Install and use collectd-ping under CentOS 8 to monitor latency

Tracking the network latency of the servers’ network is not an easy job. Most monitoring software is capable to monitor the state of the server, but how to monitor the state of the connectivity and the network latency and even the Internet connectivity with some respectful addresses like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8? It should be easy to do it with ICMP and ping command but using the collectd daemon and one of its plugins offers collectd-ping from https://collectd.org/wiki/index.php/Plugin:Ping to save all the history in a time series back-end and using grafanahttps://grafana.com/ (or other graphs/histograms and etc software) to make graphs.
Using the collectd-ping plugin in conjunction with grafana may reach the similar effect as using the old and gold smokeping.
CentOS 7 included the collectd-ping plugin in its official repository, but in CentOS 8 the plugin is missing! Under Cent OS 8 the CentOS SIG OpsTools https://wiki.centos.org/SpecialInterestGroup/OpsTools includes the collectd-ping plugin in their repository. More on SIG and OpsTools may be obtained in the later page. In general, it is safe to use this repository it would not break user’s system.
Here is how to install and configure it. Real grafana examples are also included at the end.

The example here assumes there is a grafana server installed with influxdb backend.

STEP 1) Add OpsTools repository and install the collectd and collectd-ping.

The OpsTools repository is installed with centos-release-opstools package.
Here is what is going to install:

dnf install -y centos-release-opstools
dnf install -y collectd collectd-ping


The output of the installation process.

[root@srv ~]# dnf install -y centos-release-opstools
Last metadata expiration check: 0:04:50 ago on Tue May 17 10:43:35 2022.
Dependencies resolved.
==============================================================================================================
 Package                               Architecture         Version                Repository            Size
==============================================================================================================
Installing:
 centos-release-opstools               noarch               1-12.el8               extras                10 k

Transaction Summary
==============================================================================================================
Install  1 Package

Total download size: 10 k
Installed size: 1.7 k
Downloading Packages:
centos-release-opstools-1-12.el8.noarch.rpm                                    46 kB/s |  10 kB     00:00    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                                          10 kB/s |  10 kB     00:00     
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
  Preparing        :                                                                                      1/1 
  Installing       : centos-release-opstools-1-12.el8.noarch                                              1/1 
  Verifying        : centos-release-opstools-1-12.el8.noarch                                              1/1 

Installed:
  centos-release-opstools-1-12.el8.noarch                                                                     

Complete!

Then the installation of collectd-ping is possible:

