Extending ICE-Linux Monitoring

Now any administrator who reconfigures ICE-Linux also updates the IPMI related information
automatically.
Customization
ICE-Linux supports a wide variety of configuration options. Many of these options can be controlled
from the file nagios_vars.ini file. This file contains system-specific customizations, such as
thresholds, system settings, and other configuration information. The nagios_vars.ini file is
located in /opt/hptc/nagios/etc/nagios_vars.ini. Depending on the platform there can be
upwards of 10 to even 50 individual sensors types. Although each sensor can be monitored and
individually archived, many sensors are static or seldom change. By default, ICE-Linux configures
sensor monitoring to make the most efficient use of space, this display format is referred to as
summary mode. A sensor scan is done on all available sensors and if all are within defined
thresholds, a single entry is recorded such as:
Sensor count (26 Sensors within threshold: ok)
If one or mor
e sensors were outside thresholds, the summary count would be reduced and each of
those individual sensors would be logged separately. This method has the benefit of saving space and
reducing activity on the management station. It has the disadvantage of disabling the ability to graph
sensor values historically. When displaying sensors in summary mode through Nagios HP Graph you
might see the following graphic:
Figure 4. Nagios HP Graph OK Graphic
This ind
icates that all sensors were ok, as the OK superimposed on the graph indicates, but no
detailed information is available. You can choose to expand and archive several types of sensors
(such as temperature or voltage sensors) on a permanent basis. This can be easily configured using
the nagios_vars.ini file. The nagios_vars.ini file is essentially an .ini format file with
some additional structure. There are a number of sections, denoted by the bracket characters ([ ])
around a name, in the example below it is sensorConfiguration. The actual section name has
no special meaning; it is for documentation only. Each section in the nagios_vars.ini file has a
nodes variable. The nodes variable defines the list of systems that subsequent section variables will
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