In some situations a system may not offer an SNMP Agent that Zenoss can securely access. This is often the case when Zenoss is used to monitor production systems that only provide SSH access. Additionally, when SNMP modeling is not available (or it does not provide a complete set of information), command plugins can be used to model a device. Note: These “modeling” command plugins should not be confused with the “performance” command plugins used elsewhere in Zenoss.
Each built-in zenoss modeling command plugin is differentiated by the platform on which it runs. To determine the platform for the device you want to model, run the “uname” command in a shell on the device. The compatibility options for the Zenoss modeling plugins are currently Linux or Darwin. The modeling command plugins can be extended for platforms not listed above. However, the procedure for creating new modeling command plugins is beyond the scope of the Administration Guide.
To model a device using command plugins, first you must add the device to zenoss using the protocol "none" and then choose which plugins you wish to apply.
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Go to the Add Device page.
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Set discover to “None”.
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Once the device is added, navigate to the device and view its zProperties tab.
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If necessary, set zCommandUsername and zCommandPassword to the username and password of the device (or set up passwordless authentication using RSA/DSA keys.)
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Click “Edit” next to zCollectorPlugins.
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Click Add Fields on the right to get a complete list of command plugins.
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Make sure zenoss.cmd.uname is positioned first on the left hand side.
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Click the X next to plugins you wish to remove, and drag other plugins over to the left.
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Remodel the device.
The /Server/Cmd device class is an example configuration for modeling and monitoring devices using SSH. The CollectorPlugins have been modified as described above, and the Device, Filesystem, and Ethernet interface templates used to gather data over SSH have been created. You can use this device class as a reference for your own configuration; or, if you have a device that needs to be modeled or monitored via SSH/Command, you can place it in this device class to use the preconfigured templates and zProperties. You will still need to set the zCommandUsername and zCommandPassword zProperties to the appropriate SSH login information for each device.
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