Cacti – Installing on CentOS/RHEL/ROCKY

# Installing on CentOS/RHEL/ROCKY

## LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP) Required packages

### Web Server (Apache)

1. Enable Epel repo to enable PHP 7.2 package download ( 7.x and Below)

       yum install http://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm -y
       yum install yum-utils -y
       yum-config-manager --enable remi-php72

   For Centos/RHEL/ROCKY 8+

       dnf module reset php
       dnf module enable php:8.0

### A special Note on installing Cacti in LXC Containers such as the ones found on Proxmox

It is recomended to create a privileged container you may need to update your containers config file with

    lxc.apparmor.profile: unconfined

This will allow for ICMP ping and other functions to work

A tested configuration file like below should be good however tune to your needs/standards

    arch: amd64
    cores: 2
    hostname: cacti
    memory: 2048
    net0: name=eth0,bridge=vmbr0,firewall=1,hwaddr=mac-id,ip=dhcp,type=v>
    ostype: ubuntu
    rootfs: local-lvm:vm-110-disk-0,size=8G
    swap: 2048
    lxc.apparmor.profile: unconfined

### A special note for systems using PHP-FPM

Prior to starting the setup process of Cacti you should restart the PHP-FPM Daemon to rebuild the Cache or you may receive a HTTP 500 Error

    systemctl restart php-fpm

2.Install Apache

    yum install -y httpd

3.Enable and start the service to ensure it starts when the system reboots

    systemctl start httpd
    systemctl enable httpd

### Example configuration file for Apache 2.4 and SSL

This example configuration assumes you have your own certificates already. You should make sure you change the paths to match your setup.

Replace `YourOwnCertFile.crt` and `YourOwnCertFile.key` with the names of the files holding your certificate (`.crt`) and private key (`.key`).

    #
    # Cacti: An RRDtool based graphing web application
    #

    # For security reasons, the Cacti web interface is accessible only to
    # localhost in the default configuration. If you want to allow other clients
    # to access your Cacti installation, change the httpd ACLs below.
    # For example:
    # On httpd 2.4, change "Require host localhost" to "Require all granted".
    # On httpd 2.2, change "Allow from localhost" to "Allow from all".

    <VirtualHost *:443>
        LogLevel warn

        ServerName cacti.yourdomain.com
        ServerAdmin  admin@yourdomain.com

        DocumentRoot "/var/www/html/cacti"
        Alias /cacti    /var/www/html/cacti
        SSLEngine On
        SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/YourOwnCertFile.crt
        SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/YourOwnCertKey.key

        <Directory /var/www/html/cacti/>
            <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
                    # httpd 2.4
                    Require all granted
            </IfModule>
            <IfModule !mod_authz_core.c>
                    # httpd 2.2
                    Order deny,allow
                    Deny from all
                    Allow from all
            </IfModule>
        </Directory>

        <Directory /var/www/html/cacti/install>
            # mod_security overrides.
            # Uncomment these if you use mod_security.
            # allow POST of application/x-www-form-urlencoded during install
            #SecRuleRemoveById 960010
            # permit the specification of the RRDtool paths during install
            #SecRuleRemoveById 900011
        </Directory>

        # These sections marked "Require all denied" (or "Deny from all")
        # should not be modified.
        # These are in place in order to harden Cacti.
        <Directory /var/www/html/cacti/log>
            <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
                    Require all denied
            </IfModule>
            <IfModule !mod_authz_core.c>
                    Order deny,allow
                    Deny from all
            </IfModule>
        </Directory>
        <Directory /var/www/html/cacti/rra>
            <IfModule mod_authz_core.c>
                    Require all denied
            </IfModule>
            <IfModule !mod_authz_core.c>
                    Order deny,allow
                    Deny from all
            </IfModule>
        </Directory>
    </VirtualHost>

### Database Server

The choice between MySQL server and MariaDB is normally down to the OS maintainers if you use one of the predefined LAMP setup installations. If you are deciding between these yourself, you should research this via your favorite search engine.

Whilst MySQL is the original open source SQL database server created in 1995 which is now owned by Oracle, MariaDB is designed as a drop-in replacement by some of the original MySQL developers / owners. This will likely continue to be a drop-in alternative until there is a major divergence that can not be bridged.

#### MySQL

1. Install MySQL server

       yum install -y mysql mysql-server

2. Enable and start the service to ensure it starts when the system reboots

       systemctl enable mysqld
       systemctl start mysqld

#### MariaDB

1. Install MariaDB server

       yum install -y MariaDB-server MariaDB-client

2. Enable and start the service to ensure it starts when the system reboots

       systemctl enable mariadb
       systemctl start mariadb

### MySQL/MariaDB common tasks and recommendations

IMPORTANT: Secure your MySQL installation before doing any more changes

    /usr/bin/mysql_secure_installation

The following MySQL/MariaDB recommendations may vary depending on your system setup. In any case, Cacti will prompt you with more accurate recommendations during the installation.

