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Install checkmk agent on multiple VMs

Checkmk is a powerful and comprehensive monitoring system that enables administrators to monitor their IT infrastructure efficiently. The Checkmk system includes a wide range of monitoring capabilities such as host and service monitoring, network monitoring, log file monitoring, and more.

One of the key features of Checkmk is its ability to monitor multiple virtual machines simultaneously. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of installing the Checkmk agent on multiple virtual machines running Linux and Windows operating systems.

checkmk dashboard

Checkmk benefits

Checkmk is designed to help system administrators monitor their IT infrastructure effectively and efficiently. Some of the key benefits of using Checkmk include:

  1. Centralized monitoring: Checkmk allows administrators to monitor multiple systems from a central location, making it easier to manage and troubleshoot issues.

  2. Automated monitoring: Checkmk can automate the process of monitoring systems, enabling administrators to focus on more important tasks.

  3. Customizable monitoring: Checkmk is highly customizable, allowing administrators to configure monitoring based on their specific needs and requirements.

  4. Easy to use: Checkmk's user-friendly interface makes it easy for administrators to navigate and manage the monitoring system.

Installing Checkmk Agent on Linux VMs

Prerequisites

Before you start installing the Checkmk agent on your Linux VMs, make sure you have the following:

  1. A Cloudspace with multiple VMs to monitor.
  2. Checkmk dashboard installed on your server VM.
  3. QEMU agent up and running on all your VMs.
  4. whitesky.cloud BV CLI configured on your server VM. You can refer to the CLI guide to download and configure the whitesky.cloud BV CLI on your machine.
  5. jq installed on your server VM. You can install it using sudo apt install jq.

Note: This guide is tested on Windows and Linux-based VMs only. For other OS types, you can update the scripts to suit your case.

Installation guide for Linux-based VMs

Follow the below steps to install the Checkmk agent on your Linux-based VMs:

Note: All scripts' variables must be replaced with their equivalent values before execution. (For example, replace CUSTOMER_ID and CLOUDSPACE_ID with your actual customer and cloudspace IDs.)

  1. Download the Checkmk agent from the Checkmk dashboard. You can find it under Setup > Agents > Windows, Linux, Solaris, AIX on your server VM.

    Download Checkmk agent

  2. Rename the downloaded agent file to check-mk-agent.deb for Linux VMs and check-mk-agent-win.msi for Windows VMs.

  3. Copy the Checkmk agent file from the current directory to the Checkmk HTTP server directory.

    cp /home/user/Downloads/check-mk-agent.deb /var/www/html/

    cp /home/user/Downloads/check-mk-agent-win.msi /var/www/html/

  4. Create a bash script file named install-mkagent.sh with the following lines.

    #!/bin/bash
wget http://<CHECKMK_SERVER>/check-mk-agent.deb
DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive dpkg -i check-mk-agent.deb
cmk-agent-ctl register --hostname $HOSTNAME --server <CHECKMK_SERVER> --site cmk --user automation --password <AUTOMATION SECRET> --trust-cert

    $name=$args[0]
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'http://<CHECKMK_SERVER>/check-mk-agent-win.msi' -OutFile 'C:\Users\user\Downloads\check-mk-agent-win.msi' 
msiexec /i C:\Users\user\Downloads\check-mk-agent-win.msi /qb-! WIXUI_CLEANINSTALL= 

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow ICMPv4-In" -Protocol ICMPv4

$var = '"C:\Program Files (x86)\checkmk\service\cmk-agent-ctl.exe" register --hostname $name --server <CHECKMK_SERVER> --site cmk --user automation --password <AUTOMATION SECRET> --trust-cert'
Start-Process -Verb RunAs cmd.exe -Args '/c', $var

  5. Replace CHECKMK_SERVER with your Checkmk domain or IP address and AUTOMATION SECRET with the password that you can configure on Checkmk dashboard under Setup > Users > Automation > Security > Automation secret for machine accounts.

  6. Create a bash script file named uploading-script.sh on your server VM, this script will upload the agent installation script to all the VMs in your cloudspace.

