Item has no data but it works using zabbix_get (active check)

[cron0]

Hello,

new to Zabbix here. I've read the documentation, FAQ and troubleshooting section of the wiki and didn't found what I was looking for there.

I have deployed the Xen Virtual Appliance in order to try out Zabbix. So far so good and I'm very impressed.

My issue is: I'm using the default Linux template and the following two items aren't updating with the latest values:

- Bytes read per second on sda
- Bytes written per second on sda

I am able to query my zabbix agents using zabbix_get from the Zabbix server and they both return the correct information. However Zabbix server does not seem to be getting those automatically. "Latest Data" for my hosts is empty for both metrics.

I just noticed that both items are marked as Zabbix Agent (Active) so that would mean this is an active check. I checked by zabbix_agentd config and the following configs are commented out (and thus using defaults)

# DisableActive=0
# ServerPort=10051
# RefreshActiveChecks=120

Also, Server= is set to my Zabbix server IP and I am able to reach it on port 10051 (using telnet)

Log file zabbix_agentd.log mentions agent #4 started [active checks]. No mentions that the agent is connecting to the zabbix server. Nothing regarding the above mentionned active checks.


Ideas? Anything else I need to configure in order for active checks to work?


Thanks!

[cron0]

Ok, so apparently, my agent queries the server but is not given any active checks to run

875233:20111212:213240.188 refresh_active_checks('IP',10051)
875233:20111212:213240.190 Sending [{
"request":"active checks",
"host":"Zabbix server"}]
875233:20111212:213240.190 Before read
875233:20111212:213240.195 Got [{
"response":"success",
"data":[]}]
875233:20111212:213240.195 In parse_list_of_checks()
875233:20111212:213240.195 In disable_all_metrics()

Both Items are set to active on my host. Hmm..

[cron0]

Turns out I had not set the Hostname= variable properly in my agent config and this is required for active checks.

Problem solved. I hope this can help others in the future!