7

I'm looking for a piece of software akin to Cacti, one that is preferably much easier to set up, and has a high-quality frontend to it.

I had a headless Linux desktop that I used to poll my Time Machine and graph network statistics off of, but that computer is currently undergoing repairs, so I'm left with the remaining computers I have in the house, which are all Mac.

I have no specific requirements that I consider as a sticking point. My baseline of features would be something with the granularity that Cacti/RRDTool provide. Graphs with scalable units of time/history (configurable is a plus!), quick/easy to get started with little installation is preferable, something that perhaps just runs as a daemon/program and doesn't require a web server and detailed tailored configuration (read: discovery) would be just fine, and possibly even preferred.

Improve this question

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
5

Unfortunately I'm not aware of any serious competition to Cacti, but have you considered using a Cacti virtual appliance? There are several pre-configured VMs available with everything pre-installed and ready to go.
Cacti 0.8.7g
rPath Cacti Appliance
You might also want to take a look here: A Half-Dozen or So Essential Open Source Network Administraton Tools and in particular at: Graph Network Performance with NRG - Part 1
He also has a page on how to install Cacti on OS X.
Now I can't say that this meets your desire for something as simple as a typical OS X application install but it certainly meets the free requirement.
I can't say I've played with any of these tools on OS X bar Mac Ports which I consider an essential on any OS X system.

Another really simplistic app (OS X widget actually) is iEyeNet, it definitely meets the free and simple criteria but isn't anywhere as configurable as Cacti. I tried it with my Airport Extreme and it "just worked".

Another option is documented here, it uses a combination of MRTG/Lingon/Geektool to generate and display the network graphs. Reasonably easy to setup...

Improve this answer
6
  • The concept of pre-built VMs scare me, to be perfectly honest. I guess getting them from VMware legitimately should be considered relatively safe.
    – Jason Salaz
    Commented Jan 1, 2011 at 6:30
  • I really like JumpBox's dedication to this process, but I have to pay $50/mo. to use them? Oof... That's an expense I can't justify right now.
    – Jason Salaz
    Commented Jan 3, 2011 at 6:46
  • As I understand it, it's $50 to get access to their download library and for continuing support, you could just pay for one month and the VM will still work (as long as you have it running locally). It is certainly more than I'd be willing to pay for personal use but for a small or medium business it might be worth it.
    – Ausmith1
    Commented Jan 3, 2011 at 19:32
  • That rate ($50) is just plain too high right now. I'm sure I could game it and pay once, download, yay, the cancel then billing, repeat for any updates I want... I just... yuck. I pay less than that for TV stations in a country I don't live in! I do appreciate the suggestion, but I'd still love something competitive in native Mac land. And yes, I will evaluate using work's stance on this :).
    – Jason Salaz
    Commented Jan 4, 2011 at 0:25
  • Ausmith1, something to note in the future. I was 100% unaware that you had made changes to this question, and your additions are GREAT! Thank you! Next time you make significant edits (not just typos/punctuation, but whole new chunks of content), add a comment too with the change you made, that way I get actively notified (read: e-mail) and can come back to this question.
    – Jason Salaz
    Commented Jan 21, 2011 at 21:34
1

I know this is an old topic and also I'm aware of how sensitive recommending one's own application can be (especially in case of a commercial application), however I think this does answer the OP's question exactly. If this is not allowed (I tried looking for a policy in the FAQ), please let me know and I will take this down.

I've been looking for such application for OSX myself. I couldn't really find one (except for the afore mentioned iEyeNet, which didn't meet my requirements) and so I've decided to write one myself, which gave me the opportunity to learn a bit of Objective-C.

I call it iNetGrapher. I think it will meet your requirements although it's not free. It's very simple to install (essentially get it on Mac App Store), doesn't require a web server or any other service / daemon / dependent software, it does autodiscovery of all interfaces on a supported network device / server and it lets you simultaneously graph traffic from multiple interfaces and multiple devices. It supports SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c, and in the latter case, both 32-bit and 64-bit counters.

There is also a free, good alternative, although it is command line only - it might fit your needs though. It's called ttg - you'll need to open this page and scroll down till you find it, or download the source from here: ttg.c. This one has been written by a good friend of mine.

I hope this is useful. I've been genuinely trying to help here and not promote my app.

Improve this answer
2
  • Self-promotion is allowed as long as you identify as much, which you no doubt have done via your caveats here :). I also didn't explicitly request something free. On the surface, it looks amazing. I'll give it a more thorough look later.
    – Jason Salaz
    Commented Aug 21, 2013 at 1:48
  • Hi Mike. I bought the app and tried it. I have a question here: apple.stackexchange.com/questions/196931/…
    – digitalextremist
    Commented Jul 22, 2015 at 7:25
0

I'm using SNMP software from Oidview. I am not sure if they have it for your linux machine but at least you can test it and see if thats what you want.

Improve this answer
1
  • Hi! Could you please explain a bit more what the software does?
    – myhd
    Commented Oct 15, 2012 at 19:00

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .