How to setup servers, group and SSH credentials

Use this walkthrough after you can sign in to RMON. You will connect one Linux host, install an agent and receive the first monitoring result. Reuse an existing group or SSH credential if it already meets your needs.

The examples use the group Production, a host named monitor-london, SSH user rmon and address 192.0.2.13. Replace example addresses with your own reachable addresses.

1. Prepare host access

You need an RMON administrator account for the owning group, a Linux host reachable from RMON, and an SSH account on that host. The SSH account must be able to use sudo without an interactive password for installation and service management. A successful SSH login alone does not verify those privileges.

On your administrator workstation, create a dedicated key if you do not already have one. The commands below are for a Linux or macOS shell with OpenSSH; choose a new filename and do not overwrite an existing key.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/rmon_monitoring -C "RMON agent administration"
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/rmon_monitoring.pub -p 22 rmon@192.0.2.13
ssh -i ~/.ssh/rmon_monitoring -p 22 rmon@192.0.2.13 'sudo -n id -u'

Enter a key passphrase when prompted and retain it for RMON's key upload. If your workstation has no ssh-copy-id, ask the host administrator to append the public key to the target account's ~/.ssh/authorized_keys. Preserve existing authorized keys.

Expected result: the last command prints 0 without asking for a sudo password. If it fails, have the host administrator configure the account's installation privileges before continuing. This command checks access from your workstation; RMON's own SSH test is still required in step 5.

2. Choose a group

1. Open your username, select the intended Current group, and click Save.
2. If the team has no group yet, a superAdmin can open Admin area → Groups, click Add, and create Production with a description such as Production service monitoring.
3. Have the administrator assign you to that group, then select it in your user settings.

Expected result: the selected group is available in your user settings. Keep the host and its SSH credential in that group. See groups and roles when different teams need separate access.

3. Give the team access

Under Admin area → Users, add the people who will use RMON and assign their group roles. Use an administrator for host and agent setup, an editor for check configuration, and a guest for viewing. The RMON username and the host's SSH username can be different. Verify access with the user's account before adding production credentials.

4. Save SSH credentials

1. Open Admin area → SSH credentials and click + Add.
2. Set Name to Production monitoring hosts, Username to rmon, enable SSH key, and choose the owner group when the selector is available. Leave Shared off unless other groups should use this access.
3. Save the credential. In Upload SSH key, select its name.
4. Paste the complete contents of ~/.ssh/rmon_monitoring into the key field, enter the passphrase, and click Upload. Use the private key here; the .pub file belongs on the agent host.

Expected result: the credential appears in the list and is selectable when adding a server. See credential fields and key replacement for password authentication or rotation.

5. Add and test the host

1. Open Admin area → Servers → Add.
2. Enter Name monitor-london, IP 192.0.2.13, and SSH Port 22. Select the saved credential and enable the server.
3. Save. On the new row, open Actions (⋮) → Check SSH.

Expected result: RMON reports a successful SSH connection. For an agent on the RMON host itself, you may use localhost as the server name, but enter the host address reachable from the RMON container. See SSH errors and their remedies before retrying a failed connection.

6. Install the agent and receive a result

1. Have the installation administrator configure the reachable result receiver address and port under Settings → RMON.
2. In the host owner's Settings → Agent connections, prepare the chosen HTTP, HTTPS or mTLS connection. Follow the connection examples.
3. Open Agents → Add Agent, select monitor-london, choose the delivery mode and start installation.
4. Wait for the task to complete. Follow the first-check example using this agent.
5. Open the check and confirm a result with a new timestamp. Configure and test one notification destination, then assign it to the check.

You are ready to add production checks when SSH works from RMON, the agent installation has completed, results continue to arrive, and a test notification reaches the intended team.