ID|All]] [--h
ost-descr=[description]]
                           [-d] [-h] [--help] [-v] [--version]

--id=host_id             - The host_id to have data queries reindexed or
 'All' to reindex all hosts
--qid=query_id           - Only index on a specific data query id; defau
lts to 'All'
--host-descr=description - The host description to filter by (SQL filter
s acknowledged)
--debug                  - Display verbose output during execution
-v --version             - Display this help message
-h --help                - Display this help message

   Running it in debug mode for the host with id=2 may yield
shell>php -q poller_reindex_hosts.php -id=2 -d
WARNING: Do not interrupt this script.  Reindexing can take quite some t
ime
DEBUG: There are '1' data queries to run
DEBUG: Data query number '1' host: '2' SNMP Query Id: '1' starting
DEBUG: Data query number '1' host: '2' SNMP Query Id: '1' ending

   A silent run for all devices is issued by
shell>php -q poller_reindex_hosts.php -id=All
WARNING: Do not interrupt this script.  Reindexing can take quite some t
ime
.....shell>

   You may run this script against a specific data query id using
   --qid=[data query id] like
shell>php -q poller_reindex_hosts.php --id=All --qid=1 -d
WARNING: Do not interrupt this script.  Reindexing can take quite some t
ime
DEBUG: There are '3' data queries to run
DEBUG: Data query number '1' host: '1' SNMP Query Id: '1' starting
DEBUG: Data query number '1' host: '1' SNMP Query Id: '1' ending
DEBUG: Data query number '2' host: '2' SNMP Query Id: '1' starting
DEBUG: Data query number '2' host: '2' SNMP Query Id: '1' ending
DEBUG: Data query number '3' host: '15' SNMP Query Id: '1' starting
DEBUG: Data query number '3' host: '15' SNMP Query Id: '1' ending

   It is possible, to select a host based on its host description
   using --host-descr=[host description]. It is allowed to apply
   an SQL filter expression for the description like
   --qid=some%descr. Use this parameter in conjunction with either
   --id=[host id] or --qid=[data query id] or both:
shell>php -q poller_reindex_hosts.php --id=All --qid=1 --host-descr=ga%f
 -d
WARNING: Do not interrupt this script.  Reindexing can take quite some t
ime
DEBUG: There are '1' data queries to run
DEBUG: Data query number '1' host: '2' SNMP Query Id: '1' starting
DEBUG: Data query number '1' host: '2' SNMP Query Id: '1' ending

   Stop the Poller during Re-Indexing

   Re-Indexing interferes with the poller operation. Please make
   sure, that the poller is not running and will not start during
   a reindex operation
     __________________________________________________________

Empty Poller Output Table

   During normal poller operation, all retrieved results are
   intermediately stored in the table named poller_output After
   execution of cmd.php or Spine, this table holds all results.
   The poller.php finally issues all rrdtool update operations.
   Thus, after polling has completed, the table should be empty.

   Conditions may arise, where the table is not (completely)
   emptied. The most often known issue is lack of php memory. In
   those cases, the table is bigger than the php memory size, thus
   not all items are handled correctly. If that issue occurs, you
   may save all pending updates after increasing PHP memory
   appropriately by running this very script. Calling the script
   with the parameter --help yields
shell>php -q poller_output_empty.php --help
Cacti Empty Poller Output Table Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Ca
cti Group

usage: poller_output_empty.php [-h] [--help] [-v] [--version]

-v --version  - Display this help message
-h --help     - Display this help message

   You see, no parameter is required for operating successfully.
   Under normal circumstances, running this script should yield
shell>php -q poller_output_empty.php
There were 0, RRD updates made this pass
shell>

   In case, you hit the poller process or if the table was really
   not fully processed, you may find
shell>php -q poller_output_empty.php
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.04
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.00 r:0.05
OK u:0.00 s:0.01 r:0.06
There were 21, RRD updates made this pass
shell>

   If logging level verbosity was switched to DEBUG you may find
   additional debug messages that usually show up in cacti.log
     __________________________________________________________

Reapply Suggested Names to Graphs

   For a general understanding of suggested names used with data
   queries, please see the Section called Associated Graph
   Templates in Chapter 12>. Be aware, that changes to the
   Suggested Names section of a data query will not automatically
   be propagated to all existing graphs. This is, where
   poller_graphs_reapply_names.php drops in. Calling the script
   with the parameter --help yields
shell>php -q poller_graphs_reapply_names.php --help
Cacti Reapply Graph Names Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti Gr
oup

usage: poller_graphs_reapply_names.php -id=[host_id|All][host_id1|host_i
d2|...] [-s=[search_string] [-d] [-h] [--help] [-v] [--version]

-id=host_id   - The host_id or 'All' or a pipe delimited list of host_id
's
-s=search_str - A graph template name or graph title to search for
-d            - Display verbose output during execution
-v --version  - Display this help message
-h --help     - Display this help message

