1 Install database
2 Install LibreNMS
- 2.1 Cloning
- 2.2 Web Interface
3 Manual vs. web installer
- 3.1 Web installer
  - 3.1.1 Add localhost
- 3.2 Manual installation
4 Final configuration
5 Install complete

NOTE: These instructions are based on the official LibreNMS installation notes and have been tested on a fresh install of Ubuntu 14.04.

NOTE: These instructions assume you are the root user. If you are not, prepend sudo to the shell commands (the ones that aren't at mysql> prompts) or temporarily become a user with root privileges with sudo -s.

1 Install database

We will assume that the database is running on the same machine as your network management server (this is the most common initial deployment scenario).

apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client
mysql -uroot -p

Input the MySQL root password to enter the MySQL command-line interface where you will get a mysql> prompt.

Create the database:

CREATE DATABASE librenms;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON librenms.*
  TO 'librenms'@'localhost'
  IDENTIFIED BY 'abc123'
;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
exit

Here we are using "abc123" as the password for librenms to access MySQL.

2 Install LibreNMS

The NMS is the host is where the web server and SNMP poller run.

Install the required software:

apt-get install libapache2-mod-php5 php5-cli php5-mysql php5-gd php5-snmp php-pear php5-curl \
        snmp graphviz php5-mcrypt php5-json apache2 fping imagemagick whois mtr-tiny \
        nmap python-mysqldb snmpd mysql-client php-net-ipv4 php-net-ipv6 rrdtool git

The packages listed above are an all-inclusive list of packages that were necessary on a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04.

You need to configure snmpd appropriately if you have not already done so. An absolute minimal config for snmpd is:

rocommunity NetManage 127.0.0.1

Adding the above line to /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf and running service snmpd restart will activate this config.

In /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini and /etc/php5/cli/php.ini, ensure date.timezone is set to your preferred time zone. See http://php.net/manual/en/timezones.php or files under /usr/share/zoneinfo for a list of supported timezones. Valid examples are: "America/New York", "Australia/Brisbane", "Etc/UTC".

2.1 Cloning

LibreNMS is installed using git. If you're not familiar with git, check out the git book or the tips at git ready. The initial install from github.com is called a git clone; subsequent updates are done through git pull.

The initial clone can take quite a while (nearly 3 minutes on a 10Mbps connection is typical), so for this workshop we have set up a local mirror for you to use. Run the following:

cd /opt
git clone http://www.ws.nsrc.org/git/librenms.git

Normally the URL to clone would be https://github.com/librenms/librenms.git

2.2 Web Interface

To prepare the web interface (and adding devices shortly), you'll need to create and chown a directory as well as create an Apache vhost.

First, create and chown the rrd directory and create the logs directory:

cd /opt/librenms
mkdir rrd logs
chown www-data:www-data logs/ rrd/

Next, create /etc/apache2/sites-available/librenms.conf containing the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  DocumentRoot /opt/librenms/html/
  ServerName  librenmsN.ws.nsrc.org
  CustomLog /opt/librenms/logs/access_log combined
  ErrorLog /opt/librenms/logs/error_log
  AllowEncodedSlashes NoDecode
  <Directory "/opt/librenms/html/">
    Require all granted
    AllowOverride All
    Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Change the N in librenmsN.ws.nsrc.org to your PC number.

On Ubuntu 14.04, mcrypt is not enabled on install. Run the following to enable it:

php5enmod mcrypt

Now enable the vhost and restart Apache

a2ensite librenms
a2enmod rewrite
service apache2 restart

3 Manual vs. web installer

You can choose either a web configuration or manual configuration at the command line.

3.1 Web installer

At this stage you can launch the web installer by going to http://librenmsN.ws.nsrc.org/install.php, follow the onscreen instructions.

Stage 1 prompts you for the database settings. Enter
- DB Host: localhost
- DB User: librenms
- DB Pass: abc123
- DB Name: librenms
Stage 3: enter a username, password and E-mail address. This will become the login you use to access the web interface. We suggest you use "sysadm", the class password, and your home E-mail address.
Stage 5: copy the generated config onto the clipboard. At the command line, create the file /opt/librenms/config.php with a text editor, and paste in the config. (Remember if you are using "vi" to enter insert mode before you paste)

3.1.1 Add localhost

Using the web interface go to Devices > Add Device, add an entry for host "localhost", giving the correct community string.

Continue at "Final configuration" below.

3.2 Manual installation

Alternatively if you want to continue the setup manually then follow these instructions.

cd /opt/librenms
cp config.php.default config.php
editor config.php

Change the values to the right of the equal sign for lines beginning with $config[db_] to match your database information as setup above.

$config['db_host'] = "localhost";
$config['db_user'] = "librenms";
$config['db_pass'] = "abc123";
$config['db_name'] = "librenms";

Change the value of $config['snmp']['community'] from public to NetManage. (If you have multiple communities, set it to the most common)

3.2.1 Initialise the database

Initiate the follow database with the following command:

php build-base.php

3.2.2 Create admin user

Create the admin user - priv should be 10

php adduser.php <name> <pass> 10

Substitute your desired username and password -- and leave the angled brackets off. We suggest you use "sysadm" and the class password.

3.2.3 Add localhost

php addhost.php localhost NetManage v2c

This assumes you haven't made community changes -- if you have, replace NetManage with your community. It also assumes SNMP v2c. If you're using v3, there are additional steps (NOTE: instructions for SNMPv3 to come).

4 Final configuration

4.1 Test poller

Discover localhost and poll it for the first time: do this at the command line so you can see if it is working properly.

cd /opt/librenms
php discovery.php -h all && php poller.php -h all

4.2 Create cronjob

Create the cronjob which will run periodic tasks required by librenms

cp librenms.cron /etc/cron.d/librenms

4.3 Daily Updates

LibreNMS performs daily updates by default. At 00:15 system time every day, a git pull --no-edit --quiet is performed. You can override this default by editing your config.php file. Remove the comment (the # mark) on the line:

#$config['update'] = 0;

so that it looks like this:

$config['update'] = 0;

5 Install complete

That's it! You now should be able to log in to http://librenmsN.ws.nsrc.org/. Please note that we have not covered HTTPS setup in this example, so your LibreNMS install is not secure by default. Please do not expose it to the public Internet unless you have configured HTTPS and taken appropriate web server hardening steps.