Frequently asked questions
How is Lookout different from Nagios?
Same core idea — watch hosts and services, alert on problems, extend with plugins — but modernized: a single agent that’s outbound-only (no open ports), plain-English health instead of jargon, and a setup a non-expert can actually complete. Lookout is also Nagios-plugin compatible, so the existing ecosystem works.
Which platforms does the agent support?
Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, Rocky, CentOS, AlmaLinux), Windows, and macOS — the same agent, one binary per platform.
How do agents communicate, and is it secure?
The agent only makes outbound HTTPS connections to your control plane, authenticated with a per-fleet enrollment token compared in constant time. It never opens a listening port, so there’s nothing inbound to expose or firewall. See the Security page for the full design.
What data does the agent collect?
Host info (hostname, OS, uptime), specs (CPU, memory, disk, load), installed packages, and running services. It never collects secrets, credentials, or file contents.
Can I use my existing Nagios plugins?
Yes. Lookout runs any Nagios-compatible plugin — a program that prints a status line and exits 0/1/2/3 for OK/WARNING/CRITICAL/UNKNOWN — so the thousands of existing plugins work, alongside your own custom checks in any language.
What alert channels are supported?
Email, Slack, and webhooks (e.g. PagerDuty, Opsgenie, or your own handler), with deduplication, recovery notices, and escalation so you get signal, not noise. See the Alerts page.
What deployment options are there?
Two, both paid: a fully managed dashboard that we host and maintain for you, or an on-prem deployment (Enterprise) where the control plane runs inside your own network and your data never leaves it.
What does Lookout cost?
Lookout is a commercial product priced per monitored server. Starter and Pro are flat per-server plans; Enterprise (including on-prem) is a custom quote. There is no free tier — see the pricing page.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. If you can paste a command into a terminal, you can install the agent and read the dashboard. Engineers get an API, custom plugins, and CI/CD gates on top.
Is it really secure?
It’s built secure-by-design — outbound-only agents, no shell calls, least privilege, constant-time auth. But no software is ever “zero vulnerabilities,” and we won’t claim it is. See the Security page.
Can I monitor client fleets as an MSP?
Yes. There’s per-client partner pricing with volume discounts and an optional white-label — contact sales.
Still stuck? Contact us, or read the getting-started guide.