Graphs Question

[RichardCA]

Sorry for being a newbie but...

Why are the graphs for Windows Servers not visible in either the Monitoring->Graphs or Config->Graphs screens, even when logged in as Admin?

It seems like the graphs that are based on Windows metrics are relegated to some sort of bizarre form of second-class citizenship.

What am I missing?

[Alexei]

I cannot check it right now, but it is very likely that the Windows template does not have any complex graphs defined. However if you go to Monitoring->Latest data and click on any Graph link, you could see individual graphs for any items collected by Window agent.

[RichardCA]

Thanks for the answer. Can you just tell me quickly, how do graphs "bind" to an agent? And is there a place in the PHP interface where I can see how a graph is defined and what it's bindings are? I may be carrying over terminology from other monitoring systems, but where I come from, if you define a new monitored host and put it into the "Windows Server" group, you expect the graphs to bind on the group level, and then the host inherits that and you get the behavior you would expect.

So, what am I missing?

[Calimero]

Thanks for the answer. Can you just tell me quickly, how do graphs "bind" to an agent? And is there a place in the PHP interface where I can see how a graph is defined and what it's bindings are? I may be carrying over terminology from other monitoring systems, but where I come from, if you define a new monitored host and put it into the "Windows Server" group, you expect the graphs to bind on the group level, and then the host inherits that and you get the behavior you would expect.

So, what am I missing?

Group association won't "bind" any items/graphs/triggers. It's just a way of sorting hosts.

You have to "bind" ... that is to say "link with" one or more templates or add individual items/graphs/triggers.

[RichardCA]

You have to "bind" ... that is to say "link with" one or more templates or add individual items/graphs/triggers.

Well when I add a new host and link it to the "Windows Servers" template it seems to pick up the right graphs when I look under "Latest Data" but when I try to add those same graphs to a "Screen" or view them under "Graphs" they are nowhere to be found.

I'm just trying to get consistent graph behavior in a mixed Linux / Windows environment, so the end users can see all the graphs in one place.

Can someone please tell me how I fix this? I need to know the exact navigation path inside the PHP interface.

[RichardCA]

Sorry, that last question wasn't well formed.

Let me ask this question instead.

Here is what I did:

1. Install Zabbix (server and agent) on a Linux box.

2. Set up the server host in the group "Zabbix Servers" and "Linux Servers".

3. Observed that the following four graphs are visible for this host:

- CPU Loads
- CPU Utilization
- Disk usage
- Network utilization

4. Add another Linux box as an agent.

5. Define this box as being in the "Linux Servers" group.

6. Observe that the four graphs can not be seen on the second host.

All I want to know is how Zabbix knew to link those four graphs to the Zabbix Server host. I can see the graph definition as it is linked to the host, but I can't see the graph definition itself, that is, where the link between the graph and the Zabbix Server group is defined. And if the linkage is not defined at the group level, where is it defined? It seems like this linkage is buried somewhere, as if it were intentionally made hard to find.

[Calimero]

Configuration > Hosts
Select "Hosts" in the upper-right corner menu
Click Create Host
Give Name "MyHost001'
Type "MyGroup" in New Group
Give IP or DNS

Click save. You now have a new group "MyGroup" containing a single host: MyHost001.
That host has no graphs/items/triggers.

Configuration > Items
Upper-right menu: choose group MyGroup and then your host.
Click Create Item
Description: ICMP Ping
Type: simple check
Key: icmpping
Save

Host "MyHost001" now has a single item: ICMP Ping check.
You can now add extra items, graphs, triggers...

Configuration > Hosts
Select "Hosts" in the upper-right corner menu
Click Create Host
Give Name "MyHost002'
Select/add group MyGroup from list
Give IP/dns name
Click save.

MyHost002 is part of group MyGroup but has no items. Because as I said, groups just allow to sort hosts (+ some other features) but groups *are not templates*.

