Nagios xi - Upgrading The Linux NRPE Agent

Overview

This KB article explains how to upgrade the Linux NRPE Agent for Nagios xi that has been previously installed following these instructions.

Documentation - Installing The Linux Agent

Upgrade Steps

An upgrade to NRPE v3.x is completed by running the fullinstall script explained in the documentation linked above. The fullinstall script will save a copy of the following existing config files:

/usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe.cfg as /usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe.cfg.saved

/usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe/asterisk.cfg as /usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe/asterisk.cfg.saved

/usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe/common.cfg as /usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe/common.cfg.saved

The fullinstall script will replace the existing config files with the default files that come with the installer. These saved copies will allow you to take any custom commands you have defined and add them back into the running configuration.

Recommendations

If you are affected by the upgrade due to your custom commands being replaced, you can future proof this from happening again when a newer version of NRPE is installed. They key to this is with the following directive defined in the nrpe.cfg file:

include_dir=/usr/local/nagios/etc/nrpe

Any file in this directory that has the .cfg extension will be read by NRPE when it starts. This allows you to have a file that contains your custom commands and will not be touched by the NRPE installer script script in the future.

Final Thoughts

For any support related questions please visit the Nagios Support Forums at:

http://support.nagios.com/forum/