Key with parameters, is this possible?

[tuo]

Hello Zabbix Forum,

I currently have a question about the way keys of items are handled. Maybe I am misunderstanding this topic.

I want to tie a custom items value to another parameter in the key, for example a measurement value to a given input value. I thought I could define the key like this:

mykey[input]

in my custom item.

and then supply values to this item of a host like this

mykey[10] = 1.1
mykey[20] = 2.7

etc.

but either I am misunderstanding the key structure of zabbix (I red the documentation now a couple of times, and I am no longer sure if what I want to do is possible).

The problem is, when I define the key like above, and then use zabbix_sender like this:

zabbix_sender -z myserver -s myhost -k mykey[10] -o 1.1

the server won't process the value.

Am I misunderstanding the key structure or am I doing something wrong when calling zabbix_sender?

any help is greatly appreciated

best regards

Ulrik

[MrKen]

In your Item set up, is your Item type 'Zabbix trapper'?

Also, in your zabbix_sender command you can add -vv for verbose output which may help in troubleshooting.

MrKen

[tuo]

Hello MrKen,

yes, the item is configured as zabbix trapper. if I remove the paramter from the key, everything works.

here is how I call zabbix_sender from a windows machine:

zabbix_sender.exe -vv -z myzabbixserver -s testhost -k mykey[10] -o 1

response is:

zabbix_sender.exe [11104]: DEBUG: Answer [{
"response":"success",
"info":"Processed 0 Failed 1 Total 1 Seconds spent 0.000031"}]

The server log shows nothing.

best regards

Ulrik

[ghoz]

Strange, i have the same kind of trapper items setup, and it works...

zabbix_sender -vv -z <zabbix-host> -s <testhost> -k  mysql.queries[delete] -o 348933
zabbix_sender [21073]: DEBUG: Answer [{
        "response":"success",
        "info":"Processed 1 Failed 0 Total 1 Seconds spent 0.000056"}]
Info from server: "Processed 1 Failed 0 Total 1 Seconds spent 0.000056"
sent: 1; skipped: 0; total: 1

could you try with a textual parameter ?
can you try using another syntax like 'mykey.10'
are you sure the item key is exactly the same in the GUI (no space after or before ) ?
are you using the same command line between failing and working items ? (hostname exactly the one setup in the gui etc ...? )

[tuo]

I kinda found the problem.

I had to completely unlink and clear the template from the host, then add it again. now I was able to send values, but I think I am still not understanding the parameters in the keys correctly.

what I want to achieve is an item for which I can capture values for different parameters WITHOUT having to define each item in the template.

actually, I have to link the value of the item to an x and y coordinate. so my idea was to define an item with a key like this:

key[x, y]

and then send values like this:

zabbix_sender -z server -s host -k key[0,0] -o 1
zabbix_sender -z server -s host -k key[0,1] -o 2
zabbix_sender -z server -s host -k key[0,3] -o 3
zabbix_sender -z server -s host -k key[0,4] -o 4

and then have in the "latest data" for each coordinate the correpsonding data, graph etc.

when I define the key like above, I only get the following to work:

zabbix_sender -z server -s host -k key[x, y] -o 4

which is not what I intended. I tried changing the key to

key[*, *]

with the same result (I thought the * is a wildcard in this case)

Is this possible with Zabbix, or do I misunderstand the meaning of the parameters in a key?

best regards and thanks for all your help

Ulrik

[untergeek]

Do you have items defined for each possible key/value pair? Zabbix will work that way but you will need to define each key/value pair manually.

In other words, if you want to store these, you can't just have a single item like, key[*] defined in Zabbix and expect it to auto-extend like some hash. If you want a key[10] and a key[20] sent back to work, you'll need to define each possible n for key[n] as its own item.

[tuo]

Ah, okay, then I simply misunderstood the mechanics behind the parameters.

Will need a script then to define the key/value-pairs, as they are a couple of hundreds.

best regards and many thanks for the help and time

Ulrik