Zabbix is an open-source monitoring software that provides comprehensive tools for monitoring the status of servers, virtual machines, Cloud services, applications, and other components in IT infrastructure. This article will guide you through the process of installing and configuring Zabbix on a server for advanced monitoring purposes.

 

Before starting the installation, ensure that your system meets the following prerequisites:

• Clean installation of Linux (Ubuntu/Debian, CentOS, etc.)
• Internet connectivity
• Superuser privileges (root)

Step 1: Installing Zabbix Server

Adding Zabbix Repository

For Ubuntu/Debian:

wget https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/5.0/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zabbix-release/zabbix-release_5.0-1+ubuntu20.04_all.deb
dpkg -i zabbix-release_5.0-1+ubuntu20.04_all.deb
apt update

For CentOS:

rpm -Uvh https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/5.0/rhel/7/x86_64/zabbix-release-5.0-1.el7.noarch.rpm
yum clean all

Installing Zabbix Server, Frontend, and Agent

apt install zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-frontend-php zabbix-apache-conf zabbix-agent

For CentOS:

yum install zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-web-mysql zabbix-apache-conf zabbix-agent

Step 2: Creating Zabbix Database

Log in to MySQL/MariaDB:

mysql -u root -p

Creating a database and user for Zabbix:

create database zabbix character set utf8 collate utf8_bin;
grant all privileges on zabbix.* to zabbix@localhost identified by 'password';
quit;

Step 3: Importing Database Schemas

Import the initial schemas and data. Make sure to enter the correct password you set for the Zabbix database user.

zcat /usr/share/doc/zabbix-server-mysql*/create.sql.gz | mysql -uzabbix -p zabbix

Step 4: Configuring Zabbix Server

Edit the Zabbix server configuration file (/etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf) to set the database password:

DBPassword=password

Step 5: PHP Configuration for Zabbix Frontend

Edit the PHP configuration file (/etc/zabbix/Apache.conf or /etc/httpd/conf.d/zabbix.conf) to ensure the correct time zone:

php_value date.timezone America/New_York

Step 6: Starting Zabbix Server and Agent

Start the Zabbix server and agent and set them to start automatically on system boot:

systemctl restart zabbix-server zabbix-agent apache2
systemctl enable zabbix-server zabbix-agent apache2

For CentOS, you might need to use httpd instead of apache2.

Step 7: Accessing Zabbix Frontend

1. Open a web browser and navigate to http://your_server_ip/zabbix.
2. Follow the installation wizard in the web interface to complete the configuration and setup of Zabbix.

 

You should now have a fully functional Zabbix server ready to monitor your servers and applications. Zabbix offers a wide range of options for advanced monitoring, including creating custom metrics, setting threshold values for alerts, and visualizing data through graphs and dashboards. The next step is to add your servers as hosts to Zabbix and configure monitoring parameters according to your needs.