How do I securely perform remote server monitoring?

audiodef · Last edited by audiodef on Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

I set up a server so that gkrellmd can only be accessed through ssh. I want to turn the necessary lines into a script, like so:

khayyam · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 2:27 am Post subject:

audiodef ...

if you want passwordless logins then use a (passwordless) key.

best ... khay

audiodef · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:33 pm Post subject:

I don't want to compromise whatever security measures I've set up on my server, so I guess a better question is: What is the best way to perform remote server monitoring in a secure way?
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Syl20 · l33t Joined: 04 Aug 2005 Posts: 621 Location: France

What do you want to monitor ? Do you want to monitor your system through internet ?
On a LAN, and if you have a little time to setup a server, Nagios (with NRPE), for example, is certainly more appropriate than a set of home-made patches around a localhost-focused tool.

khayyam · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:12 pm Post subject:

audiodef · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:14 pm Post subject:

I want to monitor general server stuff for now: uptime, cpu load, mem, processes - the stuff you get through gkrellm. It's not on a LAN - it's a remote hosted server.
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audiodef · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:18 pm Post subject:

khayyam · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:27 pm Post subject:

krinn · Watchman Joined: 02 May 2003 Posts: 7471

i'm with khayyam there, first key isn't less secure than a password, i wouldn't claim it's even more secure but that's still what i think.

if you really don't want use password or keys, then use a solution that use none: you could build a file with infos you want from the server and upload it to your computer thru ftp (using an annon access with a fake email as password), this way, you'll get what you want without sharing any key or real password.
you might just send the file by email if you prefer.

audiodef · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:23 am Post subject:

Found a simple way to do what I wanted: emerge tilda, set it to fill up 100% of my screen in the background, no taskbar or pager, just ssh in normally and leave htop running.
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khayyam · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:59 am Post subject:

dalu · Guru Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Posts: 533

what would I want to monitor indeed..
when I wanted to write my own

net
/sys/class/net/<ifname>/statistics/
or
/proc/net/dev

cpu
/proc/stat

disk
/proc/diskstats

memory
/proc/meminfo

what else could be monitored?

audiodef · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 3:23 pm Post subject:

audiodef · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 3:25 pm Post subject:

khayyam · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:12 pm Post subject:

audiodef · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 12:38 am Post subject:

Hm, echo $TERM shows xterm at both ends.
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enZom · n00b Joined: 13 Nov 2015 Posts: 30 Location: In a sandbox

You could look into using a 2048 bit or higher key.

@monitoring
I often run multiple windows of lnav looking at different log files.
For split windows Tmux or if you're @ a desktop terminator works.

The watch command can be helpful too.

ShaneCar · n00b Joined: 27 Oct 2015 Posts: 4 Location: San Francisco

Nagios (NRPE) would save you some time setting up the setting up the server. If uptime, cpu load, mem, and processes is what you care about, then that seems like the best option. BigPanda, while not open source, is also an interesting tool. It plugs right into Nagios- https://bigpanda.io/integrations/nagios-the-alternative-to-a-flood-of-alerts- and will sift through all the noise for you, so all you're looking at is high level data thats meaningful. Either way, I think NRPE will save you time and headache.
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audiodef · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2016 11:59 pm Post subject:

I came across Nagios earlier, and wondered if it would be overkill for one server.
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Ant P. · Watchman Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 6920

audiodef · Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:27 pm Post subject: