Configure advanced network monitoring with SmokePing for detailed latency analysis

Update system packages

Start by updating your package manager to ensure you get the latest versions of all dependencies.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

sudo dnf update -y

Install SmokePing and dependencies

Install SmokePing along with the required web server and monitoring dependencies.

sudo apt install -y smokeping apache2 rrdtool librrds-perl curl dnsutils iputils-ping
sudo a2enmod cgi
sudo systemctl enable apache2

sudo dnf install -y epel-release
sudo dnf install -y smokeping httpd rrdtool-perl curl bind-utils iputils
sudo systemctl enable httpd

Create SmokePing directory structure

Set up the required directories for SmokePing data storage and web interface with proper permissions.

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/smokeping/{cache,data,images}
sudo mkdir -p /var/log/smokeping
sudo chown -R smokeping:smokeping /var/lib/smokeping /var/log/smokeping
sudo chmod 755 /var/lib/smokeping/{cache,data,images}

Configure SmokePing main configuration

Create the main SmokePing configuration file with basic settings and monitoring targets.

 General 
owner    = Network Operations
contact  = admin@example.com
mailhost = localhost
sendmail = /usr/sbin/sendmail
imgcache = /var/lib/smokeping/images
imgurl   = http://localhost/smokeping/images
datadir  = /var/lib/smokeping/data
piddir  = /var/run/smokeping
smokemail = /etc/smokeping/smokemail
tmail = /etc/smokeping/tmail

 Alerts 
to = admin@example.com
from = smokeping@example.com

+someloss
type = loss
pattern = >0%,12,>0%,12,>0%
comment = loss 3 times in a row

+rttdetect
type = rtt
pattern = <10,<10,<10,<10,<10,<100,>100,>100,>100
comment = routing table changed?

 Database 
step     = 300
pings    = 20

consfn mrhb steps total
CONSOL_AVG:0.5:1:1008
CONSOL_AVG:0.5:12:4320
CONSOL_MIN:0.5:12:4320
CONSOL_MAX:0.5:12:4320
CONSOL_AVG:0.5:144:720
CONSOL_MAX:0.5:144:720
CONSOL_MIN:0.5:144:720

 Presentation 
template = /etc/smokeping/basepage.html
htmltitle = SmokePing Network Latency Monitoring
charset = utf-8

+ charts
menu = Charts
title = The most interesting destinations

++ stddev
sorter = StdDev(entries=>4)
title = Top Standard Deviation
menu = Std Deviation
format = Standard Deviation %f

++ max
sorter = Max(entries=>5)
title = Top Max Roundtrip Time
menu = by Max
format = Max Roundtrip Time %f seconds

++ loss
sorter = Loss(entries=>5)
title = Top Packet Loss
menu = Loss
format = Packets Lost %f

++ median
sorter = Median(entries=>5)
title = Top Median Roundtrip Time
menu = by Median
format = Median Roundtrip Time %f seconds

 Probes 
+ FPing
binary = /usr/bin/fping

+ DNS
binary = /usr/bin/dig
lookup = google.com
pings = 5
step = 300

+ Curl
binary = /usr/bin/curl
step = 300
pings = 5

 Targets 
probe = FPing
menu = Top
title = Network Latency Grapher
remark = Welcome to the SmokePing website. Here you will learn all about the latency of our network.

+ InternetSites
menu = Internet Sites
title = Internet Sites

++ Google
menu = Google
title = Google DNS
host = 8.8.8.8
alerts = someloss

++ Cloudflare
menu = Cloudflare
title = Cloudflare DNS
host = 1.1.1.1
alerts = someloss,rttdetect

++ OpenDNS
menu = OpenDNS
title = OpenDNS
host = 208.67.222.222

+ LocalNetwork
menu = Local Network
title = Local Network

++ Gateway
menu = Default Gateway
title = Default Gateway
host = 192.168.1.1
alerts = someloss,rttdetect

++ DNSServer
menu = Local DNS
title = Local DNS Server
host = 192.168.1.1
probe = DNS

+ WebSites
menu = Web Sites
title = Web Site Response Times
probe = Curl

++ ExampleSite
menu = Example Site
title = Example Website
host = https://example.com
extraargs = --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 60 -w "namelookup: %{time_namelookup}, connect: %{time_connect}, total: %{time_total}\n"

Configure Apache web server

Set up Apache virtual host configuration to serve SmokePing web interface with proper CGI handling.

