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🚀 Distributed Smokeping

This guide documents a deployment script that automates Smokeping master/slave containers using Docker and MacVLAN networking. It supports multi-slave deployments, colored log monitoring, and secure configuration handling for production monitoring setups.

Diagram

📦 Features​

  • Deploys one master and configurable number of slaves
  • Uses MacVLAN networking with static IP assignments
  • Automatically detects network interface (suggests Docker’s default parent)
  • Automatically assigns Master IP based on subnet (.100)
  • Randomly generates secure shared secret
  • Auto-generates slavesecrets.conf and Slaves configuration
  • Secure handling of shared secrets (chmod 600)
  • Supports real-time colored log monitoring
  • Reload, restart, stop, and remove containers with one command
  • Clean log process management and safe cleanup
  • Master exposed on port 80, slaves run without external exposure

⚙️ Requirements​

  • OS: Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04 / 24.04
  • Dependencies:
    • Docker & Docker Compose
    • Bash (v4+)
    • openssl (for random secret generation)
  • Network: MacVLAN supported interface

📑 Configuration​

The script auto-detects most settings:

  • Parent Interface – Shows all physical interfaces, suggests the one used by Docker by default
  • Master IP – Automatically set to .100 of the detected subnet
  • Shared Secret – Securely randomized using openssl rand -base64 16

Edit the following only if you want custom values:

NETWORK_NAME="smokeping_macvlan"   # Docker network name
IMAGE="lscr.io/linuxserver/smokeping:latest"
CONFIG_BASE="/root/smokeping"      # Base directory for configs/data
TZ="Asia/Manila"                   # Timezone
CIDR_SUFFIX="24"                   # Subnet mask
MASTER_NAME="MAIN"                 # Master container name
SLAVE_BASE="ISP"                   # Slave name prefix
START_OFFSET=101                   # First slave IP offset

🚀 Usage​

One-liner install:

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kintoyyy/smokeping-multi-docker/main/install-containers.sh)"

Make the script executable:

chmod +x install-containers.sh

Start deployment​

./install-containers.sh start

You will be prompted for:

  • Parent interface (default: Docker’s detected interface)
  • Number of slave containers to create

Start with debugging & colored log monitoring​

./install-containers.sh start --debug

Stop all containers​

./install-containers.sh stop

Remove all containers and network​

./install-containers.sh remove

Reload configuration​

./install-containers.sh reload

Restart containers​

./install-containers.sh restart

📊 Debugging & Log Monitoring​

In debug mode (--debug), the script shows real-time logs from all containers with color coding:

  • 🟢 MASTER – Main Smokeping server (port 80 open)
  • 🔵 SLAVE1 – First slave container
  • 🟣 SLAVE2+ – Additional slaves, fallback colors used
  • ⚪ SYSTEM – Deployment/system messages
  • 🌫️ MONITOR – Log monitoring events

Example log format:

[2025-08-22 21:35:11] [MASTER:MAIN:10.15.0.100] Smokeping starting...
[2025-08-22 21:35:11] [SLAVE:ISP1:10.15.0.101] Slave connected to master

🔐 Security Notes​

  • Master container has port 80 exposed for the web interface
  • Slave containers are not exposed (no port mapping)
  • Shared secrets are stored securely (chmod 600)
  • Secret is randomized on every deployment
  • MacVLAN isolates containers from the Docker host for additional security
  • Consider adding iptables firewall rules for stricter access

🧹 Cleanup​

  • Stop only:

    ./install-containers.sh stop

  • Remove everything (containers + network):

    ./install-containers.sh remove

All background log monitoring processes are cleaned up automatically.

📖 Example Deployment Flow​

$ ./install-containers.sh start
Available physical interfaces:
 - ens18
 - docker0
Enter the parent interface to use [default: ens18]:
How many slave containers to create? 3
[+] Using parent interface: ens18
[+] Master URL automatically set to: http://10.15.0.100/smokeping/smokeping.cgi
[+] Generated random shared secret: kPz3M7F9xLh2NcV8==

[+] Starting deployment of 1 master + 3 slave containers
[+] Creating macvlan network: smokeping_macvlan (subnet: 10.15.0.0/24, gateway: 10.15.0.1)
[+] Deploying Smokeping Master at 10.15.0.100
[+] Deploying Slave 1 (ISP1) at 10.15.0.101
[+] Deploying Slave 2 (ISP2) at 10.15.0.102
[+] Deploying Slave 3 (ISP3) at 10.15.0.103
[+] Deployment completed successfully!