AIX Hosts Agent Issue

[Singularity]

We have few AIX Servers which have zabbix agent running. ( Both zabbix server and agents are running on version 4.4 )
Zabbix Server can telnet to AIX servers for port 10050, and the AIX Servers can telnet to Zabbix server for port 10051.
I have properly configured the Server and Server Active values on the agents in the file : /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agent.conf. However we are stilll getting error "Get value from agent failed: ZBX_TCP_READ() timed out"
If we check the zabbix agent, it is active and running and listening to port 10050. Also checked /usr/local/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agent.conf file which also has the same settings.
Is there any other location where we have to check the configuration ?

[tim.mooney]

We have few AIX Servers which have zabbix agent running. ( Both zabbix server and agents are running on version 4.4 )
Zabbix Server can telnet to AIX servers for port 10050, and the AIX Servers can telnet to Zabbix server for port 10051.
I have properly configured the Server and Server Active values on the agents in the file : /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agent.conf. However we are stilll getting error "Get value from agent failed: ZBX_TCP_READ() timed out"
If we check the zabbix agent, it is active and running and listening to port 10050. Also checked /usr/local/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agent.conf file which also has the same settings.
Is there any other location where we have to check the configuration ?

In both cases, you used "zabbix_agent.conf", rather than "zabbix_agentd.conf" (note the "d" before the ".conf"). If you're using the traditional agent, the file name should be "zabbix_agentd.conf".

In the early days of Zabbix there was a "zabbix_agent", but it was replaced by the one named "zabbix_agentd", which has been the main agent in the 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x series.

[Singularity]

Sorry, I meant zabbix_agentd.conf only.
When I tried ping -s 1400 -i 0.1 -c 10 <hostip> .... it returned 100% packet loss. I am not sure, but I will check if ping service is running on that host machine. ( Ideally it should be running )
However, I can telnet to that host from zabbix server.
The strange behavior is that the host becomes available and then after a moment it becomes unavailable. This process repeats. ( Mostly it is unavailable )
In the agent logs, there are no errors or connection related issues.
I am thinking to check traceroute to see full connection status between zabbix server and agent.

Any help would be appreciated.

[tim.mooney]

AIX does many things differently from other traditional UNIX platforms, but I don't think even AIX has a "ping service". If you check the OSI model, ICMP happens at a low level, where you typically don't need a service or daemon to be listening before you can get a response. If ICMP isn't working (responding), that usually means its been disabled (which can break other stuff) or is being blocked by a firewall (which can break other stuff).

You could try increasing the debug level of the agent and see if it logs anything useful that might help point in a particular direction. Otherwise, doing a packet capture between the host and the zabbix server might provide some clue, especially regarding the available/unavailable flapping you've noticed.