==== Shinken interface ====

Administrators need a means to view status data and interact with the system.

If you install Shinken using the [[shinken_10min_start|10 minutes installation]] recommended method, you will have the **Shinken WebUI** installed. But it is not mandatory to use it, and you may prefer another interface. There are open-source and commercial web frontends using the **Livestatus API** or an **SQL backend** available to suit any needs.

==== Web interfaces ====

The choice of an interface starts with the method of data exchange: Those based on **Livestatus** and those based on an **SQL backend**.

The most responsive interfaces are the native **WebUI** and those based on **Livestatus**. The most scalable and flexible are those based on **Livestatus**.

**SkonfUI** is a discovery and configuration management UI that is **not production ready** and is meant as a beta preview for developers not users. Sorry.

=== Direct memory access based interface ===
  * [[use_with_webui|Shinken WebUI]], included in the Shinken installation. Previews the Shinken features in an attractive package. Not meant for distributed deployments or scalability.
 {{shinken_webui.png?480x320}}




=== Livestatus based interfaces (Networked API) ===
  * [[use_with_thruk|Thruk]]
{{thruk.png?480x320}}
  * [[use_with_multisite|Multisite]]
{{multisite.png?480x320}}
  * Complimentary module: [[use_with_nagvis|Nagvis]] (Graphical representation)
{{nagivs.jpg?480x320}}

=== Pickle based data export (Network) ===
  * Complimentary module: [[use_with_graphite|Graphite]] 
  *  //Note: Integrated out-of-the-box in [[use_with_webui|Shinken WebUI]]//

=== Other ===
  * Complimentary module: [[use_with_pnp|PNP4Nagios]] (Graphing interface)
{{pnp.png?480x320}}

=== Deprecated: Flat file export ===
  * [[use_with_old_cgi_and_vshell|Old CGI & VShell]] //Note: The Nagios CGI web interface is deprecated.//
{{nagios.jpg?480x320}}

==== Which one is right for me? ====

Try them out and see which one fits best; this is especially easy with the Shinken WebUI and the Livestatus based interfaces.

  * For users just starting out with small to medium installations, **Thruk** or **Shinken's WebUI** are good choices;
  * For maximum scalability, intuitive UI and a solid feature set **Multisite** is recommended. **Thruk** is perl/PHP based UI that is very feature complete which also provides some scalability.
