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Olympus Data Centers
NMS Development with CheckMK

NMS Development with CheckMK

System Update

First, update your system packages to ensure you have the latest security patches and dependencies:

apt update -y && apt upgrade -y

The -y flag automatically confirms “yes” to any prompts during the update process.

Example output:

root@Apollo:/home# apt update -y && apt upgrade -y
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease [270 kB]
Get:2 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease [128 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease [129 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy/main Translation-en [510 kB]
...

Download Checkmk

Pull in the Checkmk package using wget:

wget https://download.checkmk.com/checkmk/2.4.0p10/check-mk-raw-2.4.0p10_0.jammy_amd64.deb

Example output:

--2025-09-02 17:51:13--  https://download.checkmk.com/checkmk/2.4.0p10/check-mk-raw-2.4.0p10_0.jammy_amd64.deb
Resolving download.checkmk.com (download.checkmk.com)... 45.133.11.29
Connecting to download.checkmk.com (download.checkmk.com)|45.133.11.29|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 280537678 (268M) [application/x-debian-package]
Saving to: 'check-mk-raw-2.4.0p10_0.jammy_amd64.deb'

check-mk-raw-2.4.0p10_0.jammy_amd64.deb 100%[=================================================================>] 267.54M  4.18MB/s    in 58s
2025-09-02 17:52:12 (4.62 MB/s) - 'check-mk-raw-2.4.0p10_0.jammy_amd64.deb' saved [280537678/280537678]

Note: By downloading Checkmk, you agree to the End User License Agreement and General Terms & Conditions. The SHA-256 file hash for verification is:

bef1c7be6dc779503962e0c4c7c73076d6d524abc6af055e9682ae8197a6753a

Install the Checkmk Package

Install the package including all dependencies:

sudo apt install ./check-mk-raw-2.4.0p10_0.jammy_amd64.deb

Verify the installation was successful by checking the OMD version:

omd version

Expected output:

OMD - Open Monitoring Distribution Version 2.4.0p10.cre

Create a Checkmk Monitoring Site

Create a new Checkmk site (we’ll name it Apollo in this example):

omd create Apollo

Example output:

Adding /opt/omd/sites/Apollo/tmp to /etc/fstab.
Creating temporary filesystem /omd/sites/Apollo/tmp...OK
Updating core configuration...
Generating configuration for core (type nagios)...
Precompiling host checks...OK
Executing post-create script "01_create-sample-config.py"...OK
Executing post-create script "02_cmk-compute-api-spec"...OK
Executing post-create script "03_message-broker-certs"...OK
Restarting Apache...OK
Created new site Apollo with version 2.4.0p10.cre.

The site can be started with omd start Apollo.
The default web UI is available at http://Apollo/Apollo/

The admin user for the web applications is cmkadmin with password: xxxxxxxxxx
For command line administration of the site, log in with 'omd su Apollo'.
After logging in, you can change the password for cmkadmin with 'cmk-passwd cmkadmin'.

Start the Checkmk Site

Start your newly created monitoring site:

omd start

Example output:

Doing 'start' on site Apollo:
Starting agent-receiver...OK
Starting mkeventd...OK
Starting rrdcached...OK
Starting redis...OK
Starting npcd...OK
Starting automation-helper...OK
Starting ui-job-scheduler...OK
Starting nagios...OK
Starting apache...OK
Starting crontab...OK

Accessing the Web Interface

Your Checkmk site is now up and running! You can access the web interface at the URL provided in the creation output (e.g., http://your-server/Apollo/).

Initial Setup and Configuration

Adding Monitoring Hosts

Once logged into the web interface, you can begin adding hosts to monitor:

  • Navigate to Setup > Hosts > Add host
  • Follow the step-by-step wizard to configure your monitoring targets
  • Add new host and follow the steps

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Exploring the Dashboard

Checkmk provides a comprehensive default dashboard that gives you immediate visibility into your monitoring environment:

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Exploring Topology View

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Rich Configuration Options

The Setup menu offers extensive configuration capabilities for customizing your monitoring environment:

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Comprehensive Monitoring Features

Checkmk provides a wealth of monitoring tools and views to help you maintain optimal system performance:

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Next Steps

  • Change the default cmkadmin password for security
  • Configure email/SMS notifications for alerts
  • Set up additional monitoring plugins and checks
  • Explore the extensive documentation for advanced configurations
  • Consider setting up distributed monitoring for larger environments

Checkmk offers enterprise-grade monitoring capabilities with an intuitive interface, making it an excellent choice for both small and large-scale monitoring deployments.