Big Brother Scripts in Zabbix?

[VeryNewbie]

Hi,

I'm very interestet in using Zabbix, but right now I'm using Big Brother. So, my question is: If I switch to Zabbix can I "reuse" my BB-Scrips (or with a small adapt)???

[Rene Eijzenga]

I'm also new to Zabbix and am running BigBrother.
I like BigBrother because you can see immediately what is wrong.

With Zabbix thas is harder to see I think.
Have you setup Zabbix already?

[VeryNewbie]

no, I'm waiting for an answer...

I really want to know if the BB-Scrips are reusable.
Then I also have questions about the providing from performance data, if it's hard to do, because in BB it's kind of complicated.
Another point is what kind of solution does ZABBIX has about systems behind firewalls

[gpostaire]

I don't know how work BB script. But if you could execute them on command line and if they write their output on stdout, you could easily use the "userparameter" to gather this information.

[pdwalker]

See the documentation on zabbix user parameters and extending zabbix

http://www.zabbix.com/manual/v1.1/config_extend.php

If your BB script returns information in this format, then yes, you can use them.

- Paul

[James Wells]

Greetings,

As Paul stated, you can use BB scripts, as long as you understand the parameters for the scripts, you can use Nagios scripts as well, or even Tivoli plugin scripts.

[VeryNewbie]

Thank you guys for your help!

Do you know something about the other questions that I had?
e.g. 1) if the providing from performance data is easy? (because im BB its a little complicated...so, does Zabbix have a nice solution about it or is the providing from performance data in Zabbix easy?)

2) What kind of solution does ZABBIX has about systems behind firewalls? (passiv check? something else?)

[James Wells]

1) if the providing from performance data is easy? (because im BB its a little complicated...so, does Zabbix have a nice solution about it or is the providing from performance data in Zabbix easy?)

Yes and no. It is easy from the perspective that the data gathering and collation is easy, but difficult in determining what is defined as performance data. Some will say this is a no-brainer, but the fact is that by default Zabbix just gathers basic SAR data, which really doesn't talk about service / application performance. Zabbix can gather the unique data to determine performance of your application / service, and it can do it easily, you just need to know what those metrics are before you begin.

2) What kind of solution does ZABBIX has about systems behind firewalls? (passiv check? something else?)

By default Zabbix supports two distinct agent communication mechanisms;

1. Passive (Default Mode) -- In this mode, the Zabbix server queries the agents for specific information. This is good if the servers you want to monitor are outside your firewall, as you can simply configure your firewall to allow outbound and established connections. Please note that you will loose certain functionality by using this mode, such as log file monitoring.
2. Active -- In this mode, the Agent actively gathers information and sends it to the server. This is good if your servers are inside your firewall and your zabbix server is outside.

Additionally, Zabbix supports custom ports, and non-agent based communication, such as SNMP. Other methods can be used as well, though I have to leave them up to your own creativity as I don't know enough about your setup.

Finally, keep in mind that Zabbix is more than just the agent, server, and UI. There are other tools that come with Zabbix, and other non-Zabbix tools, that can be used in very creative ways to bypass traditional firewalls, and extend your Zabbix coverage.

[VeryNewbie]

Thanks for the support!

[VeryNewbie]

Zabbix impress me ever more! However I don't know the Tool very well and in the documents ist relatively heavily to find information, which I would have gladly.

Would you have perhaps the suitable answers for own questions (or I lay correctly with my answers)?

1)Can Zabbix give text blocks? (Whether the Tool can e.g. save something like this)

green Fri Feb 16 15:28:04 2007

Unit UnitType Status %Cmpl Port Stripe Size(GB) Blocks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
u0 RAID-1 OK - - - 149.001 312477696
u0-0 DISK OK - p0 - 149.001 312477696
u0-1 DISK OK - p1 - 149.001 312477696


Unit UnitType Status %Cmpl Port Stripe Size(GB) Blocks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
u1 RAID-5 OK - - 64K 447.003 937433088
u1-0 DISK OK - p4 - 149.001 312477696
u1-1 DISK OK - p5 - 149.001 312477696
u1-2 DISK OK - p6 - 149.001 312477696
u1-3 DISK OK - p7 - 149.001 312477696


Unit UnitType Status %Cmpl Port Stripe Size(GB) Blocks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
u2 SPARE OK - p3 - 149.042 312563376


2) Is a ssh-tunel possible?

3)Can one indicate 2 servers in the Client and have it as a “reliability”?

4)AIX: Does Zabbix have an AIX-Packet ?
Does Zabbix have an Error Report under AIX?

5)Does Zabbix have a Logfilecheck?

6)Can I use the User-defined view as a Start page?

7)Can I able/disable the Log-in in Zabbix (start page)?


Thanks

VeryNewbie

[James Wells]

1)Can Zabbix give text blocks? (Whether the Tool can e.g. save something like this)

green Fri Feb 16 15:28:04 2007

Unit UnitType Status %Cmpl Port Stripe Size(GB) Blocks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
u0 RAID-1 OK - - - 149.001 312477696
u0-0 DISK OK - p0 - 149.001 312477696
u0-1 DISK OK - p1 - 149.001 312477696


Unit UnitType Status %Cmpl Port Stripe Size(GB) Blocks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
u1 RAID-5 OK - - 64K 447.003 937433088
u1-0 DISK OK - p4 - 149.001 312477696
u1-1 DISK OK - p5 - 149.001 312477696
u1-2 DISK OK - p6 - 149.001 312477696
u1-3 DISK OK - p7 - 149.001 312477696


Unit UnitType Status %Cmpl Port Stripe Size(GB) Blocks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
u2 SPARE OK - p3 - 149.042 312563376

By default, no, but this is a feature that has been asked for a couple of times. It should be fairly easy to do, but, no one has yet sat down and added it.

2) Is a ssh-tunel possible?

Sure. The only real limiter to using SSH-Tunnel, for any application is that the SSH-Tunnel only supports TCP. Zabbix, uses TCP for all communication server / agent communication. As such, it is doable inside an SSH-Tunnel. Personally, though I actually recommend using OpenVPN instead though as it tends to be more stable, and does support UDP, ICMP, etc.

3)Can one indicate 2 servers in the Client and have it as a “reliability”?

Yes and No. In the agent configuration, you can list multiple servers, comma delimited, but only the first one on the list is used by the agent when it Zabbix Agent (Active) mode.

4)AIX: Does Zabbix have an AIX-Packet ?
Does Zabbix have an Error Report under AIX?

I'm afraid there is not enough context around this question. Are you asking if Zabbix can run on AIX? If so, the answer is yes, both the agent and the server can compile and run under AIX, though, it has not been heavily tested that I am aware of.

5)Does Zabbix have a Logfilecheck?

Yes and no. To perform a log file check you have to use Zabbix Agent (Active) mode, however, the problem comes in the way Zabbix processes the timestamps within the log file. Zabbix does not understand standard Unix / Syslog timestamps, as such, it is unable to time link the log file entries, so the triggers / alerts can be a bit painful.

6)Can I use the User-defined view as a Start page?

Certainly. You can create your own front page and have it link to Zabbix, and you can also force users to go a specific page when they log in.

7)Can I able/disable the Log-in in Zabbix (start page)?

Sure, though, you will want to retain some ability to log in otherwise maintenance / management can become tedious. The file to look at for this is zabbix/frontends/include/config.inc.php

[VeryNewbie]

James Wells, I thank you very much! Your support helped me a lot!

Im only missing the questions about the AIX right now I didn't found anything about error report in AIX, so I think it isn't possible right?