   Assume a situation, where the suggested names where changed for
   the standard data query named SNMP - Get Mounted Partitions. In
   this case, you will want to rework all graphs for this data
   query only. A verbose run will yield
shell>php -q poller_graphs_reapply_names.php -id=All -d -s="Used space"
WARNING: Do not interrupt this script.  Interrupting during rename can c
ause issues
DEBUG: There are '6' Graphs to rename
DEBUG: Graph Name 'Localhost - Used Space - Memory Buffers' starting
DEBUG: Graph Rename Done for Graph 'Localhost - Used Space - Memory Buff
ers'
DEBUG: Graph Name 'Localhost - Used Space - Real Memory' starting
DEBUG: Graph Rename Done for Graph 'Localhost - Used Space - Real Memory
'
DEBUG: Graph Name 'Localhost - Used Space - Swap Space' starting
DEBUG: Graph Rename Done for Graph 'Localhost - Used Space - Swap Space'
DEBUG: Graph Name 'Localhost - Used Space - /' starting
DEBUG: Graph Rename Done for Graph 'Localhost - Used Space - /'
DEBUG: Graph Name 'Localhost - Used Space - /sys' starting
DEBUG: Graph Rename Done for Graph 'Localhost - Used Space - /sys'
DEBUG: Graph Name 'Localhost - Used Space - /boot' starting
DEBUG: Graph Rename Done for Graph 'Localhost - Used Space - /boot'

   Please notice my miss-spelling of the word "Space". The -s=
   option is not case sensitive.
     __________________________________________________________

Copy Local Cacti Users

   For use and understanding the limitation of this script, it is
   of importance to read Chapter 9. In case you're using local
   cacti user definitions, you may copy a template user to a new
   user. Don't use this script for LDAP or Web Basic users.

   Calling the script with the parameter --help yields
shell>php -q copy_user.php --help

It is highly recommended that you use the web interface to copy users as
 this script will only copy Local Cacti users.

Syntax:
 php copy_cacti_user.php <template user> <new user>

   Now let's create a new user Harry Potter as follows
shell>php -q copy_user.php guest "Harry Potter"

It is highly recommended that you use the web interface to copy users as
 this script will only copy Local Cacti users.

Cacti User Copy Utility
Template User: guest
New User: Harry Potter

Copying User...
User copied...

   Find the results of this program call at User Management
User Name**     Full Name       Enabled         Realm   Default Graph Po
licy    Last Login
admin           Administrator   Yes             Local   ALLOW
Sunday, October 07, 2007 14:59:32
guest           Guest Account   Yes             Local   ALLOW
N/A
Harry Potter    Guest Account   Yes             Local   ALLOW
N/A
     __________________________________________________________

Add a New Device

   While it is an easy task to add a new device from the panels,
   this would be a tedious task for creating dozens of hundreds of
   devices in one turn. This is, where the script add_device.php
   comes in. First, let's have a look at the whole list of
   features it provides. Calling the script with the parameter
   --help yields
shell>php -q add_device.php --help

Add Device Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti Group

A simple command line utility to add a device in Cacti

usage: add_device.php --description=[description] --ip=[IP] --template=[
ID] [--notes="[]"] [--disable]
    [--avail=[ping]] --ping_method=[icmp] --ping_port=[N/A, 1-65534] --p
ing_retries=[2]
    [--version=[1|2|3]] [--community=] [--port=161] [--timeout=500]
    [--username= --password=] [--authproto=] [--privpass= --privproto=]
[--context=]
    [--quiet]

Required:
    --description  the name that will be displayed by Cacti in the graph
s
    --ip           self explanatory (can also be a FQDN)
Optional:
    --template     0, is a number (read below to get a list of templates
)
    --notes        '', General information about this host.  Must be enc
losed using double quotes.
    --disable      0, 1 to add this host but to disable checks and 0 to
enable it
    --avail        pingsnmp, [ping][none, snmp, pingsnmp]
    --ping_method  tcp, icmp|tcp|udp
    --ping_port    '', 1-65534
    --ping_retries 2, the number of time to attempt to communicate with
a host
    --version      1, 1|2|3, snmp version
    --community    '', snmp community string for snmpv1 and snmpv2.  Lea
ve blank for no community
    --port         161
    --timeout      500
    --username     '', snmp username for snmpv3
    --password     '', snmp password for snmpv3
    --authproto    '', snmp authentication protocol for snmpv3
    --privpass     '', snmp privacy passphrase for snmpv3
    --privproto    '', snmp privacy protocol for snmpv3
    --context      '', snmp context for snmpv3

List Options:
    --list-host-templates
    --list-communities
    --quiet - batch mode value return

   Wow, that's quite a lot of options. To better understand it's
   use, let's first stick to the listing options
     __________________________________________________________

List all Host Templates

shell>php -q add_device.php --list-host-templates

Valid Host Templates: (id, name)
1       Generic SNMP-enabled Host
3       ucd/net SNMP Host
4       Karlnet Wireless Bridge
5       Cisco Router
6       Netware 4/5 Server
7       Windows 2000/XP Host
8       Local Linux Machine

   Why are those Host Templates of such importance for this
   script? Well, when using this script to add a new device, there
   are 3 required parameters. The description and the device ip
   address are of course left to you. But for assigning the
   correct Host Template Id, you should first know the correct id
   of that very parameter. For the purpose of this chapter we
   assume to add a device that will be associated to a ucd/net
   SNMP Host, so the id of 3 is required.

