Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

Purpose
This document is intended to get you up and running with Nagios XI as fast as possible. It
contains all the resources you need to ensure a successful launch.

What’s Included
Here’s what included in this quickstart guide:
 Online support resources
 Important installation instructions
 Key information to know and steps to follow

Feedback
We strive to provide the best documentation and resources possible. If you have
suggestions for how we could improve, please let us know by visiting
https://www.nagios.com/we-care.

Additional Support Resources

In addition to the support information found in this guide, we have several online sources
of help that can provide valuable assistance in your installation and configuration
process. They are:

 Our online Knowledge Base (KB) at https://support.nagios.com/kb

 Our support forum at https://support.nagios.com/forum
 The Nagios Library at https://library.nagios.com
 Our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/nagiosvideo

Please reach out to us if you encounter any problems with installation or configuration,
and we’ll do our very best to support you in every way we can.

www.nagios.com

Copyright © 2024 Nagios Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. Trademarks are the property of their respective owner.
Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

The First Installation Step

The first and most important step in getting Nagios XI up and running is to follow the
installation instructions in the Nagios XI Installation Guide. This guide should be a part of
the same download you received this quickstart guide in. If you are missing the guide,
please download an updated copy of the official Nagios XI download by visiting
https://www.nagios.com/products/nagios-xi.
Follow all the instructions in the installation guide first, and then return to this document
for additional steps that cover how to get things configured quickly.

Key Configuration Steps

The following sections of this document cover important aspects of configuring Nagios
XI. Many of these link to one or more videos that provide you with an in-depth, visual
tutorial on what to do.

Step 1 – Installing XI Under VMware, Hyper-V, ESXi,

and Manual
The video below details how to install the Nagios XI virtual machine under VMware. You
can also follow our Installing Nagios XI with VMware Workstation Pro documentation.

Video title: Nagios XI Quick Installation Using

VMware
Video link: https://youtu.be/dxSNtLJdo2c?
si=xCfC5Lqxjr8Yz9NA

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Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

The video below details how to install Nagios XI under Hyper-V. You can also follow the
steps for this installation in our Installing Nagios XI with Hyper-V documentation.

Video title: How to Install Nagios XI Using Hyper-

V: A Complete Guide
Video link: https://youtu.be/xe2reR5xV6g?
si=GyvEnFQOpzegednd

The video below details how to install Nagios XI under ESXi. You can also use our
Installing Nagios XI with VMware ESX vSphere documentation.

Video title: How to Install Nagios XI Using ESXi

Video link: https://youtu.be/Lhy3Ws1rZwo?
si=HVd7DK6jS11lU0J3

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Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

The video below details how to manually install Nagios XI on Linux. You can also follow
our Installing Nagios XI Manually on Linux documentation to help with your installation
process.

Video title: How To Install Nagios XI Manually On

Linux
Video link: https://youtu.be/GB7YUmj8zHU?
si=SVBIUCb3hw6JEGRv

Step 2 – Get Familiar With Nagios XI’s Interface

This video details how to navigate the Neptune UI theme in Nagios XI. You will also learn
how to use Configuration Wizards, some select Enterprise Edition features, and how to
create a dashboard. You can also utilize our Using Configuration Wizards and Using
Dashboards documentation to learn more about those respective features.

Video title: Nagios XI Introduces Neptune

(Overview)
Video link: https://youtu.be/OSk8iSgLEYU?
si=cnTUF_88mQsSrGXQ

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Copyright © 2024 Nagios Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. Trademarks are the property of their respective owner.
Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

Step 3 – Set Up Email Notifications

The video below details how to set up email notifications inside Nagios XI. You can also
follow the steps in our Understanding Email Sending documentation.

Video title: Configuring Email Notifications In

Nagios XI
Video link: https://youtu.be/O2rp2i7dEOE?
si=3jKC4bWVsIVD2rla

Step 4 – Monitor Operating Systems

Please note that in order to follow along with these tutorials for monitoring operating
systems, you will need to have the Nagios Cross-Platform Agent (NCPA) installed. You can
download NCPA at https://www.nagios.org/ncpa/#downloads.

This video details how to monitor a Windows server with Nagios XI using NCPA. You can
also use our Monitoring Windows Using NCPA in Nagios XI documentation to start
monitoring a Windows server.

Video title: How To Monitor Windows Servers With

Nagios XI
Video link: https://youtu.be/83lXumA6zLs?
si=KiiXN01wmbK7durN

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Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

This video shows you how to monitor Windows with OpenSSH in Nagios XI. You can also
follow the steps in our Windows SSH Configuration Wizard documentation.

Video title: Agentless Monitoring Using OpenSSH

With Nagios XI
Video link: https://youtu.be/0rBcTgoHMd8?
si=FB0WoVpw5Euc2TVE

This tutorial details how you can use NCPA to monitor Linux in Nagios XI. You can also
follow our Monitoring Linux Using NCPA in Nagios XI documentation.

Video title: Monitoring Linux Using NCPA In

Nagios XI
Video link: https://youtu.be/sdC-WUhDrmY?
si=651QUOorseYnZnGm

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Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

Step 5 – Monitoring Websites

The following tutorial will demonstrate how to start monitoring websites with Nagios XI.
You can also learn how to monitor websites by using our Monitoring Websites
documentation.

Video title: How To Monitor A Website In Nagios XI

Video link: https://youtu.be/omooBIeZZ6k?
si=R1SDfW6OwZxBnFD3

This video will show you how to monitor DNS servers to prevent disruptions in your
network.

Video title: How To Monitor DNS Servers With

Nagios XI
Video link: https://youtu.be/oJagFZAQaQE?
si=0T4qvHmdM07tT4K5

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Copyright © 2024 Nagios Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. Trademarks are the property of their respective owner.
Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

Step 6 – Using Plugins With Nagios XI

Plugins are standalone extensions to Nagios that allow you to monitor nearly anything in
your environment.
If you would like to know more about what plugins are and how to create them, the
following webinar will give you an introduction to them as well as event handlers, which
are commands you can create in Nagios XI to run when a Host or Service changes state.

Webinar title: Reduce Interruptions

With Plugins And Event Handlers
Webinar link:

https://www.nagios.com/webinar/reduce-interruptions-in-2024-with-plugins-and-event-
handlers/

Over the years, members of the Nagios Community have created thousands of plugins to
monitor a wide variety of things. If you would like to see what Nagios plugins and other
add-ons are available, check out the Nagios Exchange.
If you can’t find a plugin that meets your monitoring needs, you can also create your
own Nagios plugin using our plugin development guidelines.

www.nagios.com

Copyright © 2024 Nagios Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. Trademarks are the property of their respective owner.
Nagios XI Quickstart Guide

(Optional) Step 7 – Schedule A Quickstart

If you’d like additional assistance from one of our knowledgeable technicians with
monitoring a specific device, modifying configurations, or discussing more complex
monitoring scenarios, a Nagios Quickstart can help!
When you schedule a Nagios Quickstart, you'll receive an hour of one-on-one remote
assistance from one of our technicians to help you with the setup and monitoring of your
devices and network within your new installation.
Request your Quickstart here: https://www.nagios.com/quickstart/

More Resources
If you need additional assistance in getting your Nagios XI installation up and running,
please visit our support forum at https://support.nagios.com/forum.

www.nagios.com

Copyright © 2024 Nagios Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. Trademarks are the property of their respective owner.