Disambiguation of Checkmk software and appliance
This article does not cover the editions of the Checkmk software!
Problem
Users and customers sometimes confuse the terms used to describe the Checkmk software and the Checkmk appliance.
Solution
There are two entirely different topics: The Checkmk appliance and the Checkmk software. Read on for the disambiguation.
Checkmk Appliance
The Checkmk appliance is an operating system in a can. It is merely a platform to run the Checkmk software on if your organization is not Linux-savvy.
The appliance has two flavors: A virtual template in OVA format and a physical server.
Both flavors contain - among others - the following features:
- A preconfigured operating system, ready to support the Checkmk software
- A console interface for first boot and basic configuration
- A web interface for operating system level configuration, installing the Checkmk software, site management, and backup
Checkmk Demo Appliance
The Checkmk Demo appliance is a publicly available version of the virtual appliance. It is intended for testing and concept proofing only.
Its limitations are:
- You can only install the Checkmk Free Edition
- You cannot get root access
Checkmk Software
The Checkmk software itself is the monitoring system you use all day. It can be installed on all major Linux distributions and the Checkmk appliance and run as a Docker container.
Checkmk Free Edition
See https://checkmk.com/l/t/enterprise-free-trial.
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