   If you do not want to associate the host to any Host Template
   Id, known as host template None, please provide the parameter
   --template=0 or omit this parameter.
     __________________________________________________________

List all Community Strings

shell>php -q add_device.php --list-communities

Known communities are: (community)

public
snmp-get

   Of course, your list will vary
     __________________________________________________________

Create a New Device

   Now, let's set up the most basic command to add a new device.
   The description shall be "Device Add Test", the ip will be
   given as a FQDN, router.mydomain.com. As a SNMP enabled device,
   surely a community string has to be provided; in this case
   given as public. In total, this makes the following command
shell>php -q add_device.php --description="Device Add Test" --ip="router
.mydomain.com" --template=3 --community="public"

Adding Device Add Test (router.mydomain.com) as "ucd/net SNMP Host" usin
g SNMP v1 with community "public"
Success - new device-id: (11)

   Please visit Devices to see the result:
Description**           Graphs  Data Sources    Status  Hostname
Current (ms)    Average (ms)    Availability
Device Add Test         0       0               Unknown router.mydomain.
com     0               0               100

   Please use any other combination of parameters in the same way
   as via the web browser console. You may want to remember the
   new device id, 11 in this case, for the next steps.
     __________________________________________________________

Associate a Data Query to an existing Host

   It is recommended to maintain data query associations by
   maintaining host templates. Each time, a data query is added to
   a host template, it will automatically associated with all
   hosts related to that very host template. The data query will
   be executed as well; this way the snmp cache will be filled
   with all values related to that query.

   Nevertheless, it is sometimes suitable to manually associate a
   certain data query with a single host only without changing any
   host template. This is, where the script add_data_query.php
   comes in. First, let's have a look at the whole list of
   features it provides. Calling the script with the parameter
   --help yields
shell>php -q add_data_query.php --help

Add Data Query Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti Group

A simple command line utility to add a data query to an existing device
in Cacti

usage: add_data_query.php --host-id=[ID] --data-query-id=[dq_id] --reind
ex-method=[method] [--quiet]

Required:
    --host-id         the numerical ID of the host
    --data-query-id   the numerical ID of the data_query to be added
    --reindex-method  the reindex method to be used for that data query
                      0|None   = no reindexing
                      1|Uptime = Uptime goes Backwards
                      2|Index  = Index Count Changed
                      3|Fields = Verify all Fields
List Options:
    --list-hosts
    --list-data-queries
    --quiet - batch mode value return

If the data query was already associated, it will be reindexed.

   Let's first stick to the listing options
     __________________________________________________________

List all Hosts

shell>php -q add_data_query.php --list-hosts

Known Hosts: (id, hostname, template, description)
1       127.0.0.1       8       Localhost
11      router          3       router.mydomain.com
     __________________________________________________________

List all Data Queries

shell>php -q add_data_query.php --list-data-queries

Known SNMP Queries:(id, name)
1       SNMP - Interface Statistics
2       ucd/net -  Get Monitored Partitions
3       Karlnet - Wireless Bridge Statistics
4       Netware - Get Available Volumes
6       Unix - Get Mounted Partitions
7       Netware - Get Processor Information
8       SNMP - Get Mounted Partitions
9       SNMP - Get Processor Information
     __________________________________________________________

Add a Data Query

shell>php -q add_data_query.php --host-id=11 --data-query-id=1 --reindex
-method=fields

Success - Host (11: router.mydomain.com) data query (1: SNMP - Interface
 Statistics) reindex method (3: Verify All Fields)

   This example shows the use of a string "fields" for specifying
   the reindex method. As given by the help text, the use of the
   numeric value of "3" would have given the exact same result.
   When visiting the device edit panel, you will find non-zero
   values for the data query status column, e.g. Success [41
   Items, 5 Rows].
     __________________________________________________________

Associate a Graph Template to an existing Host

   It is recommended to maintain graph template associations by
   maintaining host templates. Each time, a graph template is
   added to a host template, it will automatically associated with
   all hosts related to that very host template.

   Nevertheless, it is sometimes suitable to manually associate a
   certain graph template with a single host only without changing
   any host template. This is, where the script
   add_graph_template.php comes in. First, let's have a look at
   the whole list of features it provides. Calling the script with
   the parameter --help yields
shell>php -q add_graph_template.php --help

Add Graph Template Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti Group

A simple command line utility to associate a graph template with a host
in Cacti

usage: add_graph_template.php --host-id=[ID] --graph-template-id=[ID]
    [--quiet]

Required:
    --host-id             the numerical ID of the host
    --graph_template-id   the numerical ID of the graph template to be a
dded

List Options:
    --list-hosts
    --list-graph-templates
    --quiet - batch mode value return

   Let's first stick to the listing options
     __________________________________________________________

List all Hosts

shell>php -q add_graph_template.php --list-hosts

Known Hosts: (id, hostname, template, description)
1       127.0.0.1       8       Localhost
11      router          3       router.mydomain.com
     __________________________________________________________

List all Graph Template

shell>php -q add_graph_template.php --list-graph-templates

Known Graph Templates:(id, name)
2       Interface - Traffic (bits/sec)
3       ucd/net - Available Disk Space
4       ucd/net - CPU Usage
5       Karlnet - Wireless Levels
6       Karlnet - Wireless Transmissions
7       Unix - Ping Latency
8       Unix - Processes
9       Unix - Load Average
10      Unix - Logged in Users
11      ucd/net - Load Average
...
     __________________________________________________________

Add a Graph Template

shell>php -q add_graph_template.php --host-id=11 --graph-template-id=7

Success: Graph Template associated for host: (11: router) - graph-templa
te: (7: Unix - Ping Latency)
     __________________________________________________________

Add a New Graph

   You won't stop now as you've just created a device from cli.
   Surely, the task of setting up graphs is the next step. This is
   done using add_graphs.php. Calling the script with the
   parameter --help yields
shell>php -q add_graphs.php
Add Graphs Script 1.2, Copyright 2008 - The Cacti Group

