Help with the API please

[gid]

On a 2.4.5 installation (CentOS) I'm using the API with JSON/RPC to send data to the server. So far I can authenticate, I trust I'll be able to send some items sooner or later.

My question is, how must I define these items in the GUI, so they can be treated like the other "conventional" items that I have already defined for the same host? Or will they just appear automagically?

Thanks,

George

[BDiE8VNy]

The Zabbix API is intended to do configuration (creating/deleting/updating/querying assets) and to retrieve historic item data. It is not intended to send Item data.
For that one has to use the proper Zabbix protocols, e.g. via Zabbix sender.

See:

http://zabbix.org/wiki/Docs/protocols/zabbix_agent/3.0

http://zabbix.org/wiki/Docs/protocols/zabbix_sender/2.0

[gid]

Well, the way I see it, using the Zabbix sender example you quoted, is still an API-type methodology of sending data... Perhaps I'm wrong.

In any case, wouldn't the client app still need to use the API to authenticate itself, before sending the data?

The question remains, I think: do I need to define in the GUI those items that are sent via the sender? If yes, how?

Is there a complete guide on all this? I see a page here for the API, a page there for the sender, nothing on what needs to be done on the server side, and as you can see I'm confused....

[BDiE8VNy]

No, Zabbix sender makes no use of the API.
You probably assume that since Zabbix is using JSON for it's API as well as for the daemon communication protocols.

Zabbix API requests are directed to the Zabbix frontend.
Zabbix sender connections are directed to either Zabbix server or Zabbix proxy - depending on what is configured for the Item's host to send item values for.

There is no authentication needed to send item values to Zabbix. But one can restrict the allowed sending hosts by network address.

As for using the Zabbix API see:

http://blog.zabbix.com/getting-started-with-zabbix-api/1381/

http://doc.bonfire-project.eu/R2/monitoring/monitoring_zabbix_API.html

As for using Zabbix sender see:

https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/2.4/manual/config/items/itemtypes/trapper

[gid]

Thank you very much, it worked nicely just now.