[root@srv ~]# dnf install -y collectd collectd-ping
Last metadata expiration check: 0:00:18 ago on Tue May 17 10:50:19 2022.
Dependencies resolved.
==============================================================================================================
 Package                    Arch       Version                                      Repository           Size
==============================================================================================================
Installing:
 collectd                   x86_64     5.12.0-7.el8s                                centos-opstools     707 k
 collectd-ping              x86_64     5.12.0-7.el8s                                centos-opstools      33 k
Installing dependencies:
 liboping                   x86_64     1.10.0-15.el8s                               centos-opstools      78 k
 perl-Carp                  noarch     1.42-396.el8                                 baseos               30 k
 perl-Data-Dumper           x86_64     2.167-399.el8                                baseos               58 k
 perl-Digest                noarch     1.17-395.el8                                 appstream            27 k
 perl-Digest-MD5            x86_64     2.55-396.el8                                 appstream            37 k
 perl-Encode                x86_64     4:2.97-3.el8                                 baseos              1.5 M
 perl-Errno                 x86_64     1.28-421.el8                                 baseos               76 k
 perl-Exporter              noarch     5.72-396.el8                                 baseos               34 k
 perl-File-Path             noarch     2.15-2.el8                                   baseos               38 k
 perl-File-Temp             noarch     0.230.600-1.el8                              baseos               63 k
 perl-Getopt-Long           noarch     1:2.50-4.el8                                 baseos               63 k
 perl-HTTP-Tiny             noarch     0.074-1.el8                                  baseos               58 k
 perl-IO                    x86_64     1.38-421.el8                                 baseos              142 k
 perl-MIME-Base64           x86_64     3.15-396.el8                                 baseos               31 k
 perl-Net-SSLeay            x86_64     1.88-1.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff           appstream           379 k
 perl-PathTools             x86_64     3.74-1.el8                                   baseos               90 k
 perl-Pod-Escapes           noarch     1:1.07-395.el8                               baseos               20 k
 perl-Pod-Perldoc           noarch     3.28-396.el8                                 baseos               86 k
 perl-Pod-Simple            noarch     1:3.35-395.el8                               baseos              213 k
 perl-Pod-Usage             noarch     4:1.69-395.el8                               baseos               34 k
 perl-Scalar-List-Utils     x86_64     3:1.49-2.el8                                 baseos               68 k
 perl-Socket                x86_64     4:2.027-3.el8                                baseos               59 k
 perl-Storable              x86_64     1:3.11-3.el8                                 baseos               98 k
 perl-Term-ANSIColor        noarch     4.06-396.el8                                 baseos               46 k
 perl-Term-Cap              noarch     1.17-395.el8                                 baseos               23 k
 perl-Text-ParseWords       noarch     3.30-395.el8                                 baseos               18 k
 perl-Text-Tabs+Wrap        noarch     2013.0523-395.el8                            baseos               24 k
 perl-Time-Local            noarch     1:1.280-1.el8                                baseos               34 k
 perl-URI                   noarch     1.73-3.el8                                   appstream           116 k
 perl-Unicode-Normalize     x86_64     1.25-396.el8                                 baseos               82 k
 perl-constant              noarch     1.33-396.el8                                 baseos               25 k
 perl-interpreter           x86_64     4:5.26.3-421.el8                             baseos              6.3 M
 perl-libnet                noarch     3.11-3.el8                                   appstream           121 k
 perl-libs                  x86_64     4:5.26.3-421.el8                             baseos              1.6 M
 perl-macros                x86_64     4:5.26.3-421.el8                             baseos               72 k
 perl-parent                noarch     1:0.237-1.el8                                baseos               20 k
 perl-podlators             noarch     4.11-1.el8                                   baseos              118 k
 perl-threads               x86_64     1:2.21-2.el8                                 baseos               61 k
 perl-threads-shared        x86_64     1.58-2.el8                                   baseos               48 k
 yajl                       x86_64     2.1.0-11.el8                                 appstream            41 k
Installing weak dependencies:
 perl-IO-Socket-IP          noarch     0.39-5.el8                                   appstream            47 k
 perl-IO-Socket-SSL         noarch     2.066-4.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff          appstream           298 k
 perl-Mozilla-CA            noarch     20160104-7.module_el8.3.0+416+dee7bcef       appstream            15 k
Enabling module streams:
 perl                                  5.26                                                                  
 perl-IO-Socket-SSL                    2.066                                                                 
 perl-libwww-perl                      6.34                                                                  

Transaction Summary
==============================================================================================================
Install  45 Packages