    ServerName smokeping.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html
    
    ScriptAlias /smokeping/smokeping.cgi /usr/lib/cgi-bin/smokeping.cgi
    Alias /smokeping/images /var/lib/smokeping/images
    Alias /smokeping /usr/share/smokeping/www
    
    
        Options None
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    
    
    
        Options None
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    
    
    
        Options ExecCGI
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    
    
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/smokeping_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/smokeping_access.log combined

    ServerName smokeping.example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html
    
    ScriptAlias /smokeping/smokeping.cgi /usr/share/smokeping/cgi/smokeping.cgi
    Alias /smokeping/images /var/lib/smokeping/images
    Alias /smokeping /usr/share/smokeping/htdocs
    
    
        Options None
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    
    
    
        Options None
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    
    
    
        Options ExecCGI
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    
    
    ErrorLog /var/log/httpd/smokeping_error.log
    CustomLog /var/log/httpd/smokeping_access.log combined

Enable Apache site and restart services

Enable the SmokePing site configuration and restart Apache to apply the changes.

sudo a2ensite smokeping.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2

sudo systemctl restart httpd

Configure SmokePing systemd service

Create a systemd service file to manage SmokePing daemon with proper startup and monitoring.

[Unit]
Description=SmokePing Network Latency Monitor
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
User=smokeping
Group=smokeping
ExecStart=/usr/bin/smokeping --config=/etc/smokeping/config --logfile=/var/log/smokeping/smokeping.log --pid-dir=/var/run/smokeping
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
PIDFile=/var/run/smokeping/smokeping.pid
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Set up advanced monitoring targets

Configure additional monitoring targets including DNS resolution, HTTP response times, and custom network paths.

# Advanced DNS monitoring
++ DNSPerformance
menu = DNS Performance Tests
title = DNS Resolution Performance
probe = DNS

+++ GoogleDNS
menu = Google DNS
title = Google DNS Resolution
host = 8.8.8.8
lookup = example.com

+++ CloudflareDNS
menu = Cloudflare DNS
title = Cloudflare DNS Resolution
host = 1.1.1.1
lookup = example.com

HTTP response time monitoring
++ HTTPServices
menu = HTTP Services
title = HTTP Response Times
probe = Curl

+++ WebServer1
menu = Web Server 1
title = Primary Web Server
host = https://www.example.com
extraargs = --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 30 -w "DNS: %{time_namelookup}s, Connect: %{time_connect}s, Total: %{time_total}s\n"

+++ WebServer2
menu = Web Server 2
title = Secondary Web Server
host = https://backup.example.com
extraargs = --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 30 -w "DNS: %{time_namelookup}s, Connect: %{time_connect}s, Total: %{time_total}s\n"

Multi-protocol monitoring
++ NetworkInfrastructure
menu = Network Infrastructure
title = Core Network Devices

+++ CoreSwitch
menu = Core Switch
title = Data Center Core Switch
host = 192.168.10.1
pings = 10
step = 60

+++ EdgeRouter
menu = Edge Router
title = Internet Edge Router
host = 203.0.113.1
alerts = someloss,rttdetect

Include advanced targets in main config

Add the include directive to the main configuration file to load the advanced monitoring targets.

sudo mkdir -p /etc/smokeping/config.d
echo "@include /etc/smokeping/config.d/advanced-targets" | sudo tee -a /etc/smokeping/config

Configure email alerting

Set up email templates for SmokePing alerts to notify administrators of network issues.

To: <##TO##>
From: <##FROM##>
Subject: <##SUBJECT##>
Date: <##DATE##>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain

SmokePing Alert: <##ALERT##>

Target: <##TARGET##>
Loss Pattern: <##LOSS##>
RTT Pattern: <##RTT##>
Hostname: <##HOSTNAME##>
Time: <##TIME##>

Current Readings:
<##READINGS##>

SmokePing URL: <##URL##>

This is an automated message from SmokePing.
--
Network Operations Team

Set up authentication for web interface

Configure basic HTTP authentication to secure the SmokePing web interface.

sudo htpasswd -c /etc/smokeping/.htpasswd admin
sudo chown www-data:www-data /etc/smokeping/.htpasswd
sudo chmod 644 /etc/smokeping/.htpasswd

Add authentication requirements to the Apache configuration:

sudo tee -a /etc/apache2/sites-available/smokeping.conf << 'EOF'


    AuthType Basic
    AuthName "SmokePing Network Monitor"
    AuthUserFile /etc/smokeping/.htpasswd
    Require valid-user

EOF

sudo tee -a /etc/httpd/conf.d/smokeping.conf << 'EOF'


    AuthType Basic
    AuthName "SmokePing Network Monitor"
    AuthUserFile /etc/smokeping/.htpasswd
    Require valid-user

EOF

Enable and start SmokePing

Enable SmokePing to start automatically on boot and start the service.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now smokeping
sudo systemctl restart apache2 || sudo systemctl restart httpd

Set up custom alert conditions

Create advanced alert patterns for different types of network issues and performance degradation.

