                                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. [1]Installation

                [2]Requirements

                [3]Installing Under Unix

                             [4]Required Packages for RPM-based Operating
                             Systems

                             [5]Ports for FreeBSD

                             [6]Configure PHP

                             [7]Configure the Webserver (Apache)

                             [8]Configure MySQL

                             [9]Install and Configure Cacti

                             [10](Optional) Install and Configure Spine

                             [11]Apply Patches

                [12]Installing Under Windows

                [13]Upgrading Cacti

   II. [14]Basics

                [15]Principles of Operation

                             [16]Data Retrieval

                             [17]Data Storage

                             [18]Data Presentation

                [19]Graph Overview

                [20]How to Graph Your Network

                             [21]Creating a Device

                             [22]Creating the Graphs

                [23]Viewing Graphs

                             [24]Graph Trees

                [25]User Management

                             [26]Editing an existing User

                             [27]Creating a New User

                             [28]Copying a user

                             [29]Enable/Disable Users

                             [30]Batch Copy Users

                             [31]Delete Users

                             [32]Guest (Anonymous) Access

   III. [33]Advanced Topics

                [34]Graph a Single SNMP OID

                [35]Data Input Methods

                             [36]Creating a Data Input Method

                             [37]Making Your Scripts Work With Cacti

                [38]Data Queries

                             [39]Creating a Data Query

                             [40]SNMP Query XML Syntax

                             [41]Script Query XML Syntax

                [42]Templates

                             [43]Data Templates

                             [44]Graph Templates

                             [45]Host Templates

                             [46]Import Templates

                             [47]Export Templates

                [48]PHP Script Server

                             [49]Using the Script Server

                             [50]Upgrade Steps for the Example HostMib Data
                             Queries

                             [51]Migration of Existing PHP Scripts to Script
                             Server

                             [52]Testing Your Script in the Script Server

                [53]Spine

   IV. [54]Help

                [55]How To

                             [56]Simplest Method of Going from Script to
                             Graph (Walkthrough)

                [57]Frequently Asked Questions

   V. [58]Reference

                [59]Variables

                             [60]Graph Variables

                             [61]Host Variables

                [62]RRDTool Specific Features

                             [63]GPRINT Presets

                             [64]CDEFs

                [65]Command Line Scripts

                             [66]Rebuild Poller Cache

                             [67]Re-Index Hosts

                             [68]Empty Poller Output Table

                             [69]Reapply Suggested Names to Graphs

                             [70]Copy Local Cacti Users

                             [71]Add a New Device

                             [72]Associate a Data Query to an existing Host

                             [73]Associate a Graph Template to an existing
                             Host

                             [74]Add a New Graph

                             [75]Add Items to a Tree

                             [76]Add Graph Permissions

                [77]Debugging

                             [78]Check Cacti Log File

                             [79]Check Basic Data Gathering

                             [80]Check cacti's poller

                             [81]Check MySQL updating

                             [82]Check rrd file updating

                             [83]Check rrd file ownership

                             [84]Check rrd file numbers

                             [85]Check rrdtool graph statement

                             [86]Miscellaneous

                             [87]RPM Installation?

                             [88]Not NaN, but 0 (zero) values?

                                I. Installation

   Table of Contents

   [89]Requirements

   [90]Installing Under Unix

   [91]Installing Under Windows

   [92]Upgrading Cacti

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  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

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             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 [93]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 'somepassword';
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_snmpgetnext.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_fix.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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            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\cacti.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 'somepassword';
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 = 'cactiuser';
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 Processes: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-patched/ 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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                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.

                                   II. Basics

   Table of Contents

   [94]Principles of Operation

   [95]Graph Overview

   [96]How to Graph Your Network

   [97]Viewing Graphs

   [98]User Management

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            Principles of Operation

   Cacti operation may be divided into three different tasks:

   Figure 1. Principles of Operation

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 [99]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 [100]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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 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 [101]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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           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 1. Adding a New Device

   The field definitions are as follows

   Table 1. Device Field Definitions

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |             Field             |              Description               |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | This description will show up in the   |
   | Description                   | first column of the device list. You   |
   |                               | may refer to it e.g. in graph titles   |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | Either an IP address or a hostname.    |
   |                               | The hostname will be resolved using    |
   | Hostname                      | the standard host resolving            |
   |                               | mechanisms, e.g. Dynamic Name Services |
   |                               | (DNS)                                  |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | A Host Template is a container for a   |
   | Host Template                 | 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.            |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | Exclude this host from being polled.   |
   | Disable Host                  | This is of particular value, if a      |
   |                               | device is no longer available, but     |
   |                               | should be kept e.g. as a reference.    |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   | Availability/Reachability     |                                        |
   | Options                       |                                        |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | NONE: Deactivate downed host detection |
   |                               |                                        |
   |                               | PING and SNMP: perform both tests      |
   | Downed Device Detection       |                                        |
   |                               | SNMP: verify SNMP check on OID .1 and  |
   |                               | .1.3                                   |
   |                               |                                        |
   |                               | ICMP: perform a ping test, see below   |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | Available only for "PING and SNMP" or  |
   |                               | "PING"                                 |
   |                               |                                        |
   |                               | ICMP: perform ICMP tests. Requires     |
   | Ping Method                   | permissions                            |
   |                               |                                        |
   |                               | UDP: perform a UDP test                |
   |                               |                                        |
   |                               | TCP: perform a TCP test                |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | Available only for UDP/TCP PING test   |
   |                               | types.                                 |
   | Ping Port                     |                                        |
   |                               | 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                  |                                        |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | Version 1: Use SNMP Version 1. Be      |
   |                               | aware, that 64bit counters are not     |
   |                               | supported in this SNMP version         |
   |                               |                                        |
   | 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).                 |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | The maximum number of milliseconds     |
   | SNMP Timeout                  | Cacti will wait for an SNMP response   |
   |                               | (does not work with php-snmp support). |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | This is a performance feature.         |
   |                               | Specifies the number of OID's that can |
   |                               | be obtained in a single SNMP Get       |
   |                               | request.                               |
   | Maximum OID's Per 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     |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | The authentication type of an SNMP V3  |
   | SNMP Auth Protocol            | 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.    |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | The privacy protocol of an SNMP V3     |
   | SNMP Privacy Protocol         | createUser statement or equivalent.    |
   |                               | Select either DES or AES. This entry   |
   |                               | defaults to DES.                       |
   |-------------------------------+----------------------------------------|
   |                               | 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    |
   | SNMP Context                  | 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 2. SNMP Retrieval Types

