How did you set up and configure Zabbix?

I have installed Zabbix mainly using official packages or ready-made container images.

Installation and Configuration

1. Operating System Choice: Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian) is the most common.
2. Web Server Installation: Apache or Nginx.
3. Database Management System: MySQL or PostgreSQL. MySQL is more frequently used due to broad support and documentation.
4. Installing Zabbix Server, Agent, Frontend:

   # Example for Ubuntu
   # Adding Zabbix repository
   wget https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/5.0/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zabbix-release/zabbix-release_5.0-1%2Bfocal_all.deb
   sudo dpkg -i zabbix-release_5.0-1%2Bfocal_all.deb
   sudo apt update
   # Installing Zabbix server, frontend, agent (with MySQL and Apache support)
   sudo apt install zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-frontend-php zabbix-apache-conf zabbix-agent
   

5. Creating database and Zabbix user:

   -- Example for MySQL
   CREATE DATABASE zabbix character set utf8 collate utf8_bin;
   CREATE USER 'zabbix'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON zabbix.* TO 'zabbix'@'localhost';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   EXIT;
   

6. Importing initial schema and data into the database:

   zcat /usr/share/doc/zabbix-server-mysql*/create.sql.gz | mysql -uzabbix -p zabbix
   

7. Configuring Zabbix Server configuration file: /etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf

   # Example settings in zabbix_server.conf
   DBHost=localhost
   DBName=zabbix
   DBUser=zabbix
   DBPassword=password
   

8. Configuring PHP for Zabbix Frontend: Set timezone and memory limits in /etc/zabbix/apache.conf (for Apache) or similar for Nginx, as well as in php.ini.
9. Starting and enabling Zabbix Server and Agent services:

   sudo systemctl restart zabbix-server zabbix-agent apache2  # or nginx
   sudo systemctl enable zabbix-server zabbix-agent apache2 # or nginx
   

10. Web interface setup: Initial database setup, connection configuration, and PHP requirements check.

Monitoring Setup

• Adding hosts: Manual addition, auto-discovery (e.g., by IP range), or using agents (Active/Passive).
• Applying templates: Using standard templates (Linux by Zabbix agent, Windows by Zabbix agent, ICMP Ping) or creating custom ones for specific applications and services.
• Configuring data items: Defining metrics for collection (CPU load, memory usage, disk space, network traffic, etc.).
• Configuring triggers: Setting conditions for event/problem generation based on data item values (e.g., CPU load exceeds 80% for 5 minutes).
• Configuring actions: Defining responses to events/problems (sending notifications via email, SMS, Slack, executing remote commands).
• Configuring graphs and maps: Visualizing monitoring data and displaying network/infrastructure topology.

Additional Configuration

• Distributed monitoring: Setting up Zabbix Proxies for remote locations or large networks to reduce load on the Zabbix server.
• Encryption: Configuring encryption between Zabbix Server, Proxy, and Agents using TLS/PSK.
• Auto-discovery: Setting rules for automatic addition and configuration of hosts and data items.
• Low-level discovery (LLD): Automatic detection of components on a host (filesystems, network interfaces, disks) and creating data items and triggers for them.
• Integration: Integrating with other systems (alerting systems, ITSM, automation systems).

Tools like Ansible, Chef, or Puppet are often used for automating installation and configuration. Using ready-made Docker images or Helm charts for Kubernetes greatly simplifies deployment.