A simple command line utility to add graphs in Cacti

usage: add_graphs.php --graph-type=[cg|ds] --graph-template-id=[ID]
    --host-id=[ID] [--graph-title=title] [graph options] [--force] [--qu
iet]

For cg graphs:
    [--input-fields="[data-template-id:]field-name=value ..."] [--force]

    --input-fields  If your data template allows for custom input data,
you may specify that
                    here.  The data template id is optional and applies
where two input fields
                    have the same name.
    --force         If you set this flag, then new cg graphs will be cre
ated, even though they
                    may already exist

For ds graphs:
    --snmp-query-id=[ID] --snmp-query-type-id=[ID] --snmp-field=[SNMP Fi
eld] --snmp-value=[SNMP Value]

    [--graph-title=]       Defaults to what ever is in the graph templat
e/data-source template.

    [--reindex-method=]    the reindex method to be used for that data q
uery
                           if data query already exists, the reindex met
hod will not be changed
                    0|None   = no reindexing
                    1|Uptime = Uptime goes Backwards (Default)
                    2|Index  = Index Count Changed
                    3|Fields = Verify all Fields
List Options:
    --list-hosts
    --list-graph-templates [--host_template=[ID]]
    --list-input-fields --graph-template-id=[ID]
    --list-snmp-queries
    --list-query-types  --snmp-query-id [ID]
    --list-snmp-fields  --host-id=[ID] [--snmp-query-id=[ID]]
    --list-snmp-values  --host-id=[ID] [--snmp-query-id=[ID]] --snmp-fie
ld=[Field]

'cg' graphs are for things like CPU temp/fan speed, while
'ds' graphs are for data-source based graphs (interface stats etc.)

   Like the graph creation from the console, this task is split
   into two different ones:

     * Associated Graph Templates: These are named cg graph_type
       for this script.
     * Associated Data Queries: These are named ds graph_type for
       this script. Additional SNMP parameters are required to
       define those graphs.

   Exact typing required

   When running this cli script, caution must be taken to avoid
   typos. Sometimes, list options take an ending "s", where the
   option for graph creation comes without "s". Error messages are
   not issued to indicate this typo; instead you will see the
   general help screen.
     __________________________________________________________

List Options for Associated Graph Templates

   The first list option, --list-hosts, is required only if you do
   not know the id of the device you want to add graphs for. It
   will produce output as follows
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --list-hosts

Known Hosts: (id, hostname, template, description)
...
11      router.mydomain.com 3       Device Add Test

   You surely recognize the device we've just added?

   The next list option, --list-graph-templates, is required to
   identify the number of an Associated Graph Templates.
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --list-graph-templates

Known Graph Templates:(id, name)
2       Interface - Traffic (bits/sec)
3       ucd/net - Available Disk Space
4       ucd/net - CPU Usage
5       Karlnet - Wireless Levels
6       Karlnet - Wireless Transmissions
7       Unix - Ping Latency
8       Unix - Processes
9       Unix - Load Average
...

   We will need the graph template id of the ucd/net - CPU Usage
   template later. So note the number 4 for it.

   It is possible to reduce the listing to the graph templates
   associated with a specific host template by using
   --list-graph-templates --host-template-id=[id]. For a "ucd/net
   SNMP Host" this yields
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --list-graph-templates --host-template-id=3

Known Graph Templates:(id, name)
4   ucd/net - CPU Usage
11      ucd/net - Load Average
13      ucd/net - Memory Usage...
     __________________________________________________________

List Options for Associated Data Queries

   First task is to find all id's for available data queries.
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --host-id=2 --list-snmp-queries

Known SNMP Queries:(id, name)
1       SNMP - Interface Statistics
2       ucd/net -  Get Monitored Partitions
3       Karlnet - Wireless Bridge Statistics
4       Netware - Get Available Volumes
6       Unix - Get Mounted Partitions
7       Netware - Get Processor Information
8       SNMP - Get Mounted Partitions
9       SNMP - Get Processor Information

   For standard interface statistics, we note the id of 1

   Next task is to find the query_type as done by issuing
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --snmp-query-id=1 --list-query-types

Known SNMP Query Types: (id, name)
2       In/Out Errors/Discarded Packets
3       In/Out Non-Unicast Packets
4       In/Out Unicast Packets
9       In/Out Bytes (64-bit Counters)
13      In/Out Bits
14      In/Out Bits (64-bit Counters)
16      In/Out Bytes
20      In/Out Bits with 95th Percentile
21      In/Out Bits with Total Bandwidth
22      In/Out Bytes with Total Bandwidth
23      In/Out Bits 1 min
24      In/Out Bits 1 min (64-bit Counters)

   For a standard In/Out Bits type, we note the id of 13

   Next issue is to select the SNMP Field that shall be used for a
   new graph.
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --host-id=11 --list-snmp-fields

Known SNMP Fields for host-id 11: (name)
ifAlias
ifDescr
ifHwAddr
ifIndex
ifIP
ifName
ifOperStatus
ifSpeed
ifType

   For our graph, we will use the field ifOperStatus to select the
   correct interfaces.

