Cereus Data Export

A commercial Cacti plugin for scheduled export of graph data to CSV, JSON, and XML formats with email and SFTP delivery.

Requirements

• Cacti 1.2.0 or later
• PHP 7.4+
• PHP ssh2 extension (for SFTP delivery)
• Optional: Cereus License Manager for Professional/Enterprise features

Installation

1. Copy the cereus_dataexport folder to <cacti>/plugins/
2. Set ownership: chown -R apache:apache <cacti>/plugins/cereus_dataexport/
3. In Cacti, go to Console > Configuration > Plugins, find "Cereus Data Export", click Install then Enable
4. Grant the appropriate realm permissions to users under Console > Utilities > User Management

Configuration

Go to Console > Configuration > Settings > Data Export to configure:

• Enable Data Export — Master switch for scheduled exports
• Export Directory — Local directory for export files (must be writable by the web server)
• Default Export Format — Default format for new definitions (CSV/JSON/XML)
• Max Rows per Export — Maximum data rows per graph in RRDtool xport output
• Log Retention — Number of days to keep export log entries
• Debug Logging — Enable verbose debug logging to cacti.log

Usage

Creating Export Definitions

1. Go to Console > Cereus Tools > Data Exports
2. Click the + button to create a new definition
3. Configure name, format, time range, schedule, and delivery method
4. Save the definition

Adding Graphs

1. Go to Console > Management > Graphs
2. Select the graphs you want to export using the checkboxes
3. Choose Data Export - Add to Export Definition from the actions dropdown
4. Select the target definition and click Continue

Column Filtering (Professional+)

After assigning graphs, the Column Filter section appears on the edit form showing all available data source columns. Check the columns you want to include in the export. Leave all unchecked to export all columns.

Delivery Methods

Method	Tier	Description
Local Directory	All	Writes files to the configured export directory
Email	Professional+	Sends export file as email attachment
SFTP	Enterprise	Uploads export file to a remote SFTP server

License Tiers

Feature	Community	Professional	Enterprise
CSV export (per-graph files)	Yes	Yes	Yes
JSON/XML export (combined)	—	Yes	Yes
Poller cycle scheduling	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hourly/Daily/Weekly/Monthly	—	Yes	Yes
Local file delivery	Yes	Yes	Yes
Email delivery	—	Yes	Yes
SFTP delivery	—	—	Yes
Column filtering	—	Yes	Yes
Max definitions	5	50	Unlimited
Max graphs per definition	100	Unlimited	Unlimited

Without the Cereus License Manager plugin installed, the Community tier is active by default.

Export Log

View export history at Console > Cereus Tools > Export Log. The log shows:

• Date, definition name, success/failure status
• Row count, execution duration
• File path or error message
• Filter by status (Success/Failed) and search text
• CSV export of log entries
• Purge option to clear all log entries

Support

• Author: Thomas Urban / Urban-Software.de
• Email: info@urban-software.de
• Web: https://www.urban-software.com

License

GPL-2.0-or-later