How to Install ntopng Community on CentOS 7

Introduction

Ntopng, meaning the next generation of ntop, is a popular open-source network traffic monitoring tool which shows real-time network usage in an intuitive web interface. Almost every network administrator can benefit from its versatility, ease of use, and multiple-platform availability.

This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing ntopng (community version) on a Vultr CentOS 7 server instance.

Prerequisites

• Deploy a fresh Vultr CentOS 7 server instance.
• Log in from your SSH terminal as a non-root sudo user. See how to create a sudo user in another Vultr article.

Step 1: Update the system

sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum update
sudo reboot

After the reboot, use the same sudo user to log in again.

Step 2: Install ntopng using YUM

First, in order to install ntopng using YUM, the most convenient method on CentOS 7, you need to add a ntop repo to your system:

sudo vi /etc/yum.repos.d/ntop.repo

Populate the file with:

[ntop]
name=ntop packages
baseurl=http://www.nmon.net/centos-stable/$releasever/$basearch/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://www.nmon.net/centos-stable/RPM-GPG-KEY-deri
[ntop-noarch]
name=ntop packages
baseurl=http://www.nmon.net/centos-stable/$releasever/noarch/
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=http://www.nmon.net/centos-stable/RPM-GPG-KEY-deri

Save and quit:

:wq

Now, install ntopng and its necessary dependencies:

sudo yum update
sudo yum --enablerepo=epel install redis ntopng hiredis-devel

Step 3: Start redis® and ntopng

Once ntopng and its dependencies have been installed, you need to start the Redis® service and the ntopng service one by one:

sudo systemctl start redis.service
sudo systemctl enable redis.service
sudo systemctl start ntopng.service
sudo systemctl enable ntopng.service

Check the status of the ntopng service:

sudo systemctl status ntopng.service

As you see, the ntopng service is active (running) along with a license error. You can fix the error by modifying the ntopng configuration file ntopng.conf:

sudo vi /etc/ntopng/ntopng.conf

Before:

-G=/var/tmp/ntopng.pid

After:

-G=/var/tmp/ntopng.pid\
--community

Save and quit:

:wq

Restart the ntopng service to put your modifications into effect:

sudo systemctl restart ntopng.service

Recheck the status of the ntopng service, you will no longer see the error notice:

sudo systemctl status ntopng.service

Step 4: Configure the firewall

In order to allow accessing ntopng from a web browser, you need to allow traffic on port 3000, the default ntopng communication port:

sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --permanent --add-port=3000/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 5: Visit ntopng from a web browser

Now, you are ready to use a web browser to explore ntopng's web interface. Access the following URL:

http://[your-vultr-server-ip]:3000

Use the default username admin and the default password admin to log in.

You have finished configuring ntopng.

If you need a more detailed customization, you may edit the /etc/ntopng/ntopng.conf file.