1. Edit your `server.cnf` file

       vim /etc/my.cnf.d/server.cnf

   The following `[mysqld]` section is a base configuration. The installer will provide recommendations based on the actual system which will be more tailored to your environment.

   If using MariaDB less than version 11.1 or MySQL use the settings below. Note that you should revise up or down your settings depending on the Cacti recommendation that you see once you start the installer.

       [mysqld]
       character-set-server=utf8mb4
       collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
       innodb_file_format = Barracuda
       max_allowed_packet = 16777777
       join_buffer_size = 32M
       innodb_file_per_table = ON
       innodb_large_prefix = 1
       innodb_buffer_pool_size = 250M
       innodb_additional_mem_pool_size = 90M
       innodb_flush_log_at_trx_commit = 2
       log-error                      = /var/log/mysql/mysql-error.log
       log-queries-not-using-indexes  = 1
       slow-query-log                 = 1
       slow-query-log-file            = /var/log/mysql/mysql-slow.log

   If using MariaDB 11.0 or higher, use the settings below:

       [mariadb]
       max_heap_table_size=500M
       character_set_client=utf8mb4
       character_set_server=utf8mb4
       collation_server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
       innodb_buffer_pool_size=8G
       innodb_doublewrite=OFF
       tmp_table_size=500M
       log-error                      = /var/log/mysql/mysql-error.log
       log-queries-not-using-indexes  = 1
       slow-query-log                 = 1
       slow-query-log-file            = /var/log/mysql/mysql-slow.log

2. Restart MySQL/MariaDB service to pick up the changes

       systemctl restart mysql

3. Populate timezone table with available timezones

       mysql_tzinfo_to_sql /usr/share/zoneinfo | mysql -u root -p mysql

#### Setup Cacti database

1. Login to MySQL/MariaDB as root to create Cacti database

       # mysql -u root -p
       MariaDB [(none)]> create database if not exists cacti;
       Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

2. Import Cacti database from SQL file

       MariaDB [(none)]> use cacti;
       Database changed
       MariaDB [(cacti)]> source /var/www/html/cacti/cacti.sql

3. Grant Cacti username access to Cacti database. Replace `your_cacti_username` and `your_cacti_password` with your own details.

       MariaDB [(none)]> CREATE USER 'your_cacti_username'@'localhost'
       IDENTIFIED BY 'your_cacti_password';
       Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
       MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON cacti.* TO 'your_cacti_username'@'localhost';
       Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

4. Grant cacti username to MySQL timezone table

       MariaDB [(none)]> GRANT SELECT ON mysql.time_zone_name TO 'your_cacti_username'@'localhost';
       Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
       MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
       Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

5. Save the Database Charset and Collation

       MariaDB [(none)]> ALTER DATABASE cacti CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
       MariaDB [(none)]> FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

### Common packages

#### PHP

PHP and various packages are all required by Cacti for successful operation

1. Install PHP and required packages.

       yum install -y php php-common php-bcmath php-cli \
       php-mysqlnd php-gd php-gmp php-intl \
       php-json php-ldap php-mbstring \
       php-pdo php-pear php-snmp php-process \
       php-xml php-zip

2. Set a timezone to your PHP.INI configuration

   Edit php.ini typically located at `/etc/php.ini`

       date.timezone = Pacific/Auckland

#### RRDtool

RRDtool is required to store the data retrieved from devices in `.rra` files to produce the graphs which are shown within Cacti

    yum install -y rrdtool

#### SNMP

SNMP is used to query most devices for information.

    yum install -y net-snmp net-snmp-utils

### Cacti

The following steps will show you how to manually download, install and configure the basics for Cacti.

1. Download Cacti source code from Cacti Web Site

       cd /tmp
       wget https://www.cacti.net/downloads/cacti-1.y.z.tar.gz
       tar -zxvf cacti-1.y.z.tar.gz
       mv -v cacti-1.y.z /var/www/html/cacti

2. Edit the config.php file

       mv -v /var/www/html/cacti/include/config.php-dist /var/www/html/cacti/include/config.php

3. Update `database_` fields with your own details. This section only applies to the Main Cacti Server

       $database_type     = 'mysql';
       $database_default  = 'your_cacti_database';
       $database_hostname = 'localhost';
       $database_username = 'your_cacti_username';
       $database_password = 'your_cacti_password';
       $database_port     = '3306';
       $database_ssl      = false;
       $database_ssl_key  = '';
       $database_ssl_cert = '';
       $database_ssl_ca   = '';

4. Create your cron task file or systemd units file

   Starting with Cacti 1.2.16, you have the option to use either the legacy Crontab entry, or an optional cactid units file and server to run your Cacti pollers.

