Download Nagios Cross-Platform Agent

Install Methods

NCPA on Windows

The Windows installer adds a firewall permission for the bind port automatically, so no separate firewall step is needed. Run the installer and set a token when prompted.

The commands below cover an unattended install across many machines. Replace every value with your own.

ncpa-latest.exe /S /TOKEN='<NCPA_TOKEN>' /NRDPURL='http://<NAGIOS_HOST>/nrdp/' /NRDPTOKEN='<NRDP_TOKEN>' /NRDPHOSTNAME='<HOSTNAME>'

/S runs silently. /TOKEN sets the token used to reach the agent’s API and web interface. /IP defaults to 0.0.0.0, and /PORT defaults to 5693. The /NRDP arguments apply only to passive checks; leave them off for active checks. /D sets the install directory, must come last, and takes no quotes.

Previous NCPA releases, including builds for older Windows versions, are in the download archive.

Supported Windows 10 and later, Windows Server 2016 and later
Architecture x86-64
Port TCP 5693, inbound from the monitoring server
Privileges Administrator
Firewall Added by the installer
Package Format Links
Windows 64-bit installer EXE Download Installation guide

NCPA on Linux

Establish a terminal session as root. The repository is the better route on both package families, because upgrades then arrive through your package manager. Install the repository first by following the Installation of Nagios Repo section on the Nagios Repositories page for your distribution.

# CentOS 9+, RHEL 8+, Oracle Linux 8+, SUSE 15+ — using the Nagios repository
yum install ncpa -y

# Debian 12, Ubuntu 22+ — using the Nagios repository
apt-get install ncpa

# Manual RPM install
cd /tmp
wget https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/ncpa3/ncpa-<version and arch>.rpm
rpm -ivh /tmp/ncpa-<version and arch>.rpm

# Manual DEB install
cd /tmp
wget https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/ncpa3/ncpa-<version and arch>.deb
dpkg -i /tmp/ncpa-<version and arch>.deb

Set your token in /usr/local/ncpa/etc/ncpa.cfg by changing the community_string value, then restart the service with systemctl restart ncpa.

Open the port to the monitoring server. On RHEL, CentOS, and Oracle Linux use firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=5693/tcp followed by the same command with --permanent. On Ubuntu use ufw allow 5693/tcp. On Debian use iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --destination-port 5693 -j ACCEPT and install iptables-persistent to keep the rule.

Running an older distribution than the versions above? Previous NCPA releases are in the download archive.

Supported, RPM CentOS 9+, RHEL 8+, Oracle Linux 8+, OpenSUSE 15+, SLES 15+, Amazon Linux 2
Supported, DEB Debian 12, Ubuntu 22+
Architecture x86-64
Port TCP 5693, inbound from the monitoring server
Privileges root
Package Format Links
Linux, RPM Recommended route Nagios repository, RPM 64-bit Download RPM 64-bit
Linux, DEB Recommended route Nagios repository, DEB 64-bit Download DEB 64-bit Installation guide

NCPA on macOS, Solaris, and AIX

macOS has no click-through installer. Mount the DMG and run the install script, which handles both new installs and upgrades. It creates the nagios user and group, moves the files to /usr/local/ncpa, sets permissions, and configures the Listener and Passive services to start automatically.

Solaris 11.4 support is experimental and was added in NCPA 3.2.0.

Solaris and AIX support is experimental in NCPA 3. Earlier NCPA 2 packages for these platforms are in the download archive.

# macOS — mount the DMG first, then run the installer
sudo zsh /Volumes/ncpa-latest.x86_64.dmg/install.sh

# Solaris — standard install
pkgadd -d ./ncpa-3.X.X.<arch>.pkg

# Solaris — silent, no interactive prompts
pkgadd -a ./admin_file -d ./ncpa-3.X.X.<arch>.pkg ncpa

Set your token in /usr/local/ncpa/etc/ncpa.cfg by changing the community_string value, then restart the service.

On macOS run sudo launchctl stop com.nagios.ncpa followed by sudo launchctl start com.nagios.ncpa. On Solaris x86 run svcadm restart application/ncpa. On Solaris SPARC run /usr/local/bin/ncpa-service restart. The macOS firewall is not enabled by default and allows port 5693.

Supported macOS macOS 13 Ventura and later
Supported, Solaris Solaris 11.4 SRU78 and later
Supported, AIX AIX 7.3 TL4 and later
Architecture Solaris x86 and SPARC, AIX PowerPC
Port TCP 5693, inbound from the monitoring server
Privileges root, or sudo on macOS
Package Format Links
macOS 64-bit installer DMG Download
Solaris x86 PKG, PKG SPARC Download PKG SPARC
AIX AIX 7.3 PowerPC RPM Download Installation guide

Resources

Documentation

Using NCPA

FAQ

What does NCPA do?

It runs on a monitored machine and answers checks from your Nagios server over a single port, so one agent covers CPU, memory, disk, services, processes and custom plugins. It works with both Nagios XI and Nagios Core.

Which operating systems are supported?

The current release builds for x86-64: CentOS 9 and later, RHEL 8 and later, Oracle Linux 8 and later, OpenSUSE 15 and later, SLES 15 and later, Amazon Linux 2, Debian 11 and later, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and later, Windows 10 and later, Windows Server 2016 and later, macOS 13 Ventura and later, Solaris 11.4 SRU78 and later, and AIX 7.3 TL4 and later.

My operating system is older than that.

NCPA 2 packages cover a long list of older systems. They are in the download archive linked above.

Which port does it use?

TCP 5693, inbound from the monitoring server. The Windows installer adds the firewall rule for you. On Linux you open it yourself; the installation guide has the command for each distribution.

Active or passive checks?

Both. Active means your Nagios server runs the check on a schedule, which is the common choice. Passive means NCPA submits results upstream over NRDP, which reduces load on the Nagios server and removes the need for an inbound network path to the monitored host.

Can I upgrade from NCPA 2 to NCPA 3 in place?

On Linux and Windows, yes. On Solaris and AIX an inline upgrade is not supported, so remove NCPA 2 before installing NCPA 3.

Do I need a license?

No. NCPA is open source and free to use on as many machines as you like.

Where do I set the token?

On Windows the installer prompts for it. Everywhere else, set community_string in /usr/local/ncpa/etc/ncpa.cfg and restart the service. Avoid shell significant characters such as ! in the token, since they can cause problems with command execution on the Nagios side.