presentation on zabbix

Zabbix Essentials

Rajesh kumar.

(Senior DevOps Manager & Principal Architect)

Rajesh Kumar — an award-winning academician and consultant trainer, with 15+ years’ experience in diverse skill management, who has more than a decade of experience in training large and diverse groups across multiple industry sectors.

What is Zabbix?

• Zabbix has a centralized web interface
• The server can be run on most Unix-like operating systems
• This monitoring system has native agents for most Unix, Unix-like, and Microsoft Windows operation systems
• The system is easy to integrate with other systems, thanks to the API available in many different programming languages and the option that Zabbix itself provides
• Zabbix can monitor via SNMP (v1, v2, and v3), IPMI, JMX, ODBC, SSH, HTTP(s), TCP/UDP, and Telnet
• This monitoring system gives us the possibility of creating custom items and graphs and interpolating data
• The system is easy to customize

Zabbix Release Timeline

Why Zabbix?

• Open Source – Zabbix is purely open source and comes at no cost.
• Active Monitoring – You can easily monitor servers, applications and network devices, gathering accurate statistics and performance data
• Enterprise ready – Zabbix has been designed to scale from small environments to large environments
• Capacity Planning – With the data collected by Zabbix, you will be easy to analyze your infrastructure and plan the capacity accordingly.

Zabbix Feature & Advantages

How Zabbix works & Architecture?

Zabbix architecture.

Zabbix consists of several major software components, the responsibilities of which are outlined below.

SERVER: Zabbix server is the central component to which agents report availability and integrity information and statistics. The server is the central repository in which all configuration, statistical and operational data are stored.

DATABASE STORAGE: DATABASE STORAGE: All configuration information as well as the data gathered by Zabbix is stored in a database.

WEB INTERFACE: For an easy access to Zabbix from anywhere and from any platform, the web-based interface is provided. The interface is part of Zabbix server, and usually (but not necessarily) runs on the same physical machine as the one running the server.

PROXY: Zabbix proxy can collect performance and availability data on behalf of Zabbix server. A proxy is an optional part of Zabbix deployment; however, it may be very beneficial to distribute the load of a single Zabbix server.

AGENT: Zabbix agents are deployed on monitoring targets to actively monitor local resources and applications and report the gathered data to Zabbix server. Since Zabbix 4.4, there are two types of agents available: the Zabbix agent (lightweight, supported on many platforms, written in C) and the Zabbix agent 2 (extra-flexible, easily extendable with plugins, written in Go).

Zabbix Server

Zabbix server is the central process of Zabbix software.

The server performs the polling and trapping of data, it calculates triggers, sends notifications to users. It is the central component to which Zabbix agents and proxies report data on availability and integrity of systems. The server can itself remotely check networked services (such as web servers and mail servers) using simple service checks.

The server is the central repository in which all configuration, statistical and operational data is stored, and it is the entity in Zabbix that will actively alert administrators when problems arise in any of the monitored systems.

The functioning of a basic Zabbix server is broken into three distinct components; they are: Zabbix server, web frontend and database storage.

Zabbix Agent

Zabbix agent is deployed on a monitoring target to actively monitor local resources and applications (hard drives, memory, processor statistics etc).

The agent gathers operational information locally and reports data to Zabbix server for further processing. In case of failures (such as a hard disk running full or a crashed service process), Zabbix server can actively alert the administrators of the particular machine that reported the failure.

Zabbix Proxy

Zabbix proxy is a process that may collect monitoring data from one or more monitored devices and send the information to the Zabbix server, essentially working on behalf of the server. All collected data is buffered locally and then transferred to the Zabbix server the proxy belongs to.

Deploying a proxy is optional, but may be very beneficial to distribute the load of a single Zabbix server. If only proxies collect data, processing on the server becomes less CPU and disk I/O hungry.

Active agent: The Zabbix agent periodically asks the Zabbix proxy (or Zabbix server, if configured to use the server directly) for the list of items that should be collected, and then the agent will keep collecting the item values using the configured intervals and sending the values to the proxy. The proxy does not need to poll all the clients for the values, so this is more efficient way of working.

Passive agent: The Zabbix agent passively waits for connections. When the Zabbix proxy requires the item values from a client, it connects to the client and gets the item values. This requires the proxy to schedule and initiate the connections to all agents, so it requires more work from the proxy.

Zabbix Protocol

Zabbix Java Gateway

Native support for monitoring JMX applications exists in the form of a Zabbix daemon called “Zabbix Java gateway”, available since Zabbix 2.0. Zabbix Java gateway is a daemon written in Java. To find out the value of a particular JMX counter on a host, Zabbix server queries Zabbix Java gateway, which uses the JMX management API to query the application of interest remotely.

The application does not need any additional software installed, it just has to be started with -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote option on the command line.

