Working in the field of software monitoring may seem boring or too technical, but let me tell you that there is more fun and excitement than one might imagine at first.

Not that we’re all day doing barbecues and celebrating, but once we almost did our very own Olympics in the office! Kind of like The Office, you know.

*Long live Michael Scott.

Anyway, join me on this journey for a day in the life of a software monitoring expert, where code lines mingle with laughter and soluble coffee.

Our protagonist, whom we will affectionately call “Captain Monitor”, will face in this pseudo-documentary of flora and fauna, a day full of technical challenges and unexpected surprises.

From the moment he opens one of his lazy, rheum-covered eyes to the moment he closes his latest generation laptop, his life is a roller coaster ride of hilarious emotions and situations.

Early morning

Let’s start with the morning rush hour, exactly when Captain Monitor faces the dreaded flood of alerts in his inbox.

While trying to classify and prioritize alerts, he comes across one that says:

“The main server has become an orchestra of mariachis who just got completely wasted, from the Tenampa Hall to Plaza Garibaldi!”

Yes, you read that right:

It turns out that a “fellow” prankster decided to play a little joke on him and change the alert tones to Lucha Reyes rancheras.

But the surprises don’t end there!

Late morning

During a team meeting, Captain Monitor discovers that his charming cubicle companion has turned his desk into a jungle of cables, pins, modems and other electronic devices…

Between the giant monitor and the stacks of hard drives, the Captain seems to be lost in a kind of modern version of Alan Parrish’s Jumanji.

No matter how much he insists that monitoring modern software doesn’t actually require a work environment of such high technological sophistication, his partner continues and continues to pull plugged-in tinkerers to mock up his particular digital fantasy world.

Early afternoon

In the midst of testing and system tweaks, Captain Monitor also faces the challenges of dealing with “forgetful users.”

Yes, that user who calls all the time with problems that could be solved with a simple reboot.

But our hero doesn’t give up easily and becomes the master of basic reset instructions.

Sometimes he even dreams, as he sleeps in the toilet at nap time, of a life where he doesn’t have to say:

“Have you tried to reboot your device yet?”

Deep Afternoon

But it’s not all chaos and micro-ulcers in the world of software monitoring. Captain Monitor, who as you guessed works in the Support Department, also has his moment of glory when he manages to detect and solve a critical problem of global scale before it causes a collapse in the system of the floral commissioning company he monitors.

In that moment of triumph he feels like he’s on the main stage of a rock concert, with the crowd cheering and the fireworks bursting on top.

“Yes, this is the life I have chosen and I like it!,” exclaims to himself.

Just before the end of the day

At the end of the day, when not all danger is over, but he starts just ignoring it anyway out of pure exhaustion, Captain Monitor relaxes and shares some funny anecdotes with his colleagues in the break room.

They all laugh their asses off and share similar stories of technical madness and tense situations with customers.

It is, more than ever, in those shared moments when Captain Monitor realizes that, despite the challenges and the three thousand crises he suffers daily, there is a special camaraderie among the experts in software monitoring.

They are a close-knit, adventurous, cool community!

Here we go again

And so, the next morning, we are confident that Captain Monitor will rise and shine with renewed energy, ready once again to face another challenging day in the exciting world of software monitoring.

Because while there may be times of frustration and stress… There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of discovering and solving problems to look good with the boss!

Dimas Pardo

Dimas P.L., de la lejana y exótica Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, periodista, redactor, taumaturgo del contenido y campeón de espantar palomas en los parques. Actualmente resido en Madrid donde trabajo como paladín de la comunicación en Pandora FMS y periodista freelance cultural en cualquier medio que se ofrezca. También me vuelvo loco escribiendo y recitando por los círculos poéticos más profundos y oscuros de la ciudad.

Dimas P.L., from the distant and exotic Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, journalist, editor, thaumaturgist of content and champion of scaring pigeons in parks. I currently live in Madrid where I work as a communication champion in Pandora FMS and as a freelance cultural journalist in any media offered. I also go crazy writing and reciting in the deepest and darkest poetic circles of the city.

Put on your seatbelts, intrepid developers! In this era of technology trends and digital-first strategies, organizations are jumping on board the microservices train with Docker containers.

What is Docker? 

Well, it’s like a magic box that wraps your app with everything it needs to actually work, like a file system, tools, and even a roadmap to reach multiple platforms.

It’s like your software has its own travel-ready backpack!

Microservices: the new superhero team of programming

Today, developers are using Docker to build microservices, which are like the Avengers of the software world.

These microservices are small pieces of code that work together to perform specific tasks. For example, imagine a pizza chain that uses microservices to take orders, process payments, and coordinate deliveries across the country. It’s like having a league of pizza-efficient superheroes working together!

