nrpe_nt & nagios enterprise

[Ethan Galstad]

Hendrik Bäcker wrote:
> Hi JS,
> 
> js schrieb:
>> Hi list, Ethan
>>
>> It would be really nice if the official Nagios project itself offered 
>> the nrpe_nt daemon.
> 
> Why only NRPE_NT?
> There are other nagios related addons which includes the nrpe protocol.
> What about NC_NET, NSClient++ and so on??
> 
> If I am right NRPE_NT is offered by the official plugin repository 
> 'nagiosexchange.org' but both of them plus the sf.net project seems to 
> be inactive since a long time.
> 
>> This would be enormously helpful to convince Windows admins and decision 
>> makers to use nrpe_nt on a couple of hundred Windows servers in a 
>> critical data center environment.
>> No way they are going to let an exclusively community supported open 
>> source tool on the production Windows servers.
>> Reasons like:
>> "yeah open source tools get fixed faster anyhow" or
>> "we have deployed it on 50 production servers and never had a problem" or
>> "you can ask someone who can fix it, the source is open anyway" or
>> "It's more secure because the source is available" aren't really 
>> convincing reasons in a large data center environment where ISO 
>> certification is priority, ...


I understand this way of thinking.  It affects acceptance of OSS in
general - not just Nagios.

Nagios addons (like NRPE_NT) are often developed by one or more
individuals as a contribution to the overall project.  Convincing others
that a particular contributed addon/plugin is supported can be
problematic, as the authors/maintainers aren't usually companies.

I certainly see a need for more active development and official support
for various addons related to Nagios.  As things move forward, I think
it will be vital for Nagios Enterprises to contribute to various addon
projects through both development contributions and financial support of
the authors.  This helps ensure that development continues and that bugs
can be fixed in a reasonable timeframe.

Right now we're at a stage where it not terribly practical to take on
too much than we already are, but things may be different six months
from how.

>>
> As far as I know the Windows side of life - you will need more than a 
> branding on a OSS to get a windows decision maker to a smile.
> 
> While you are talking about ISO certification I think there is much more 
> to do than a "Nagios Enterprise" Branding - so this wouldn't be a 
> solution but only a nice flag.
> 
>> I just think that nrpe_nt is a crucial part of the Nagios functionality 
>> and it falls outside the official Nagios Enterprise framework.
>> Also some nice official msi package would be great (with optimized 
>> unattended installs for pushing through sms or by other means).
> 
> I think this should be assigned to the developers of nrpe_nt.
> Even better: Build a msi package of your own and bring it back to the 
> community ;)
> 
>> I'm having trouble of getting Nagios taken seriously exectly and only 
>> because of this. If I propose to use Nagios, the discussion stops there,...
>>
>> The NRPE daemon for *nix ok, that's a part of the official Nagios 
>> project (and thus backed by Nagios Enterprise I presume).
>>
> I wouldn't go so far to call it part of the Nagios Project - I think 
> NRPE is just developed from the same person while NRPE_NT is just a port 
> to the windows world.
> 
>> What are your thoughts?
>>
> 
> I agree that it is some work to convince windows guys to use OSS to 
> provide some stable monitoring solution.
> I guess windows guys hate things if they couldn't 'click'.
> 
> But you have at least two different type of people:
>   * The only sceptic - they are open for tests about the stability and 
> may get convinced with a good monitoring solution.
>   * the certification side: You won't get them until Bill says that 
> NRPE_NT is not evil (this shouldn't start a flamewar).
> 
> IMHO the windows sector is rare cause of the acceptance of OSS.
> If there were more windows related topics, like a good collection of vbs 
> scripts to check all the creepy little MS things the acceptance would be 
> much better.
> With better acceptance more windows people might talk about nagios 
> addons like nrpe_nt and give them a try.
> 
> Please let me ask: What do you expect?
> Better acceptance just cause of a branding or mentioning nrpe_nt on 
> nagios.org/nagios.com? (You can call me a pessimist, but I won't believe 
> that this will help much - but I'm adaptive ;) )
> Some windows success stories? (I think this wouldn't be the worst idea)
> 
> 
> Kind regards
> Hendrik


Ethan Galstad
Nagios Developer
___
Email: nagios at nagios.org
Web:   www.nagios.org

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008.
http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/