brew / rank 5373

Install nagios-plugins with Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, pacman, zypper

Plugins for the nagios network monitoring system. Version 2.5 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. Also installable with apk: sudo apk add nagios-plugins.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install nagios-plugins

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install nagios-plugins

MacPorts ports tree · net/nagios-plugins/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add nagios-plugins

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · nagios-plugins · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install nagios-plugins

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · nagios-plugins · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S monitoring-plugins

Arch Linux sync databases · monitoring-plugins · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install monitoring-plugins

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · monitoring-plugins · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Plugins for the nagios network monitoring system

Project links

Commands and aliases

check_apt
check_breeze
check_by_ssh
check_clamd
check_cluster
check_dig
check_disk
check_disk_smb
check_dns
check_dummy
check_file_age
check_flexlm
check_ftp
check_http
check_ide_smart
check_ifoperstatus
check_ifstatus
check_imap
check_ircd
check_jabber
check_load
check_log
check_mailq
check_mrtg
check_mrtgtraf
check_nagios
check_nntp
check_nntps
check_nt
check_ntp
check_ntp_peer
check_ntp_time

history

Project history and usage

Nagios Plugins is the official plugin collection for the Nagios monitoring architecture: checks such as `check_http`, `check_disk`, `check_ping`, `check_ssh`, `check_load`, and many more. Its history is tied directly to Nagios itself and to the design choice that monitoring checks are external executables with standardized output, thresholds, performance data, and return codes.

Project history

Nagios traces its origin to Ethan Galstad's 1996 MS-DOS paging tool and the 1999 open-source NetSaint release. The Nagios history page says plugins that were originally distributed with NetSaint were soon spun off as a separate NetSaint Plugins project; in 2002 NetSaint was renamed Nagios and NetSaint Plugins development moved to the Nagios Plugins project. The current GitHub repository was created on January 16, 2014, but the codebase and plugin convention are much older.

Adoption history

Nagios Plugins became important because Nagios delegated resource-specific checks to plugins, allowing the core scheduler to monitor almost anything that could be automated. Official docs list network services, system resources, Unix/Linux, Windows and NetWare servers, routers, switches, and community plugins as part of the ecosystem. Homebrew reported only 451 installs over 365 days on July 1, 2026, but that understates adoption because Nagios deployments usually install plugins through Linux distributions, source packages, monitoring appliances, or bundled Nagios stacks.

How it is used

Administrators call plugins directly while testing and then wire the same command into Nagios service definitions. Each plugin prints a short status line to stdout and exits 0 for OK, 1 for Warning, 2 for Critical, or 3 for Unknown. The shared options pattern matters in day-to-day use: `-H` for host, `-w` and `-c` for thresholds, `-t` for timeout, `-v` for verbosity, and `--help` or `--usage` for plugin-specific syntax. Performance data after `|` feeds graphing and long-term metrics.

Why package nerds care

The package is a foundational example of a stable CLI plugin ABI. The individual checks are ordinary executables, but the exit-code and output contract let Nagios, Icinga-style systems, wrappers, and custom scripts compose checks written in C, shell, Perl, Python, or anything else. For package maintainers, it is also a bundle package: installing one formula drops a fleet of `check_*` tools into Homebrew's sbin.

Timeline

1996: Ethan Galstad creates the early paging/checking tool that becomes Nagios's architectural seed.
1999: NetSaint is released as open source and the plugin code is soon spun out as a separate project.
2002: NetSaint is renamed Nagios and NetSaint Plugins development moves to Nagios Plugins.
2014-01-16: current GitHub repository created.
2026-03-31: Nagios Plugins 2.5 released.
2026-07-01: Homebrew API reported 451 installs over 365 days.

Related projects

Nagios Core
Nagios XI
Nagios Exchange
Icinga
Monitoring Plugins
NRPE
NCPA

Sources

security posture

Risk level: orange

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal.

Risk classifier

orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure

Why

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal

Signals

text:cluster
text:network,http,ftp,ssh

Install behavior

No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`check_apt`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_breeze`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_by_ssh`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_clamd`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_cluster`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_dig`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_disk`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_disk_smb`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_dns`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_dummy`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_file_age`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_flexlm`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ftp`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_http`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ide_smart`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ifoperstatus`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ifstatus`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_imap`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ircd`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_jabber`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_load`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_log`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_mailq`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_mrtg`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_mrtgtraf`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_nagios`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_nntp`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_nntps`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_nt`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ntp`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ntp_peer`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ntp_time`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_nwstat`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_oracle`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_overcr`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ping`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_pop`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_procs`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_real`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_rpc`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_sensors`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_simap`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_smtp`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_spop`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ssh`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ssl_validity`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ssmtp`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_swap`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_tcp`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_time`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_udp`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_ups`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_uptime`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_users`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`check_wave`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`negate`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`remove_perfdata`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`urlize`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`utils.pm`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`utils.sh`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-08-03

manager version2.5

manager updated2026-06-22

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:nagios-plugins
Version	2.5
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://www.nagios-plugins.org/
Repository	https://github.com/nagios-plugins/nagios-plugins
Last updated	2026-06-22T14:05:34-07:00
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

apk95%

nagios-plugins 2.5-r0

Plugins for Nagios to check services on hosts