The star role of docker engine and his gang

When we talk about Docker, we can’t help but mention Docker Engine, the leader of this container gang.

Docker Engine is responsible for building and running the containers. But before you can do that, you need a Docker file.

Think of it as the script of a movie that defines everything necessary for the image of the container to come to life. Once you have the Docker File, you may build the container image, which is like the main actor running in the Docker engine.

Docker Compose and Docker Swarm: The adventure companions of Docker

The fun doesn’t end there!

Docker offers more adventure companions, such as Docker Compose and Docker Swarm. Docker Compose allows you to define and run applications in containers, like the movie director who coordinates all the scenes.

And then there is Docker Swarm, which converts a group of Docker servers into one, as if merging the Power Rangers to form a megazord. It’s every director’s dream to have a united team ready for action!

Docker Hub feast and Open Container Initiative (OCI) party

But wait, we’re not going to stop our analogies, there’s even more! Docker Hub is like a developer food buffet, filled with containerized microservices ready to be devoured.

Do you need a web server? A database? You’ll find a bit of everything here!

It’s like a party where all the main services are invited. In addition, Docker has created the Open Container Initiative to ensure that the packaging format is universal and open. It’s like ensuring that all guests follow the rules of etiquette.

AWS ECS: Amazon’s Container Management Service to the rescue!

If you are playing in the world of Amazon Web Services, you have at your disposal Amazon EC2 Container Service (ECS), which is a highly scalable and safe container management service.

With ECS, you can easily deploy and manage your microservices in Docker containers in the Amazon cloud. Imagine having a team of assistants take care of all the infrastructure and logistics, while you focus on developing and deploying your containerized applications.

Dare to build your own microservices architecture with Docker!

Now that you know the basics of Docker, microservices, and associated tools, it’s time to venture out and build your own microservices architecture with Docker.

Remember that microservices allow you to split your application into separate components, making it easy to scale and maintain.

With Docker, you can package and deploy each microservice in a container, taking full advantage of the flexibility and portability this technology offers.

Get ready for a new way to develop apps!

Docker and microservices are revolutionizing the way we develop and deploy applications.

With their modular approach, scalability, and portability, this combination has become a popular choice for many organizations.

Whether you’re building a complex enterprise application or a simple web application, consider adopting a microservices architecture with Docker to take advantage of the benefits it offers.

It’s time to take the leap and discover the exciting world of containerized applications!

Once you have built your microservices architecture with Docker, new possibilities will open up for your application development.

Here are some additional ideas for you to consider:

• Container orchestration: In addition to Docker, there are tools like Kubernetes and Docker Swarm that allow you to efficiently orchestrate and manage your containers in production.
  These tools will help you scale your services, distribute the workload, and make sure your apps are always available.
• Continuous Implementation (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD): With Docker, you can easily integrate your microservices into a CI/CD workflow.
  This means you can automate the process of building, testing, and deploying your containers, streamlining the development lifecycle and allowing you to launch new features faster.
• Monitoring and logging: As your applications grow in complexity and scale, it’s critical to have monitoring and logging tools in place to maintain good performance and troubleshoot issues.
  Tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and ELK Stack are very popular in the Docker ecosystem and will help you monitor and analyze the performance of your containers and microservices.
• Security: When using Docker containers, it is important to keep security best practices in mind.
  Make sure to apply patches and updates regularly, use reliable and secure images, and consider using vulnerability scanning tools to identify potential issues in your container images.

Conclusions

Docker and microservices are ever-evolving technologies, and there’s always more to discover. Keep learning about new tools and approaches, participate in communities and conferences, and stay on top of the latest trends. The world of containers and microservices is full of exciting and challenging opportunities!

Today, in those much needed training videos, we will delve into the exciting and mysterious universe of basic monitoring of computers with Linux operating systems. Ready to unlock the hidden secrets of your devices? Well, let’s go!

Before you dive into this adventure, make sure you have Pandora FMS environment installed and running.

Done?

Well, now we will focus on how to monitor those Linux computers that allow you to install the software agent devoted to this operating system.

The first point is to install the software agent on the Linux computer you want to monitor.

For that purpose, follow a series of magic commands that will install the necessary dependencies.

Who said monitoring didn’t have its own spells?

Once dependency installation is finished, go into software agent installation.

That’s when true magic begins.

Pay attention!

Configure the agent to point to your Pandora FMS server through the “server_ip” parameter.

In addition, activate remote configuration by changing the value of the “rimout_config” parameter to 1.

If you want to give it a personal touch, you may also assign it a specific group using the “group” parameter, which is “Servers” by default.

Take advantage, here you can be the director and assign roles to your agents!