   In general, you will next determine the values available for
   the SNMP Field, in our case ifOperStatus. This is done by
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --host-id=11 --snmp-field=ifOperStatus --lis
t-snmp-values

Known values for ifOperStatus for host 11: (name)
Down
Up

   This is no surprise, of course. Now, all paarmeters required
   for creating a new graph are determined.
     __________________________________________________________

Add Non-Indexed Graphs

   We will create a graph for ucd/net - CPU Usage. Above, we've
   identified the graph template it to be 4. In total, that makes
   up for the following command
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --host-id=11 --graph-type=cg --graph-templat
e-id=4

Graph Added - graph-id: (39) - data-source-id: (63)

   Find the result when visiting Graph Management
Graph Title**                   Template Name           Size
Device Add Test - CPU Usage     ucd/net - CPU Usage     120x500

   If the graph template was not associated with that host before,
   it is now added to the list of Associated Graph Templates.
     __________________________________________________________

Add Indexed Graphs

   First, let's sum up the id's of all resources required for this
   task:

   Table 20-2. Parametes required for an Interface Traffic Graph
         Object          Value              Description
   Graph Template Id             2 Interface - Traffic (bits/sec)
   SNMP Query Id                 1 SNMP - Interface Statistics
   SNMP Query Type Id           13 In/Out Bits
   SNMP Field         ifOperStatus
   SNMP Value                   Up

   This will make up for the following command
shell>php -q add_graphs.php --host-id=11 --graph-type=ds --graph-templat
e-id=2 --snmp-query-id=1 --snmp-query-type-id=13 --snmp-field=ifOperStat
us --snmp-value=Up

Graph Added - graph-id: (40) - data-source-id: (65)

   Find the result when visiting Graph Management
Graph Title**                           Template Name
Size
Device Add Test - CPU Usage             ucd/net - CPU Usage
120x500
Device Add Test - Traffic - lo          Interface - Traffic (bits/sec)
120x500

   If the data query was not associated with that host before, it
   is now added to the list of Associated Graph Templates. In this
   case, the Re-Index Method of Uptime Goes Backwards is defaulted
   if not given otherwise. You may provide a different Re-Index
   Method by entering the optional parameter --reindex-method.
     __________________________________________________________

Add Items to a Tree

   Now, that we've created some nice graphs, they should be put
   the graph trees. This is done using add_tree.php. As you will
   notice soon, it is possible to even add header items, hosts and
   graphs to a tree as well as adding a new tree itself. But let
   us first see the help output. Calling the script with the
   parameter --help yields
shell>php -q add_tree.php --help

Add Tree Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti Group

A simple command line utility to add objects to a tree in Cacti

usage: add_tree.php  --type=[tree|node] [type-options] [--quiet]

Tree options:
    --name=[Tree Name]
    --sort-method=[manual|alpha|natural|numeric]

Node options:
    --node-type=[header|host|graph]
    --tree-id=[ID]
    [--parent-node=[ID] [Node Type Options]]

Header node options:
    --name=[Name]

Host node options:
    --host-id=[ID]
    [--host-group-style=[1|2]]
    (host group styles:
     1 = Graph Template,
     2 = Data Query Index)

Graph node options:
    --graph-id=[ID]
    [--rra-id=[ID]]

List Options:
    --list-hosts
    --list-trees
    --list-nodes --tree-id=[ID]
    --list-rras
    --list-graphs --host-id=[ID]
     __________________________________________________________

List Hosts

   The first try is dedicated to the list option --list-hosts. It
   goes like
shell>php -q add_tree.php --list-hosts

Known Hosts: (id, hostname, template, description)
1       127.0.0.1               8       Localhost
2       gandalf                 3       gandalf
...
11      router.mydomain.com     3       Device Add Test
     __________________________________________________________

List Trees

   Now, let us --list-trees. It goes like
shell>php -q add_tree.php --list-trees

Known Trees:
id      sort method                     name
1       Manual Ordering (No Sorting)    Default Tree
     __________________________________________________________

List Nodes

   Listing all existend node of a given tree is done by
shell>php -q add_tree.php --list-nodes --tree-id=1

Known Tree Nodes:
type    id      text
Host    7       127.0.0.1       Graph Template
Host    9       gandalf         Graph Template
Host    12      gandalf         Graph Template
     __________________________________________________________

List RRAs

   For special tree add options, you will require the id of the
   RRA definition to completly specify the add request. That's why
   the corresponding --list-rras option is implemented. It goes
   this way
shell>php -q add_tree.php --list-rras

Known RRAs:
id      steps   rows    timespan        name
1       1       600     86400           Daily (5 Minute Average)
2       6       700     604800          Weekly (30 Minute Average)
3       24      775     2678400         Monthly (2 Hour Average)
4       288     797     33053184        Yearly (1 Day Average)
     __________________________________________________________

List Graphs for given Hosts

   To be able to add a Graph, the id of that very graph is
   required. Thus, a --list-graphs --host-id=[id] option was
   implemented
shell>php -q add_tree.php --list-graphs --host-id=1

Known Host Graphs: (id, name, template)
1       Localhost - Memory Usage                Linux - Memory Usage
2       Localhost - Load Average                Unix - Load Average
3       Localhost - Logged in Users             Unix - Logged in Users
4       Localhost - Processes                   Unix - Processes
5       Localhost - Traffic - eth0              Interface - Traffic (bit
s/sec, 95th Percentile)
33      Localhost - Used Space - Memory Buffers Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
34      Localhost - Used Space - Real Memory    Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
35      Localhost - Used Space - Swap Space     Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
36      Localhost - Used Space - /              Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
37      Localhost - Used Space - /sys           Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
38      Localhost - Used Space - /boot          Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
     __________________________________________________________

