Zabbix Server

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tags:

• monitoring
• sysadmin

• linux

  Zabbix Server Sysadmin Cheatsheet

Zabbix is an enterprise-class open-source distributed monitoring solution developed by Zabbix SIA (Latvia). Originally released in 2001, it provides monitoring of networks, servers, cloud services, applications, and services with extensive template support, auto-discovery, and distributed architecture.

Common use cases / Типичные сценарии: Infrastructure monitoring (servers, VMs, containers), network device monitoring (SNMP, IPMI), application performance monitoring, cloud monitoring (AWS, Azure), log monitoring, web scenario monitoring, SLA reporting.

Status / Статус: Actively developed with LTS releases. Zabbix is one of the most popular open-source monitoring platforms. Alternatives include Checkmk (auto-discovery focused), Prometheus + Grafana (cloud-native, metrics), Datadog (SaaS), Nagios (legacy, Zabbix predecessor in some scenarios), VictoriaMetrics + vmagent (lightweight TSDB).

Default ports / Порты по умолчанию: 10050/tcp (Agent passive), 10051/tcp (Server/Proxy trapper), 80/443 (Web UI), 10053/tcp (Agent 2 gRPC)

📚 Table of Contents

• 1. Installation & Configuration
• 2. Core Management
• 3. Sysadmin Operations
• 4. Security
• 5. Backup & Restore
• 6. Troubleshooting & Tools
• 7. Logrotate Configuration
• Documentation Links

1. Installation & Configuration

Repository Setup

# RHEL/AlmaLinux 9 (Zabbix 6.0 LTS)
rpm -Uvh https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/6.0/rhel/9/x86_64/zabbix-release-6.0-4.el9.noarch.rpm
dnf clean all

# Zabbix 7.0 LTS
rpm -Uvh https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/7.0/rhel/9/x86_64/zabbix-release-latest-7.0.el9.noarch.rpm
dnf clean all

# Debian/Ubuntu (Zabbix 6.0 LTS)
wget https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/6.0/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zabbix-release/zabbix-release_6.0-4+ubuntu22.04_all.deb
dpkg -i zabbix-release_*.deb
apt update

Install Server & Agent

# RHEL/AlmaLinux (MySQL backend)
dnf install zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-web-mysql zabbix-apache-conf zabbix-sql-scripts zabbix-selinux-policy zabbix-agent2

# Debian/Ubuntu (MySQL backend)
apt install zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-frontend-php zabbix-apache-conf zabbix-sql-scripts zabbix-agent2

Agent Versions Comparison

Essential Configs

Server Configuration

/etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf

DBHost=localhost
DBName=zabbix
DBUser=zabbix
DBPassword=<PASSWORD>

# Performance tuning
StartPollers=10                    # Default: 5, increase for large setups / По умолчанию: 5
StartPollersUnreachable=3          # For unreachable hosts / Для недоступных хостов
StartTrappers=5                    # For active agent/proxy data / Для данных агентов
CacheSize=128M                     # Default: 8M, increase for large configs / Увеличить для больших конфигов
HistoryCacheSize=64M               # History cache / Кэш истории
ValueCacheSize=64M                 # Value cache / Кэш значений

Agent Configuration

/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.conf (or zabbix_agent2.conf)

# Server IP for passive checks / IP
Server=<IP_SERVER>

# Server IP for active checks / IP
ServerActive=<IP_SERVER>

# Hostname must match frontend config / Hostname
Hostname=<HOST>

Database Creation

# MySQL / MariaDB
mysql -uroot -p

CREATE DATABASE zabbix CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_bin;
CREATE USER zabbix@localhost IDENTIFIED BY '<PASSWORD>';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON zabbix.* TO zabbix@localhost;
SET GLOBAL log_bin_trust_function_creators = 1;
QUIT;

# Import schema
zcat /usr/share/zabbix-sql-scripts/mysql/server.sql.gz | mysql --default-character-set=utf8mb4 -uzabbix -p zabbix

# Disable after import
mysql -uroot -p -e "SET GLOBAL log_bin_trust_function_creators = 0;"

[!WARNING] The schema import can take several minutes. Do not interrupt the process. / Импорт схемы может занять несколько минут. Не прерывайте процесс.

2. Core Management

CLI Tools / CLI-инструменты

zabbix_get (Test Passive Checks)

Run from server or proxy. / Запуск с сервера или прокси.

# Test system metrics
zabbix_get -s <HOST_IP> -k "system.cpu.load[all,avg1]"
zabbix_get -s <HOST_IP> -k "vm.memory.size[available]"
zabbix_get -s <HOST_IP> -k "vfs.fs.size[/,pfree]"
zabbix_get -s <HOST_IP> -k "system.uptime"
zabbix_get -s <HOST_IP> -k "agent.version"

zabbix_sender (Push Data)

# Send single value
zabbix_sender -z <IP_SERVER> -s "<HOST>" -k "custom.key" -o "value"

# Send from file
zabbix_sender -z <IP_SERVER> -i /tmp/zabbix_data.txt
# File format: <HOST> <KEY> <VALUE>

Web UI Access

# Default URL / URL
http://<HOST>/zabbix
# Default credentials

[!CAUTION] Change the default Admin password immediately after first login. / Немедленно смените пароль Admin после первого входа.