Once you’re done with all these configurations, save the changes and launch the Software Agent with the command “/etc/init.d/pandora_eiyent_deimon start”.

Can you see Linux computer monitoring coming to life?

Now you can see how your agent appears in the console of your Pandora FMS server, in section “Resources, Manage Agents“.

If you go into the main view or the module view, take a look at the information that the software agent obtains by default from Linux systems.

CPU, RAM and disk space? You won’t miss a byte!

But wait, there’s more!

You may also enable the inventory plugin for detailed information.

Just go to the agent plugins view and turn on the inventory light bulb.

Afterwards, you’ll just have to wait for the next agent interval, or if you can’t resist it, manually restart it to receive the inventory data.

The information will be within reach!

But that’s not all.

Let’s add a touch of excitement to this story!

Imagine that you receive a critical alert from your agent and need to act immediately. Don’t worry, Pandora FMS has the perfect solution!

Just go to the “Alerts, Alert List” section and click “Create”, you may create a custom alert.

Choose the agent you want to monitor, select the appropriate module (you may choose intriguing names like “Host Alive”!), and set an action to notify you by mail when the module is in “Critical” status.

Isn’t it great?

Now you can solve the most high-priority cases in the blink of an eye!

But wait, you want more secrets unraveled?

Then here is another tip for you.

Discover predefined local components and learn how to create modules from them.

Go to “Settings, Templates, Local Components” and dive into a world full of possibilities.

If you’re a Linux lover, you may filter and explore local components specific to this operating system.

Now select a local component and create a new “data server module” module. Add the local Linux component you like the most and bring your new module to life. You’ll just have to wait for the next agent interval or, if you’re impatient, manually restart it to see the results.

Conclusions

Basic Linux monitoring with Pandora FMS is not only effective, but also exciting and fun.

So don’t wait any longer, sharpen your monitoring skills and let the action begin in the world of Pandora FMS!

Remember, in the video description you will find useful links that will guide you through each step.

Don’t miss it, as you don’t miss any videos from your channel, and start your journey towards basic Linux monitoring with Pandora FMS!

Today, on Pandora FMS blog, we’re going to get parabolic, not like the antennas flooding your city’s skyline corrupting the sky with their 3G poison, no. Parabolic parables. Like Yisus.

Thus, through a sweet story that your mental voice will read in a engulfed way, we will reach an incredible inflated conclusion of moral and good vibes. Let’s get there with the narration about the secret life of software! 

The secret life of software: mischief and monitoring

There was once a little software called Glitchinator that worked in a boring office of a gray and monotonous building. The decoration was as exciting as a chess contest:

• A coal gray carpet.
• Ash gray walls
• Smoky gray curtains…

The air conditioning made a somewhat particular noise, something between some frozen fries thrown suddenly into the pan and a symphony orchestra that plays the same note over and over again. The rest of the software employees, CrashMaster, Crisistracker, FaultFinder… walked through the room like zombies with blank eyes.

People did not speak, only dipped their tea bags of chamomile and emitted sounds very similar to the redundant typing of a 21st century typewriter.

“If you’ve ever wanted to experience what it would be like to work in a tomb, this office is the perfect place for you.”, Glitchinator used to say.

Of course Glitchinator felt trapped in a routine of coding and programming, with no excitement or adventure in his life. It was all about washing peripherals, ironing the screen, polishing icons… and on Sunday mornings vacuuming the hard drive.

But something changed one night when all the employees went home and Glitchinator, for the first time, was left alone in the office after returning from a walk on the terrace to some files.

“Why let your files be sedentary?”

Right there gray started taking on color and Glitchinator felt free.

What to do now that no one was watching him, that no one was judging him?

Could… could… could it become a naughty show?!

“Hell yeah!”

So he went crazy. He took off his shirt, rolled up his pants and changed all the fonts in the Word documents on his partner Boris DefectDestroyer’s computer, which left him moderately baffled the next day.

Afterwards, he became emboldened and changed the icons on the desk of the boss’s PC, Mr. MalwareMangler, which left him equally confused. He always likes to have the trash icon at the top right corner of the screen.

But that wasn’t enough for Glitchi.

He wanted to do something even bolder. So he decided to pay a visit to the printer, there he lowered his pants and began to print sheets with “funny” images:

• Pictures of kittens with birthday hats.
• An avocado with headphones,
• And a hundred memes with phrases like “I’m compiling, please don’t talk to me”, “Keep Calm and Debug On”, “Error 404: humor not found!”.

He left them scattered all over the office.

Glitchinator felt like a fish in water, at its own pace, without any restrictions. But what he didn’t know is that his secret affair wasn’t going to last that long.

The S.W.A.T. team descended through the cork panels of the office roof and pointed their open-source lethal weapons at Glitchi.