Java gateway accepts incoming connection from Zabbix server or proxy and can only be used as a “passive proxy”. As opposed to Zabbix proxy, it may also be used from Zabbix proxy (Zabbix proxies cannot be chained). Access to each Java gateway is configured directly in Zabbix server or proxy configuration file, thus only one Java gateway may be configured per Zabbix server or Zabbix proxy.Java gateway accepts incoming connection from Zabbix server or proxy and can only be used as a “passive proxy”. As opposed to Zabbix proxy, it may also be used from Zabbix proxy (Zabbix proxies cannot be chained). Access to each Java gateway is configured directly in Zabbix server or proxy configuration file, thus only one Java gateway may be configured per Zabbix server or Zabbix proxy.

Zabbix Sender

Zabbix sender is a command line utility that may be used to send performance data to Zabbix server for processing.

The utility is usually used in long running user scripts for periodical sending of availability and performance data.

For sending results directly to Zabbix server or proxy, a trapper item type must be configured.

Zabbix get is a command line utility which can be used to communicate with Zabbix agent and retrieve required information from the agent.

Zabbix_js is a command line utility that can be used for embedded script testing.

This utility will execute a user script with a string parameter and print the result. Scripts are executed using the embedded Zabbix scripting engine.

In case of compilation or execution errors zabbix_js will print the error in stderr and exit with code 1.

Zabbix Web service

Zabbix web service is a process that is used for communication with external web services. Currently, Zabbix web service is used for generating and sending scheduled reports with plans to add additional functionality in the future.

Zabbix server connects to the web service via HTTP(S). Zabbix web service requires Google Chrome to be installed on the same host; on some distributions the service may also work with Chromium (see known issues) .

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A Look Back at Zabbix Summit 2023

Autumn in the Latvian capital of Riga is marked by a variety of traditions. The leaves fall, the rainy season arrives, the birds migrate, and IT professionals from around the world descend on the city for the annual Zabbix Summit.

On October 6 and 7, the Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija was packed with 450 delegates from 38 countries, all there for Zabbix Summit 2023 , the 11th in-person version of Zabbix’s premier yearly event.

This year’s Summit was marked by presentations, partner activities, and moments of relaxation and celebration that will energize the Zabbix community and spark ideas that attendees will take home to every corner of the world.

If you couldn’t make it, here’s a little taste of how it felt to be there!

Zabbix Summit 2023 in numbers

The stage hosted 27 speakers from 17 different countries who gave 31 speeches, including both lectures and lightning talks. There were four workshops with deep dives into technical topics, conducted by the Zabbix technical team as well as our partners from Opensource ICT Solutions and IZI-IT. Summit attendees also enjoyed three parties designed to provide a relaxing experience and networking opportunities.

Zabbix Summit 2023 proudly featured 10 sponsors, all part of Zabbix’s official partner network. They included:

initMAX – Diamond Sponsor IntelliTrend – Platinum Sponsor IZI-IT – Platinum Sponsor Quadrata – Platinum Sponsor Allenta – Gold Sponsor Metricio – Gold Sponsor Opensource ICT Solutions – Gold Sponsor Docomo Business – Gold Sponsor SRA OSS – Silver Sponsor Enthus – Lunch and coffee break sponsor

We’d also like to give a shout-out to our Zabbix Fans, who played a crucial role in supporting the Summit this year (as every year) with their attendance, merchandise purchases, and enthusiasm!

We’re grateful to everyone who played a role and helped us make Zabbix Summit 2023 happen!

Highlights from the main stage

This year we continued a Summit tradition and allowed our in-person audience as well those tuning in via livestream and YouTube to ask questions during live Q&A sessions – a feature that made the proceedings more interactive and helped everyone feel more involved. The speeches were all fascinating and well received, but a few in particular stood out:

What the future holds for Zabbix

Zabbix CEO and Founder Alexei Vladishev kicked off the presentations on Day 1 with a keynote speech about his current plans for Zabbix’s development, including a detailed look at enhancements requested by users.

Avoiding alert fatigue

Bringing a less technical and more conceptual approach to addressing day-to-day data monitoring issues, Rihards Olups, SaaS Architect at Nokia, discussed alert fatigue and how science explains it. During his presentation, Rihards showed how an excess of alerts can negatively affect selective attention and shared his thoughts about how professionals can intervene to prevent problems.

Making Zabbix’s latest offerings accessible to everyone

Day 2 began with Zabbix Director of Business Development Sergey Sorokin focusing on new plans and offerings , including a subscription system for technical support, consulting services, and monitoring tailored for managed service providers.

Monitoring everything (and we do mean everything!)

Janne Pikkarainen, Lead Site Reliability Engineer at Forcepoint, provided detailed and entertaining insights into how he connects Zabbix to smart accessories and uses it to monitor aspects of his home, including the location of personal items, noise levels, and even the frequency of his daughter’s naps and cries.

Implementing ideas and design in MSP environments

In tackling the topic of data collection and analysis for service providers, Brian van Baekel, Zabbix Trainer at Opensource ICT Solutions, presented details on the development of projects focused on monitoring service providers. He also highlighted best practices for data collection in Zabbix Server, data storage, and presenting on the Zabbix Frontend.

