Cacti
Overview
Cacti is an open-source network monitoring and graphing platform built on RRDtool.
It provides a scalable framework to collect, store, and visualize time-series data from network devices, servers, and applications.
Core capabilities include:
- Automated device discovery
- Local and remote data collection
- Graph, data source, and RRA templating
- SNMP polling (v1/v2/v3) and IPv6 support
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Plugin framework
- Dynamic graph viewing and export options
Release Branches
Cacti maintains two primary branches:
| Branch | Purpose |
|---|---|
1.2.x |
Stable long-lived release series |
develop |
Active development toward Cacti 1.3.x |
For the latest published version, see GitHub Releases.
System Requirements
Minimum supported dependencies by branch:
| Dependency | Cacti 1.2.x |
Cacti develop (1.3.x) |
|---|---|---|
| MariaDB | 5.6+ | 10.2.x+ |
| MySQL | 5.6+ | 8.0+ |
| PHP | 8.1+ | 8.1+ |
| RRDtool | 1.4+ | 1.8+ |
| Net-SNMP | 5.5+ | 5.8+ |
Notes:
- RRDtool 1.9+ is recommended for newer dynamic graph features in 1.3.x.
- Net-SNMP 5.9+ is recommended for broader SNMPv3 protocol coverage.
- A web server with PHP support is required.
- PHP should be available as CLI or CGI for scheduled polling and maintenance scripts.
php-snmpis optional; validate behavior carefully if you depend on IPv6 and SNMPv3.- To force the Net-SNMP binaries while
php-snmpremains installed, set$php_snmp_support = false;ininclude/config.php.
Operating system guidance:
1.2.x: RHEL/Rocky/Alma 8+ (or equivalent) is a common baseline.1.3.x: RHEL/Rocky/Alma 9+ or CentOS Stream 9+ is preferred for modern PHP packaging.- Debian and Ubuntu are also well supported.
Installation (Source Checkout)
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/Cacti/cacti.git
cd cacti
Dependency management:
- For a source checkout on both
1.2.xanddevelop, install dependencies with Composer. - Use
composer updateonly when intentionally refreshing dependency versions.
Install dependencies:
composer install
Windows users may need:
composer install --ignore-platform-req=ext-pcntl --ignore-platform-req=ext-posix
Then configure your database and web server, and complete setup using the official docs:
https://github.com/Cacti/documentation
Database Upgrades and Schema Checks
When running from source (especially develop), schema updates may be required after pulling changes.
Upgrade the database schema:
sudo -u cacti php -q cli/upgrade_database.php --forcever=`cat include/cacti_version`
If needed, force a re-upgrade from an earlier version:
php -q cli/upgrade_database.php --forcever=<older_version>
Audit schema consistency:
php cli/audit_database.php --report
Data Collection and Polling
Cacti collects data through data sources, which can use:
- SNMP
- Scripts
- Command output
- Databases
- Custom input methods
Polling engines:
| Poller | Description |
|---|---|
| PHP Poller | Built-in polling engine |
| Spine | High-performance C-based poller |
Spine supports SNMPv1/v2 and SNMPv3 with IPv6, with some advanced protocol support depending on how Net-SNMP is compiled on your platform.
Features
- Device discovery and automation workflows
- Reusable templates for graphs and data sources
- Distributed remote data collectors
- Plugin architecture for extensibility
- Dynamic graph interactions (time navigation, realtime view, CSV export)
- Fine-grained user and group permissions using RBAC
- Broad RRDtool graphing support (including VDEFs and stacked lines)
Documentation
Official documentation is maintained in a separate repository:
https://github.com/Cacti/documentation
Contributing
Contributions are welcome.
- Fork this repository.
- Create a branch for your change.
- Submit a pull request.
You can also help improve docs in:
https://github.com/Cacti/documentation
Community
Community support is available on the Cacti forums:
Contributors
Thanks go to these wonderful people (emoji key):
This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind are welcome.
License
Cacti is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0.
See LICENSE for details.
Copyright Β© 2004-2026 The Cacti Group, Inc.