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

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  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|AES] [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 specified, it is assumed 
              to be the same as the authentication passphrase.  Note that the users created will
              be useless unless they are also added  to  the  VACM access control tables        
              described above.                                                                  
                                                                                                
              SHA  authentication  and DES/AES privacy require OpenSSL to be installed and the  
              agent to be built with OpenSSL support.  MD5 authentication 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 configuration directives -       
       com2sec, group,  view and access.  These provide direct configuration 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 ("default").  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 separate directives          
              (presumably with different  source  tokens), and the first source/community        
              combination that matches the incoming request will be selected.  Various           
              source/community combinations can also map to the same security name.              
                                                                                                 
              If a CONTEXT is specified (using -Cn), the community string will be mapped         
              to a security  name  in the named SNMPv3 context. Otherwise the default            
              context ("") will be used.                                                         
                                                                                                 
       group GROUP {v1|v2c|usm} SECNAME                                                          
              maps  a  security name (in the specified security model) into 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-based 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 given 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 view OID to match against.
              This can be used to define a view covering a particular row  (or  rows) in a table.
              If not specified, this defaults to matching the OID exactly (all bits set), thus   
              defining a simple OID subtree.                                                     
                                                                                                 
       access GROUP CONTEXT {any|v1|v2c|usm} LEVEL PREFX READ WRITE NOTIFY                       
              maps from a group of users/communities (with a particular security model           
              and  minimum  security level, and in a specific context) to one of three views,    
              depending on the request being processed.                                          
                                                                                                 
              LEVEL is one of noauth, auth, or priv.  PREFX specifies how 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 GET*, SET and             
              TRAP/INFORM requests (althought the NOTIFY view is not currently 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  privpassphrase
   ##         --------   ---------  --------------  ---------  --------------
   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 2. Creating New Graphs

   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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                 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 1. Tree Sporting Type Definitions

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |    Field     |                       Description                       |
   |--------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
   | Name         | Name of the tree entry. The sort order of all trees     |
   |              | themselves is always alphabetical                       |
   |--------------+---------------------------------------------------------|
   |              | Manual Ordering (No Sorting): You may chance the        |
   |              | sequence at your will                                   |
   |              |                                                         |
   |              | Alphabetical Ordering: All subtrees are ordered         |
   |              | alphabetically, unless specifies otherwise (you may     |
   | Sorting Type | 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 1. Editing a Graph Tree

   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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                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 1. User Management

   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 2. Editing a User

   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 1. Field Description: User Management

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |         Name         |                   Description                   |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | This field contains the actual login name for   |
   | User Name            | the user. There are no character limits this    |
   |                      | field, but it would make sense to keep it to    |
   |                      | alphanumeric characters to maintain simplicity. |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | (Optional) You can use this field as a more     |
   | Full Name            | descriptive identifier for the user. It is      |
   |                      | currently only used for display on the user     |
   |                      | management page.                                |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | Enter the password for the user twice, once in  |
   | Password             | each text box. Keep in mind that passwords are  |
   |                      | case sensitive and the password will remain     |
   |                      | unchanged if the boxes are both left empty.     |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | 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 |
   | Account Options      | 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.                               |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | There are three permission related options that |
   |                      | can be set for each user here. The 'User Has    |
   | Graph Options        | Rights to {Tree,List,Preview} View' checkboxes  |
   |                      | dictate which graph viewing areas the user can  |
   |                      | see.                                            |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | 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 Options        | 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.                               |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | Multiple types of users can exist in Cacti.     |
   | Authentication Realm | 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 3. Adding a User

   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 4. Copy a User Part 1

   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 5. Copy a User Part 2

   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 6. Enable/Disable Users Part 1

   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 7. Enable/Disable Users Part 2

   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 8. Batch Copy Users Part 1

   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. Batch Copy Users Part 2

   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 10. Delete Users Part 1

   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 11. Delete Users Part 2

   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.

                              III. Advanced Topics

   Table of Contents

   [102]Graph a Single SNMP OID

   [103]Data Input Methods

   [104]Data Queries

   [105]Templates

   [106]PHP Script Server

   [107]Spine

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            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 1. Field Description: SNMP - Generic OID Template

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |         Name          |                  Description                   |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   |                       | The title that is to be used for the new       |
   | (Graph) Title         | 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      | The text that will be printed along the y-axis |
   | Label                 | of the graph. It is generally used to describe |
   |                       | units, such as 'bytes' or 'percent'.           |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   | (Graph Items) Legend  | The color that will be used to represent the   |
   | Color                 | data on the graph.                             |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   | (Graph Items)         | This optionally provides an opacity (not       |
   | Opacity/Alpha Channel | available with rrdtool-1.0.x) for a colored    |
   |                       | item.                                          |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   | (Graph Items) Legend  | The text that will be used to describe the     |
   | Text                  | data on the graph legend.                      |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   |                       | The title that is to be used for the new data  |
   | (Data Source) Name    | source. It is generally a good idea to keep    |
   |                       | |host_description| in the title, as to make    |
   |                       | the data source easier to identify later.      |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   |                       | The maximum value that will be accepted from   |
   |                       | the OID. Make sure you choose a value that is  |
   | (Data Source) Maximum | reasonable for the data you are trying to      |
   | Value [snmp_oid]      | 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.                      |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   |                       | How the data from the OID should be stored by  |
   |                       | RRDTool and interpreted on the graph. If the   |
   | (Data Source) Data    | value of the OID represents the actual data,   |
   | Source Type           | you should use GAUGE for this field. If the    |
   | [snmp_oid]            | 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.             |
   |-----------------------+------------------------------------------------|
   |                       | The actual SNMP OID to graph. It is typically  |
   |                       | a good idea to enter the number OID here as    |
   | (Custom Data) OID     | 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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               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 1. Field Description: Data Input Methods

