Exporting Configuration to others/customers

[jobrien99]

If a user configure a lot of Agent a parameters ...screens...graphs....items...triggers etc to manage a product and wants to give the config (not the zabbix download) to a customer so that the customer does not have to develop the config themselves ...

1) Can this be done?
2) Is it in the roadmap?
3) Is it allowed under licensing?


Regards,
John

[James Wells]

Greetings,

If a user configure a lot of Agent a parameters ...screens...graphs....items...triggers etc to manage a product and wants to give the config (not the zabbix download) to a customer so that the customer does not have to develop the config themselves ...

1) Can this be done?

It can be done, but not really within Zabbix itself, instead , you will have to dump the database and reload it at the cusotmer's zabbix DB. Please note that when you perform the dump, you most likely want to exclude the History and Trends tables as they are usually quite large.

3) Is it allowed under licensing?

Interesting question.

Please understand that Zabbix falls under the GPL license, so you could even give your customer the Zabbix software, just don't charge them for the software However, your question is a bit different, your question is about the actual data. I am going to assume that you are doing some type of integration work for the customer and have built out the monitoring solution for them. In that case yes, you can give them all of the data as it is your data. However, if you are doing this for your employer, and the customer is is your employer's customer, then you will need to talk to management.

The data collected by the Zabbix server doesn't really fall under the GPL, instead it falls under what ever license you or your employer decide is appropriate.



Regards,
John[/QUOTE]

[jobrien99]

1) Say I work on an inhouse performance team and I use Zabbix internally but one day my favourite customer asks me for my Zabbix config.

a) Could I give it to them in my own form without including any docs from Zabbix ?
b) Could it be charged for ?
c) Do I have to put a copy on an ftp site for the public ?

I started using Zabbix this week , and I think its very cool. Just trying to figure out if I build something out can it be used by others.

another example...Maybe if a team did an Oracle package we could share it, for instance.

John

[James Wells]

1) Say I work on an inhouse performance team and I use Zabbix internally but one day my favourite customer asks me for my Zabbix config.

a) Could I give it to them in my own form without including any docs from Zabbix ?

Okay, perhaps I am misunderstanding the terminology. Your zabbix configuration is all stored, minus 4 lines, in the Zabbix database, either MySQL or Postgress. In this database, you create the host entries, monitors, probes, alerts, triggers, etc. This can be shared to your / your company's hearts content. No one owns this information but you or your company. Now, if you are talking customized code that is a completely different story and would need to be taken up with the people at Zabbix.

b) Could it be charged for ?

Yes and No. You are allowed to charge for any custom configuration / support you do, assuming that Zabbix itself remains unchanged. At that point, you are simply charging for support and maintenance. If you are talking about modifying the Zabbix source code and selling it or trying to sell Zabbix as a product, then you need to work with the people at Zabbix.

c) Do I have to put a copy on an ftp site for the public ?

For you configurations, no, however, again, if you are talking about the Zabbix software or source code itself, then you will need to work with the people at Zabbix.

Before you talk to them, I would strongly encourage you to read the entire GPL, which can be found in the COPYING file within the Zabbix package. While you read it, please keep in mind that Zabbix falls under the GPL license, and people generally do not make money for selling GPL software, instead they make their money off supporting it.

another example...Maybe if a team did an Oracle package we could share it, for instance.

Certainly, however, please remember the rules of GPL, and if you and your redwood city cohorts do create and distribute a package for Zabbix you will need to work with the people at Zabbix unless you GPL your packages.

I hope I am making sense, if not, please feel free to email me directly at;
james_wells-AT-users.sourceforge.net, replacing the -AT- with the @ symbol of course.

EDIT: BTW, if you are wanting to do what I think, then I would recommend also checking out The Zabbix Partner Program

[elkor]

The golden rule when dealing with things like this is that as long as you didn't recieve it in the original distribution, you can charge for it as long as it isn't labeled as charging for zabbix. for instance:

you absolutely, positively, CANNOT charge for the zabbix source code or any derivative thereof.

You can charge for custom patches, as long as the source is not included and it is explicitly labeled as a feature enhancement provided by you, and that is in no way affiliated with zabbix as a whole (i.e. it requires the free product zabbix which you will modify for the customer, for a cost). Note: personally I still find this a bit shady, but patches can be considered custom mods and as per the rules of the GPL you can sell them as long as they are not based upon the original code... that is, they are fresh ideas added to the product and not modifications of existing code. I however wouldn't do this.

Your configuration, being the items, alerts, templates, graphs, etc. is YOURS. you can do with that data what you will. However, you MUST present zabbix as a free product and then you can charge for using your custom configuration/setup (as a consultant would), this I would consider as it is a fairly straightforward deal and you are basically charging for the time that you have put into your configuration and not the work of alexei or others.

this being said IANAL, but I've worked with the GPL for a long time and these guidelines usually hold true (not sure about GPL2) and all of these things would be covered under charging for your time.

[elkor]

please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

again, *I* do not charge for this. but If I were a consultant setting up a monitoring solution for a client, I would (of course) charge for my effort and experience.

[jobrien99]

Thanks guys.