Someone made the phone call.

Fortunately for Glitchi, after the illicit beating, the toughest guy among IT’s S.W.A.T. team found one of Glitchi’s “antics” somewhat amusing, I believe it was the avocado with headphones.

It was hilarious.

After the pleas and whining of the poor software, the team patted him on the shoulder and told him that it is okay to let go from time to time, to do something that breaks the immutability of daily lives, but as long as it did not endanger the security of his company to the point someone had to call the S.W.A.T.

From that good or bad afternoon, depending on how you look at it, Glitchinator became a model software, always doing what it had to do and avoiding any kind of childishness that could bring him closer to a photocopier.

He even gave up alcohol!

Conclusions

Have you been able to get a glimpse of the lessons of this extravagant parable?

We’ll give you three options.

1. The moral of the story is that monitoring is crucial to keeping computer programs under control. Without it, they can make dangerous roadblocks and put your company’s security at risk.
2. The moral of the story is that it is important to be open and willing to receive the Word of God. It also teaches us the importance of perseverance and overcoming difficulties.
3. The moral of the story is that we are all sinners and can make mistakes in our lives, but there is always an opportunity to repent and start over.

Integria IMS has a history that goes back several years. It was developed by Pandora FMS, the famous software company based in Spain. Today, Integria IMS has become one of the most powerful tools with extensive global experience in monitoring servers, applications and networks.

External API and automation with Pandora FMS

Both products are standalone; however, Integria IMS can be integrated into Pandora FMS, allowing you to leverage their combined power. 

Application Programming Interface

This technology, better known by the acronym API, is the one that enables communication between Integria IMS and Pandora FMS, and even third-party applications.

This is achieved by using user credentials, both to perform data queries and to perform task creation and writing actions, such as incidents.

Since security is a fundamental aspect, the API has two additional measures to prevent brute-force attacks, that is, repetitive attempts to guess usernames and passwords. The first step requires you to set a specific password in order to use the API.

The second and most important measure is the possibility of establishing a list of IP addresses authorized to use the API. That way, any request that comes from outside this list will be immediately discarded.

Decreasing repetitive tasks

The main advantage of using the API in both systems is the automation of routine tasks that must be performed dozens or even thousands of times. This allows hired staff to focus on really important tasks, such as providing custom responses to customers or planning new processes to close tickets and collect them later, classifying them appropriately.

Deadline compliance

Another important advantage is the ability to schedule automatic actions for certain dates, even at the most favorable times. For example, you can schedule instructions to be sent to the API during lower workload hours, such as early mornings. This allows you to take advantage of the optimal moments to execute tasks without manual intervention.

According to results, additional actions

Since the API can return messages of success or failure in the “conversation” in formats such as XML or CSV, it is possible to execute additional conditional instructions after receiving a response. This enhances operations and provides the feeling of having more staff constantly and relentlessly available to perform their tasks.

In aspects such as hardware and software inventory management and control, it is really necessary to use an API, since the huge number of items involved makes it almost impossible to perform it manually.

Reporting

Another aspect that benefits from the use of APIs is the creation and forwarding of periodic reports. By providing real-time information at any time, it is ensured that the reports generated reflect the most up-to-date situation.

New Options

Integria IMS API is open to develop new features quickly since it was built with the flexibility of Pandora FMS in mind.

Conclusions

Integrating Integria IMS and Pandora FMS through an external API has revolutionized server, application and network monitoring. This technology enables efficient and safe communication, with additional security measures to prevent brute force attacks.

Automating routine tasks and scheduling automatic actions at optimal times has freed staff from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on more important tasks and provide personalized responses to customers.

In addition, the API provides the ability to execute additional conditional actions and obtain real-time information to generate updated reports.

Hardware and software inventory management is greatly simplified thanks to the API, overcoming the limitations of a manual approach.

And finally, the Integria IMS API remains open to new features, allowing agile and flexible development to adapt to the constantly evolving needs of Pandora FMS.

Dimas Pardo

Dimas P.L., de la lejana y exótica Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, periodista, redactor, taumaturgo del contenido y campeón de espantar palomas en los parques. Actualmente resido en Madrid donde trabajo como paladín de la comunicación en Pandora FMS y periodista freelance cultural en cualquier medio que se ofrezca. También me vuelvo loco escribiendo y recitando por los círculos poéticos más profundos y oscuros de la ciudad.

Dimas P.L., from the distant and exotic Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, journalist, editor, thaumaturgist of content and champion of scaring pigeons in parks. I currently live in Madrid where I work as a communication champion in Pandora FMS and as a freelance cultural journalist in any media offered. I also go crazy writing and reciting in the deepest and darkest poetic circles of the city.