 Alerts 
to = network-ops@example.com
from = smokeping@example.com

+highlatency
type = rtt
pattern = >200,>200,>200
comment = High latency detected (>200ms for 3 consecutive measurements)
edgeTrigger = yes

+packetloss
type = loss
pattern = ==0%,==0%,==0%,==0%,>0%,>0%,>0%
comment = Packet loss detected after stable period
edgeTrigger = yes

+intermittentloss
type = loss
pattern = >5%,10,>5%,10,>5%
comment = Intermittent packet loss pattern detected

+jitter
type = rtt
pattern = <100,>300,<100,>300,<100,>300
comment = High jitter detected (RTT variance >200ms)

+sitecritical
type = loss
pattern = >50%,>50%,>50%
comment = Critical: Site mostly unreachable
edgeTrigger = yes

+dnsdelay
type = rtt
pattern = >5000,>5000,>5000
comment = DNS resolution taking longer than 5 seconds
edgeTrigger = yes

Configure notification escalation

Set up escalation rules to send alerts to different teams based on severity and duration.

#!/bin/bash
SmokePing Alert Escalation Script

ALERT_TYPE="$1"
TARGET="$2"
LOSS="$3"
RTT="$4"
HOSTNAME="$5"

Determine severity based on alert type
case "$ALERT_TYPE" in
    "sitecritical")
        SEVERITY="CRITICAL"
        RECIPIENTS="ops-team@example.com,management@example.com"
        ;;
    "packetloss"|"highlatency")
        SEVERITY="WARNING" 
        RECIPIENTS="network-ops@example.com"
        ;;
    "jitter"|"intermittentloss")
        SEVERITY="INFO"
        RECIPIENTS="monitoring@example.com"
        ;;
    *)
        SEVERITY="UNKNOWN"
        RECIPIENTS="ops-team@example.com"
        ;;
esac

Send notification with severity context
echo "SmokePing Alert [$SEVERITY]: $ALERT_TYPE for $TARGET" | \
    mail -s "[$SEVERITY] SmokePing: $TARGET" "$RECIPIENTS"

Log alert for audit trail
echo "$(date): $SEVERITY alert for $TARGET - $ALERT_TYPE" >> /var/log/smokeping/alerts.log

sudo chmod +x /etc/smokeping/escalation
sudo chown smokeping:smokeping /etc/smokeping/escalation

Set up Slack webhook integration

Configure SmokePing to send alerts to Slack channels for real-time team notifications.

#!/bin/bash
SmokePing Slack Notification Script

SLACK_WEBHOOK="https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/SLACK/WEBHOOK"
ALERT_TYPE="$1"
TARGET="$2"
LOSS="$3"
RTT="$4"
HOSTNAME="$5"
TIME="$(date)"

Determine color and icon based on alert type
case "$ALERT_TYPE" in
    "sitecritical"|"packetloss")
        COLOR="danger"
        ICON=":rotating_light:"
        ;;
    "highlatency"|"jitter")
        COLOR="warning"  
        ICON=":warning:"
        ;;
    *)
        COLOR="good"
        ICON=":information_source:"
        ;;
esac

Create Slack message payload
PAYLOAD=$(cat <Send to Slack
curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
    --data "$PAYLOAD" \
    "$SLACK_WEBHOOK"

Log notification
echo "$(date): Slack notification sent for $ALERT_TYPE on $TARGET" >> /var/log/smokeping/notifications.log

sudo chmod +x /etc/smokeping/slack-notify.sh
sudo chown smokeping:smokeping /etc/smokeping/slack-notify.sh

Configure log rotation

Set up log rotation to prevent SmokePing log files from consuming excessive disk space.

/var/log/smokeping/*.log {
    daily
    rotate 30
    compress
    delaycompress
    missingok
    notifempty
    create 644 smokeping smokeping
    postrotate
        /bin/systemctl reload smokeping > /dev/null 2>&1 || true
    endscript
}