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1 Proxies

Overview

A Zabbix proxy can collect performance and availability data on behalf of the Zabbix server. This way, a proxy can take on itself some of the load of collecting data and offload the Zabbix server.

Also, using a proxy is the easiest way of implementing centralized and distributed monitoring, when all agents and proxies report to one Zabbix server and all data is collected centrally.

A Zabbix proxy can be used to:

  • Monitor remote locations
  • Monitor locations having unreliable communications
  • Offload the Zabbix server when monitoring thousands of devices
  • Simplify the maintenance of distributed monitoring

The proxy requires only one TCP connection to the Zabbix server. This way it is easier to get around a firewall as you only need to configure one firewall rule.

Zabbix proxy must use a separate database. Pointing it to the Zabbix server database will break the configuration.

All data collected by the proxy is stored locally before transmitting it over to the server. This way no data is lost due to any temporary communication problems with the server. The ProxyLocalBuffer and ProxyOfflineBuffer parameters in the proxy configuration file control for how long the data are kept locally.

It may happen that a proxy, which receives the latest configuration changes directly from Zabbix server database, has a more up-to-date configuration than Zabbix server whose configuration may not be updated as fast due to the value of CacheUpdateFrequency. As a result, proxy may start gathering data and send them to Zabbix server that ignores these data.

Zabbix proxy is a data collector. It does not calculate triggers, process events or send alerts. For an overview of what proxy functionality is, review the following table:

Function Supported by proxy
Items
Zabbix agent checks Yes
Zabbix agent checks (active) Yes 1
Simple checks Yes
Trapper items Yes
SNMP checks Yes
SNMP traps Yes
IPMI checks Yes
JMX checks Yes
Log file monitoring Yes
Internal checks Yes
SSH checks Yes
Telnet checks Yes
External checks Yes
Built-in web monitoring Yes
Network discovery Yes
Low-level discovery Yes
Calculating triggers No
Processing events No
Sending alerts No
Remote commands No

[1] To make sure that an agent asks the proxy (and not the server) for active checks, the proxy must be listed in the ServerActive parameter in the agent configuration file.

Configuration

Once you have installed and configured a proxy, it is time to configure it in the Zabbix frontend.

Adding proxies

To configure a proxy in Zabbix front end:

  • Go to: Administration → DM
  • Click on Create proxy

Parameter Description
Proxy name Enter the proxy name. It must be the same name as in the Hostname parameter in the proxy configuration file.
Proxy mode Select the proxy mode.
Active - the proxy will connect to the Zabbix server and request configuration data
Passive - Zabbix server connects to the proxy
Note that (sensitive) proxy configuration data may become available to parties having access to the Zabbix server trapper port when using an active proxy. This is possible because anyone may pretend to be an active proxy and request configuration data; authentication does not take place.
Hosts Add hosts to be monitored by the proxy.
Host configuration

You can specify that an individual host should be monitored by a proxy in the host configuration form, using the Monitored by proxy field.

Host mass update is another way of specifying that hosts should be monitored by a proxy.