Add a new Tree

   Cacti comes with a single tree, named Default Tree. Console
   entry Graph Trees is used to add more trees. With add_tree.php,
   you may now do so from command line as well:
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=tree --name="Test Tree Add" --sort-meth
od=manual

Tree Created - tree-id: (6)

   Verify this from console, Graph Trees to find
Default Tree
Test Tree Add

   as expected.
     __________________________________________________________

Add a new Header Node to a Tree

   Now, that a new tree has been created, you may want to add a
   new header to that very tree. Use
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=header --tree-id=6 --n
ame="Header Test"

Added Node node-id: (21)

   You will want to save the id returned if willing to add further
   nodes to exactly this new Header Node

   Please pay attention, that it is currently not possible to add
   another header with the same options even if this is possible
   from console

   But it is possible to add a subheader to an already defined
   header. Even in this case, the name has to be unique
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=header --tree-id=6 --p
arent-node=21  --name="SubHeader Test"

Added Node node-id: (22)
     __________________________________________________________

Add a new Host Node to a Tree

   We will distinguish several options adding a host to a tree.
   First, let's add a Host directly to a tree. For this example,
   we use the tree id returned from adding our own Test Tree Add
   known with id=6
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=host --tree-id=6 --hos
t-id=1

Added Node node-id: (23)

   As no --parent-node was given, this host is directly added to
   the tree itself. If you wish to add a host to a (sub)header,
   please specify as follows
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=host --tree-id=6 --par
ent-node=21 --host-id=1

Added Node node-id: (24)

   Both example come without a --host-group-style option. For
   those cases, Graph Template host group style is default. Here's
   an example for providing a host group option of Data Query
   Index instead
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=host --tree-id=6 --par
ent-node=22 --host-id=1 --host-group-style=2

Added Node node-id: (25)
     __________________________________________________________

Add a new Graph Node to a Tree

   Like above, instead of hosts it is possible to add a single
   graph to a tree or a (sub)header of any tree. Of course, you
   again will require the id of the tree and optionally of the
   header. This results in
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=graph --tree-id=6 --gr
aph-id=5

Added Node node-id: (26)

   Like above, this graph now was added directly to the tree
   itself. To add a graph to a header, proceed as follows
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=graph --tree-id=6 --pa
rent-node=21 --graph-id=5

Added Node node-id: (27)

   In both cases, no explicit --rra-id was given. This will
   default to the Daily (5 Minute Average). Specify any other
   --rra-id as given
shell>php -q add_tree.php --type=node --node-type=graph --tree-id=6 --pa
rent-node=21 --graph-id=1 --rra-id=4

Added Node node-id: (28)

   to provide the --rra-id for a rra of Yearly (1 Day Average).
     __________________________________________________________

Add Graph Permissions

   This script is used to specify special graph permissions to
   users. The list of parameters is displyed as usual when calling
   the script with the parameter --help
shell>php -q add_perms.php --help

Add Permissions Script 1.0, Copyright 2007-2008 - The Cacti Group

A simple command line utility to add permissions to tree items in Cacti

usage: add_perms.php [ --user-id=[ID] ]
    --item-type=[graph|tree|host|graph_template]
    --item-id [--quiet]

Where item-id is the id of the object of type item-type
List Options:
    --list-users
    --list-trees
    --list-graph-templates
    --list-graphs --host-id=[ID]
     __________________________________________________________

List Users

   The list of users is retrieved by calling the script with the
   parameter --list-users. It goes like
shell>php -q add_perms.php --list-users

Known Users:
id      username        full_name
1       admin   Administrator
3       guest   Guest Account
     __________________________________________________________

List Trees

   The list of trees is retrieved by calling the script with the
   parameter --list-trees. It goes like
shell>php -q add_perms.php --list-trees

Known Trees:
id      sort method                     name
1       Manual Ordering (No Sorting)    Default Tree
     __________________________________________________________

List Graph Templates

   The list of available graph templates is retrieved by calling
   the script with the parameter --list-graph-templates. It goes
   like
shell>php -q add_perms.php --list-graph-templates

Known Graph Templates:(id, name)
2       Interface - Traffic (bits/sec)
3       ucd/net - Available Disk Space
4       ucd/net - CPU Usage
5       Karlnet - Wireless Levels
6       Karlnet - Wireless Transmissions
7       Unix - Ping Latency
8       Unix - Processes
9       Unix - Load Average
...
     __________________________________________________________

List Graphs for given Hosts

   To be able to add a permissions to a specific Graph, the id of
   that very graph is required. Thus, a --list-graphs
   --host-id=[id] option was implemented
shell>php -q add_perms.php --list-graphs --host-id=1

Known Host Graphs: (id, name, template)
1       Localhost - Memory Usage                Linux - Memory Usage
2       Localhost - Load Average                Unix - Load Average
3       Localhost - Logged in Users             Unix - Logged in Users
4       Localhost - Processes                   Unix - Processes
5       Localhost - Traffic - eth0              Interface - Traffic (bit
s/sec, 95th Percentile)
33      Localhost - Used Space - Memory Buffers Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
34      Localhost - Used Space - Real Memory    Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
35      Localhost - Used Space - Swap Space     Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
36      Localhost - Used Space - /              Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
37      Localhost - Used Space - /sys           Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
38      Localhost - Used Space - /boot          Host MIB - Available Dis
k Space
     __________________________________________________________

Add Graph Permissions to specific Users

   There are various ways to define graph permissions to specific
   users. First, we will add graph permissions for a given host.
   This is done using the parameter --item-type=host as follows
shell>php -q add_perms.php --user-id=4 --item-type=host --item-id=1

   --user-id=4 must specify an existing users. Else, an error
   message will be printed. As --item-type=host is given,
   --item-id=1 must specify a valid host. Again, if no host with
   this specific id exists, an error message will be printed. No
   output is produced on successful operations.

