Zabbix Proxy

[nelsonab]

I've been digging around trying to find out more information about the new proxy function but haven't come up with much so far.

My main question is how is it intended to be deployed? Is it intended to be deployed near the SQL server and act as a direct feed into the SQL database, or is it meant to sit somewhere aggregating data from agents into one stream which is then sent to the zabbix_server process? Where does it fit in the agent/server/database interaction?

[nelsonab]

Bump!

Alexei, other devs, would ya'll mind giving us a little more information please?

[NOB]

Hi

last time I checked the sources it'll use ODBC (under Windows and UNIX/Linux)
to connect to the DB.
So you need an ODBC driver for it.
The Windows version won't be ready in 1.6

That's all I know.

Regards

Norbert.

[jahlewis]

my understanding (and hope) is that it will act as a proxy collector in networks behind firewalls or slow wan links, so that the actual zabbix server talks only to the proxy, which then communicates to the internal hosts.

internal hosts -> zabbix proxy -> firewall -> WAN -> firewall -> zabbix server

is this a correct assumption? I'm hoping it is, as this is a major feature I've been waiting for, and once available, will allow me to monitor multiple remote sites across the internet.

[Alexei]

my understanding (and hope) is that it will act as a proxy collector in networks behind firewalls or slow wan links, so that the actual zabbix server talks only to the proxy, which then communicates to the internal hosts.

internal hosts -> zabbix proxy -> firewall -> WAN -> firewall -> zabbix server

is this a correct assumption? I'm hoping it is, as this is a major feature I've been waiting for, and once available, will allow me to monitor multiple remote sites across the internet.

ZABBIX Proxy will work exactly as you described. It will collect performance and availability data, also perform auto-discovery on ZABBIX Server behalf. There are several cool things about the proxy:

1. It is immune to communication problems. Data is locally stored.
2. It requires one-way (Proxy to Server) TCP connections only.
3. Almost zero maintenance. For example, if a local Proxy database does not exist, the proxy will create one automatically. So, basically a binary and small configuration file is required to setup a proxy.
4. Configuration is stored and fully managed on Server side from the normal WEB GUI.
5. I am sure I forgot many other interesting things....

[BusteR81]

how to use proxy function , anyone ?

ZABBIX Proxy will work exactly as you described. It will collect performance and availability data, also perform auto-discovery on ZABBIX Server behalf. There are several cool things about the proxy:

1. It is immune to communication problems. Data is locally stored.
2. It requires one-way (Proxy to Server) TCP connections only.
3. Almost zero maintenance. For example, if a local Proxy database does not exist, the proxy will create one automatically. So, basically a binary and small configuration file is required to setup a proxy.
4. Configuration is stored and fully managed on Server side from the normal WEB GUI.
5. I am sure I forgot many other interesting things....

This feature is awesome. However I couldn't find any help topics (even from zabbix manual v1.4) on the usage of proxy server. Can someone enlighten mi, please ??

Cheers

[Alexei]

This feature is awesome. However I couldn't find any help topics (even from zabbix manual v1.4) on the usage of proxy server. Can someone enlighten mi, please ??

Cheers

Take a look at the manual included into 1.5.1. The proxy is covered there.

[BusteR81]

at last v1.6 manual xD

Take a look at the manual included into 1.5.1. The proxy is covered there.

THanks Alexei. i do have a suggestion that you insert/update the v1.4 manual on zabbix website. it took mi abt 10 minutes to seach for the v1.6 manual download link as it is not updated in certain places.

[BusteR81]

db creation

3. Almost zero maintenance. For example, if a local Proxy database does not exist, the proxy will create one automatically. So, basically a binary and small configuration file is required to setup a proxy.

Can you explain what you meant? do i no longer have to create database zabbix and cat data.sql | mysql DB, etc. for a zabbix proxy server ???

[Alexei]

Can you explain what you meant? do i no longer have to create database zabbix and cat data.sql | mysql DB, etc. for a zabbix proxy server ???

Yes, the database will be created automatically provided the proxy user has permissions to do it.

[BusteR81]

root ran proxy BUT doesnt auto create dB

Yes, the database will be created automatically provided the proxy user has permissions to do it.

I don't think it is able to do it.

[root@ALPHA6U02 zabbix]# /usr/local/sbin/zabbix_proxy

/tmp/zabbix_proxy.log :
22177:20080421:165205 Failed to connect to database: Error: Unknown database 'proxy' [1049]

zabbix_proxy.conf :
# Database host name
# Default is localhost

#DBHost=localhost

# Database name
# SQLite3 note: path to database file must be provided. DBUser and DBPassword are ignored.
DBName=proxy

# Database user

DBUser=root

# Database password
# Comment this line if no password used

#DBPassword=<password>

# Connect to MySQL using Unix socket?

#DBSocket=/tmp/mysql.sock

------------------manually create just database ----------------
[zabbix@ALPHA6U02 ~]$ mysql -u root
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 298 to server version: 4.1.20

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> create database proxy;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

/tmp/zabbix_proxy.log :
22281:20080421:165642 Query failed:Table 'proxy.items' doesn't exist [1146]

[Alexei]

It is currently implemented for SQLite only, more to come (including MySQL) in 1.6.

[NL_Daan]

Hi,
did someone notice that the Availability in the hosts overviews doesn't work anymore after implementing the proxy?

[Alexei]

Hi,
did someone notice that the Availability in the hosts overviews doesn't work anymore after implementing the proxy?

The availability column will be removed in 1.6. This is a major source of confusion for many ZABBIX users....

[Emir Imamagic]

It is currently implemented for SQLite only, more to come (including MySQL) in 1.6.

Could you confirm that auto creation for MySQL is implemented in 1.6? I installed proxy today and it was complaining that DB is missing. Only after I manually created the DB and executed SQL scripts, proxy started working.

Cheers,
emir