Total download size: 13 M
Installed size: 38 M
Downloading Packages:
(1/45): collectd-ping-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64.rpm                                 72 kB/s |  33 kB     00:00    
(2/45): liboping-1.10.0-15.el8s.x86_64.rpm                                    156 kB/s |  78 kB     00:00    
(3/45): perl-Digest-1.17-395.el8.noarch.rpm                                   212 kB/s |  27 kB     00:00    
(4/45): perl-Digest-MD5-2.55-396.el8.x86_64.rpm                               407 kB/s |  37 kB     00:00    
(5/45): perl-IO-Socket-IP-0.39-5.el8.noarch.rpm                               484 kB/s |  47 kB     00:00    
(6/45): collectd-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64.rpm                                     950 kB/s | 707 kB     00:00    
(7/45): perl-Mozilla-CA-20160104-7.module_el8.3.0+416+dee7bcef.noarch.rpm     193 kB/s |  15 kB     00:00    
(8/45): perl-IO-Socket-SSL-2.066-4.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.noarch.rpm     1.5 MB/s | 298 kB     00:00    
(9/45): perl-URI-1.73-3.el8.noarch.rpm                                        785 kB/s | 116 kB     00:00    
(10/45): perl-libnet-3.11-3.el8.noarch.rpm                                    827 kB/s | 121 kB     00:00    
(11/45): yajl-2.1.0-11.el8.x86_64.rpm                                         796 kB/s |  41 kB     00:00    
(12/45): perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-1.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.x86_64.rpm        1.4 MB/s | 379 kB     00:00    
(13/45): perl-Carp-1.42-396.el8.noarch.rpm                                    244 kB/s |  30 kB     00:00    
(14/45): perl-Data-Dumper-2.167-399.el8.x86_64.rpm                            367 kB/s |  58 kB     00:00    
(15/45): perl-Errno-1.28-421.el8.x86_64.rpm                                   1.1 MB/s |  76 kB     00:00    
(16/45): perl-Exporter-5.72-396.el8.noarch.rpm                                614 kB/s |  34 kB     00:00    
(17/45): perl-File-Path-2.15-2.el8.noarch.rpm                                 640 kB/s |  38 kB     00:00    
(18/45): perl-File-Temp-0.230.600-1.el8.noarch.rpm                            746 kB/s |  63 kB     00:00    
(19/45): perl-Getopt-Long-2.50-4.el8.noarch.rpm                               792 kB/s |  63 kB     00:00    
(20/45): perl-HTTP-Tiny-0.074-1.el8.noarch.rpm                                342 kB/s |  58 kB     00:00    
(21/45): perl-MIME-Base64-3.15-396.el8.x86_64.rpm                             249 kB/s |  31 kB     00:00    
(22/45): perl-PathTools-3.74-1.el8.x86_64.rpm                                 861 kB/s |  90 kB     00:00    
(23/45): perl-IO-1.38-421.el8.x86_64.rpm                                      355 kB/s | 142 kB     00:00    
(24/45): perl-Pod-Escapes-1.07-395.el8.noarch.rpm                             730 kB/s |  20 kB     00:00    
(25/45): perl-Pod-Perldoc-3.28-396.el8.noarch.rpm                             1.9 MB/s |  86 kB     00:00    
(26/45): perl-Encode-2.97-3.el8.x86_64.rpm                                    2.0 MB/s | 1.5 MB     00:00    
(27/45): perl-Pod-Usage-1.69-395.el8.noarch.rpm                                62 kB/s |  34 kB     00:00    
(28/45): perl-Scalar-List-Utils-1.49-2.el8.x86_64.rpm                         129 kB/s |  68 kB     00:00    
(29/45): perl-Socket-2.027-3.el8.x86_64.rpm                                   1.8 MB/s |  59 kB     00:00    
(30/45): perl-Pod-Simple-3.35-395.el8.noarch.rpm                              349 kB/s | 213 kB     00:00    
(31/45): perl-Storable-3.11-3.el8.x86_64.rpm                                  2.2 MB/s |  98 kB     00:00    
(32/45): perl-Term-ANSIColor-4.06-396.el8.noarch.rpm                          290 kB/s |  46 kB     00:00    
(33/45): perl-Text-ParseWords-3.30-395.el8.noarch.rpm                         140 kB/s |  18 kB     00:00    
(34/45): perl-Term-Cap-1.17-395.el8.noarch.rpm                                137 kB/s |  23 kB     00:00    
(35/45): perl-Text-Tabs+Wrap-2013.0523-395.el8.noarch.rpm                     1.2 MB/s |  24 kB     00:00    
(36/45): perl-Time-Local-1.280-1.el8.noarch.rpm                               1.2 MB/s |  34 kB     00:00    
(37/45): perl-Unicode-Normalize-1.25-396.el8.x86_64.rpm                       2.8 MB/s |  82 kB     00:00    
(38/45): perl-constant-1.33-396.el8.noarch.rpm                                464 kB/s |  25 kB     00:00    
(39/45): perl-macros-5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64.rpm                                260 kB/s |  72 kB     00:00    
(40/45): perl-parent-0.237-1.el8.noarch.rpm                                   368 kB/s |  20 kB     00:00    
(41/45): perl-podlators-4.11-1.el8.noarch.rpm                                 815 kB/s | 118 kB     00:00    
(42/45): perl-threads-2.21-2.el8.x86_64.rpm                                   1.1 MB/s |  61 kB     00:00    
(43/45): perl-threads-shared-1.58-2.el8.x86_64.rpm                            1.2 MB/s |  48 kB     00:00    
(44/45): perl-libs-5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64.rpm                                  1.9 MB/s | 1.6 MB     00:00    
(45/45): perl-interpreter-5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64.rpm                           2.4 MB/s | 6.3 MB     00:02    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                                         2.0 MB/s |  13 MB     00:06     
CentOS-OpsTools - collectd                                                    1.0 MB/s | 1.0 kB     00:00    
Importing GPG key 0x51BC2A13:
 Userid     : "CentOS OpsTools SIG (https://wiki.centos.org/SpecialInterestGroup/OpsTools) <security@centos.org>"
 Fingerprint: 7872 8176 9AD7 3878 85EE A649 4FD9 5327 51BC 2A13
 From       : /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-SIG-OpsTools
Key imported successfully
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
  Preparing        :                                                                                      1/1 
  Installing       : perl-Digest-1.17-395.el8.noarch                                                     1/45 
  Installing       : perl-Digest-MD5-2.55-396.el8.x86_64                                                 2/45 
  Installing       : perl-Data-Dumper-2.167-399.el8.x86_64                                               3/45 
  Installing       : perl-libnet-3.11-3.el8.noarch                                                       4/45 
  Installing       : perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-1.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.x86_64                           5/45 
  Installing       : perl-URI-1.73-3.el8.noarch                                                          6/45 
  Installing       : perl-Pod-Escapes-1:1.07-395.el8.noarch                                              7/45 
  Installing       : perl-Mozilla-CA-20160104-7.module_el8.3.0+416+dee7bcef.noarch                       8/45 
  Installing       : perl-IO-Socket-IP-0.39-5.el8.noarch                                                 9/45 
  Installing       : perl-Time-Local-1:1.280-1.el8.noarch                                               10/45 
  Installing       : perl-IO-Socket-SSL-2.066-4.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.noarch                      11/45 
  Installing       : perl-Term-ANSIColor-4.06-396.el8.noarch                                            12/45 
  Installing       : perl-Term-Cap-1.17-395.el8.noarch                                                  13/45 
  Installing       : perl-File-Temp-0.230.600-1.el8.noarch                                              14/45 
  Installing       : perl-Pod-Simple-1:3.35-395.el8.noarch                                              15/45 
  Installing       : perl-HTTP-Tiny-0.074-1.el8.noarch                                                  16/45 
  Installing       : perl-podlators-4.11-1.el8.noarch                                                   17/45 
  Installing       : perl-Pod-Perldoc-3.28-396.el8.noarch                                               18/45 
  Installing       : perl-Text-ParseWords-3.30-395.el8.noarch                                           19/45 
  Installing       : perl-Pod-Usage-4:1.69-395.el8.noarch                                               20/45 
  Installing       : perl-MIME-Base64-3.15-396.el8.x86_64                                               21/45 
