HELP: need to install zabbix-agent2 5.4x on AL2023 linux

[pcor877]

Hello all ... I am really struggling with this issue, and need some help.


I need to install zabbix-agent2 (not zabbix-agent) version 5.4.x (latest is 5.4.12) on AL2023 aka Amazon Linux 2023. (https://docs.aws.amazon.com/linux/al...-with-al2.html)

We have Zabbix Server 5.4 w/ PostgreSQL in RDS and can NOT easily upgrade at this time. It is in planning, but there are some blockers.


And I understand that I cannot use an agent version newer than the proxies and server (correct?)


We have mostly been running AL2, which was based on RHEL7, but we need to move to AL2023, there for given these two things I must find a way to install zabbix-agent2 on AL2023.


There seems to be no easy way from the yum/dnf repo ... and In https://cdn.zabbix.com/zabbix/binari...le/5.4/5.4.12/there are linux zabbix-agent, but not zabbix-agent2 ... am I missing this?

The only thing I have not tried yet is compiling my own and then packaging it for my internal repo ... is this the only way???


Please help

[solution]

Amazon Linux 2023 is it based on RHEL 8 or 9?

RHEL8: use 5.4

https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/5.4/rhel/

RHEL9: use 5.0 LTS

https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/5.0/rhel/

Wellington

[pcor877]

Thank you solution for your time to reply!

Amazon Linux is it's own distribution, and a sharp break for dependence on RHEL.
It is an rpm-based distribution, generally based on Fedora Linux and CentOS Stream, with kernel 6.1.x. (For reference, it's precursor, Amazon Linux 2 was based on RHEL7).

Zabbix-agent2 v5.0 does seem to be able to load from rpm... but what am I loosing stepping back to from 5.4.12 to 5.0?? That seems a poor choice ... no?
Remember that my Zabbix Server and Proxies are all 5.4.x, and we're not in a place to upgrade Zabbix as this moment. Currently all of our (many hundreds) Amazon Linux2 (AL2) instances are on agent2 5.4.12.

This is a good discussion of AL2023 provenance from Amazon:
The Generally Available (GA) version of AL2023 isn't directly comparable to any specific Fedora release. The AL2023 GA version
includes components from Fedora 34, 35, and 36. Some of the components are the same as the components in Fedora and some
are modified. Other components more closely resemble the components in CentOS 9 Streams or were developed independently.
The Amazon Linux kernel is sourced from the long-term support options that are on kernel.org, chosen independently from Fedora.

[solution]

I don't know if there is a link comparing agent2 5.0 vs agent2 5.4

but as you mentioned in the initial post "...can NOT easily upgrade at this time...", the right question is:
Does Zabbix Agent 5 5.0LTS monitor everything I need?
If yes, then great!!!
If not. then:
- would a script or template with specific items solve even upgrading the server to 6.4?
- try compiling https://www.zabbix.com/documentation...lation/install

Does anyone on the forum have better suggestions for this scenario?

Wellington

[pcor877]

Does zabbix-agent2 v5.0LTS monitor everything ... probably, but I wish there was some side-by-side comparison so I could tell for sure. Mostly I am monitoring core system basics, and then I already have custom scripts for some server tier types (scraping local custom logs, making sql queries, etc., and returning single INT responses).

Compiling from source (and then creating my own installation) would be fine ... BUT ... I need some clarification ...

It looked to me like only zabbix-agent was available in the source, and not zabbix-agent2 ... am I wrong here? Or does the code compile to both agent and agent2???

Basically if you can point me to the actual code to compile for zabbix-agent2 v5.4.12, i can take it from there, but it seemed like that was not available.

Thank you for your help and time so far...

[solution]

Why is it for RHEL9 in 5.0 and not in 5.4?
I believe it is because unsupported versions do not receive updates, only LTS and Current/Beta/RC versions
Life cycle policy: https://www.zabbix.com/life_cycle_and_release_policy

code for compilation:
The Package is the same, what changes is the execution line.
for agent2 for example:

./configure --enable-agent2

More details:

https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/current/en/manual/installation/install

This link is for Ubuntu, but just adapt the commands:
https://techexpert.tips/zabbix/zabbi...-ubuntu-linux/

Wellington

[pcor877]

Ahh, thank you solution Wellington! .. I have never compiled any part of zabbix code before, so that flag was unknown to me. THANK YOU, this thread has been very informative for me.

I get that only the LTS versions get updates. That makes 100% sense ... can you (or anyone) clarify for me if the latest updates to 5.0 agent code make it on equal parity with 5.4.x???

[solution]

can you (or anyone) clarify for me if the latest updates to 5.0 agent code make it on equal parity with 5.4.x???

Security/bug fix: 5.0 LTS
Features/Functions: 5.4, some parameters or features only exist after specific versions of 5.2 or 5.4,,,, etc.

If it is important for you to compare, see these links:

https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/5.0/en/manual/appendix/config/zabbix_agent2

https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/5.4/en/manual/appendix/config/zabbix_agent2

https://git.zabbix.com/projects/ZBX/repos/zabbix/browse/ChangeLog?at=refs%2Fheads%2Frelease%2F5.0

https://git.zabbix.com/projects/ZBX/repos/zabbix/browse/ChangeLog?at=refs%2Fheads%2Frelease%2F5.4

Wellington