Nagios default files being overwritten

[druide...@gmail.com]

Hi,

I have a strange problem here. Most of my Nagios configuration are from file {} directive, but I also need to modify a couple of Nagios' default configuration. To do this, I use classes like this:

class nagios::gabarits { 

   nagios_host { 'linux-server': 

     use => 'generic-host', 

     check_period => '24x7', 

     check_interval => 5, 

     retry_interval => 1, 

     max_check_attempts => 10, 

     check_command => 'check-host-alive', 

     notification_period => 'notifications', 

     notification_interval => 120, 

     notification_options => 'd,u,r', 

     contact_groups => 'admins', 

     register => 0, 

     statusmap_image => 'linux40.png', 

     target => '/etc/nagios/objects/templates.cfg', 

     ensure => present, 

   }

 }

Problem is: it replace the content of /etc/nagios/objects/templates.cfg with the new host definition, but everything else in the file is gone! 

[Matthias Saou]

On Tue, 11 Feb 2014 06:53:42 -0800 (PST)
druide...@gmail.com wrote:

> I have a strange problem here. Most of my Nagios configuration are
> from file {} directive, but I also need to modify a couple of Nagios'
> default configuration. To do this, I use classes like this:
>
> class nagios::gabarits {
>
> nagios_host { 'linux-server':
> use => 'generic-host',

[...]

> target => '/etc/nagios/objects/templates.cfg',
> ensure => present,
> }
>
> }
>
> Problem is: it replace the content
> of /etc/nagios/objects/templates.cfg with the new host definition,
> but everything else in the file is gone!

I think that's the expected behaviour.
The proper fix is to also declare the other nagios resources you want
to see in that file.

That's more or less how I solved it in my own module :
https://github.com/thias/puppet-nagios/blob/master/manifests/server.pp#L550
(feel free to copy/paste those lines!)

Though I did "move" all of the resources to their default files and
stopped using the objects/templates.cfg file.

HTH,
Matthias

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[Pascal Robert]

Hum. Since I only want to override 3 definitions, I think I'm simply going to stop using them.

[Jason Antman]

Agreed with what Matthias said. Puppet's naginator stuff doesn't play
very well with non-Puppet nagios configurations. Essentially, you have
to pick one of:
- remove the default template from that file, and create it with Puppet
elsewhere
- put all of the contents of that file in Puppet
- totally remove all of the default object configuration, and have
Puppet do everything (what I do)

On the other hand, I don't use templates in Nagios anymore, I find them
to be redundant. I use a combination of defines and parameterized
classes (hiera would be good here too, though I don't use it) and have
Puppet write out complete definitions for hosts/services/etc without any
templates. I find that makes it much more clear to look at one resource
in Puppet and know what it does, and reduces the likelihood that a
template will get modified and have unintended consequences for objects
that use it.

-Jason