[smokeping-users] Upgrading smoke pin to version 2.4.0

[G.W. Haywood]

Hi there,

On Fri, 6 Feb 2009, Mersberger, Robert wrote:

> I am new with Unix and have recently been given the responsibility
> for these Unix applications.  I would like to upgrade Smokeping fro
> version 2.0.9 to 2.4.0 ...

I'm guessing that there's a reason you want to upgrade to 2.4.0, and
not the more recent 2.4.2.

> would like to find a good document that would explain how this
> can be done in a fool proof manner.

Every time somebody comes out with a better 'foolproof' something,
along comes a better fool.  The documentation that comes with the
Smokeping package should be easy enough to follow.  I think 2.0.9
uses an older configuration layout but it's pretty straightforward
to follow the changes if you take your time.  You should read all
you can get your hands on about Apache, Perl, speedycgi, mod_perl
Linux administration and networking, vi (or some other editor you
have available on your system),

> Is there an RPM out there that does this?

There are RPMs.  You didn't mention what distribution you are using.
You could find out, and ask the people who provide it.  And as always,
Google is your friend.

> I also need to know what the Hardware requirements are if I am
> polling 1600 devices every 120 seconds with 10 ping per site for
> each cycle.

It's difficult to give firm recommendations with such vague questions.
You'll probably be needing ethernet cables and switches for example.
If a ping is the minimum 64 bytes then

1600 * 10 * 64 * 8 / 120 = 68kbit/s

which doesn't sound like you'd be causing much trouble on the network.
Storage isn't likely to be a problem.  Take a look at the mailing list
archives to see if there's any helpful information about what other
people are using on networks of that sort of size - there are a few.
Try to formulate a question somebody can answer.

> I am currently seeing the warning for Smokeping taking longer that
> 120 seconds and this happens 1 or twice per day.

man top

> Will I have to also update all the supporting products before I do
> the upgrade to 2.4.0 what I mean is things like Perl or rrdtools
> Linux

That depends on what versions you are running right now.  Since you
mostly haven't told us, we don't know.  Generally I would discourage
upgrading things that don't need to be upgraded - if it ain't broke,
don't fix it - but examples of things needing to be upgraded would
include those having serious security issues.

> here is my current description: Linux smokeping2
> 2.6.11.4-21.15-bigsmp #1 SMP Tue Nov 28 13:39:58 UTC 2006 i686 i686
> i386 GNU/Linux

That's just the kernel.  It doesn't mean very much other than it's
very old, and you should upgrade that before you do anything else.
I hope there's a firewall between that machine and the Internet.

--

73,
Ged.