    #!/bin/bash

# Loop through virtual machines
for vm_id in `./portal-whitesky-cloud customers list-cloudspace-virtual-machines --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --json | jq .Payload.result[].vm_id`
do
    image_id=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-virtual-machine-info --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid=${vm_id} --json | jq .Payload.image_id -r`

    location=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-cloudspace-info --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --json | jq --raw-output .Payload.location`

    os_type=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-image --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --location=${location} --image-id=${image_id} --json | jq .Payload.os_type -r`

    # Set the payload filepath and content based on the OS type
    if [[ "$os_type" == "Windows" ]]; then
        payload_filepath="C:\Users\user\Downloads\install-agent-win.ps1"
        payload_content="base64 -w 0 install-agent-win.ps1"
    else
        payload_filepath="/root/install-mkagent.sh"
        payload_content="base64 -w 0 install-mkagent.sh"
    fi

 # Write the file based on the payload filepath and content
 ./portal-whitesky-cloud customers write-file --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid ${vm_id} --payload.append=false --payload.filepath ${payload_filepath} --payload.content ${payload_content}
done

  7. Run the uploading-agent.sh script.

    ./uploading-agent.sh

    Note: In case you faced a problem with your JWT when running the uploading script, check the JWT configuration on whitesky.cloud BV portal.

    Note: If you have multiple VMs across multiple cloudspaces, you can update the scripts to loop over the list of your cloudspaces that include the VMs you want to monitor. Then, you can simply loop on each cloudspace over the available VMs.

  8. Create a bash script file named import-script.sh on your server VM, this script will create a .csv file with two columns for your VMs' names and IP addresses.

    #!/bin/bash

# Loop through virtual machines
for vm_id in `./portal-whitesky-cloud customers list-cloudspace-virtual-machines --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --json | jq '.Payload.result[].vm_id'`
do 
    name=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-virtual-machine-info --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid=${vm_id} --json | jq .Payload.name -r`
    ip=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-virtual-machine-info --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid=${vm_id} --json | jq .Payload.network_interfaces[0].ip_address -r`
    echo "${name};${ip}" >> import-hosts.csv
done

  9. Run the import-script.sh script.

    ./import-script.sh

  10. Go to your Checkmk dashboard, click on Setup > Hosts, then select Hosts > Import hosts via CSV file from the top navigation drawer.

    Import hosts from CSV file

  11. Under Import Hosts, select Upload CSV file, click Browse to locate the CSV file created using import-script.sh, then click Upload.

  12. Create a bash script file named execute-agents.sh on your server VM, this script will execute all the installation scripts across your VMs.

    #!/bin/bash

# Loop through virtual machines
for vm_id in `./portal-whitesky-cloud customers list-cloudspace-virtual-machines --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --json | jq '.Payload.result[].vm_id'`
do
    image_id=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-virtual-machine-info --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid=${vm_id} --json | jq .Payload.image_id -r`

    location=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-cloudspace-info --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --json | jq --raw-output .Payload.location`

    os_type=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-image --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --location=${location} --image-id=${image_id} --json | jq .Payload.os_type -r`

    name=`./portal-whitesky-cloud customers get-virtual-machine-info --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid=${vm_id} --json | jq .Payload.name -r`

    # Execute the checkmk agent installation script based on the OS type
    if [[ "$os_type" == "Windows" ]]; then
        ./portal-whitesky-cloud customers execute-command --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid $vm_id --payload.command "PowerShell" --payload.args C:/Users/user/Downloads/install-agent-win.ps1 --payload.args $name
    else
        ./portal-whitesky-cloud customers execute-command --customer-id <CUSTOMER_ID> --cloudspace-id <CLOUDSPACE_ID> --vmid $vm_id --payload.command "/bin/bash" --payload.args /root/install-mkagent.sh --payload.args $name
    fi

done

  13. Run the execute-agents.sh script.

    ./execute-agents.sh

  14. You can find all your hosts on your Checkmk dashboard that runs on your server VM. Open each host and select Hosts > Service Configuration from the top navigation drawer.

    Service Configuration

  15. Click Accept all, and then save your changes by clicking the Apply changes icon on the top right of your dashboard, and finally click Activate on selected sites.

    Apply changes