1. Download the appropriate packages
First choose the Checkmk edition that suits your needs. On the download page you will find the Raw Edition, which is Open Source, and the Cloud Edition, which is free to use for up to 750 services. If you have a subscription, then you will find the installation packages in the customer portal.
We recommend the use of the latest stable Checkmk version. If you need an older version (for example, as the basis for restoring a backup), you can find it in the download archive. Make sure that the package you select exactly matches the installed Linux distribution and its version.
After you have downloaded the package, bring it to the Linux system on which Checkmk is to be installed.
This can be done, for example, via the scp
command line tool, which comes with every modern system — and which is also available in PowerShell on Windows 10.
Additional programs such as WinSCP are usually not required.
The openssh-server
package needs to be installed to be able to copy files to your future Checkmk server using the scp
command.
If that is not already the case, you can install this using the following command:
root@linux# apt install openssh-server
Once this has been done you can, for example, copy the Checkmk Raw Edition package for Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish using the below command:
root@linux# scp check-mk-raw-2.2.0p1_0.jammy_amd64.deb root@mymonitoring.mydomain.org:/tmp
2. Signed package installation
All packages are signed using GnuPG. Through the use of this signature, on the one hand it can be verified whether the package really is from Checkmk, and on the other hand it can be verified that the package is complete.
Depending on which optional packages were installed during the setup of your distribution, you will need to install dpkg-sig
including all of its dependencies for successful verification.
To do so, simply enter the following command:
root@linux# apt install dpkg-sig
So that these signed packages can be installed in the usual way, as a one time only action you will need to import our public key so that the signature will be trusted. First, load the key directly from our website:
root@linux# wget https://download.checkmk.com/checkmk/Check_MK-pubkey.gpg
Then import the key to the list of trusted signatures. Under Debian and Ubuntu the following command is required:
root@linux# gpg --import Check_MK-pubkey.gpg
Once the key has been added, you can verify the Checkmk package using the following command:
root@linux# dpkg-sig --verify check-mk-raw-2.2.0p1_0.jammy_amd64.deb
In some installations the signature check can fail with the following error:
BADSIG _gpgbuilder
If this is the case, the most probable cause is that the installed version of dpkg-sig
does not know how to handle the package’s compression format.
In this situation revert to gpg
to verify the signature:
root@linux# gpg --verify check-mk-raw-2.2.0p1_0.jammy_amd64.deb
gpg: Signature made Tue Apr 18 11:52:52 2023 CEST
gpg: using RSA key B1E7106575B723F00611C612434DAC48C4503261
gpg: Good signature from "Check_MK Software Release Signing Key (2018) <feedback@check-mk.org>" [unknown]
gpg: aka "Check_MK Software Daily Build Signing Key (2018) <feedback@check-mk.org>" [unknown]
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: B1E7 1065 75B7 23F0 0611 C612 434D AC48 C450 3261
The warning generated here is only regarding the Checkmk public key, not for the signature on the package itself. The reason for this is that the key has not been signed by any other key the user already trusts — but this is not a problem in this case.
Afterwards you can install the Checkmk package using the following command.
Be sure to pass the full file path to the DEB file after apt install
:
root@linux# apt install /tmp/check-mk-raw-2.2.0p1_0.jammy_amd64.deb
3. Final test
After the successful installation of Checkmk, and all of its dependencies, you will have access to the omd
command.
With this command you are able to create and manage monitoring sites.
You can request the installed version to verify your installation:
root@linux# omd version
OMD - Open Monitoring Distribution Version 2.2.0p1.cre