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**js1** · 06-03-2010, 01:21

Originally posted by w4rh0und

Hello

I have just installed the zabbix server and it seamed pretty easy to do it following the documentation.
At the moment i am using nagios to monitor my clients network, but there are so many thing to configure in nagios for everything that i started to look for other (better solutions).

With nagios it was pretty easy, i read a book and all was crystal clear, but at the moment after looking through the documentation about zabbix i am totally confused. I have no clue how exactly is it working: the zabbix server queries the agent? Or the agent sends informations to the server?

Depends on how you configure it. It can be done either way or both. If you select an "Zabbix agent (Active)" check, the Zabbix agent actively collects the data and sends it back to the Zabbix server. For active checks to work, the following two conditions have to be met:

The Hostname sent by the agent must match the host name configured in the GUI. This can be set by the Hostname directive in the agent config.
The first Server listed in the agent config must be the proxy assigned to monitor the host.

If the client is sending how will the server be notified if the client is down for example?

Ah, yes, the classic question of polling or trapping. I personally prefer that the server/proxy poll the system you're interested in precisely for that reason. I don't configure zabbix agents regularly, but I think it can be configured to store collected data for a period of time if it can't contact the server.

Another thing: how can i monitor a simple station? I have installed as a service the agent on a windows workstation but i see nothing? I only see it in the dashboard as active and that is it...i went to items and services and enabled alot of checks on it but i see no alerts, no nothing?

Go to Monitoring->Latest Data to see if you're actually collecting data.

Do i have to configure the triggers on the workstation or the server will send certaint queries (linke nagios + nsclient or nrpe ) ?

Configure triggers on the server using the web UI.

I am sorry but the documentation is really confusing and scarce.

How cand i use the descovery feature? i configures the subnet, type agent, but nothing was found, i ended up adding the host mannually.

Here are my notes on auto discovery. It's not something I do regularly.

Code:

Auto Discovery

If using the zabbix agent, it may be best to leave the Hostname directive commented out. Since the Hostname has to match the Name configured in the GUI, it may be best when using auto discovery to let the zabbix agent tell the zabbix server what Name the system should be filed under.

Refer to page 175 of the manual for more details on auto discovery.

Configuration -> Discovery -> Create Rule

    * Give it a relevant Name
    * Select a proxy to use if required
    * Enter an IP range to scan, or a single IP
    * In the Delay field, enter how often the discovery rule should run (in seconds)
    * Under New check select the type of check you want to use, probably ZABBIX agent. If so, default port of 10050 is correct, and enter a parameter to check for under Key. As described in the manual, system.uname is suitable.
    * Under Status, select if it should be Active or Disabled.
    * Save the discovery rule.
    * Check Monitoring -> Events to see if rule is working.

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Problems when trying to monitor

Problems when trying to monitor

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