  Installing       : perl-Storable-1:3.11-3.el8.x86_64                                                  22/45 
  Installing       : perl-Getopt-Long-1:2.50-4.el8.noarch                                               23/45 
  Installing       : perl-Errno-1.28-421.el8.x86_64                                                     24/45 
  Installing       : perl-Socket-4:2.027-3.el8.x86_64                                                   25/45 
  Installing       : perl-Encode-4:2.97-3.el8.x86_64                                                    26/45 
  Installing       : perl-Carp-1.42-396.el8.noarch                                                      27/45 
  Installing       : perl-Exporter-5.72-396.el8.noarch                                                  28/45 
  Installing       : perl-libs-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                                  29/45 
  Installing       : perl-Scalar-List-Utils-3:1.49-2.el8.x86_64                                         30/45 
  Installing       : perl-parent-1:0.237-1.el8.noarch                                                   31/45 
  Installing       : perl-macros-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                                32/45 
  Installing       : perl-Text-Tabs+Wrap-2013.0523-395.el8.noarch                                       33/45 
  Installing       : perl-Unicode-Normalize-1.25-396.el8.x86_64                                         34/45 
  Installing       : perl-File-Path-2.15-2.el8.noarch                                                   35/45 
  Installing       : perl-IO-1.38-421.el8.x86_64                                                        36/45 
  Installing       : perl-PathTools-3.74-1.el8.x86_64                                                   37/45 
  Installing       : perl-constant-1.33-396.el8.noarch                                                  38/45 
  Installing       : perl-threads-1:2.21-2.el8.x86_64                                                   39/45 
  Installing       : perl-threads-shared-1.58-2.el8.x86_64                                              40/45 
  Installing       : perl-interpreter-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                           41/45 
  Installing       : liboping-1.10.0-15.el8s.x86_64                                                     42/45 
  Installing       : yajl-2.1.0-11.el8.x86_64                                                           43/45 
  Installing       : collectd-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                      44/45 
  Running scriptlet: collectd-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                      44/45 
  Installing       : collectd-ping-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                 45/45 
  Running scriptlet: collectd-ping-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                 45/45 
  Verifying        : collectd-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                       1/45 
  Verifying        : collectd-ping-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                  2/45 
  Verifying        : liboping-1.10.0-15.el8s.x86_64                                                      3/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Digest-1.17-395.el8.noarch                                                     4/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Digest-MD5-2.55-396.el8.x86_64                                                 5/45 
  Verifying        : perl-IO-Socket-IP-0.39-5.el8.noarch                                                 6/45 
  Verifying        : perl-IO-Socket-SSL-2.066-4.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.noarch                       7/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Mozilla-CA-20160104-7.module_el8.3.0+416+dee7bcef.noarch                       8/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-1.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.x86_64                           9/45 
  Verifying        : perl-URI-1.73-3.el8.noarch                                                         10/45 
  Verifying        : perl-libnet-3.11-3.el8.noarch                                                      11/45 
  Verifying        : yajl-2.1.0-11.el8.x86_64                                                           12/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Carp-1.42-396.el8.noarch                                                      13/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Data-Dumper-2.167-399.el8.x86_64                                              14/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Encode-4:2.97-3.el8.x86_64                                                    15/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Errno-1.28-421.el8.x86_64                                                     16/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Exporter-5.72-396.el8.noarch                                                  17/45 
  Verifying        : perl-File-Path-2.15-2.el8.noarch                                                   18/45 
  Verifying        : perl-File-Temp-0.230.600-1.el8.noarch                                              19/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Getopt-Long-1:2.50-4.el8.noarch                                               20/45 
  Verifying        : perl-HTTP-Tiny-0.074-1.el8.noarch                                                  21/45 
  Verifying        : perl-IO-1.38-421.el8.x86_64                                                        22/45 
  Verifying        : perl-MIME-Base64-3.15-396.el8.x86_64                                               23/45 
  Verifying        : perl-PathTools-3.74-1.el8.x86_64                                                   24/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Pod-Escapes-1:1.07-395.el8.noarch                                             25/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Pod-Perldoc-3.28-396.el8.noarch                                               26/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Pod-Simple-1:3.35-395.el8.noarch                                              27/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Pod-Usage-4:1.69-395.el8.noarch                                               28/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Scalar-List-Utils-3:1.49-2.el8.x86_64                                         29/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Socket-4:2.027-3.el8.x86_64                                                   30/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Storable-1:3.11-3.el8.x86_64                                                  31/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Term-ANSIColor-4.06-396.el8.noarch                                            32/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Term-Cap-1.17-395.el8.noarch                                                  33/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Text-ParseWords-3.30-395.el8.noarch                                           34/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Text-Tabs+Wrap-2013.0523-395.el8.noarch                                       35/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Time-Local-1:1.280-1.el8.noarch                                               36/45 
  Verifying        : perl-Unicode-Normalize-1.25-396.el8.x86_64                                         37/45 
  Verifying        : perl-constant-1.33-396.el8.noarch                                                  38/45 
  Verifying        : perl-interpreter-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                           39/45 
  Verifying        : perl-libs-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                                  40/45 
  Verifying        : perl-macros-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                                41/45 
  Verifying        : perl-parent-1:0.237-1.el8.noarch                                                   42/45 
  Verifying        : perl-podlators-4.11-1.el8.noarch                                                   43/45 
  Verifying        : perl-threads-1:2.21-2.el8.x86_64                                                   44/45 
  Verifying        : perl-threads-shared-1.58-2.el8.x86_64                                              45/45 

