Monitoring PowerDNS with MRTG

Monitoring PowerDNS is easy with MRTG, just install these two packages and create a config file and you're good to go!

apt-get install libsnmp-session-perl mrtg


Add this to a config file, for example /etc/mrtg.cfg (pico /etc/mrtg.cfg)

Interval: 5
WorkDir: /var/www/mrtg
WriteExpires: yes
Options[_]: growright,nopercent
XSize[_]: 600

Target[udp-queries]: `/etc/init.d/pdns mrtg udp-queries udp-answers`
Options[udp-queries]: growright,nopercent,perminute
MaxBytes[udp-queries]: 600000
AbsMax[udp-queries]: 600000
Title[udp-queries]: Queries per minute
PageTop[udp-queries]: <h1>Queries per minute</h1>
WithPeak[udp-queries]: ymwd
YLegend[udp-queries]: queries/minute
ShortLegend[udp-queries]: q/m
LegendI[udp-queries]: udp-questions
LegendO[udp-queries]: udp-answers

Target[perc-failed]: `/etc/init.d/pdns mrtg udp-queries udp-answers`
Options[perc-failed]: growright,dorelpercent,perminute
MaxBytes[perc-failed]: 600000
AbsMax[perc-failed]: 600000
Title[perc-failed]: Queries per minute, with percentage success
PageTop[perc-failed]: <h1>Queries per minute, with percentage success</h1>
WithPeak[perc-failed]: ymwd
YLegend[perc-failed]: queries/minute
ShortLegend[perc-failed]: q/m
LegendI[perc-failed]: udp-questions
LegendO[perc-failed]: udp-answers

Target[packetcache-rate]: `/etc/init.d/pdns mrtg packetcache-hit udp-queries`
Options[packetcache-rate]: growright,dorelpercent,perminute
Title[packetcache-rate]: packetcache hitrate
MaxBytes[packetcache-rate]: 600000
AbsMax[packetcache-rate]: 600000
PageTop[packetcache-rate]: <h1>packetcache hitrate</h1>
WithPeak[packetcache-rate]: ymwd
YLegend[packetcache-rate]: queries/minute
ShortLegend[packetcache-rate]: q/m
LegendO[packetcache-rate]: total
LegendI[packetcache-rate]: hit

Target[packetcache-missrate]: `/etc/init.d/pdns mrtg packetcache-miss udp-queries`
Options[packetcache-missrate]: growright,dorelpercent,perminute
Title[packetcache-missrate]: packetcache MISSrate
MaxBytes[packetcache-missrate]: 600000
AbsMax[packetcache-missrate]: 600000
PageTop[packetcache-missrate]: <h1>packetcache MISSrate</h1>
WithPeak[packetcache-missrate]: ymwd
YLegend[packetcache-missrate]: queries/minute
ShortLegend[packetcache-missrate]: q/m
LegendO[packetcache-missrate]: total
LegendI[packetcache-missrate]: MISS

Target[latency]: `/etc/init.d/pdns mrtg latency`
Options[latency]: growright,nopercent,gauge
MaxBytes[latency]: 600000
AbsMax[latency]: 600000
Title[latency]: Query/answer latency
PageTop[latency]: <h1>Query/answer latency</h1>
WithPeak[latency]: ymwd
YLegend[latency]: usec
ShortLegend[latency]: usec
LegendO[latency]: latency
LegendI[latency]: latency

Target[recursing]: `/etc/init.d/pdns mrtg recursing-questions recursing-answers`
Options[recursing]: growright,nopercent,gauge
MaxBytes[recursing]: 600000
AbsMax[recursing]: 600000
Title[recursing]: Recursive questions/answers
PageTop[recursing]: <h1>Recursing questions/answers</h1>
WithPeak[recursing]: ymwd
YLegend[recursing]: queries/minute
ShortLegend[recursing]: q/m
LegendO[recursing]: recursing-questions
LegendI[recursing]: recursing-answers


Make mrtg create a new report every 5 minutes by adding the following line in crontab (type crontab -e):

0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * env LANG=C /usr/bin/mrtg /etc/mrtg.cfg


Create a summary page showing all graphs:

indexmaker /etc/mrtg.cfg > /var/www/mrtg/index.html


If using the default mrtg/apache configuration you can access the graphs here: http://yourserver/mrtg

Installing PowerDNS on etch/lenny

The PowerDNS Nameserver is a modern, advanced and high performance authoritative-only nameserver. It is written from scratch and conforms to all relevant DNS standards documents. Furthermore, PowerDNS interfaces with almost any database.

This tutorial has been tested and is working on Debian etch and lenny

1. Install the PowerDNS server and MySql backend using apt

apt-get install pdns-server pdns-backend-mysql


2. Create a new database (or use existing) and execute the following SQL queries to create the PowerDNS table structure:

create table domains (
id INT auto_increment,
name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
master VARCHAR(128) DEFAULT NULL,
last_check INT DEFAULT NULL,
type VARCHAR(6) NOT NULL,
notified_serial INT DEFAULT NULL,
account VARCHAR(40) DEFAULT NULL,
primary key (id)
)type=InnoDB;

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX name_index ON domains(name);

CREATE TABLE records (
id INT auto_increment,
domain_id INT DEFAULT NULL,
name VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL,
type VARCHAR(6) DEFAULT NULL,
content VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL,
ttl INT DEFAULT NULL,
prio INT DEFAULT NULL,
change_date INT DEFAULT NULL,
primary key(id)
)type=InnoDB;

CREATE INDEX rec_name_index ON records(name);
CREATE INDEX nametype_index ON records(name,type);
CREATE INDEX domain_id ON records(domain_id);



create table supermasters (
ip VARCHAR(25) NOT NULL,
nameserver VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
account VARCHAR(40) DEFAULT NULL
);


3. Configure PowerDNS to use the MySql backend by adding this line into the configuration file (pico /etc/powerdns/pdns.conf)

launch=gmysql


4. Configure MySql login information for the PowerDNS server that can read from the tables you created earlier by adding lines similar to these (pico /etc/powerdns/pdns.d/pdns.local)

gmysql-host=127.0.0.1
gmysql-user=pdns
gmysql-password=password
gmysql-dbname=pdns


Replace the username, password and dbname with a valid login information and database name.

5. Restart PowerDNS

/etc/init.d/pdns restart


Now you should have a fully functional PowerDNS server installed. To manage the database (adding zones and records), consider using the Poweradmin web-based administration tool.