Cacti is an open-source, web-based network monitoring and graphing tool designed as a front-end application for the RRDtool system. It allows you to track and monitor devices using SNMP and visualize their performance. In this guide, we will show you how to install Cacti on Debian 10. Whether you're using a Windows VPS UK or another VPS platform, this guide will help you set up Cacti efficiently.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

• A Debian 10 server, which can be hosted on a UK Windows VPS or other Windows Virtual Private Server Hosting solution.
• Root or sudo privileges on your server.
• A working LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP).

Step 1: Update Your System

First, update your system’s package list and install the latest versions of packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 2: Install SNMP and Required Packages

Cacti uses SNMP to collect data from devices. Install SNMP and the required PHP extensions for Cacti:

sudo apt install snmp php-snmp rrdtool libapache2-mod-php php-mbstring php-gd php-xml php-ldap -y

Step 3: Install and Configure MariaDB

If you don’t already have a MySQL or MariaDB database server installed, install MariaDB with the following command:

sudo apt install mariadb-server -y

Once installed, secure the MariaDB installation:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to secure your database server. Next, log in to MariaDB and create a database and user for Cacti:

sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE cacti;
GRANT ALL ON cacti.* TO 'cactiuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Step 4: Install Cacti

Install Cacti and its dependencies:

sudo apt install cacti -y

During the installation, you will be prompted to configure Cacti with a web server. Select Apache2. You will also be asked to configure the Cacti database. Choose "Yes" and provide the database details you created in the previous step.

Step 5: Configure Apache for Cacti

Enable the required Apache modules for Cacti:

sudo a2enmod php
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Step 6: Set Up Cacti

Now, open your web browser and navigate to http://your-server-ip/cacti. You will be greeted by the Cacti installation wizard. Follow the prompts to complete the installation, including providing the database connection information and setting up your administrator account.

Step 7: Configure SNMP Monitoring

After logging in to the Cacti dashboard, you can start adding devices to monitor via SNMP. Cacti will automatically generate graphs and display the network performance of the added devices. This setup is useful for monitoring servers hosted on VPS Windows Servers or Windows Virtual Dedicated Server Hosting.

Step 8: Secure Cacti with SSL (Optional)

To secure your Cacti installation with SSL, you can use Let's Encrypt. Install Certbot and configure Apache to use SSL:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y
sudo certbot --apache -d your-domain.com

Follow the prompts to obtain and install the SSL certificate. Certbot will automatically configure Apache to redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS.

Conclusion

By following this guide, you have successfully installed and configured Cacti on Debian 10. This monitoring tool helps track the performance of your network devices and servers using SNMP. Whether you're using a Windows VPS UK or other Windows VPS Hosting UK solution, Cacti provides a powerful platform for network monitoring and visualization.