Monitoring the London transportation system

A use case presented by Nathan Liefting, Zabbix Consultant and Trainer at Opensource ICT Solutions, and Adan Mohamed, DevOps Manager at Boldyn Networks, showed how Zabbix monitors the availability of the London Underground subway system. Data is collected from 136 “tube” stations in a high-level architecture and used to assess the availability of Wi-Fi networks, emergency connections, and other services.

Bringing the Olympics and World Cup to life with Zabbix

Marianna Portela, a Tech Lead at Globo in Brazil, shared her insights into how Zabbix supports Globo’s digital transformation and helps her monitor live event infrastructure at massive events like the Olympics and World Cup.

Don’t forget the fun part!

Zabbix Summits are renowned for their friendly, informal atmosphere, which is probably most clearly on display at our famous Summit parties.

Zabbix Summit 2023’s Welcome party was held at the Stargorod Riga brewery in the heart of Riga’s old town. It featured arm wrestling, a selection of delicious foods and beverages, and plenty of opportunities for Summit participants to get to know each other.

The Main party saw live music, dancing, quizzes, and other fun events take place within the historic confines of the Latvian Railway History Museum. The atmosphere, food, drinks, and good company all combined to create an event that nobody who attended will soon forget!

Last but not least, the Closing party at the Burzma food hall was a true celebration of the diversity of the global Zabbix community, with food and music from every country with a Zabbix presence as well as plenty of opportunities for Summit attendees to swap stories and exchange contact details.

Open door, open minds

The traditional Zabbix open-door day was held on Thursday, October 5, and while past Summits have typically seen around 50 visitors, we were proud to welcome closer to 100 this time around. Attendees could have a coffee with their favorite Zabbix employees, play a friendly game of foosball or table tennis, and get a behind-the-scenes look at where the magic happens.

One new feature that made a big splash at this year’s Summit was the testimonial booth, which allowed Summit attendees to share their thoughts and experiences about Zabbix with the rest of our community. Sharing a testimonial or leaving a review allowed attendees to collect a piece of exclusive Zabbix Summit 2023 merchandise, and we went through a lot of it – the booth provided us with 28 filmed and 17 written testimonials about Zabbix products and services, far more than we anticipated.

Where to find the presentations

If you couldn’t attend but want to stay informed about what was discussed at the event (or if you’d just like to revisit the stage presentations), both days of recordings are available on Zabbix’s YouTube channel at the following links:

Streaming – Zabbix Summit Day 1

Streaming – Zabbix Summit Day 2

The graphics and texts of the presentations are also available for reference and download on the official event website.

We hope that Zabbix Summit 2023 was a time of valuable learning, connections, and idea exchange for everyone who attended or followed along through social media. If you’ve enjoyed the photos, you can see several more on our Instagram.

If you had an amazing time at Zabbix Summit 2023 (and we certainly hope you did), registration for Zabbix Summit 2024 is already open and Early Bird tickets are available.

See you next year!

Documentation

• 7.0 (current)
• In development
• 7.2 (devel)
• Unsupported

Configuration

4 slide shows.

In a slide show you can configure that a number of screens are displayed one after another at set intervals.

Sometimes you might want to switch between some configured screens. While that can be done manually, doing that more than once or twice may become very tedious. This is where the slide show function comes to rescue.

All users in Zabbix (including non-admin users) can create slide shows. Slide shows have an owner - the user who created them.

Slide shows can be made public or private. Public slide shows are visible to all users, however, they must have at least read permissions to all slide show elements (screens) to see it. To add a screen to the slide show the user must also have at least read permission to it.

Private slide shows are visible only to their owner. Private slide shows can be shared by the owner to other users and user groups. Regular (non-Super admin) users can only share with the groups and users they are member of. Private slide shows will be visible to their owner and the users the slide show is shared with as long as they have read permissions to all included screens. Admin level users, as long as they have read permissions to all included screens, can see and edit private slide shows regardless of being the owner or belonging to the shared user list.

To create a slide show, do the following:

• Go to Monitoring → Screens
• Select Slide shows in the dropdown
• Go to the view with all slide shows
• Click on Create slide show

The Slide tab contains general slide show attributes:

The slide show in this example consists of two screens which will be displayed in the following order:

Zabbix server ⇒ Displayed for 30 seconds ⇒ Zabbix server2 ⇒ Displayed for 15 seconds ⇒ Zabbix server ⇒ Displayed for 30 seconds ⇒ Zabbix server2 ⇒ …

The Sharing tab contains the slide show type as well as sharing options (user groups, users) for private slide shows:

Click on Add to save the slide show.

Slide shows that are ready can be viewed in Monitoring → Screens , then choosing Slide shows from the dropdown and clicking on the slide show name.

With the Menu option next to the dropdown, you can accelerate or slow down the display by choosing a slide delay multiplier:

If a delay ends up as being less than 5 seconds (either by having entered a delay less than 5 seconds or by using the slide delay multiplier), a 5-second minimum delay will be used.