How to change from passive to active agent monitoring?

[moses.moore]

I understand that zabbix agents can either act passively (waiting for each request from the mother server) or active (initiating contact with the mother server, asking the server what she expects, and uploading answers).

Is there a HOWTO or instructions how to change Hosts that were using "Zabbix Agent" to "Zabbix Agent Active"? The instructions on how to configure the zabbix_agentd seems clear, but not how to configure the server.

So far I've seen a description that I'd have to make full clones of every template on the host, and change the type of every item on every template to 'Zabbix agent (active)', but that seems so arduous to ask every user to do in every installation, that surely that's not the right way to do things.

[BDiE8VNy]

In Zabbix agent configuration one defines what the agent should support: passive only, active only or passive and active checks.

Whether an item gets passively or actively checked by Zabbix agent is defined on item level.
See Zabbix agent item types.

So, in fact to move from passive to active Zabbix agent item checks (or vice versa) one has to (mass) update the respective item types.

[moses.moore]

I ended up having to find my own solution. Here's my notes, so that someone else can find what I did:

-----
Before I start changing hosts from passive to active checks, I needed to
make three new templates-objects. For each of
'Template App Zabbix Agent', 'Template OS Linux' and
'Template App MySQL', do:

- Go to Configuration : Templates, select template $name
- scroll down, click 'Full Clone'. Change the clone's name to "$name
Active" and click 'Add' at the bottom.
- In Configuraiton : Templates, Find the new "$name Active" template,
click on the 'Items' item on its row.
- Click on the checkbox in the upper-left to select all rows, scroll
down to the dropdown and select 'Mass Update' and click 'Go'
- Click the checkbox for 'Type' and select 'Zabbix Agent (active)' in
the dropdown that appears. Scroll down and click the 'Update' button.

As a shortcut, I also changed 'Template OS Linux Active' to
include 'Template App Zabbix Agent Active'.

On the child, change /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.d/local to include
a `ServerActive=nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn` line, and double-check that the
`Hostname=` line matches what is set as the 'Host Name' in the Host
object config (that's Host Name not Visible Name). Restart
zabbix_agentd. the agentd should start calling mother and asking
for chores. Leave the `Server=127.0.0.1,nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn` and `ListenIP=`
lines in, because the Zabbix mother still wants to pester children
to see if they're awake, and so the mother can do "on trigger tell
child to run diagnostic command xyzzy".

[ In my own environment, I don't use the standard Zabbix ports, so
I had "ServerActive=nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn:qqqq", but don't add the port
number like this in the "Server=" line. ]

On the mother, change the config for that host to remove 'Template
OS Linux' and 'Template App Zabbix Agent' and add 'Template OS Linux
Active' (which already pulls in Template App Zabbix Agent Active').
If you see 'Template App foobar', replace it with the 'Template App
foobar Active' if it exists. You'll get an information alert about
"host name of zabbix_agentd was changed on $childname" and that's
okay.

Mistakes I fell into easily:
- "template unlinked, duplicate keys," it's because I told
you above to have one template include another, and I tried to
attach the included template (Zabbix isn't smart enough to detect
already-imported templates).
- "agent unreachable," I would forget to include my nonstandard
port number ":qqqq" in the "ServerActive=" line in the child's config,
or I forgot to restart zabbix_agentd after I made the changes.

[EDIT: forum software converts colon-p to so had to change to using ":qqqq"]

[tchjts1]

[EDIT: forum software converts colon-p to so had to change to using ":qqqq"]

You can avoid that happening by using code tags enclosed in brackets []
use code and /code

That will make it look like this, and what would normally be converted to a smiley face :) is kept as it should be.

[qbab]

I've just used this method and it works but ...
"Item prototypes" (automatic discovery for example: filesystems) does not change to "Zabbix agent (active)" . One must change it manually and every item one by one (no mass update available for prototype items).

So guys, keep that in mind.