Difference between revisions of "Cacti"

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{{Infobox software
| name                  = Cacti
| title                  = Cacti
| logo                  = [[File:Cacti3.png‎‎]]‎
| screenshot            = <!-- [[File: ]] -->
| caption                =
| collapsible            =
| author                =
| developer              = The Cacti Group, Inc.
| released              = {{release date and age|2001|9|23}}<ref name="CactiStart">{{cite web |url=http://sourceforge.net/projects/cacti/files/cacti/cacti-0.5/ |title=Cacti - Browse / cacti / cacti-0.5 |publisher=SourceForge.net |date=23 September 2001 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref>
| discontinued          =
| frequently updated    = yes<!-- Release version update? Don't edit this page, just click on the version number! -->
| programming language  = PHP, PL/SQL
| operating system      = Cross-platform
| platform              =
| size                  =
| language              =
| status                =
| genre                  = Network management software
| license                = GNU General Public License
| website                = [http://www.cacti.net/index.php Cacti.net]
}}


'''Cacti''' is an open-source, web-based graphing tool designed as a front-end application for the open-source, industry-standard data logging tool [[RRDtool]]. Cacti allows a user to poll services at predetermined intervals and graph the resulting data. It is generally used to graph time-series data of metrics such as CPU load and network bandwidth utilization.<ref name="AboutCacti">{{cite web |url=http://www.cacti.net/what_is_cacti.php |title=Cacti - What is Cacti? |publisher=The Cacti Group, Inc. |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref> A common usage is to monitor network traffic by polling a network switch or router interface via simple network management protocol (SNMP).
The frontend can handle multiple users, each with their own graph sets<ref name="AboutCacti" />, so it is sometimes used by web hosting providers<ref>{{cite web |url=http://3dpixel.net/managed-hosting-features/cacti-bandwidth-graphs |title=Cacti Bandwidth Graphing |publisher=3DPixel Ltd. |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref> (especially dedicated server<ref>{{cite web |url=http://simonmorley.co.uk/2011/01/21/cacti-server-monitoring/ |title=Cacti Server Monitoring |author=Morley, Simon |publisher=Simon Morley |date=21 January 2011 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref>, virtual private server, and collocation providers) to display bandwidth statistics for their customers. It can be used to configure the data collection itself, allowing certain setups to be monitored without any manual configuration of RRDtool.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vnluck.com/2012/01/redhat-centos-install-and-configure-cacti-network-graphing-tool/ |title=RedHat / CentOS Install and Configure Cacti Network Graphing Tool |publisher=Linux Magazine |date=12 January 2012 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref> Cacti can be extended to monitor any source via shell scripts and executables.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cacti.net/features.php |title=Cacti - Features |publisher=The Cacti Group, Inc. |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref>
Cacti can use one of two backends: "cmd.php," a PHP script suitable for smaller installations, or "Spine" (formerly Cactid), a C-based poller which can scale to thousands of hosts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://alinux.web.id/2009/05/31/how-to-install-poller-cactid-or-spine-on-linux.html |title=How to install poller cactid or spine on linux |author=Adams, Larry |publisher=alinux.web.id |date=31 May 2009 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cacti.net/spine_info.php |title=Cacti - Spine Information |publisher=The Cacti Group, Inc. |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref>
==Product history==
The Cacti project was first started by Ian Berry on September 2, 2001.<ref name="CactiInt">{{cite web |url=http://isp-ceo.net/equipment/2007/cacti.html |title=The network graphing solution Cacti was designed to provide more ease of use than RRDtool and more flexibility than MRTG |author=Goldman, George |publisher=ISP-Planet |date=17 January 2007 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sourceforge.net/projects/cacti/ |title=Cacti |publisher=SourceForge.net |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref> Berry was inspired to start the project while working for a small ISP while also still in high school, learning PHP and [[MySQL]]. His central aim in creating Cacti "was to offer more ease of use than RRDtool and more flexibility than MRTG."<ref name="CactiInt" />
On September 13, 2004, version 0.8.6 was released<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sourceforge.net/projects/cacti/files/cacti/cacti-0.8.6/ |title=Cacti - Browse / cacti / cacti-0.8.6 |publisher=SourceForge.net |date=13 September 2004 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref>, and with it came more developers and, later on, greater program speed and scalability.<ref name="CactiInt" />
Version 0.8.7 was released for use in October 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sourceforge.net/projects/cacti/files/cacti/cacti-0.8.7/ |title=Cacti - Browse / cacti / cacti-0.8.7 |publisher=SourceForge.net |date=23 October 2007 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref> As of March 2012, a roadmap on the website indicates that version 1.0.0 is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cacti.net/roadmap.php |title=Cacti - Development Road Map |publisher=The Cacti Group, Inc. |date=11 September 2011 |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref>
==Features==
Primary features of Cacti include<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cacti.net/features.php |title=Cacti - Features |publisher=The Cacti Group, Inc |accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref>:
* unlimited graph items
* auto-padding support for graphs
* graph data manipulation
* flexible data sources
* data gathering on a non-standard timespan
* custom data-gathering scripts
* built-in SNMP support
* graph templates
* data source templates
* host templates
* tree, list, and preview views of graph data
* user-based management and security
==Hardware/software requirements==
Installation requirements will vary slightly based upon operating system. See the [http://www.cacti.net/download_cacti.php download page] for more information.
==Videos, screenshots, and other media==
Take a screenshot tour of Cacti on the [http://www.cacti.net/screenshots.php Cacti website].
==Entities using Cacti==
==Further reading==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.cacti.net/documentation.php |title=Cacti - Documentation |publisher=The Cacti Group, Inc.}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.packtpub.com/cacti-08-beginners-guide/book |title=Cacti 0.8 Beginner's Guide |author=Urban, Thomas |publisher=Packt Publishing |date=2011}}
* {{cite web |url=http://oss.oetiker.ch/rrdtool/ |title=About RRDtool |publisher=OETIKER+PARTNER AG}}
==External links==
* [http://docs.cacti.net/ Cacti Wiki]
* [http://webin-apps.com/apps/icacti iCacti], an iPhone and iPad application
Cacti can also be found on SourceForge. However, use caution when downloading and installing from there; the install package may contain undesirable add-on software.
==References==
<references />
<!---Place all category tags here-->
[[Category:Network management software (open source)]]

Revision as of 16:49, 4 February 2016