Nagios Web Interface Wishlist

From NagiosCommunity

The Nagios web interface will be rewritten in the near future. Development on the new PHP-based interface is slated to begin in the summer of 2007. If you have specific features that you'd like to see in the interface, add them here.

Contents 1 DB Abstraction 2 Data Access 3 Internationalization 4 Authentication 5 Architecture 6 Themes/Skins 7 Reporting 8 Configuration 9 Frontend 10 Eye Candy 11 User Separation

DB Abstraction

• Use ADODB for accessing MySQL/Postgres backend
• Include database support for MSSQL and Oracle.

Data Access

• All status and configuration data available via XML
• Live updates of status pages using AJAX
• All AJAXified features should be able to be accomplished using direct URLs for accessibility
• Access to display filters via drop down menus instead of editing GET parameters
• Extra display filter for "Hard/Soft States"
• Display extra-information via SNMP-Queries. (Interfaces, OS, ...)
• Enhance the look up function
• Add sort types not just only alphameric
• All status and configuration data available via JSON : look around the project Nagios2JSON

Internationalization

• Support for multiple languages
• Easy method to switch language on-the-fly
• Easy method for translators to add/update language files
• Когда русский язык будет ...???

Authentication

• Auth methods
  • MySQL database
  • Apache (basic, LDAP, etc.)
  • SSO-CAS
  • PAM
  • GSSAPI/SPNEGO/HTTP Negotiate (i.e. Kerberos)
• Track session using cookies
• Reverse host/service visibility logic (Host visibility doesn't give visibility to ALL services, but Service visibility gives visibility to the Host)

Architecture

• Provide a plug-in architecture like seen e.g. in the Cacti web interface to allow new features to be implemented easily
• Use well known web framework like Zend Framework
• Use a existing framework like Zope or an existing CMS like Typo3
• Use MVC pattern and PHP5

Themes/Skins

• Use CSS for layout of interface
• Easy method for users to create custom themes/skins
• Easy method for switching themes/skins on-the-fly
• User theme preference should be saved between sessions
• Mobile device theme for easy management from cell phones, PDAs, smartphones, etc.
• Optimized theme for iPhone and iPod Touch

Reporting

• Allow users to create their own custom reports
  • Can be run manually when they chose
  • Can be set to run automatically at chosen intervals
  • Add host-alias to the reports
• Summary report that shows events that occurred during previous non alerting timeperiod
• Flexible report output
  • HTML, Text, CVS, XML, PDF
  • Send reports to FTP server, email account, file system
• Integrate configuration and displaying of trend charts
• Integrating of existing Reporting Tools
  • BIRT (Business Intelligence Reporting Tools)
  • Jasper Reports
  • JFreeReport
• Integrated Performance Graphs based on the performance data collected

Configuration

• Provide a web-based configuration frontend
  • Configuration "wizards"
  • Support a subset of template features that will work for 95% of users
  • Config frontend will write to Nagios (text) config files
  • Users can still use text config files instead of web frontend for configuration
• Allow configuration by import from csv files
• StatusMap: NagiosProzess shouldn't have to be in the center
• Ability to do a dry-run of notifications for a host/service (to check the notification settings)
• Apply some configuration templates, simply the config, if there are lots of hosts & services, only applying some template and auto-generate the nagios' configuration file.
• Support sub-group and the interface should be like Tree-Menu

Frontend

• Add a new Icon for the freshness-option. With this Icon, you can see on the frontend, when the freshness-option goes on.
• Add multiple notes url or action urls.

Eye Candy

• New 3-D interface
  • Ditch the VRML CGI, as its not an actively supported/developed standard anymore
  • Create a new Flash-based 3D interface
  • Rewrite the 2-D status map
    • Alternative you can use NagVis for the 2-D Status-Map
  • Use graphing libraries for best host layout
  • Include services (optional) as well as hosts in the diagram
  • Automatic updates of map/status using AJAX
  • Ability to drill down from high level map to detailed maps with status summary rolling up from detailed maps to higher level map
  • Support for images used as background in maps

User Separation

• ACL's - The ability to assign different users different permissions, such as letting some users view everything, but make no changes, or only allow them to view their hosts, etc.
  • Allow for even further user permissions, such as requiring downtime to be approved by only certain users. Also a calender that would allow viewing of scheduled downtimes and who approved such downtimes.(Possibly the ability to drill down even further into the calender to view the changed management and details of what the downtime is for)
  • Allow specified users to only create comments against services or hosts or re-schedule checks and nothing else.
• Separate permissions/authorization from responsibility (contacts and contact_groups directives). It is too often useful to set contacts value to mailing list address and let the mail system do the mail routing, but too insecure to have group account (like "admin") with shared password.