   Next, we will add graph permissions for a given tree. This is
   done using the parameter --item-type=tree as follows
shell>php -q add_perms.php --user-id=4 --item-type=tree --item-id=1

   --user-id=4 must specify an existing users. Else, an error
   message will be printed. As --item-type=tree is given,
   --item-id=1 must specify a valid tree (the Default Tree in this
   case). Again, if no tree with this specific id exists, an error
   message will be printed. No output is produced on successful
   operations.

   Adding graph permissions for a given graph template is done
   using the parameter --item-type=graph_template as follows
shell>php -q add_perms.php --user-id=4 --item-type=graph_template --item
-id=25

   --user-id=4 must specify an existing users. Else, an error
   message will be printed. As --item-type=graph_template is
   given, --item-id=1 must specify a valid graph_template (the
   Interface - Traffic (bytes/sec) in this case). Again, if no
   graph template with this specific id exists, an error message
   will be printed. No output is produced on successful
   operations.

   Last but not least we add graph permissions for a given graph
   by using the parameter --item-type=graph as follows
shell>php -q add_perms.php --user-id=4 --item-type=graph --item-id=8

   --user-id=4 must specify an existing users. Else, an error
   message will be printed. As --item-type=graph is given,
   --item-id=1 must specify a valid graph. Again, if no graph
   template with this specific id exists, an error message will be
   printed. No output is produced on successful operations.
     __________________________________________________________

Chapter 21. Debugging

   Cacti users sometimes complain about NaN's in their graphs.
   Unfortunately, there are several reasons for this result. The
   following is a step-by-step procedure recommended for
   debugging.
     __________________________________________________________

Check Cacti Log File

   Please have a look at your cacti log file. Usually, you'll find
   it at <path_cacti>/log/cacti.log. Else see Settings, Paths.
   Check for this kind of error:
CACTID: Host[...] DS[....] WARNING: SNMP timeout detected [500 ms], igno
ring host '........'

   For "reasonable" timeouts, this may be related to a
   snmpbulkwalk issue. To change this, see Settings, Poller and
   lower the value for The Maximum SNMP OID's Per SNMP Get
   Request. Start at a value of 2 and increase it again, if the
   poller starts working. (1 or less disables snmpbulkwalk) Some
   agent's don't have the horsepower to deliver that many OID's at
   a time. Therefore, we can reduce the number for those
   older/underpowered devices.
     __________________________________________________________

Check Basic Data Gathering

   For scripts, run them as cactiuser from cli to check basic
   functionality. E.g. for a perl script named your-perl-script.pl
   with parameters "p1 p2" under *nix this would look like:
su - cactiuser
/full/path/to/perl your-perl-script.pl p1 p2
... (check output)

   For snmp, snmpget the _exact_ OID you're asking for, using same
   community string and snmp version as defined within cacti. For
   an OID of .1.3.6.1.4.something, community string of very-secret
   and version 2 for target host target-host this would look like
snmpget -c very-secret -v 2c target-host .1.3.6.1.4.something
.... (check output)
     __________________________________________________________

Check cacti's poller

   First make sure that crontab always shows poller.php. This
   program will either call cmd.php, the PHP based poller _or_
   cactid, the fast alternative, written in C. Define the poller
   you're using at Settings, Poller. Cactid has to be implemented
   seperately, it does not come with cacti by default.

   Now, clear ./log/cacti.log (or rename it to get a fresh start)

   Then, change Settings, Poller Logging Level to DEBUG for _one_
   polling cycle. You may rename this log as well to avoid more
   stuff added to it with subsequent polling cycles.

   Now, find the host/data source in question. The Host[<id>] is
   given numerically, the <id> being a specific number for that
   host. Find this <id> from the Devices menue when editing the
   host: The url contains a string like
id=<id>

   Check, whether the output is as expected. If not, check your
   script (e.g. /full/path/to/perl). If ok, proceed to next step

   This procedure may be replaced by running the poller manually
   for the failing host only. To do so, you need the <id>, again.
   If you're using cmd.php, set the DEBUG logging level as defined
   above and run
php -q cmd.php <id> <id>

   If you're using cactid, you may override logging level when
   calling the poller:
./cactid --verbosity=5 <id> <id>

   All output is printed to STDOUT in both cases. This procdure
   allows for repeated tests without waiting for the next polling
   interval. And there's no need to manually search for the
   failing host between hundreds of lines of output.
     __________________________________________________________

Check MySQL updating

   In most cases, this step make be skipped. You may want to
   return to this step, if the next one fails (e.g. no rrdtool
   update to be found)

   From debug log, please find the MySQL update statement for that
   host concerning table poller_output. On very rare occasions,
   this will fail. So please copy that sql statement and paste it
   to a mysql session started from cli. This may as well be done
   from some tool like phpMyAdmin. Check the sql return code.
     __________________________________________________________

Check rrd file updating

   Down in the same log, you should find some
rrdtool update <filename> --template ...

   You should find exactly one update statement for each file.

