An Overview of Icinga subscriptions

icinga news

For customers using Icinga for infrastructure monitoring: Icinga GmbH changed its business model a few weeks ago and put rpm packages for RHEL 8+, Amazon Linux and Suse Linux based operating systems behind a paywall. Access to the update repositories is now only available with an Icinga Repository Subscription. A paid Icinga Repository Subscription is required for 20 VMs or more, until then a free Developer Subscription is sufficient.

You can get them here.

Questions and Answers

Q: How do you see this - is the Icinga project moving away from open source?

A: Not directly, at least not for the Icinga core, IcingaWeb and most modules. So Icinga in its current form is still open source - it just no longer builds and offers free installation packages for every operating system. This is how the project tries to be self-sustaining. As an open source company, we stepped in with the argument "What if I run a RHEL environment based on the RHEL Developer Subscription?" which led to the introduction of the "Icinga Developer Subscription". However, the Icinga project also builds software whose source code is not available in the public GitHub repositories.

Q: Is it likely that the subscription cost will be the same for smaller customers in the long run?

A: We can't answer that, but we will follow this closely and discuss it further with Icinga GmbH.

Q: I have been looking at the Icinga subscription. If I understand correctly, Icinga offers a full service. What are the differences between the support provided by Linuxfabrik and Icinga itself?

A: You have to differentiate:

  • Linuxfabrik support refers to Linux and Open Source in general, including Icinga as one component among many.
  • The Icinga repository subscription: This is access to Icinga updates only, no service from Icinga GmbH.
  • The Icinga Support Subscription: This is where you get updates and - for the more serious cases - 3rd level service with Icinga GmbH through us as your Icinga partner.

We recommend at least one service contract with us and an Icinga Repository Subscription when using Icinga. For critical infrastructures we recommend a service contract with us as well as an Icinga Support Subscription.

Q: Does this also apply to Ubuntu?

A: No. Only if at least one of the hosts monitored by Icinga is based on RHEL 8+, Amazon Linux or Suse (e.g. the Icinga server itself) will a repo subscription be required - either as a developer subscription for up to 20 RHEL/Amazon Linux/Suse hosts or for a fee for more than 20 hosts. An Icinga Support Subscription can be purchased at any time for any operating system.

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