Sensu is a free, open-source, and cross-platform monitoring tool used for monitoring system health and performance stats. The latest version of Sensu also known as a Sensu Go. It is designed for traditional servers, containers, applications, the cloud, and more.

The application is composed of three elements:

• Backend: which is the server where the monitoring operations are performed.
• Sensuctl: is a command-line tool for managing resources within Sensu.
• Agent: This microprogram is installed on those devices that we want to monitor.

In this post, we will show you how to install Sensu Go on an Ubuntu 20.04 VPS.

First, in a terminal session update Ubuntu 20.04

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

After that, you have to install some necessary packages such as gnupg

sudo apt install curl gnupg unzip wget

After the installation, you will need to install Sensu backend repository to your system. You can install it using the following command:

curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/sensu/stable/script.deb.sh | sudo bash

Once the repository is successfully added to the system, we can start the installation by running:

sudo apt install sensu-go-backend

Once the application has been successfully downloaded, it is necessary to download the default configuration file:

curl -L https://docs.sensu.io./sensu-go/latest/files/backend.yml -o backend.yml

And now move it to the correct location:

sudo mv backend.yml /etc/sensu/

After this, you will be able to manage Sensu as a system service. So, start it, enable it and check the status of the service

sudo systemctl start sensu-backend
sudo systemctl enable sensu-backend
sudo systemctl status sensu-backend

As everything is OK you have to start the Backend by assigning it a username and password.

sensu-backend init --interactive

Assign a username and a strong password.

Then you need to install sensuctl by running:

sudo apt install sensu-go-cli

And then you have to configure it by running:

sensuctl configure

Leave it as I currently show you. Remember that the username and password must be the same as the one you set in the previous step.

Testing the installation

After applying the changes, you can check that the backend is working through the web interface provided by the application.

So, access it from http://your-server:3000

And you will see the Login screen

Log in with your username and password and you will see the dashboard.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Sensu Go on Ubuntu 20.04 VPS. Obviously, it’s empty because we haven’t added any nodes. But the backend is ready.

Conclusion

In this post, you have learned how to install a part of Sensu GO that will allow you to monitor devices on a network. Although it is a very professional application, it is really easy to install.