   RRD files should be created by the poller. If it does not
   create them, it will not fill them either. If it does, please
   check your Poller Cache from Utilities and search for your
   target. Does the query show up here?
     __________________________________________________________

Check rrd file ownership

   If rrd files were created e.g. with root ownership, a poller
   running as cactiuser will not be able to update those files
cd /var/www/html/cacti/rra
ls -l localhost*
-rw-r--r--  1 root      root      463824 May 31 12:40 localhost_load_1mi
n_5.rrd
-rw-r--r--  1 cactiuser cactiuser 155584 Jun  1 17:10 localhost_mem_buff
ers_3.rrd
-rw-r--r--  1 cactiuser cactiuser 155584 Jun  1 17:10 localhost_mem_swap
_4.rrd
-rw-r--r--  1 cactiuser cactiuser 155584 Jun  1 17:10 localhost_proc_7.r
rd
-rw-r--r--  1 cactiuser cactiuser 155584 Jun  1 17:10 localhost_users_6.
rrd

   Run the following command to cure this problem
chown cactiuser:cactiuser *.rrd
     __________________________________________________________

Check rrd file numbers

   You're perhaps wondering about this step, if the former was ok.
   But due to data sources MINIMUM and MAXIMUM definitions, it is
   possible, that valid updates for rrd files are suppressed,
   because MINIMUM was not reached or MAXIMUM was exceeded.

   Assuming, you've got some valid rrdtool update in step 3,
   perform a
rrdtool fetch <rrd file> AVERAGE

   and look at the last 10-20 lines. If you find NaN's there,
   perform
rrdtool info <rrd file>

   and check the ds[...].min and ds[...].max entries, e.g.
ds[loss].min = 0.0000000000e+00
ds[loss].max = 1.0000000000e+02

   In this example, MINIMUM = 0 and MAXIMUM = 100. For a
   ds.[...].type=GAUGE verify, that e.g. the number returned by
   the script does not exceed ds[...].MAX (same holds for MINIMUM,
   respectively).

   If you run into this, please do not only update the data source
   definition within the Data Template, but perform a
rrdtool tune <rrd file> --maximum <ds-name>:<new ds maximum>

   for all existing rrd files belonging to that Data Template.

   At this step, it is wise to check step and heartbeat of the rrd
   file as well. For standard 300 seconds polling intervals
   (step=300), it is wise to set minimal_heartbeat to 600 seconds.
   If a single update is missing and the next one occurs in less
   than 600 seconds from the last one, rrdtool will interpolate
   the missing update. Thus, gaps are "filled" automatically by
   interpolation. Be aware of the fact, that this is no "real"
   data! Again, this must be done in the Data Template itself and
   by using rrdtool tune for all existing rrd files of this type.
     __________________________________________________________

Check rrdtool graph statement

   Last resort would be to check, that the correct data sources
   are used. Goto Graph Management and select your Graph. Enable
   DEBUG Mode to find the whole rrdtool graph statement. You
   should notice the DEF statements. They specify the rrd file and
   data source to be used. You may check, that all of them are as
   wanted.
     __________________________________________________________

Miscellaneous

   Up to current cacti 0.8.6h, table poller_output may increase
   beyond reasonable size.

   This is commonly due to php.ini's memory settings of 8MB
   default. Change this to at least 64 MB.

   To check this, please run following sql from mysql cli (or
   phpmyadmin or the like)
select count(*) from poller_output;

   If the result is huge, you may get rid of those stuff by
truncate table poller_output;

   As of current SVN code for upcoming cacti 0.9, I saw measures
   were taken on both issues (memory size, truncating
   poller_output).
     __________________________________________________________

RPM Installation?

   Most rpm installations will setup the crontab entry now. If
   you've followed the installation instructions to the letter
   (which you should always do ;-) ), you may now have two poller
   running. That's not a good thing, though. Most rpm
   installations will setup cron in /etc/cron.d/cacti

   Now, please check all your crontabs, especially /etc/crontab
   and crontabs of users root and cactiuser. Leave only one poller
   entry for all of them. Personally, I've chosen
   /etc/cron.d/cacti to avoid problems when updating rpm's. Mosten
   often, you won't remember this item when updating lots of
   rpm's, so I felt more secure to put it here. And I've made some
   slight modifications, see
shell> vi /etc/cron.d/cacti
*/5 * * * *     cactiuser       /usr/bin/php -q /var/www/html/cacti/poll
er.php > /var/local/log/poller.log 2>&1

   This will produce a file /var/local/log/poller.log, which
   includes some additional informations from each poller's run,
   such as rrdtool errors. It occupies only some few bytes and
   will be overwritten each time.

   If you're using the crontab of user "cactiuser" instead, this
   will look like
shell> crontab -e -u cactiuser
*/5 * * * *     /usr/bin/php -q /var/www/html/cacti/poller.php > /var/lo
cal/log/poller.log 2>&1
     __________________________________________________________

Not NaN, but 0 (zero) values?

   Pay attention to custom scripts. It is required, that external
   commands called from there are in the $PATH of the cactiuser
   running the poller. It is therefor recommended to provide
   /full/path/to/external/command

   User "criggie" reported an issue with running smartctl. It was
   complaining "you are not root" so a quick chmod +s on the
   script fixed that problem.

   Secondly, the script was taking several seconds to run. So
   cacti was logging a "U" for unparseable in the debug output,
   and was recording NAN. So my fix there was to make the script
   run faster - it has to complete in less than one second, and
   the age of my box made it difficult to accomplish.
