Ping of host begining to end?

[wsavacooljlt]

I have been trying to get my feet wet with Zabbix for two days now.

Use case:
My boss wants to see a graph of network throughput of all the remote sites that use a hardware VPN to connect to the office network. I thought I would start with the basic ping tests and Zabbix seemed to fit the need. I do have other projects in my list to test.

Setup
To save on human error, I downloaded the latest (2.2) SuSe appliance for Virtual box. VB set up with network bridge mode.

I have no ability to install agents on client PCs. I can ping the clients local router interface. If the VPN tunnel goes down, that IP will not be available.

After struggling with file permissions I got the zabbix user to use the fping command.

Now the issue is setting up the hosts, items and triggers. I unfortunately don't have the time to RTFM so I have searched for discussions on setting zabbix using agentless pings. I tried to follow the 2.2 setup guide, but it assumes that you are using Agents to talk to the zabbix server. That makes it difficult to follow the examples. I have found this thread, and others, but I don't get it. They all use syntax that presumes that you already know what you are doing. I don't know what I am doing and I also don't have the time to read the entire manual for each of these monitor projects just to find one that will fulfill my bosses needs.

Is there a setup guide that I can follow from beginning to end that walks through setting this up with ping? I have no problem reading the manual for a project that we plan to install into a production environment. But having to extensive documentation just to get a proof-of-concept it a bit ridiculous.

[timbo]

Hi there,

I understand your frustration, but asking people to give up their time because you can't afford to give up any of yours is not the best way to ask for help. Besides, often when you skip the fundamentals to get to the fun stuff, you end up doubling your workload.

Check out these two resources, as they are good introductory guides:
http://www.packtpub.com/zabbix-netwo...sentials/video - Video tutorials, only about 6 months old
http://www.packtpub.com/zabbix-1-8-n...onitoring/book - A bit old, but still useful

I know they're good introductory guides because it's what I used - I have both.

I can't see anything specific to ping in the Video Series, but on page 95 of "Zabbix 1.8 Network Monitoring" there is a "Setting up ICMP checks" section that sounds like what you're looking for.

As I don't know specifically what your issue is, here are a few general tips I can think of:

• Even if you can't install an agent on the computer/device, you need to have a "Host" perform the action, so I guess the "Zabbix server" host would work to keep things simple.
• From within the "Zabbix server" host, in the "Items" section, open a new Item (by clicking the "Create Item" button at the top left). Give it a "Name", change the "Type" dropdown to "Simple check", and then click the "Select" button to the right of the "Key" text box. A new window should popup, click "icmpping[<target>,<packets>,<interval>,<size>,<timeout>]". It looks like a mess, but just change it to "icmpping[8.8.8.8]" (8.8.8.8 being Google's DNS servers, obviously replace this with your desired IP). Click save, then within a few minutes (if you have fping setup properly), you should see the result appear under "Monitoring" (top menu) -> "Latest Data" (sub menu) -> Then choose "Zabbix Servers" from the "Group" drop down.

The "icmpping" check returns a "1" for a successful ping, and a "0" for an unsuccessful ping.

Extra credit:

• Don't use the "Zabbix server" host, create a new host for the device you're monitoring, and use the IP "0.0.0.0" and port "10050".
• Read up on/Use "icmppingloss" or "icmppingsec":
  https://www.zabbix.com/documentation.../simple_checks

Troubleshooting:

• You need to make sure the "FpingLocation" parameter (in the "zabbix_server.conf" file) points to the install location of "fping". (You will need to restart the Zabbix Server service to apply any changes made to the config file).
• According to "Zabbix 1.8 Network Monitoring", you may be able to find the install location of "fping" using the following command:
  $ whereis -b fping

Good luck, I hope this helps. I also hope you find Zabbix as useful as I have.

-Timbo

[ingus.vilnis]

Hello!

I can really imagine the situation you are in. Not the easiest one but I totally agree with timbo that you have to put more time and effort to study out the things you need for your job and nobody will do that for you unless you contact Zabbix sales and get one of the official support packages or integration services.

If you are on your own then I see that your boss requires a graph of network throughput, not only availability of remote site just by pinging it.

Ping will only tell you if a host our router is up or down. To get more data you have to be able to access the router at your remote sites and set up SNMP for that. If your router is supporting that, then you have to configure SNMP monitoring and ask your boss for time to RTFM.

Zabbix can be a great tool that will simplify your everyday administrator tasks. It takes your effort, it does not come easy, but when it does, you will see the true benefits of monitoring.

Best Regards,
Ingus

[aib]

The fastest way to create only host with PING is:
- Configuration -> Hosts -> create a host "REMOTE_site_1"
- Agent interface : {IP_ADDRESS_OF_REMOTE_site_1}
- tab Templates -> Link New Templates -> (type ICMP, then select "Template ICMP Ping", then click "Add")
- click "Save"

To create a graph with Ping results:
- Configuration -> Hosts -> (select host "REMOTE_site_1")
- select "Graphs" in the Hosts menu (near the top of screen, Application(xx) \ Items(xx) \ Triggers(xx) \ Graphs(xx) \ Discovery Rules (xx) \ Web Scenarios(xx))
- click "Create graph"
- give a name for graph - like "PING graph"
- Items: click "Add"
- select correct "Group" and "Host" from dropdown menu in top right corner, then select radio boxes next to "ICMP Loss" and "ICMP response time" -> click "Select"
- next to ICMP response time - switch "Y axis side" from "Left" to "Right"
- click "Save"

That's it.

To check your graph - Monitoring -> Graphs -> correct "Group" and "Host" and "Graph" from dropdown menu in top right corner.

Good luck with the "shortest manual in the world".

[wsavacooljlt]

Thank you very much Aib for going out of your way to to give me a quick start using Zabbix.

I am going to open the the online manual and attempt read through it this weekend. I do want to get a base of understanding especially if we are going to roll this product into production. At the very least give me concepts and conventions that other projects also use.

My hope was that there was already a quick start guide that didn't require an agent.

I would personally like to create a friction less quick start guide. I know there are lots of textual howto's already. I feel that anything that can show that the product works in their environment is a win for the community.


Thank you all for your input. Having this example is exactly what I need to produce to show my boss that a project is worth pursuing .

[timbo]

Good reply Aleksey.

I didn't even know the "Template ICMP Ping" existed (looks like it was introduced in 2.2, I'm a little behind that).

I also thought specifying the actual address for the device would prompt a "passive check" from the server to the device - but it seems the "passive check" will only be called when you have "Zabbix Agent" based "Items" created (which makes sense).

I've been setting the address of my Agent-less hosts to 0.0.0.0 as I do with my Active Only hosts (as per the wiki). Perhaps this is not the best method...

-Timbo

[tchjts1]

I didn't even know the "Template ICMP Ping" existed (looks like it was introduced in 2.2, I'm a little behind that).

-Timbo

Just as an FYI, I downloaded the Template ICMP Ping for 2.2 and am using it in my 2.0.9 setup, and it works just fine.

You can get it from here if you wish:

https://www.zabbix.org/wiki/Zabbix_Templates/Official_Templates#Zabbix_2.2.0