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Monitorix
Lightweight Perl‑based tool for comprehensive Linux system monitoring
Monitorix provides a lightweight, GPL‑licensed solution to track CPU, memory, disks, network, and dozens of services on Linux/Unix servers via a simple web interface.
Overview
Overview
Monitorix is a Perl‑driven monitoring suite aimed at Linux and Unix administrators who need a quick, low‑overhead way to visualize system health. It gathers metrics from core resources—CPU, memory, disk I/O, network traffic—and from a wide range of services such as web servers, databases, and mail daemons.
Deployment & Use
Installation is straightforward: the package can be installed from most distributions or compiled from source, then configured via a single text file. Data is stored in flat RRD files, and a built‑in web interface presents real‑time graphs and historical trends without requiring a separate database or heavy dependencies. Alerts can be sent by email or trigger custom scripts, making it suitable for small‑to‑medium environments that prefer a self‑contained monitoring solution.
Who Benefits
Sysadmins, DevOps engineers, and hobbyists looking for a free, GPL‑2.0 licensed tool will find Monitorix easy to adopt, while larger enterprises may pair it with more feature‑rich platforms for deeper analytics.
Highlights
Monitors CPU, memory, disk I/O, network, and over 50 services
Web‑based graphs with minimal resource overhead
Configurable alerts via email or external scripts
Single‑file Perl installation, easy to deploy on most Linux/Unix
Pros
- Low CPU and memory footprint
- Broad service coverage
- Simple web UI without heavy dependencies
- GPL‑2.0 license encourages community contributions
Considerations
- Limited to Linux/Unix platforms
- Configuration via text files can be less intuitive
- No native mobile app or dashboard APIs
- Visualization options are basic compared to commercial tools
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Monitorix, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
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Fit guide
Great for
- Small to medium Linux server environments seeking a free monitoring solution
- Sysadmins who prefer Perl‑based tools with minimal setup
- Teams needing quick visual insight without a full‑blown monitoring stack
- Organizations valuing GPL‑licensed software for transparency
Not ideal when
- Large enterprises requiring enterprise‑grade alerting and integrations
- Environments that need native Windows monitoring
- Users demanding advanced analytics or AI‑driven anomaly detection
- Teams that rely on mobile‑first dashboards or REST APIs
How teams use it
Track web server health
Identify CPU spikes and memory leaks on Apache/Nginx, enabling timely remediation
Monitor database performance
Visualize MySQL/PostgreSQL query load and I/O, helping DBAs tune queries
Network bandwidth oversight
Graph interface traffic to detect saturation before service impact
Service availability alerts
Receive email notifications when critical services like SSH or DNS go down
Tech snapshot
Perl98%
HTML1%
Makefile1%
CSS1%
Frequently asked questions
What platforms does Monitorix support?
It runs on Linux and other Unix‑like operating systems.
How is Monitorix installed?
Install via your distribution’s package manager or compile from source, then edit /etc/monitorix/monitorix.conf.
Does Monitorix require a database?
No, it stores collected data in flat RRD files.
Can Monitorix send alerts?
Yes, it can email alerts or execute custom scripts when thresholds are breached.
Is there a graphical interface?
Monitorix includes a built‑in web interface accessible through a browser.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 1,186
- Watchers
- 1,186
- Forks
- 171
LicenseGPL-2.0
Repo age13 years old
Last commit2 months ago
Primary languagePerl
Last synced 3 hours ago