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TheWitnessandTheWitness
9d09a8be8a
Cacti automatically uses the Net-SNMP binaries where php-snmp cannot be used (SNMPv3 with advanced ciphers, IPv6, bulkwalk, hex output), so users no longer need to uninstall php-snmp. Reword the SNMP Version 3 note in Devices.md, soften the optional snmp module note in Requirements.md, and drop the php-snmp caveat from the SNMP Timeout field in How-to-Graph-Your-Network.md. Co-authored-by: TheWitness <copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
143 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
143 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
# Device Management
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This section will describe **Device** management in Cacti.
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Adding a **Device** to Cacti can be done in a few different ways, either via
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the Web GUI, Cacti's Automation, or the Command Line Interface (CLI).
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## Web GUI Option
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To add a device via the Web GUI first click on `Console > Management > Devices` and
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you will see the below device console window which will show existing devices
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if any
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You will now select the + on the top right hand corner
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Once you select the + otherwise known as the add device button you will see the
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below screen which will ask you for device specific information
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Some of the most important information about the device will be required in this
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window which includes
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- **Description** - The name that will appear on **Graphs** by default
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- **IP/Hostname** - The DNS or IP address of the actual **Device**. IPv6 address insert into brackets (example: [2001:abcd:1234::1])
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- **Poller Association** - Defines which **Data Collector** is responsible for
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pulling information about the **Device**
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- **Device Template** - Cisco, Net-SNMP, Linux, etc - The Cacti object that
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holds all the **Graph Templates** and **Data Queries** to be graphed
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- **Site, Location** - Very important to performing Meta queries, or for
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Site level Graph organization on Cacti **Graph Trees**
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- **Availability/Reachability** - Settings that describe **Device**
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timeouts and availability methods.
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- **SNMP information** - SNMP Credentials for connecting to the **Device**
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- **Device Notes** - Arbitrary unstructured information about the **Device**
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Cacti requires this basic information to be able to monitor the device and once
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entered, click save on the bottom right corner. With the device created you will
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need to add graphs for the device by clicking **Create graphs for this device**
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on the top right hand corner.
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## Availability/Reachability Settings
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Cacti prefers to use the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to communicate
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with **Devices**. Therefore, when creating a **Device**, you need to provide SNMP
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credentials to obtain information about the **Device** in order to collect data from
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it. Before Cacti will query the **Device** for data, it first verifies that the
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**Device** is up and responding. When doing so, you have several options.
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They include:
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- **None** - Always assume the device is up. This is generally reserved for **Device**
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objects that do not have a state.
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- **SNMP Uptime** - Query the SNMP Uptime Instance OID
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- **Ping and SNMP Uptime** - Ping the device but also check the SNMP Uptime
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Instance OID
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- **Ping** - Either ICMP, TCP at a port, or UDP as a port. Newer version has an additional method TCP Ping Closed.
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The device is considered UP even if the tcp ping returns closed
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- **Ping or SNMP Uptime** - Only one needs to be working for Cacti to collect data
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- **SNMP Desc** - Query the SNMP sysDescription in cases where the SNMP Uptime OID
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is not available
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- **SNMP GetNext** - Query the first available OID in the OID tree for the **Device**
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Used for certain devices that have limited SNMP support.
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## SNMP Credentials
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When providing the SNMP credentials, Cacti currently supports the following versions:
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- **Version 1** - Rarely used any more. Reserved for very old hardware
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- **Version 2** - Still very popular, and support 64 bit counters except on Windows
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- **Version 3** - Fully supported, including advanced settings such as SHA224+
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or AES192+ with SNMPv3. Cacti automatically leverages the Net-SNMP binaries
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where needed, so there is no need to uninstall the php-snmp module.
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When providing the SNMP Credentials, Cacti will warn you if you have provided
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incomplete information depending on the SNMP Version and SNMP Security Level
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you have specified.
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## Additional Important Options
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There are some additional options to be aware of before starting to use Cacti.
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They include the following:
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- **Device Threads** - If your device is far away, and can tolerate multiple threads
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querying information, you can increase this number to reduce the time it takes
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to collect all information.
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- **Maximum OIDs Per Get Request** - Otherwise known as MaxOID's, this SNMP option
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will allow the SNMP client to gather more metrics per get request. Please keep
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in mind that the higher you make this number, the longer a SNMP respond may take.
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So, you have to be sensitive about the SNMP timeout as the number gets larger.
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Since, by default SNMP is generally collected over UDP, you will also be limited
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in the number of responses depending on how many routers or VPN's you traverse
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to reach a device. When traversing VPN connections, many VPN's limit the MTU
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to around 500 bytes, which will significantly limit how large the Max OID's can
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be. In some cases, it may be better to deploy a **Remote Data Collector** when
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your device is either far way from a latency perspective, or that you must
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traverse VPN's to communicate with.
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- **External ID** - This field is normally used for Asset Tracking information for
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the **Device**, but it use is entirely up to the System Administrator.
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## Plugin Behavior
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Many Cacti Plugins can and do add additional columns to the Device table in Cacti.
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Depending on the Plugin you have installed, you will find other information that
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you can provide about the device including things like:
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- **Notification Settings** - Who to notify when the **Device** changes state
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- **Criticality** - How important is the device
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- **Failure and Recovery Counts** - How long till a device is treated as truly
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down.
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- **Ping Thresholds** - What RTL is considered bad when reaching a device
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## Creating devices via CLI script
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You can also create device by using the CLI script located at /cactidir/cli/
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```console
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usage: add_device.php --description=[description] --ip=[IP] --template=[ID] [--notes="[]"] [--disable]
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[--poller=[id]] [--site=[id] [--external-id=[S]] [--proxy] [--threads=[1]
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[--avail=[ping]] --ping_method=[icmp] --ping_port=[N/A, 1-65534] --ping_timeout=[N] --ping_retries=[2]
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[--version=[0|1|2|3]] [--community=] [--port=161] [--timeout=500]
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[--username= --password=] [--authproto=] [--privpass= --privproto=] [--context=] [--engineid=]
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[--quiet]
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Required:
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--description the name that will be displayed by Cacti in the graphs
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--ip self explanatory (can also be a FQDN)
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```
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To add a device using the bare minimum information would look something like this
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```console
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$ php add_device.php --description=test --ip=192.168.1.15
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Adding test (192.168.1.15) as "Cacti Stats" using SNMP v3 with community "public"
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Success - new device-id: (45)
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```
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---
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Copyright (c) 2004-2026 The Cacti Group
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