Big Brother Server in the context of xymon

In the context of the Xymon monitoring tool, the Big Brother Server refers to the central monitoring server that collects and displays status updates from monitored systems. Xymon itself is a fork of the Big Brother monitoring system, which was one of the earliest network and system monitoring tools.

Role of the Big Brother Server in Xymon

1. Data Collection:

The server receives health and performance data from Xymon clients installed on different machines.

2. Status Processing:

It processes incoming status messages and logs events for alerting or reporting.

3. Web-Based Dashboard:

It provides a web-based interface displaying real-time system statuses using color-coded indicators (green, yellow, red, etc.).

4. Alerting System:

It can send notifications via email, SMS, or other methods when a system is experiencing issues.

5. Historical Data & Trends:

The Big Brother server stores historical data to analyze trends and detect anomalies.

Connection to Big Brother (BB) Tool

Xymon evolved from the Big Brother monitoring system, which had a similar architecture. The term Big Brother Server was used in Big Brother and carried over to Xymon to describe the central server managing the monitoring process.

Xymon Monitoring System - Overview & Setup Guide

1. Understanding Xymon Architecture

Xymon consists of three main components:

1. Xymon Server (Big Brother Server) – The central monitoring system that collects and displays data.

2. Xymon Clients – Agents installed on monitored machines to send health and performance data.

3. Web Interface – A dashboard that provides a color-coded status overview.

2. Setting Up Xymon

A. Install Xymon Server (on Linux)

1. Update System Packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y   # For Debian/Ubuntu

sudo yum update -y                        # For RHEL/CentOS

2. Install Required Dependencies

sudo apt install -y xymon apache2 rrdtool librrd-dev libpcre3-dev libssl-dev

3. Download and Install Xymon

wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/xymon/files/latest/download -O xymon.tar.gz

tar -xzf xymon.tar.gz

cd xymon-*

./configure --prefix=/opt/xymon

make && sudo make install

4. Start Xymon Server

sudo /opt/xymon/server/bin/xymon.sh start

5. Access Web Dashboard

Open a browser and go to http://<server-ip>/xymon

B. Install Xymon Client (on Monitored Machines)

1. Install Required Packages

sudo apt install -y xymon-client

2. Configure Client to Send Data to Xymon Server

Edit the configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/default/xymon-client

Set the XYMONSERVERS variable to point to the Xymon server’s IP:

XYMONSERVERS="192.168.1.100"

3. Restart the Client

sudo systemctl restart xymon-client

3. Understanding the Web Dashboard

Green = OK

Yellow = Warning

Red = Critical

Blue = Test disabled

Purple = No report received