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This article provides a guide demonstrating how to install and configure Cacti on AlmaLinux VPS. What Is Cacti? Cacti is an open-source network monitoring and graphing tool built on top of RRDtool. It’s designed to collect, store, and visualize time-series data from networks and systems. What Cacti Does Polls data from devices using SNMP or scripts (e.g., CPU load, memory usage, interface traffic) Stores data efficiently in round-robin databases (RRDs) Generates graphs to visualize trends over time (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.) Provides dashboards to monitor performance, bandwidth, system health Key Features Web-based interface Custom graph templates Device and data source management User access control Support for SNMPv1, v2c, and v3 Scalable with distributed polling Common Use Cases Monitoring switches, routers, firewalls Tracking server resource usage Watching bandwidth consumption Creating historical reports on network performance Why Use Cacti? Free and open-source Highly customizable Good for small to medium networks No vendor lock-in Visual and historical insights for capacity planning and troubleshooting If you’re managing infrastructure and need insight over time, Cacti gives you the control and flexibility to track just about anything that can produce metrics. This guide walks you through the steps to install and configure Cacti on AlmaLinux VPS from scratch. Prerequisites Before you start, make sure: You're using AlmaLinux 8 or AlmaLinux 9 You have sudo/root access Your system is up-to-date You have a LAMP stack installed (Apache, MariaDB, PHP) SELinux is either configured properly or temporarily set to permissive during setup Install and Configure Cacti on AlmaLinux VPS To install and configure Cacti on AlmaLinux VPS, follow the steps provided: Update the System sudo dnf update -y Install essential tools: sudo dnf install -y wget vim bash-completion Install Apache, MariaDB, and PHP sudo dnf install -y httpd mariadb-server php php-mysqlnd php-snmp php-gd php-xml php-mbstring php-json php-session Start and enable services: sudo systemctl enable --now httpd mariadb Allow HTTP/S through the firewall: sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-servicehttp sudo firewall-cmd --reload Secure MariaDB Run the secure installation script: sudo mysql_secure_installation Follow the prompts: Set a root password Remove anonymous users Disallow root login remotely Remove test database Reload privileges Create Cacti Database mysql -u root -p Inside MySQL: CREATE DATABASE cacti; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON cacti.* TO 'cactiuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'yourStrongPassword'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT; Install SNMP and RRDtool Cacti relies on SNMP for data collection: sudo dnf install -y net-snmp net-snmp-utils rrdtool Start and enable SNMP: sudo systemctl enable --now snmpd Install Cacti Enable EPEL and Cacti packages: sudo dnf install -y epel-release sudo dnf install -y cacti Import Default Database mysql -u cactiuser -p cacti < /usr/share/doc/cacti/cacti.sql Configure Cacti Settings Edit /etc/cacti/db.php: $database_type "mysql"; $database_default "cacti"; $database_hostname "localhost"; $database_username "cactiuser"; $database_password "yourStrongPassword"; Ensure Apache has access: sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/lib/cacti/rra /var/lib/cacti/log Configure Apache for Cacti Edit /etc/httpd/conf.d/cacti.conf: Require all granted Restart Apache: sudo systemctl restart httpd Configure Cron for Polling Enable polling every 5 minutes: sudo vi /etc/cron.d/cacti Uncomment or add the line: */5 * * * * apache /usr/bin/php /usr/share/cacti/poller.php > /dev/null 2>&1 SELinux Configuration If SELinux is enforcing, run: sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_connect_db 1 sudo chcon -R -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t /var/lib/cacti/rra /var/lib/cacti/log Or temporarily set to permissive: sudo setenforce 0 Web Installer Navigate to: http://your-server-ip/cacti Follow the web-based installation wizard: Verify pre-install checks Confirm database connection Set admin credentials Import templates Final Tweaks Log in using the default credentials: Username: admin Password: admin (you’ll be prompted to change it) Once inside: Add devices for monitoring Configure SNMP community strings Review graphs under "Graph View" Secure Cacti with HTTPS via Let’s Encrypt Using HTTPS ensures encrypted traffic between users and your Cacti interface. We'll use Certbot with Apache to install a free TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt. Install Certbot and Apache plugin sudo dnf install -y certbot python3-certbot-apache Obtain and Install the SSL Certificate Replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name: sudo certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com Follow the prompts: Choose whether to redirect HTTP to HTTPS (recommended: select the redirect option) Certbot will automatically configure Apache for SSL Test SSL Configuration Visit: https://yourdomain.com/cacti You should see the Cacti login page with a secure padlock in the browser. Automate SSL Renewal Let’s Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days. Add a cron job or systemd timer to handle this automatically: sudo systemctl enable --now certbot-renew.timer You can also test the renewal process manually: sudo certbot renew --dry-run By securing Cacti with HTTPS, you ensure that sensitive monitoring data — like device configurations, login credentials, and performance graphs — are encrypted in transit. This step is critical for security, especially if you're accessing your dashboard over the public internet. Troubleshooting Tips Check logs in /var/log/httpd/ for web errors. Use php -m to ensure required PHP modules are installed. Ensure timezones match (/etc/php.ini, /etc/cacti/global.php). Cacti graphs not showing? Check /usr/share/cacti/poller.php output manually. sudo -u apache php /usr/share/cacti/poller.php Conclusion You now know how to install and configure Cacti on AlmaLinux VPS. This setup provides a solid foundation for network monitoring and performance graphing. With SNMP in place, you can start graphing metrics for routers, switches, servers, and any SNMP-enabled device. For production environments, secure your installation further: Stronger MySQL and web access policies SELinux set back to enforcing with proper contexts

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