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |     Name      |                      Description                       |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   |               | Give the data query a name that you will use to        |
   | Name          | identify it. This name will be used throughout Cacti   |
   |               | to identify the data input method.                     |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   |               | Select the type of data input method you are trying to |
   | Input Type    | create. Valid options here are 'Script/Command',       |
   |               | 'SNMP', 'SNMP Query', and 'Script Query'.              |
   |---------------+--------------------------------------------------------|
   |               | 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     |
   | Input String  | 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 2. Field Description: Data Input Fields

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |        Name        |                    Description                    |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | Either select or type in the name of the field    |
   | Field/Field Name   | you want to define. No spaces or other            |
   |                    | non-alphanumeric characters (except '-' or '_')   |
   |                    | should be used in this field.                     |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | Enter a more descriptive name for this field      |
   | Friendly Name      | which will be used for identification throughout  |
   |                    | Cacti.                                            |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | If you want to enforce a certain regular          |
   | Regular Expression | expression pattern when the user enters a value   |
   | Match (Input Only) | 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  | Select whether you want to allow the user to      |
   | (Input Only)       | leave the value of this field blank or not.       |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | 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     |
   | Special Type Code  | enter 'management_ip' here and Cacti will fill    |
   | (Input Only)       | 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'.                                   |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | Check this box if you want Cacti to insert the    |
   |                    | return value from this field into the RRD file.   |
   | Update RRD File    | Obviously, this box needs to be checked for at    |
   | (Output Only)      | 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, [108]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 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 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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  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 1. Field Description: Data Queries

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |       Name        |                    Description                     |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | Give the data query a name that you will use to    |
   | Name              | identify it. This name will be used throughout     |
   |                   | Cacti when presented with a list of data queries.  |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | (Optional) Enter a more detailed description of    |
   | Description       | the data query including the information it        |
   |                   | queries or additional requirements.                |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | Fill in the full path to the XML file that defines |
   |                   | this query. You can optionally use the             |
   | XML Path          | <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.                                          |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | This is how you tell Cacti to handle the data it   |
   |                   | receives from the data query. Typically, you will  |
   | Data Input Method | 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 2. Field Description: Associated Graph Templates

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |      Name      |                      Description                      |
   |----------------+-------------------------------------------------------|
   |                | Give a name describing what kind of data you are      |
   |                | trying to represent or graph. When the user creates a |
   | Name           | 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</description>
   <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 3. SNMP Query XML Field Reference

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |               Field               |            Description             |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | (Optional) You can enter a         |
   |                                   | "friendly name" for the SNMP query |
   | query->name                       | here. It will not be used by       |
   |                                   | Cacti, and is for identification   |
   |                                   | only.                              |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | (Optional) You can enter a         |
   |                                   | description for the SNMP query     |
   | query->description                | here. It will not be used by       |
   |                                   | Cacti, and is for identification   |
   |                                   | only.                              |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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  |
   | query->oid_uptime                 | 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.      |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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        |
   | query->oid_index                  | 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.                       |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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    |
   | query->oid_index_parse            | 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.       |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | An OID that can be queried to      |
   |                                   | determine the total number of      |
   |                                   | available indexes. If specified,   |
   | query->oid_num_indexes            | this will be used to determine     |
   |                                   | when to automatically recache this |
   |                                   | SNMP query when it is attached to  |
   |                                   | a device.                          |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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     |
   | query->index_order                | 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.  |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | For sorting purposes, specify      |
   |                                   | whether the index is numeric or    |
   |                                   | alphanumeric.                      |
   |                                   |                                    |
   |                                   | numeric: The indexes in this SNMP  |
   | query->index_order_type           | 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).   |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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  |
   | query->index_title_format         | pipes (|). The variable            |
   |                                   | |chosen_order_field| will be       |
   |                                   | substituted with the field chosen  |
   |                                   | by Cacti to index off of (see      |
   |                                   | index_order above).                |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | Each field contained within the    |
   | query->fields                     | SNMP query must be defined under   |
   |                                   | this tag.                          |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | Each defined field in the SNMP     |
   |                                   | query must have a unique name      |
   | query->fields->ifIndex            | given to it. Do not use spaces or  |
   |                                   | any non-alphanumeric characters,   |
   |                                   | this name must be identifiable     |
   |                                   | within Cacti.                      |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | Here you can specify a "friendly   |
   | query->fields->ifIndex->name      | name" for the field. This name     |
   |                                   | will be used by Cacti to help the  |
   |                                   | user identify this field.          |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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>.     |
   | query->fields->ifIndex->method    |                                    |
   |                                   | 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.          |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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      |
   | query->fields->ifIndex->source    | 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.                       |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | 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          |
   | query->fields->ifIndex->direction | "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.              |
   |-----------------------------------+------------------------------------|
   |                                   | You must specify the actual OID    |
   |                                   | that corresponds with the field.   |
   | query->fields->ifIndex->oid       | 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 host with the 'df' command.</description>
   <script_path>perl |path_cacti|/scripts/query_unix_partitions.pl</script_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 4. Script Query XML Field Reference