   For Crontab use, follow the instructions below:

   Create and edit `/etc/cron.d/cacti` file. Make sure to setup the correct path to poller.php

       */5 * * * * apache php /var/www/html/cacti/poller.php &>/dev/null

   For systemd unit's file install, you will need to modify the included units file to following your install location and desired user and group's to run the Cacti poller as. To complete the task, follow the procedure below:

       vim /var/www/html/cacti/service/cactid.service (edit the path)
       touch /etc/sysconfig/cactid
       cp -p /var/www/html/cacti/service/cactid.service /etc/systemd/system
       systemctl enable cactid
       systemctl start cactid
       systemctl status cactid

   The systemd units file makes managing a highly available Cacti setup a bit more convenient.

#### Spine

1. Install the necessary packages to compile and install spine

   For RHEL/CENTOS/ROCKY 8+, you must enable the powertools repo first before downloading the below packages

       yum config-manager --set-enabled powertools

   For RHEL/CENTOS/ROCKY 7.x and below

       yum install -y autoconf automake libtool dos2unix help2man \
       openssl-devel mariadb-devel net-snmp-devel

2. Download spine source code from Cacti Web Site

   Go to /tmp to download the source code and extract it

       cd /tmp
       wget https://www.cacti.net/downloads/spine/cacti-spine-1.y.z.tar.gz
       tar -zxvf cacti-spine-1.y.z.tar.gz
       cd cacti-spine-1.y.z

3. Run the configure script and compile spine.

       # ./configure
       # make &  make install
       config/install-sh -c -d '/usr/local/spine/bin'
       /bin/sh ./libtool   --mode=install /usr/bin/install -c spine '/usr/local/spine/bin'
       libtool: install: /usr/bin/install -c spine /usr/local/spine/bin/spine
       config/install-sh -c -d '/usr/local/spine/etc'
       /usr/bin/install -c -m 644 spine.conf.dist '/usr/local/spine/etc'
       config/install-sh -c -d '/usr/local/spine/share/man/man1'
       /usr/bin/install -c -m 644 spine.1 '/usr/local/spine/share/man/man1'

4. Edit spine.conf

   Rename spine.conf.dist to spine.conf

       mv -v /usr/local/spine/etc/spine.conf.dist /usr/local/spine/etc/spine.conf
       vi /usr/local/spine/etc/spine.conf

5. Now set up your database connection

       DB_Host       localhost
       DB_Database   your_cacti_database
       DB_User       your_cacti_username
       DB_Pass       your_cacti_password
       DB_Port       3306
       #DB_UseSSL    0
       #RDB_SSL_Key
       #RDB_SSL_Cert
       #RDB_SSL_CA

### Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux)

If you are having issues to access the web page, disable SELinux temporarily to prove that the issues come from the SELinux policy. It is NOT recommended to disable SELinux permanently.

CentOS has a lot of documentation on how to make your SELinux policy right.

1. Check SELinux status

       getenforce

2. Disable SELinux temporarily

       setenforce 0

3. Enable SELinux back

       setenforce 1

### Considerations when using Proxies in front of Cacti (Cacti 1.2.23+)

For optimal security, only specify the HTTP headers that are set by your proxy software to prevent unauthorized access.
These can be set by editing the following section of config.php

     * Allow the use of Proxy IPs when searching for client
     * IP to be used
     *
     * This can be set to one of the following:
     *   - false: to use only REMOTE_ADDR
     *   - true: to use all allowed headers (not advised)
     *   - array of one or more the following:
     *'X-Forwarded-For',
     *'X-Client-IP',
     *'X-Real-IP',
     *'X-ProxyUser-Ip',
     *'CF-Connecting-IP',
     *'True-Client-IP',
     *'HTTP_X_FORWARDED',
     *'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR',
     *'HTTP_X_CLUSTER_CLIENT_IP',
     *'HTTP_FORWARDED_FOR',
     *'HTTP_FORWARDED',
     *'HTTP_CLIENT_IP',
     *
     * NOTE: The following will always be checked:
     *'REMOTE_ADDR',
     */
    $proxy_headers = null;

Note: If you installed Cacti out of `/var/www/html` make sure you fix up all SELinux context and permissions.

Copyright (c) 2004-2024 The Cacti Group