ICMP/ping checks & templates

[jcolinger]

Well, I've spent about the last 3 hours trying to figure out how to create a template, item, action, and trigger so I can do Simple Checks using ICMP/ping.

But I'm exactly where I started. Here's my environment.

Ubuntu 10.04 64bit
Installed Zabbix 1.8.1 from Synaptic
Resolved php.ini checks and have a working web console

Thus far, I have tried to create a template and a host to run a simple ping test. I have to monitor about 16 locations internet, router, and firewall availability. In the future, I plan to add more with the agents and SNMP. I was using Zenoss until recently.

Anyway, I tried to follow the instructions in this thread - http://www.zabbix.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1325
but I was unsuccessful. I'm wondering if there is a problem with my config. I have confirmed that fping is installed.

I'll take some screenshots and post. Of course, in these screenshots, I'm simply trying to monitor a host. For now, I'll focus on that as I hope that I can apply that knowledge to setting up a template for the additional hosts.

[Kerrygeek]

You need to change the parameters for icmppingsec, assuming it's the same as icmpping. I found out the hard way, it doesn't work with the default parameters or no parameters at all. To use the default values for the parameters, leave the brackets but take out the parameter name and replace it with a space. For icmpping I had to do it like this:

icmpping[, , , ,]

I assume icmppingsec works the same way. Play with the parameters a little, I found the hints about it in the online manual. It's different from the way it was in 1.6.4 which I've been using for a while now so it took some getting used to.

Good luck,
Kerry

[hopemonger]

I changed the parameters to be commas and I dont get an error anymore. How would you configure the trigger and action then? I am new to zabbix and would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks

[Kerrygeek]

When you set up the trigger, it's just point and click, it does most of the work for you and the defaults you select should be fine. Create a new trigger, click the "insert" box (I'm on 1.6.4, it may be different on 1.8) and select the "item" you set up earlier to do the pings. The normal ping response will be a 1, the ping trigger will be something like last response =n, then below that it will say n=0. That's fine, you want this trigger to fire if the response is 0, that would mean a failed ping. Save this trigger. I'll assume you gave it a name like "router ping test", just for grins.

Go to the Actions, create a new action, you'll need to set up what you want your notification to say, then below that you'll set the conditions which will make this action happen. My actions just send an e-mail, so I'll go with that for an example.

Under "Action Conditions", you want to tell it when to make this action go active. Pick "and/or" A and B. For condition A, select the name of the trigger you just created (router ping test). For condition B, select "trigger value" and then for the value select "Problem". This means if the "router ping test" trigger fires it will have the value of "Problem". Both conditions will be true and that makes this action go active.

You have to set up e-mail addresses and your mail server under Media and under individual users.

It's not as hard as it sounds, look at the online manual and it will walk you through it better than I can.

Good luck!
Kerry

[Kerrygeek]

Check here, these guys are discussing the same thing and they did it better than I did it!

Kerry

http://www.zabbix.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15487

[jcolinger]

Actually, your post helped... the [ , , , , ] with the params helped resolve the issue.

But, now, I've learned that the DNS lookup on the icmpping doesn't give a failed DNS lookup a value of 0 to the ping. I'm starting a new thread for this.

[Kerrygeek]

Humm, I've never tried it to see what it does. I'm doing almost everything with IP addresses instead of DNS names to eliminate that kind of failure. Mine is also all internal so I have control of those addresses.

Try it with the IP address instead of the name, that will give you a legitimate ping test. Then set up a different test to ping by the name if you want to test DNS. Or, ping port 53 of your DNS server to see if it's available. Or even better, do a dig or nslookup against it and make an alert for that. I guess it all depends what you're trying to test.

Glad my other note helped, hope you get it to do what you want it to. My manager said my Zabbix server just paid for itself last week, I always do a ping time test to our DR site and I saw the latency go from 25ms to 120ms. I opened a ticket with AT&T and they didn't see a problem until I told them exactly when it changed, then they found that our T3 got re-routed. They fixed the original circuit and moved us back, then the latency went back down.

Good luck!
Kerry

[jcolinger]

See, here is my scenario. I'm the IT admin for a company that has about 20 remote sites that use DSL (PPPoE) and dynamic IPs. I'm trying to monitor the DSL modems, firewall/routers, and possibly a few Windows XPe (Wyse) terminals at each location.

So pinging by IP on a dynamic DSL line isn't all that reliable. I'm in the process of inquiring about upgrading the accounts to static IPs.

But it just seems to me that Zabbix should have a simple check to "Ping by DNS hostname".

Does SNMP work well by hostname (over the internet)? I could use that if it does.

[Kerrygeek]

I know snmp works fine on my internal network by the name even though I normally use IP address. Some Windows boxes don't cooperate using the DNS name instead of the address.

If the address changes, how are you going to associate it with the name? Are you using DDNS or something like that over the internet to assign the name?

You could easily do the ping for up/down testing and the ping time to find out if a path is slow but if you want to do any more than that like the terminals you'll either need a tunnel through the router (not a good idea) or a zabbix server at each location.

If you have DDNS set up you can ping by the hostname, when you set up the host just tell it to use the name instead of the IP address. I'm checking a couple of external web sites that way and it works fine.

Good luck, it sounds like you're making progress!
Kerry

[jcolinger]

In the simple ping check that I set up with your help... if I put in a bogus DNS name, it will still succeed. It does not fail.

I'm guessing that the DNS lookup fails, and the ping check never takes place. Hence, no trigger for failure.

[Kerrygeek]

I haven't tried it, I've got a test zabbix box at home, maybe I'll try it on that one later.

I did think of a way to do what you want at the remote sites by using the zabbix agent. I'm not using the agents anywhere, I'm only using snmp and pings but if you have room on the Wyse terminals to install the agent it can connect back to your main site. Then you'd have the problem of locking down the firewall at the main site to only allow certain addresses to send data back in on that port so you still have the problem with dynamic addresses but you might try it that way.

If I get time tonight I'll try the ping with a dns name. I think I've tried a ping to a web site and had it fail, I'm pinging them by the name but I'll try it again to make sure.

Kerry

[cicciopolenta]

When you set up the trigger, it's just point and click, it does most of the work for you and the defaults you select should be fine. Create a new trigger, click the "insert" box (I'm on 1.6.4, it may be different on 1.8) and select the "item" you set up earlier to do the pings. The normal ping response will be a 1, the ping trigger will be something like last response =n, then below that it will say n=0. That's fine, you want this trigger to fire if the response is 0, that would mean a failed ping. Save this trigger. I'll assume you gave it a name like "router ping test", just for grins.

Go to the Actions, create a new action, you'll need to set up what you want your notification to say, then below that you'll set the conditions which will make this action happen. My actions just send an e-mail, so I'll go with that for an example.

Under "Action Conditions", you want to tell it when to make this action go active. Pick "and/or" A and B. For condition A, select the name of the trigger you just created (router ping test). For condition B, select "trigger value" and then for the value select "Problem". This means if the "router ping test" trigger fires it will have the value of "Problem". Both conditions will be true and that makes this action go active.

You have to set up e-mail addresses and your mail server under Media and under individual users.

It's not as hard as it sounds, look at the online manual and it will walk you through it better than I can.

Good luck!
Kerry

Hi
I'm a newbie. I just don't understand why zabbix ask IP-address in then icmping chek in the defintion of a template!!! The template should be linked to devices ip address and that ip-address should be used in the icmping chek.
It's wrong?