Monitoring the network with Zenoss
The Watcher

© higyou, Fotolia
Find out how the free and flexible Zenoss tool can help you monitor your network.
With a convenient web interface and a flexible design, the Zenoss monitoring tool is winning converts around the world. Zenoss has an impressive list of features that seem to grow every month. The tool does a great job as a status monitor, and it even supports Nagios plugins. The Zenoss system is also good for monitoring performance and trending (Figure 1). The tool comes stocked with defaults for various types of devices, such as Linux boxes, switches, routers, and even Windows machines, and additional features are easy to add. In the grand tradition of *nix environments, Zenoss is designed with a modular architecture. To add new functionality, just plug in a new module (a ZenPack, in the parlance of the Zenoss masters).
Syslog Server
One function I find especially useful is Zenoss' syslog server. Zenoss will take standard syslog output and act as a syslog server. This means that, in addition to checking status and monitoring performance, you can also view log information, which is often the best way to see cause and effect. Your Windows machines aren't left out of the logging loop either because Zenoss handles Windows event logging via WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation.
Protocols
Zenoss supports monitoring and management technologies such as SNMP, WMI, ping, portscan, and ssh-based monitoring.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
EndeavorOS Mercury Neo Available
A new release from the EndeavorOS team ships with Plasma 6.3 and other goodies.
-
Fedora 42 Beta Has Arrived
The Fedora Project has announced the availability of the first beta release for version 42 of the open-source distribution.
-
Dash to Panel Maintainer Quits
Charles Gagnon has stepped away as maintainer of the popular Dash to Panel Gnome extension.
-
CIQ Releases Security-Hardened Version of Rocky Linux
If you're looking for an enterprise-grade Linux distribution that is hardened for business use, there's a new version of Rocky Linux that's sure to make you and your company happy.
-
Gnome’s Dash to Panel Extension Gets a Massive Update
If you're a fan of the Gnome Dash to Panel extension, you'll be thrilled to hear that a new version has been released with a dock mode.
-
Blender App Makes it to the Big Screen
The animated film "Flow" won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards held on March 2, 2025 and Blender was a part of it.
-
Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
-
New Linux Tool for Security Issues
Seal Security is launching a new solution to automate fixing Linux vulnerabilities.
-
Ubuntu 25.04 Coming Soon
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) has been given an April release date with many notable updates.
-
Gnome Developers Consider Dropping RPM Support
In a move that might shock a lot of users, the Gnome development team has proposed the idea of going straight up Flatpak.