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                Field                 |           Description           |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | (Optional) You can enter a      |
   |                                      | "friendly name" for the script  |
   | query->name                          | query here. It will not be used |
   |                                      | by Cacti, and is for            |
   |                                      | identification only.            |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | (Optional) You can enter a      |
   |                                      | description for the script      |
   | query->description                   | query here. It will not be used |
   |                                      | by Cacti, and is for            |
   |                                      | identification only.            |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Enter the complete path to the  |
   |                                      | script or executable that is    |
   |                                      | going to handle your script     |
   | query->script_path                   | query. When in doubt, specify   |
   |                                      | the pull path to all binaries   |
   |                                      | referenced in this path, the    |
   |                                      | query may not execute           |
   |                                      | otherwise.                      |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Enter the argument that is to   |
   | query->arg_index                     | be passed to the script to      |
   |                                      | retrieve a list of indexes.     |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Enter the argument that is to   |
   | query->arg_query                     | be passed to the script to      |
   |                                      | retrieve a list of values given |
   |                                      | a field name.                   |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Enter the argument that is to   |
   | query->arg_get                       | be passed to the script to      |
   |                                      | retrieve a single value given a |
   |                                      | field name and index value.     |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Enter the argument that is to   |
   |                                      | be passed to the script to      |
   |                                      | determine the total number of   |
   | query->arg_num_indexes               | available indexes. If           |
   |                                      | specified, this will be used to |
   |                                      | determine when to automatically |
   |                                      | recache this script query when  |
   |                                      | it is attached to a device.     |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Enter the one character         |
   |                                      | delimiter that will be used to  |
   | query->output_delimeter              | separate output values. This is |
   |                                      | only used when you "query" the  |
   |                                      | script in which case it outputs |
   |                                      | 'index(delimiter)value'.        |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | 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      |
   | query->index_order                   | 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.                          |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | For sorting purposes, specify   |
   |                                      | whether the index is numeric or |
   |                                      | alphanumeric.                   |
   |                                      |                                 |
   |                                      | numeric: The indexes in this    |
   |                                      | script query are to be sorted   |
   | query->index_order_type              | 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).               |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Specify the title format to use |
   |                                      | when representing an index to   |
   |                                      | the user. Any input field name  |
   |                                      | can be used as a variable if    |
   | query->index_title_format            | 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). |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Each field contained within the |
   | query->fields                        | script query must be defined    |
   |                                      | under this tag.                 |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Each defined field in the       |
   |                                      | script query must have a unique |
   | query->fields->dskDevice             | name given to it. Do not use    |
   |                                      | spaces or any non-alphanumeric  |
   |                                      | characters, this name must be   |
   |                                      | identifiable within Cacti.      |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Here you can specify a          |
   |                                      | "friendly name" for the field.  |
   | query->fields->dskDevice->name       | This name will be used by Cacti |
   |                                      | to help the user identify this  |
   |                                      | field.                          |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | 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       |
   | query->fields->dskDevice->direction  | 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.      |
   |--------------------------------------+---------------------------------|
   |                                      | Enter the name that Cacti must  |
   |                                      | use when asking the script for  |
   |                                      | information about this field.   |
   | query->fields->dskDevice->query_name | For instance, the following     |
   |                                      | should return values:           |
   |                                      | '(script_name) query            |
   |                                      | (query_name)'.                  |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   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 1. Data Templates: Field Description of the Data Source Section

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |        Name        |                    Description                    |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | The name of the Data Source that will be created  |
   |                    | by using this Template. You can use the keyword   |
   | Name               | |host_description| in this field, which will be   |
   |                    | automatically substituted with the current host   |
   |                    | description.                                      |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | 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,  |
   | Data Input Method  | 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".                                    |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | You need to associate the data source with at     |
   |                    | least one RRA so RRDTool knows how often and for  |
   | Associated RRAs    | 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.                                           |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | This tells RRDTool how many seconds there will be |
   | Step               | between updates. The default is 300 seconds (5    |
   |                    | minutes), and is sufficient for most              |
   |                    | installations.                                    |
   |--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
   |                    | This is a quick and easy to tell Cacti to stop    |
   | Data Source Active | 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 1. Adding a Data Template

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 2. Data Templates: Field Description of the Data Source Items
   Section

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |         Name         |                   Description                   |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | This is the name used by RRDTool to identify    |
   | Internal Data Source | this particular data source within the RRD      |
   | Name                 | file. RRDTool places a limit of 19 alphanumeric |
   |                      | characters (plus '_' and '-') on this field.    |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | Here is where you specify the minimum value     |
   | 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).        |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | 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 |
   | Maximum Value        | 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                       |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | 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  |
   | Data Source Type     | 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                                          |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | As defined by RRDTool: "The maximum amount of   |
   | Heartbeat            | 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.

   [109]Caution 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 3. Field Description: Graph Templates