So you have to go to Config > Items and create the same ICMP Ping item all over again.



What you'll want is templates.
Configuration > Hosts
Upper-right menu: choose Templates
Click Create Template
A template is somehow a "virtual host".
Give template name "TPL_Windows_WebServer"
Add group "Templates" so that the template will be listing among... templates !
You could (should) create multiple templates groups: "System Templates", "DB Templates", "Application Templates" for example ...
Anyway, save.

The Configuration > Items
Choose group Templates > TPL_Windows_WebServer and add items to your template
Create Item: ICMP Ping (Type Simple Check / Key 'icmpping')
Create Item: RDP Port (Type Simple Check / Key 'tcp,3389')
Create Item: HTTP Port (Type Simple Check / Key 'http')

Now Configuration > Hosts
Choose "Hosts" in upper-right menu
Create Host
Name: MyHost003
Group: MyGroup
Give IP/dnsnames
Link with template: click Add, select TPL_Windows_WebServer
Save

MyHost003 will be in group MyGroup and will inherit all items from template TPL_Windows_WebServer.
And again, Group association will not impact what items/triggers definition. They just allow you to ... group hosts.
Groups are usefull when writing Actions (Alerts) as you can then say "Host group = DB Servers" ==> notify DBAs, etc ...


Before you start implementing templates, think things through.
You can create "cascading" templates: A is linked with B which is linked with C and so on. That sounds rather nice but has some drawbacks to.

Over here we've decided to use "flat" templates. We don't cascade.
We have server pools (ie: 4 or 10 servers with exactly the same configuration/role), so we first create a pool template (TPL_Poolname)

That template is then linked with all required "sub" templates on the same level:
- TPL_Linux
- TPL_CentOS5
- TPL_Apache
- TPL_Tomcat
- TPL_Net_eth0_eth1
- TPL_Puppet_Client
...
If a pool has special requirements items/triggers are added to TPL_Poolname.
Hosts from the pool are linked to the pool template and have no items on their own, everything comes from templates. But of course we could add items per hosts if really needed. Depends on your infrastructure.

[MrKen]

Hi RichardCA,

It sounds like you have linked your zabbix-server host to the standard Template_Linux. This template has 4 graphs, as described by you, that are part of the template. Some templates do not have graphs defined.

You ask where the graphs link to the group. The graphs are part of the template. The template links to the host. If the template has pre-defined triggers and/or graphs, then they will also be linked to the host that you have linked the template to.

Assuming you have indeed linked the Template_Linux to a second linux server, then there should be graphs for that server. See Monitoring --> Graphs [check the dropdown box in the top right corner].

You can also go to Configuration --> Export/Import, select Export. On that page you can see exactly how many Items, Triggers, Graphs are defined for each Template, as well as for each host.

Hope that helps,

MrKen

[RichardCA]

Hi RichardCA,

It sounds like you have linked your zabbix-server host to the standard Template_Linux. This template has 4 graphs, as described by you, that are part of the template. Some templates do not have graphs defined.

I figured it out.

Those four graphs aren't linked to the template. They aren't linked to any template.

The linkage between the four graphs and the "ZABBIX Server" host is present because it is hard-coded in the data.sql file that is loaded during the install process.

In a fresh install of 1.6.6, if you login as admin and go to Configuration->Graphs, set Group to Templates and Host to Template_Linux, nothing is visible.

If I go to Configuration->Export/Import, set Group to Templates, and look for Template_Linux, nothing is visible in the Graphs column.

It looks like I can fix this by bringing up the graphs under the Zabbix Server host, then copying them to the template using "Copy Selected To...".

Should I open a JIRA ticket? At the very least this is confusing to a novice user.

Those four graphs should be attached to the Linux Servers template, and the "CPU Loads" graph should be on the Windows Servers template. That way the new user sees more graphs working out of the box.

Or maybe there needs to be a template for Zabbix Servers. I dunno. But it makes more sense now, thanks.