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Apache HTTP Server

ZenPacks.zenoss.ApacheMonitor

The ZenPacks.zenoss.ApacheMonitor ZenPack monitors Apache HTTP Server by collecting metrics through the mod_status module.

The following metrics are collected and graphed for Apache HTTP Server.

  • Requests per Second
  • Throughput (Bytes/sec and Bytes/request)
  • CPU Utilization of the HTTP server and all worker processes or threads
  • Slot Usage (Open, Waiting, Reading Request, Sending Reply, Keep-Alive DNS Lookup, and Logging)

Open Source

This ZenPack is developed and supported by Zenoss Inc. Contact Zenoss to request more information regarding this or any other ZenPacks. Click here to view all available Zenoss Open Source ZenPacks.

Support

This ZenPack is part of Zenoss Core. Open Source users receive community support for this ZenPack via our online forums. Enterprise support for this ZenPack is provided to Zenoss customers with an active subscription.

Prerequisites

Prerequisite Restriction
Product Zenoss platform 4.x, Zenoss 5.x, Zenoss 2.2 or higher
Required ZenPacks ZenPacks.zenoss.ApacheMonitor

Display the Status Page in Apache Version 1.3 or Higher

  1. On the Apache server, locate the httpd.conf file. Generally, this file is located at /etc/httpd/httpd.conf or /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf; however, other locations are possible depending on your operating system and setup. If you cannot locate the configuration file, use your system's search facilities to locate it. For Windows, use the Search button of the Windows Explorer tool. For Unix, try the following command:

    find / -name httpd.conf
    
  2. Check to see that the following line is not commented out and is available in httpd.conf or /etc/apache/modules.conf:

    LoadModule status_module /usr/lib/apache/1.3/mod_status.so
    

    Note

    You may have to search in alternate locations to find the mod_status.so file. Also, the syntax may differ depending on your configuration.

  3. Turn the ExtendedStatus option on in the httpd.conf file. This option is typically commented out. You can enable it by uncommenting it or ensuring that it is defined.

    #ExtendedStatus on
    

    becomes:

    ExtendedStatus on
    
  4. Enable the /server-status location in the httpd.conf file. Typically, this option exists but is commented out.

    #
    #    SetHandler server-status
    #    Order deny,allow
    #    Deny from all
    #    Allow from .example.com
    #
    

    becomes:

    SetHandler server-status
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from zenoss.example.com
    

    Note: Your Zenoss platform server or servers must be able to connect to your Apache server. Ensure that it is listed here or is part of the network specified in this chunk of configuration.

    To specify multiple servers, separate the entries with spaces. If you specify an IP address range rather than a destination, be sure to add a network mask to the end of the IP address range.

    The following example allows a server called externalzenoss.example.com, as well as all servers that start with 192.168.10, in their addresses:

    SetHandler server-status
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from externalzenoss.example.com 192.168.10.0/24
    
  5. Save the httpd.conf file with these changes and verify that the configuration file is correct. This can be accomplished with following command.

    apachectl -t
    

    Correct any issues before restarting Apache.

  6. Restart the Web server (httpd). This can be accomplished with following command.

    apachectl restart
    

Display the Status Page in Apache Version 2.x

  1. On the Apache server, find the httpd.conf file. This is usually /etc/apache2/apache2.conf or /etc/apache2/conf/httpd.conf; however, other locations are possible depending on your operating system and setup. If you are unsure about where your configuration file is located, use your system;s search facilities to locate this file. Under Windows, use the Search button of the Windows Explorer tool. Under Unix, try the following command:

    find / -name httpd.conf
    
  2. Verify that the mod_status module is loaded.

    apache% apachec2ctl -M 2<&1 | grep status
    status_module (shared)
    

    The previous output indicates that the module is loaded and no further configuration is necessary. If there is no output, then copy the mods-available/status.load to the mods-enabled directory, and then run:

    apache% /etc/init.d/apache2 force-reload
    
  3. Turn the ExtendedStatus option on in the httpd.conf file. This option is typically commented out. You can enable it by uncommenting it or ensuring that it is defined.

    #ExtendedStatus on
    

    becomes:

    ExtendedStatus on
    
  4. Enable the /server-status location in the httpd.conf file. This is another option that typically already exists but is commented out.

    #
    #    SetHandler server-status
    #    Order deny,allow
    #    Deny from all
    #    Allow from .example.com
    #
    

    becomes:

    SetHandler server-status
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
    Allow from zenoss.example.com
    

    Note: Your Zenoss platform server or servers must be able to connect to your Apache server so you must ensure that it is either listed here or is a part of the network specified in this chunk of configuration.

    To specify multiple servers, separate the entries with spaces. If you would like to specify an IP address range rather than a destination, be sure to add a network mask to the end of the IP address range. The following example allows a server called externalzenoss.example.com as well as all servers that start with '192.168.10' in their addresses:

    SetHandler server-status
    Order deny,allowDeny from all
    Allow from externalzenoss.example.com 192.168.10.0/24
    
  5. Save the httpd.conf file with these changes and verify that the configuration file is correct. This can be accomplished with following command.

    apache2ctl -t
    

    Correct any issues before restarting Apache.

  6. Restart the webserver (httpd). This can be accomplished with following command.

    apache2ctl restart
    

Verifying Your Apache Configuration

Once Apache has been configured, you should verify that it is working correctly. To verify your Apache server, point your Web browser to your Apache server at the appropriately modified URL:

http://your-apache-server/server-status?auto

This is an example of what you might see:

Total Accesses: 1
Total kBytes: 2
Uptime: 43
ReqPerSec: .0232558
BytesPerSec: 47.6279
BytesPerReq: 2048
BusyWorkers: 1
IdleWorkers: 5
Scoreboard: _W____................................

If there is a configuration issue, you should see an error message telling you that the page is forbidden.

Note

Your Zenoss platform server or servers must be able to connect to your Apache server by using HTTP to receive information. This means that the Zenoss platform server must be permitted not only by the Apache configuration settings, but also by any firewalls or proxies between the Zenoss platform server and the Apache server, including any firewall on the Apache server. If there are any proxies, they must be configured to allow the Zenoss platform HTTP traffic through. Consult your network administrator and security officer to verify the firewall configuration and your site's policies.

Further note that the name or IP address that your server has behind a firewall may be different than the IP address (some form of Network Address Translation (NAT)) or name resolution (the way that the external server resolves names may be through an Internet-visible DNS system rather than an intranet-only DNS system).

Configure Zenoss platform to Monitor the Web Server

Once the Apache server is configured to allow Zenoss platform to access the extended status, you can add Apache monitoring to the device within Zenoss platform by binding the Apache template to the device.

  1. Select Infrastructure from the navigation bar.
  2. Click the device name in the device list. The device overview page appears.
  3. In the left panel, expand Monitoring Templates, and then select Device.
  4. Select Bind Templates from the Action menu. The Bind Templates dialog appears.
  5. Add the Apache template to the list of templates, and then click Save. The Apache template is added. The system can now begin collecting the Apache server metrics from this device.

Daemons

Type Name
Performance Collector zencommand