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |        Name         |                   Description                    |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | The title of the graph within Cacti and the      |
   |                     | title that will be printed on the actual graph   |
   |                     | itself.                                          |
   | Title               |                                                  |
   |                     | Note: You can use the keyword |host_description| |
   |                     | in this field, which will be automatically       |
   |                     | substituted with the current host description.   |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | Choose whether you would prefer to output your   |
   | Image Format        | 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            |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | RRDtool graphs are composed of stair case curves |
   |                     | by default. This is in line with the way RRDtool |
   | Slope Mode          | 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.                                   |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | Enable auto scale for the graph. This option     |
   |                     | must be check to use the next two options.       |
   | Auto Scale          | Upper/Lower limit values are ignored when using  |
   |                     | autoscale since these boundaries are determined  |
   |                     | automatically.                                   |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | 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 [110]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]                             |
   |                     |                                                  |
   | Auto Scale Options  | 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.   |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | This option is not available for rrdtool-1.0.x.  |
   | Scientific Units    | For linear graphs, scientific units (in          |
   | for Logarithmic     | magnitudes of k=kilo, M=mega, ...) is default.   |
   | Scaling             | But for logarithmic graphs, exponential notation |
   |                     | is default. Choose if you want logarithmic       |
   |                     | y-axis scaling and scientific units.             |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | From the RRDTool manual "Normally rrdgraph will  |
   | Rigid Boundaries    | automatically expand the lower and upper limit   |
   | Mode                | if the graph contains a value outside the valid  |
   |                     | range. With this option you can disable this     |
   |                     | behavior".                                       |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | 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     |
   | Auto Padding        | 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.                    |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | If you choose to use Cacti's static HTML/image   |
   | Allow Graph Export  | export, you can choose whether you want each     |
   |                     | individual graph to be exported.                 |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | The maximum value that will be displayed on the  |
   | Upper Limit         | y-axis. This value is ignored is auto-scaling is |
   |                     | turned on.                                       |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | The minimum value that will be displayed on the  |
   | Lower Limit         | y-axis. This value is ignored is auto-scaling is |
   |                     | turned on.                                       |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | Whether you want to base the y-axis labels on    |
   | Base Value          | 1000 or 1024. This field will typically be set   |
   |                     | to 1024 for memory and 1000 for traffic          |
   |                     | measurements.                                    |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | Sets the unit value for the y-axis (--y-grid).   |
   | Unit Grid Value     | You should probably keep the unit short as to    |
   |                     | keep it readable.                                |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | Sets the 10^e scaling of the y-axis. Valid       |
   |                     | values for this field are between -18 and 18.    |
   | Unit Exponent Value | For example, you could use 3 to display          |
   |                     | everything in 'k' (kilo) or -6 to display        |
   |                     | everything in 'u' (micro).                       |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | The text to print on the left edge of the graph. |
   | Vertical Label      | 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 2. Adding a Graph Template

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 4. Field Description: Graph Template Items

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |      Name       |                     Description                      |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | If this graph item is to represent some sort of      |
   |                 | data, you must select a your data source here. Keep  |
   | Data Source     | in mind that not all graph items have a data source. |
   |                 | Graph item types such as COMMENT, VRULE, and HRULE   |
   |                 | typically do not.                                    |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | Depending on the graph item type, you can select a   |
   | Color           | color for the graph item. This field only applies to |
   |                 | the graph item types AREA, STACK, LINE1, LINE2, and  |
   |                 | LINE3.                                               |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   | Opacity/Alpha   | For a colored graph item, you may optionally select  |
   | Channel         | an opacity (alpha channel). This option is not       |
   |                 | available with rrdtool-1.0.x.                        |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | 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  |
   | Graph Item Type | 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.                 |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | This tells RRDTool which consolidation function to   |
   | Consolidation   | use when representing this data on the graph. You    |
   | Function        | will typically use AVERAGE for most things on the    |
   |                 | graph area, and LAST/MAXIMUM as well for GPRINT      |
   |                 | items.                                               |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | If you want to apply a CDEF function to the graph    |
   | CDEF Function   | item, select one here. Check out the CDEF section of |
   |                 | the manual for more information.                     |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | This field is only used with the HRULE/VRULE graph   |
   | Value           | item types. Type any valid integer to draw the line  |
   |                 | at for HRULE or the time of the day HH:MM for VRULE. |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | If this item is a GPRINT, you can choose how you     |
   | GPRINT Type     | want the number to be formatted. You can add your    |
   |                 | own in the GPRINT Presets section of Cacti.          |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | You can enter text to be displayed on the legend     |
   | Text Format     | 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 5. Field Description: Graph Template Items

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |          Name          |                  Description                  |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | This will be the name used to identify the    |
   | Name                   | graph item input on both the graph template   |
   |                        | and graph edit pages.                         |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | (Optional) This description will be displayed |
   | Description            | 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.    |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | Choose one or more graph items to associate   |
   |                        | with the field selected for "Field Type".     |
   | Associated Graph Items | 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 3. Adding a Host Template

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 [111]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 4. Import Templates

   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 5. Export Templates

   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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               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</script_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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                     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 1. Spine Specific Execution Parameters

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |         Name         |                   Description                   |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | The maximum threads allowed per process. Using  |
   | Maximum Threads per  | a higher number when using Spine will improve   |
   | Process              | performance. Required settings are 10-15.       |
   |                      | Values above 50 are most often insane and may   |
   |                      | degrade preformance                             |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | The number of concurrent script server          |
   |                      | processes to run per Spine process. Settings    |
   | Number of PHP Script | between 1 and 10 are accepted. Script Servers   |
   | 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.                        |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | The maximum time that Spine will wait on a      |
   | Script and Script    | script to complete, in units of seconds. If a   |
   | Server Timeout Value | Script Server Script is terminated due to       |
   |                      | timeout conditions, the value entered into the  |
   |                      | rrd file will be NaN                            |
   |----------------------+-------------------------------------------------|
   |                      | The maximum number of snmp get OID's to issue   |
   |                      | per snmp request. Increasing this value speeds  |
   | The Maximum SNMP     | poller performance over slow links. The maximum |
   | OID's Per SNMP Get   | value is 60 OID's. Please bear in mind, that    |
   | Request              | 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                                    |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                    IV. Help

   Table of Contents

   [112]How To

   [113]Frequently Asked Questions

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                     How To

Simplest Method of Going from Script to Graph (Walkthrough)

   Written by Kevin der Kinderen, [114]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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           Frequently Asked Questions

   1. [115]Using Cacti

                [116]How do I create traffic graphs?

   2. [117]General

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

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

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

   3. [121]Monitoring

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

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

                [124]I am using Redhat 8.0 and SNMP is not working.

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

   4. [126]Graphs

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

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

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

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

                [131]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. [132]Windows Related

                [133]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 [134]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.