Installed:
  collectd-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                                               
  collectd-ping-5.12.0-7.el8s.x86_64                                                                          
  liboping-1.10.0-15.el8s.x86_64                                                                              
  perl-Carp-1.42-396.el8.noarch                                                                               
  perl-Data-Dumper-2.167-399.el8.x86_64                                                                       
  perl-Digest-1.17-395.el8.noarch                                                                             
  perl-Digest-MD5-2.55-396.el8.x86_64                                                                         
  perl-Encode-4:2.97-3.el8.x86_64                                                                             
  perl-Errno-1.28-421.el8.x86_64                                                                              
  perl-Exporter-5.72-396.el8.noarch                                                                           
  perl-File-Path-2.15-2.el8.noarch                                                                            
  perl-File-Temp-0.230.600-1.el8.noarch                                                                       
  perl-Getopt-Long-1:2.50-4.el8.noarch                                                                        
  perl-HTTP-Tiny-0.074-1.el8.noarch                                                                           
  perl-IO-1.38-421.el8.x86_64                                                                                 
  perl-IO-Socket-IP-0.39-5.el8.noarch                                                                         
  perl-IO-Socket-SSL-2.066-4.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.noarch                                               
  perl-MIME-Base64-3.15-396.el8.x86_64                                                                        
  perl-Mozilla-CA-20160104-7.module_el8.3.0+416+dee7bcef.noarch                                               
  perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-1.module_el8.4.0+517+be1595ff.x86_64                                                   
  perl-PathTools-3.74-1.el8.x86_64                                                                            
  perl-Pod-Escapes-1:1.07-395.el8.noarch                                                                      
  perl-Pod-Perldoc-3.28-396.el8.noarch                                                                        
  perl-Pod-Simple-1:3.35-395.el8.noarch                                                                       
  perl-Pod-Usage-4:1.69-395.el8.noarch                                                                        
  perl-Scalar-List-Utils-3:1.49-2.el8.x86_64                                                                  
  perl-Socket-4:2.027-3.el8.x86_64                                                                            
  perl-Storable-1:3.11-3.el8.x86_64                                                                           
  perl-Term-ANSIColor-4.06-396.el8.noarch                                                                     
  perl-Term-Cap-1.17-395.el8.noarch                                                                           
  perl-Text-ParseWords-3.30-395.el8.noarch                                                                    
  perl-Text-Tabs+Wrap-2013.0523-395.el8.noarch                                                                
  perl-Time-Local-1:1.280-1.el8.noarch                                                                        
  perl-URI-1.73-3.el8.noarch                                                                                  
  perl-Unicode-Normalize-1.25-396.el8.x86_64                                                                  
  perl-constant-1.33-396.el8.noarch                                                                           
  perl-interpreter-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                                                    
  perl-libnet-3.11-3.el8.noarch                                                                               
  perl-libs-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                                                           
  perl-macros-4:5.26.3-421.el8.x86_64                                                                         
  perl-parent-1:0.237-1.el8.noarch                                                                            
  perl-podlators-4.11-1.el8.noarch                                                                            
  perl-threads-1:2.21-2.el8.x86_64                                                                            
  perl-threads-shared-1.58-2.el8.x86_64                                                                       
  yajl-2.1.0-11.el8.x86_64                                                                                    