3. Sysadmin Operations

Service Management

# Server
systemctl start zabbix-server      # Start / Запустить
systemctl stop zabbix-server       # Stop / Остановить
systemctl restart zabbix-server    # Restart / Перезапустить
systemctl enable zabbix-server     # Enable on boot / Автозапуск
systemctl status zabbix-server     # Check status / Проверить статус

# Agent 2
systemctl start zabbix-agent2      # Start / Запустить
systemctl restart zabbix-agent2    # Restart / Перезапустить
systemctl enable zabbix-agent2     # Enable on boot / Автозапуск

# Web stack
systemctl restart httpd php-fpm    # RHEL/AlmaLinux
systemctl restart apache2 php-fpm  # Debian/Ubuntu

Important Paths

Log Locations

Firewall Configuration

# Agent (passive) listens on 10050
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=10050/tcp

# Server/Proxy listens on 10051
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=10051/tcp

# Web UI
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=http
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=https
firewall-cmd --reload

4. Security

Encryption (PSK)

# Generate PSK key
openssl rand -hex 32 > /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.psk
chmod 640 /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.psk
chown root:zabbix /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.psk

Update agent config / Обновить конфиг агента:

/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.conf

TLSConnect=psk
TLSAccept=psk
TLSPSKIdentity=PSK_001
TLSPSKFile=/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.psk

[!NOTE] After configuring PSK on the agent, you must also configure the PSK identity and key in the Zabbix frontend: Configuration → Hosts → Host → Encryption. / Также настройте PSK в веб-интерфейсе: Конфигурация → Хосты → Хост → Шифрование.

Encryption Comparison

5. Backup & Restore

Database Backup

# MySQL full backup
mysqldump -uzabbix -p<PASSWORD> --single-transaction --quick --lock-tables=false zabbix | gzip > zabbix_backup_$(date +%F).sql.gz

# Config-only backup (smaller, faster)
mysqldump -uzabbix -p<PASSWORD> --single-transaction zabbix \
  hosts hosts_groups hosts_templates \
  items triggers actions \
  media media_type users usrgrp \
  | gzip > zabbix_config_backup_$(date +%F).sql.gz

Config Backup

# Backup config files
tar -czf zabbix_conf_backup_$(date +%F).tar.gz /etc/zabbix /usr/share/zabbix/conf /usr/lib/zabbix/

Restore

# Restore database
systemctl stop zabbix-server
zcat zabbix_backup_2024-01-01.sql.gz | mysql -uzabbix -p zabbix
systemctl start zabbix-server

[!CAUTION] Full database restores will overwrite all current data including history. For large databases, consider using Zabbix's built-in housekeeping instead of full dumps. / Полное восстановление перезапишет все данные.

6. Troubleshooting & Tools

Common Issues

1. "Zabbix server is not running" in Frontend / "Zabbix

# Check server status
systemctl status zabbix-server
tail -50 /var/log/zabbix/zabbix_server.log

# Check SELinux (RHEL)
getenforce
setsebool -P zabbix_can_network 1      # Allow network access / Разрешить доступ к сети
setsebool -P httpd_can_connect_zabbix 1  # Allow Apache to connect / Разрешить Apache подключаться

# Check DB connection
mysql -uzabbix -p -e "SELECT 1" zabbix

2. Agent Not Reachable

# Verify agent config
grep Server /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.conf   # Must match actual server IP / Должен совпадать с IP сервера

# Test from server
zabbix_get -s <HOST_IP> -k "agent.ping"

# Check firewall on agent host
firewall-cmd --list-all | grep 10050
ss -tlnp | grep 10050

3. Poller Processes Busy

# Check in web UI: Monitoring → Dashboard → "Zabbix internal process busy %"
#

# Increase pollers in zabbix_server.conf
# StartPollers=20         (default: 5)
# StartPollersUnreachable=5
# CacheSize=256M          (default: 8M)
systemctl restart zabbix-server

Debugging

# Enable debug logging temporarily (Level 4)
zabbix_server -R log_level_increase
# ... wait for issue
zabbix_server -R log_level_decrease

# Increase log level for specific process
zabbix_server -R log_level_increase="poller"

# Check runtime values
zabbix_server -R diaginfo

7. Logrotate Configuration

/etc/logrotate.d/zabbix-server

/var/log/zabbix/*.log {
    daily
    rotate 14
    compress
    delaycompress
    missingok
    notifempty
    create 640 zabbix zabbix
    sharedscripts
    postrotate
        /bin/kill -HUP $(cat /var/run/zabbix/zabbix_server.pid 2>/dev/null) 2>/dev/null || true
    endscript
}

[!TIP] Zabbix handles log rotation via config (LogFileSize parameter). Set LogFileSize=100 to auto-rotate at 100MB. External logrotate is optional. Zabbix управляет ротацией через конфиг (LogFileSize). Установите LogFileSize=100 для авто-ротации при 100МБ. Внешний logrotate опционален.

Documentation Links

• Official Documentation: https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/current/en
• Zabbix Downloads: https://www.zabbix.com/download
• Zabbix API: https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/current/en/manual/api
• Zabbix Templates: https://www.zabbix.com/integrations
• Zabbix Blog: https://blog.zabbix.com/
• Community Forum: https://www.zabbix.com/forum
• GitHub: https://github.com/zabbix/zabbix