                                  V. Reference

   Table of Contents

   [135]Variables

   [136]RRDTool Specific Features

   [137]Command Line Scripts

   [138]Debugging

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   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 1. Example of a Graph Template using |data_source_title|

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

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

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  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 1. Print the IP Address on a traffic graph

   |query_ifIP|

   Example 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 1. Nth Percentile Argument Description

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

   Table 2. Nth Percentile Types

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |       Type        |                    Description                     |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | Calculates the Nth percentile based off the        |
   |                   | selected data source on the graph item wich the    |
   | current           | variable is used. This type requires a selected    |
   |                   | Data Source Item in the graph item in which it is  |
   |                   | defined.                                           |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | 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  |
   | total             | 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.                       |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | 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    |
   | max               | 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.                       |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | Calculates the Nth percentile based on the max for |
   |                   | each data source defined on the graph. Example,    |
   | total_peak        | 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.  |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | 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   |
   | all_max_current   | 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.     |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | Calculates the Nth percentile by selecting the     |
   |                   | highest (max) calculated max Nth percentile value  |
   |                   | for each data source (rrdtool file) selected on    |
   | all_max_peak      | 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.                                          |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | 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.         |
   | aggregate_max     | 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.      |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | 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.        |
   | aggregate_sum     | 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.                                          |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | 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  |
   | aggregate_current | 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.                                          |
   |-------------------+----------------------------------------------------|
   |                   | 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 |
   | aggregate         | 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.                |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   [139]Note 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 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 3. Bandwidth Summation Argument Description

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |      Name       |                     Description                      |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | This field determines the power of 10 divisor that   |
   |                 | will be applied to your number. Enter '0' to leave   |
   | ([0-9]|auto)    | 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.                                   |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | You can choose to calculate the summation based on   |
   | (current|total) | 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'.                |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | Enter the number of digits to use for floating point |
   | [0-9]           | precision when printing out the final number. The    |
   |                 | default value for this field is two decimal places.  |
   |-----------------+------------------------------------------------------|
   |                 | Enter the number of seconds in the past to perform   |
   |                 | the summation calculation for. For instance '86400'  |
   | ([0-9]+|auto)   | for 24 hours, '172800' for 48 hours, etc. You can    |
   |                 | also enter 'auto' for this field to have Cacti use   |
   |                 | the graph timespan.                                  |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   Example 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 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          |
   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           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 [140]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 1. CDEF Item Types

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |        Type         |                   Description                    |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | You can choose a CDEF function to use as the     |
   | Function            | item. The [141]RRDTool graph manual describes    |
   |                     | the purpose of each CDEF function.               |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   | Operator            | Just your standard math operators, including     |
   |                     | modulo (%).                                      |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | 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    |
   | Special Data Source | 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.                                            |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | Sometimes it's just easier to type out the       |
   |                     | literal CDEF string manually. When referencing   |
   | Custom String       | 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 2. CDEF Special Data Source

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |  Special Data Source   |                  Description                  |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   | Current Graph Item     | Will be replaced by the DEF name of the       |
   | Data Source            | rrdtool data source referred by the graph     |
   |                        | item this CDEF is associated to.              |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | 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   |
   | All Data Sources       | once. Data sources that differ by             |
   | (Don't Include         | consolidation functions only are NOT counted  |
   | Duplicates)            | 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!  |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | 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    |
   | All Data Sources       | each time of it's appearance. Data sources    |
   | (Include Duplicates)   | 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!  |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | 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". |
   | Similar Data Sources   | Then, cacti will add up all data sources      |
   | (Don't Include         | "traffic_in" of the whole graph to form a     |
   | Duplicates)            | 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)              |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | It is REQUIRED to associate the graph item to |
   | Similar Data Sources   | the data source that shall be totalled! If a  |
   | (Include Duplicates)   | data source appears multiple times, it will   |
   |                        | be added this many times.                     |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | Taken from the Data Template - Data Source    |
   | Current Data Source    | Item related to this graph item: fetches the  |
   | Item: Minimum Value    | minimum value defined for the given data      |
   |                        | template. Caution: This is NOT the smallest   |
   |                        | entry of the given data source!               |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | Taken from the Data Template - Data Source    |
   | Current Data Source    | Item related to this graph item: fetches the  |
   | Item: Maximum Value    | maximum value defined for the given data      |
   |                        | template. Caution: This is NOT the highest    |
   |                        | entry of the given data source!               |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | Taken from the Graph Template: fetches the    |
   |                        | Lower Limit defined to the Graph Template.    |
   | Graph: Lower Limit     | This is independant of all --alt-autoscaling  |
   |                        | options. It is NOT the dynamically determined |
   |                        | lower boundary of the graph!                  |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | Taken from the Graph Template: fetches the    |
   |                        | Upper Limit defined to the Graph Template.    |
   | Graph: Upper Limit     | This is independant of all --alt-autoscaling  |
   |                        | options. It is NOT the dynamically determined |
   |                        | upper boundary of the graph!                  |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | 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.     |
   | Count of All Data      | Data sources that differ by consolidation     |
   | Sources (Don't Include | functions only are NOT counted as different   |
   | Duplicates)            | 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!                              |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | 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  |
   | Count of All Data      | of it's appearance. Data sources that differ  |
   | Sources (Include       | by consolidation functions only are NOT       |
   | Duplicates)            | 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!  |
   |------------------------+-----------------------------------------------|
   |                        | 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". |
   | Count of Similar Data  | Then, cacti will count all data sources       |
   | Sources (Don't Include | "traffic_in" of the whole graph. Data sources |
   | Duplicates)            | 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  | It is REQUIRED to associate the graph item to |
   | Sources (Include       | the data source that shall be counted! If a   |
   | Duplicates)            | 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 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:AVERAGE \                                                                                    
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MAX \                                                                                        
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVERAGE \                                                                                      
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:AVERAGE \                                                                                   
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:MAX \                                                                                       
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVERAGE \                                                                                     
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,UN,0,c,IF,IF,TIME,1202925514,GT,e,e,UN,0,e,IF,IF,TIME,1202925514,GT,g,g,UN,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 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:AVERAGE \                                                                                                                          
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MAX \                                                                                                                              
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVERAGE \                                                                                                                            
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:AVERAGE \                                                                                                                         
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:MAX \                                                                                                                             
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVERAGE \                                                                                                                           
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,UN,0,c,IF,IF,TIME,1202925583,GT,e,e,UN,0,e,IF,IF,TIME,1202925583,GT,g,g,UN,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 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:AVERAGE \        
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MAX \            
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVERAGE \          
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:AVERAGE \       
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:MAX \           
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVERAGE \         
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,UN,0,c,IF,IF,+ \
CDEF:cdefcd=TIME,1202924474,GT,b,b,UN,0,b,IF,IF,TIME,1202924474,GT,d,d,UN,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 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:AVERAGE \                                              
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_in:MAX \                                                  
DEF:c="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_in:AVERAGE \                                                
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:AVERAGE \                                             
DEF:f="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_traffic_in_235.rrd":traffic_out:MAX \                                                 
DEF:g="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target2_traffic_in_8.rrd":traffic_out:AVERAGE \                                               
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,UN,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,UN,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 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:AVERAGE \                     
DEF:b="/var/www/html/cacti/rra/target1_hdd_free_236.rrd":hdd_free:AVERAGE \                     
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 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 Color
   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                