Complete!

STEP 2) Configure and use collectd and colletcd-ping

. The example here uses the network plugin to send the information collectd collects to influxdb on IP: 192.168.0.100, but in fact, collectd may be used with many other back-end servers like Prometheus, Graphite, Mysql and etc, and even the very collectd daemon may store the data locally in rrd format!
Here are the all collectd-ping options explained – https://collectd.org/documentation/manpages/collectd.conf.5.shtml#plugin_ping.

In the main /etc/collectd.conf:

  1. Uncomment the with loading the collectd-ping plugin.
  2. Configure the collectd-ping plugin in a section starting with <Plugin ping> and ending with </Plugin ping>

Here is just this part of the configuration (/etc/collectd.conf):

.....
LoadPlugin ping
.....
.....
<Plugin ping>
        Host "srv1.example.com"
        Host "srv3.example.com"
        Host "srv4.example.com"
        Host "srv6.example.com"
        Host "srv8.example.com"
        Host "srv9.example.com"
        Host "srv10.example.com"
        Interval 1.0
        Timeout 0.9
        TTL 255
#       SourceAddress "1.2.3.4"
#       AddressFamily "any"
#       Device "eth0"
#       MaxMissed -1
</Plugin ping>

Then start the collectd daemon.

[root@srv ~]# systemctl start collectd
[root@srv ~]# systemctl status collectd
● collectd.service - Collectd statistics daemon
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/collectd.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-05-17 11:10:35 UTC; 2s ago
     Docs: man:collectd(1)
           man:collectd.conf(5)
 Main PID: 3697 (collectd)
    Tasks: 11 (limit: 11381)
   Memory: 1.1M
   CGroup: /system.slice/collectd.service
           └─3697 /usr/sbin/collectd

STEP 3) Grafana example graphs.

SCREENSHOT 1) There are two example graphs – with the pings time to live and how many drops are counted per 10 seconds.

The legends includes the Mean, Last, Max and Min values. Grafana and influxdb may show more sophisticated processing like standard deviation and etc.

main menu
pings and drop pings graphs all

SCREENSHOT 2) A selected server to show only one server ping graph.

The srv19 graph is selected and shown. The last 6 hours the latency is quite unstable and varies a lot. The bottom graph show the ping drops per 10 seconds with ping interval of 1 second, so 0.100 means 1 ping drop and 0.200 means 2 ping drops per 10 seconds.

main menu
pings for srv19 and drop pings server graphs

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