Plugin graph categories¶
The graph categories should create a general grouping of plugins.
A plugin that outputs a “graph_category” attribute will get the graph grouped with other plugin graphs using the same category, across all nodes on the same Munin master.
If a plugin doesn’t declare a graph_category in its config output, the graph is moved to default plugin category other.
A graph may only belong to one category.
Note
A multigraph plugin may create multiple graphs, and may place those in different categories.
To get a clear and concise overview in the Munin web interface the list of categories should be small and meaningful.
Therefore we compiled a list of well-known categories (see below).
Customizing category names¶
If you have lots of different types of databases in use, it makes sense to be more specific, and add a graph_category for each e.g. “oracle”, “mysql”.
Also graphs in several categories could be moved to a “security” category, but that may not make sense for everyone.
Or in our example below we add a new category mem to collect graphs that show memory aspects of the machine.
In short: Categories should reflect your monitoring perspective
and you can move graphs to other categories or create new category names
by overwriting the graph_category
directives in the concerning
host tree section of the Munin Master configuration
in munin.conf.
Example configuration¶
[munin.example.com]
address localhost
# Node specific changes of plugin directives
memory.graph_category mem
buddyinfo.graph_category mem
swap.graph_category mem
Well known categories¶
Below we name our well-known graph categories (as already implemented in the contrib repository) and describe which data sources are suitable for the different categories.
The list is meant as a proposal to discuss and comment. You can do so on our munin-users mailing list or by creating a bug report (issue) on github.
Info for plugin contributors¶
You should refer to the “well known categories” when uploading your plugins to the repository.
The graph categories set for plugins in the repositories are also used to browse the Munin Plugin Gallery. They are shown on each index page on the left side with a link to the concerning category page which lists all plugins with graphs in this category.
Therefore it makes sense to use generic terms only for the categories. This way we make sure that users get significant search results when looking for a special software product using a search engine. Specific product names should be used to name the directories in the repository, where you place the plugin. Their names are shown in the Plugin Gallery as title of the section where the plugins are listed. This way the search for product names brings only those Gallery pages as hits, where significant plugins are listed.
Please do not contribute plugins with product specific category terms as the search will then bring all index pages as hits, which is not helpful for the users of the Gallery. It should operate in an effective way as Plugin Shop, so significant retrieval is an important and critical demand here.
Note
Important! Please write the config line for plugins category in a concrete string (e.g. graph_category memory
). The gallery build script scans for such a line in the plugins source code and needs it. Otherwise (e.g. use of variables) your plugin will only be shown under category “other”.
- graph_category
1sec
- Description
- Examples
- graph_category
antivirus
- Description
Anti virus tools
- Examples
- graph_category
appserver
- Description
Application servers
- Examples
- graph_category
auth
- Description
Authentication servers and services
- Examples
- graph_category
backup
- Description
All measurements around backup creation
- Examples
- graph_category
chat
- Description
Messaging servers
- Examples
- graph_category
cloud
- Description
Cloud providers and cloud components
- Examples
- graph_category
cms
- Description
Content Management Systems
- Examples
- graph_category
cpu
- Description
CPU measurements
- Examples
- graph_category
db
- Description
Database servers
- Examples
MySQL, PosgreSQL, MongoDB, Oracle
- graph_category
devel
- Description
(Software) Development Tools
- Examples
- graph_category
disk
- Description
Disk and other storage measurements
- Examples
: used space, free inodes, activity, latency, throughput
- graph_category
dns
- Description
Domain Name Server
- Examples
- graph_category
filetransfer
- Description
Filetransfer tools and servers
- Examples
- graph_category
forum
- Description
Forum applications
- Examples
- graph_category
fs
- Description
(Network) Filesystem activities, includes also monitoring of distributed storage appliances
- Examples
- graph_category
fw
- Description
All measurements around network filtering
- Examples
- graph_category
games
- Description
Game-Server
- Examples
- graph_category
htc
- Description
High-throughput computing
- Examples
- graph_category
loadbalancer
- Description
Load balancing and proxy servers..
- Examples
- graph_category
mail
- Description
Mail throughput, mail queues, etc.
- Examples
Postfix, Exim, Sendmail
- Comment
For monitoring a large mail system, it makes sense to override this with configuration on the Munin master, and make graph categories for the mail roles you provide. Mail Transfer Agent (postfix and exim), Mail Delivery Agent (filtering, sorting and storage), Mail Retrieval Agent (imap server).
- graph_category
mailinglist
- Description
Listserver
- Examples
- graph_category
memory
- Description
All kind of memory measurements. Note that info about memory caching servers is also placed here
- Examples
- graph_category
munin
- Description
Monitoring the monitoring.. (includes other monitoring servers also)
- Examples
- graph_category
network
- Description
General networking metrics.
- Examples
interface activity, latency, number of open network connections
- graph_category
other
- Description
Plugins that address seldom used products. Category /other/ is the default, so if the plugin doesn’t declare a category, it is also shown here.
- Examples
- graph_category
printing
- Description
Monitor printers and print jobs
- Examples
- graph_category
processes
- Description
Process and kernel related measurements
- Examples
- graph_category
radio
- Description
Receivers, signal quality, recording, ..
- Examples
- graph_category
san
- Description
Storage Area Network
- Examples
- graph_category
search
- Description
All kinds of measurement around search engines
- Examples
- graph_category
security
- Description
Security information
- Examples
login failures, number of pending update packages for OS, number of CVEs in the running kernel fixed by the latest installed kernel, firewall counters.
- graph_category
sensors
- Description
Sensor measurements of device and environment
- Examples
temperature, power, devices health state, humidity, noise, vibration
- graph_category
spamfilter
- Description
Spam fighters at work
- Examples
- graph_category
streaming
- Description
- Examples
- graph_category
system
- Description
General operating system metrics.
- Examples
CPU speed and load, interrupts, uptime, logged in users
- graph_category
time
- Description
Time synchronization
- Examples
- graph_category
tv
- Description
Video devices and servers
- Examples
- graph_category
virtualization
- Description
All kind of measurements about server virtualization. Includes also Operating-system-level virtualization
- Examples
- graph_category
voip
- Description
Voice over IP servers
- Examples
- graph_category
webserver
- Description
All kinds of webserver measurements and also for related components
- Examples
requests, bytes, errors, cache hit rate for Apache httpd, nginx, lighttpd, varnish, hitch, and other web servers, caches or TLS wrappers.
- graph_category
wiki
- Description
wiki applications
- Examples
- graph_category
wireless
- Description
- Examples