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                              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                                                  

   [142]Caution 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/scripts/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_hdd_total_61.rrd                                                                    
Localhost - Load Average        Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cacti/scripts/loadavg_multi.pl                                                         
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_load_1min_5.rrd                                                                     
Localhost - Logged in Users     Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cacti/scripts/unix_users.pl                                                            
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_users_6.rrd                                                                         
Localhost - Memory - Free       Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cacti/scripts/linux_memory.pl MemFree:                                                 
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_mem_buffers_3.rrd                                                                   
Localhost - Memory - Free Swap  Script: /usr/bin/perl /var/www/html/cacti/scripts/linux_memory.pl SwapFree:                                                
                                RRD: /var/www/html/cacti/rra/localhost_mem_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_mtareceivedmessages_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_mtareceivedvolume_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 2004-2009 - The Cacti Group
                                                                               
   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>                                                                                      

   [143]Caution 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 1. Re_Index Methods

   +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |   Re-Index Method   |                   Description                    |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | Refers to a system reboot. Cacti will detect if  |
   |                     | the target has been rebootet by querying         |
   | Uptime Goes         | sysUptime (.1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0). If the current   |
   | Backwards           | value for the uptime is lower than the previous  |
   |                     | one (uptime goes backwards), a reboot is assumed |
   |                     | and a re-index is performed                      |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | 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        |
   | Index Count Changed | 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.                                            |
   |---------------------+--------------------------------------------------|
   |                     | All index fields of the according XML file are   |
   | Verify All Fields   | 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 2004-2009 - The Cacti Group                               
                                                                                                   
usage: poller_reindex_hosts.php --id=[host_id|All] [--qid=[ID|All]] [--host-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; defaults to 'All'               
--host-descr=description - The host description to filter by (SQL filters 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 time
   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 time
   .....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 time
   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 time
   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           

   [144]Caution 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 2004-2009 - The Cacti 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 [145]the Section called Associated Graph Templates in the
   Chapter called Data Queries>. 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 2004-2009 - The Cacti Group                                                            
                                                                                                                                       
usage: poller_graphs_reapply_names.php -id=[host_id|All][host_id1|host_id2|...] [-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 cause 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 Buffers'       
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 [146]the Chapter called User Management. 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 Policy    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 2004-2009 - 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] --ping_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 graphs                             
    --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 enclosed 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.  Leave 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" using 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 2004-2009 - 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] --reindex-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 2004-2009 - 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 added    
                                                                                
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-template: (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] [--quiet]                          
                                                                                                      
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 created, even though they        
                    may already exist                                                                 
                                                                                                      
For ds graphs:                                                                                        
    --snmp-query-id=[ID] --snmp-query-type-id=[ID] --snmp-field=[SNMP Field] --snmp-value=[SNMP Value]
                                                                                                      
    [--graph-title=]       Defaults to what ever is in the graph template/data-source template.       
                                                                                                      
    [--reindex-method=]    the reindex method to be used for that data query                          
                           if data query already exists, the reindex method 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-field=[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.

   [147]Caution 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 --list-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-template-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 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-template-id=2 --snmp-query-id=1 --snmp-query-type-id=13 --snmp-field=ifOperStatus --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 2004-2009 - 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 (bits/sec, 95th Percentile)
33      Localhost - Used Space - Memory Buffers Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
34      Localhost - Used Space - Real Memory    Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
35      Localhost - Used Space - Swap Space     Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
36      Localhost - Used Space - /              Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
37      Localhost - Used Space - /sys           Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
38      Localhost - Used Space - /boot          Host MIB - Available Disk 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-method=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 --name="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 --parent-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 --host-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 --parent-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 --parent-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 --graph-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 --parent-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 --parent-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 2004-2009 - 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 (bits/sec, 95th Percentile)
33      Localhost - Used Space - Memory Buffers Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
34      Localhost - Used Space - Real Memory    Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
35      Localhost - Used Space - Swap Space     Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
36      Localhost - Used Space - /              Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
37      Localhost - Used Space - /sys           Host MIB - Available Disk Space                
38      Localhost - Used Space - /boot          Host MIB - Available Disk 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.

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   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], ignoring 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_1min_5.rrd  
-rw-r--r--  1 cactiuser cactiuser 155584 Jun  1 17:10 localhost_mem_buffers_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.rrd       
-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/poller.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/local/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.

