Best OS choice for a school district?

[John_W]

Our school district is considering moving from SolarWinds to Zabbix. I can see Zabbix can be installed on many Linux versions. I have read CentOS is "end of life". Beyond that, is there a "best" Linux variant that is both free and secure to install Zabbix on?

[hrrapozo]

Since the Fall of 2025 I have been using Ubuntu 24.03 LTS (now 24.04 LTS) and Debian 13 at my workplace. Been using Zabbix 7.0 LTS which is installed on the Ubuntu system while the Debian system runs another application. Both OS images where free to download from their respective websites.

For Ubuntu there is one image for a desktop system (about 5.9 Gbytes) and another image for the server system (about 3 Gbytes). While the Debian only has one image (around 754 Mbytes) and during the install process you can opt not to install the GUI tools (so you can run it as a server).

What might influence your choice of what flavor of Linux to use is what you are planning to use for the database for the Zabbix application. I went with MySQL (mainly because I didn't any better at the time) which is available as a download from the Ubuntu website.

[John_W]

I think we will just go with MySQL, at this point. In SolarWinds, I am only monitoring about 450 nodes. That's interfaces and devices.

[John_W]

I've done some more reading on SQLs for Linux, and postgresql seems highly rated. Will Zabbix work with that database?

[cyber]

I've done some more reading on SQLs for Linux, and postgresql seems highly rated. Will Zabbix work with that database?

Really? Docs are there for just .. something?

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

I went with MySQL (mainly because I didn't any better at the time) which is available as a download from the Ubuntu website.

It is suggested, that you install DB from DB provider repos. Those "included in distro" packages are usually a bit outdated, do not get updates often enough etc..

[irontmp]

Our school district is considering moving from SolarWinds to Zabbix riddles about cars with answers, I can see Zabbix can be installed on many Linux versions. I have read CentOS is "end of life". Beyond that, is there a "best" Linux variant that is both free and secure to install Zabbix on?

There is no single “best” Linux, but the most recommended free and secure choices for Zabbix today are Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux since they replace CentOS and are fully compatible with RHEL, which Zabbix officially supports. Ubuntu Server LTS is also a solid option if your team prefers Debian-based systems, and Debian Stable is very secure but used slightly less in typical enterprise Zabbix setups. In most cases, the best overall choice is Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux (latest LTS version) for stability, security, and easiest Zabbix compatibility.