How to Install Cacti on macOS

Cacti is an open-source network monitoring and graphing tool that can be used to collect data from various sources and display them on a web-based interface. In this tutorial, we will go through the steps to install Cacti on macOS.

Prerequisites

  • macOS computer
  • The latest version of Homebrew package manager

Step 1: Install Apache Web Server

Apache is a popular open-source HTTP server that can be used to serve web pages. It needs to be installed and configured to use Cacti. Follow the steps below to install Apache:

  1. Open the Terminal app on your macOS computer
  2. Run the command below to install Apache:
brew install httpd
  1. Start the Apache server using the command below:
sudo apachectl start

Step 2: Install PHP

Cacti is built using PHP, a popular programming language used in web development. Follow the steps below to install PHP:

  1. Run the command below to install PHP:
brew install php
  1. Install the following PHP extensions that are required for Cacti:
brew install php-ldap php-snmp

Step 3: Install MySQL Database Server

Cacti stores its data in a MySQL database. Follow the steps below to install MySQL:

  1. Run the command below to install MySQL:
brew install mysql
  1. Start the MySQL server using the command below:
brew services start mysql

Step 4: Install Cacti

Now that Apache, PHP, and MySQL are installed, we can proceed with the installation of Cacti:

  1. Run the command below to install Cacti:
brew install cacti
  1. Edit the Apache configuration file to include Cacti:
sudo nano /usr/local/etc/httpd/httpd.conf
  1. Uncomment the following lines:
LoadModule rewrite_module lib/httpd/modules/mod_rewrite.so
LoadModule php7_module /usr/local/opt/php/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so
Include /usr/local/etc/httpd/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

  1. Save and close the file.

  2. Restart Apache using the command below:

sudo apachectl restart

Step 5: Configure Cacti

Now that Cacti is installed, it needs to be configured to use the MySQL database we installed in Step 3:

  1. Run the command below to open the Cacti configuration file:
sudo nano /usr/local/Cellar/cacti/1.2.19/share/cacti/include/config.php
  1. Update the database settings as shown below:
$database_type = "mysql";
$database_default = "cacti";
$database_hostname = "localhost";
$database_username = "root";
$database_password = "YourPasswordHere";
$database_port = "3306";

  1. Save and close the file.

  2. Import the Cacti database by running the command below:

mysql -u root -p cacti < /usr/local/Cellar/cacti/1.2.19/share/cacti/cacti.sql

  1. Open the Cacti web interface by visiting http://localhost/cacti in your web browser.

  2. Login with the default username and password:

Username: admin Password: admin

  1. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Cacti on your macOS computer! You can now use Cacti to monitor your network.