References

   Visible links
   1. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#INSTALLATION
   2. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#REQUIREMENTS
   3. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#INSTALL_UNIX
   4. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#RPM_PACKAGES
   5. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#BSD_PORTS
   6. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UNIX_CONFIGURE_PHP
   7. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UNIX_CONFIGURE_HTTPD
   8. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UNIX_CONFIGURE_MYSQL
   9. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UNIX_CONFIGURE_CACTI
  10. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UNIX_CONFIGURE_SPINE
  11. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UNIX_APPLY_PATCHES
  12. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#INSTALL_WINDOWS
  13. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UPGRADE
  14. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#BASICS
  15. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#OPERATING_PRINCIPLES
  16. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_RETRIEVAL
  17. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_STORAGE
  18. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_PRESENTATION
  19. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_OVERVIEW
  20. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_HOWTO
  21. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#NEW_DEVICE
  22. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#NEW_GRAPHS
  23. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_VIEWING
  24. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#NEW_GRAPH_TREES
  25. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#USER_MANAGEMENT
  26. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#EDIT_EXISTING_USER
  27. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CREATE_NEW_USER
  28. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#COPYING_USER
  29. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#ENABLE_DISABLE_USERS
  30. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#BATCH_COPY_USERS
  31. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DELETE_USERS
  32. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GUEST_ACCESS
  33. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#ADVANCED_TOPICS
  34. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_SNMP_OID
  35. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_INPUT_METHODS
  36. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#NEW_DATA_INPUT_METHOD
  37. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#MAKING_SCRIPTS_WORK_WITH_CACTI
  38. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_QUERIES
  39. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#NEW_DATA_QUERY
  40. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#SNMP_QUERY_XML
  41. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#SCRIPT_QUERY_XML
  42. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#TEMPLATES
  43. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_TEMPLATES
  44. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_TEMPLATES
  45. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#HOST_TEMPLATES
  46. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#TEMPLATE_IMPORT
  47. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#TEMPLATE_EXPORT
  48. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#PHP_SCRIPT_SERVER
  49. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#USING_SCRIPT_SERVER
  50. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UPGRADE_USING_HOSTMIB_DATA_QUERIES
  51. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#MIGRATION_PHP_SCRIPTS_TO_SCRIPT_SERVER
  52. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#TESTING_SCRIPT_IN_SCRIPT_SERVER
  53. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#USING_SPINE
  54. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CACTI_HELP
  55. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#HOW_TO
  56. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#SCRIPT_TO_GRAPH
  57. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#FAQ
  58. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#REFERENCE
  59. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#VARIABLES
  60. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_VARIABLES
  61. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#HOST_VARIABLES
  62. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#RRDTOOL_FEATURES
  63. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GPRINT_PRESETS
  64. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CDEFS
  65. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#SCRIPTS
  66. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_REBUILD_POLLER_CACHE
  67. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_POLLER_REINDEX_HOSTS
  68. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_POLLER_OUTPUT_EMPTY
  69. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_POLLER_GRAPHS_REAPPLY_NAMES
  70. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_COPY_USER
  71. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_ADD_DEVICE
  72. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_ADD_DATA_QUERY
  73. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_ADD_GRAPH_TEMPLATE
  74. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_ADD_GRAPHS
  75. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_ADD_TREE
  76. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CLI_ADD_PERMS
  77. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DEBUGGING
  78. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_LOG_FILE
  79. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_DATA_GATHERING
  80. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_CACTI_POLLER
  81. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_MYSQL_UPDATING
  82. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_RRD_UPDATING
  83. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_RRD_OWNER
  84. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_RRD_NUMBERS
  85. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_RRD_GRAPH
  86. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DEBUG_MISCELLANEOUS
  87. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DEBUG_RPM_INSTALLATION
  88. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#CHECK_ZERO_VALUES
  89. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#REQUIREMENTS
  90. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#INSTALL_UNIX
  91. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#INSTALL_WINDOWS
  92. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#UPGRADE
  93. http://www.php.net/manual/en/configuration.php
  94. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#OPERATING_PRINCIPLES
  95. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_OVERVIEW
  96. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_HOWTO
  97. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_VIEWING
  98. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#USER_MANAGEMENT
  99. http://www.rrdtool.org/
 100. http://www.rrdtool.org/
 101. http://www.rrdtool.org/
 102. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#GRAPH_SNMP_OID
 103. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_INPUT_METHODS
 104. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_QUERIES
 105. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#TEMPLATES
 106. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#PHP_SCRIPT_SERVER
 107. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#USING_SPINE
 108. file:///tmp/data_input_methods.html
 110. http://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/doc/rrdgraph.en.html
 111. http://forums.cacti.net/forum-12.html
 112. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#HOW_TO
 113. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#FAQ
 114. http://kdeuja.com/~kevin/
 115. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2403
 116. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2406
 117. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2433
 118. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2436
 119. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2441
 120. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2446
 121. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2457
 122. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2460
 123. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2468
 124. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2475
 125. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2482
 126. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2493
 127. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2496
 128. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2509
 129. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2521
 130. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2529
 131. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2538
 132. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2542
 133. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#AEN2545
 134. http://cricket.sourceforge.net/contrib/files/killspike2
 135. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#VARIABLES
 136. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#RRDTOOL_FEATURES
 137. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#SCRIPTS
 138. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DEBUGGING
 140. http://people.ee.ethz.ch/~oetiker/webtools/rrdtool/doc/rrdgraph_data.en.html
 141. http://people.ee.ethz.ch/~oetiker/webtools/rrdtool/doc/rrdgraph.en.html
 145. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#DATA_QUERIES_ASSOCIATED_GRAPH_TEMPLATES
 146. file:///tmp/html-fplXiL#USER_MANAGEMENT
