Zabbix is a popular open source monitoring software tool that helps you gain insights and simplifies logs data from servers, networking devices and others so you can make sense of them. It helps you monitor, search and analyse the vast amount of data, (especially in a larger environments) into a simple format that you can easily read and digest.
Zabbix supports majority of the operating systems in use today. from Windows to Linux and Mac OS. including vast majority of the networking devices deployed.
This brief tutorial is going to show students and new users how to install Zabbix software on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 and 18.04 LTS servers.
For more about Zabbix, please check its homepage.
When you’re ready to install Zabbix, follow the steps below:
Step 1: Install Apache2 HTTP Server on Ubuntu
Apache2 HTTP Server is the most popular web server in use. so install it since Zabbix needs it. To install Apache2 HTTP on Ubuntu server, run the commands below.
sudo apt update sudo apt install apache2
After installing Apache2, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable Apache2 service to always start up with the server boots.
sudo systemctl stop apache2.service sudo systemctl start apache2.service sudo systemctl enable apache2.service
To test Apache2 setup, open your browser and browse to the server hostname or IP address and you should see Apache2 default test page as shown below. When you see that, then Apache2 is working as expected.
Step 2: Install MariaDB Database Server
MariaDB database server is a great place to start when looking at open source database servers to use with Zabbix. To install MariaDB run the commands below.
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client
After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and enable MariaDB service to always start up when the server boots.
Run these on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
sudo systemctl stop mysql.service sudo systemctl start mysql.service sudo systemctl enable mysql.service
Run these on Ubuntu 18.04 and 18.10 LTS
sudo systemctl stop mariadb.service sudo systemctl start mariadb.service sudo systemctl enable mariadb.service
After that, run the commands below to secure MariaDB server by creating a root password and disallowing remote root access.
sudo mysql_secure_installation
When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.
- Enter current password for root (enter for none): Just press the Enter
- Set root password? [Y/n]: Y
- New password: Enter password
- Re-enter new password: Repeat password
- Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y
- Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y
- Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]: Y
- Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]: Y
Next, run the commands below to open MariaDB default config file…
sudo nano /etc/mysql/mariadb.conf.d/50-server.cnf
Then add the lines below and save…
innodb_file_format = Barracuda innodb_large_prefix = 1 innodb_default_row_format = dynamic
Restart MariaDB after that…
To test if MariaDB is installed, type the commands below to logon to MariaDB server
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then type the password you created above to sign on. if successful, you should see MariaDB welcome message
Step 3: Install PHP 7.2 and Related Modules
PHP 7.2 may not be available in Ubuntu default repositories. in order to install it, you will have to get it from third-party repositories.
Run the commands below to add the below third-party repository to upgrade to PHP 7.2
sudo apt-get install software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php
Then update and upgrade to PHP 7.2
sudo apt update
Next, run the commands below to install PHP 7.2 and related modules.
sudo apt install php7.2 libapache2-mod-php7.2 php7.2-common php7.2-mysql php7.2-gmp php7.2-curl php7.2-intl php7.2-mbstring php7.2-xmlrpc php7.2-mysql php7.2-gd php7.2-xml php7.2-cli php7.2-zip
After installing PHP 7.2, run the commands below to open PHP default config file for Apache2.
sudo nano /etc/php/7.2/apache2/php.ini
Then make the changes on the following lines below in the file and save. The value below is great settings to apply in your environments.
file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On short_open_tag = On memory_limit = 256M upload_max_filesize = 100M max_execution_time = 360 date.timezone = America/Chicago
After making the change above, save the file and close out. Next, restart Apache2 by running the commands below:
sudo systemctl restart apache2.service
To test PHP 7.2 settings with Apache2, create a phpinfo.php file in Apache2 root directory by running the commands below
sudo nano /var/www/html/phpinfo.php
Then type the content below and save the file.
<?php phpinfo( ); ?>
Save the file. then browse to your server hostname followed by /phpinfo.php
/phpinfo.php
You should see PHP default test page.
Step 4: Create Zabbix Database
Now that you’ve installed all the packages that are required for Zabbix to function, continue below to start configuring the servers. First run the commands below to create a blank Zabbix.
To logon to MariaDB database server, run the commands below.
sudo mysql -u root -p
Then create a database called zabbix
CREATE DATABASE zabbix character set utf8 collate utf8_bin;
Create a database user called zabbixuser with new password
CREATE USER 'zabbixuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'new_password_here';
Then grant the user full access to the database.
GRANT ALL ON zabbix.* TO 'zabbixuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'user_password_here' WITH GRANT OPTION;
Finally, save your changes and exit.
FLUSH PRIVILEGES; EXIT;
Step 5: Install Zabbix
Now that you’ve installed and configured the servers above, run the commands below to add Zabbix repositories.
cd /tmp wget https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/4.0/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zabbix-release/zabbix-release_4.0-2+bionic_all.deb wget https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/4.0/ubuntu/pool/main/z/zabbix-release/zabbix-release_4.0-2+xenial_all.deb sudo dpkg -i zabbix-release_4.0-2+bionic*.deb sudo dpkg -i zabbix-release_4.0-2+xenial*.deb
After that, install these other packages to complete Zabbix installation.
sudo apt update sudo apt install zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-agent zabbix-frontend-php php7.2-bcmath
Step 6: Configure Zabbix
After installing Zabbix, run the commands below to open Zabbix server config file and change the highlighted lines below:
sudo nano /etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf
Then make the highlighted changes below and save the file.
# Database name. # For SQLite3 path to database file must be provided. DBUser and DBPassword are ignored. # # Mandatory: yes # Default: # DBName= DBName=zabbix ### Option: DBSchema # Schema name. Used for IBM DB2 and PostgreSQL. # # Mandatory: no # Default: # DBSchema= ### Option: DBUser # Database user. Ignored for SQLite. # # Mandatory: no # Default: # DBUser= DBUser=zabbixuser ### Option: DBPassword # Database password. Ignored for SQLite. # Comment this line if no password is used. # # Mandatory: no # Default: DBPassword= zabbixuser_password_here
Save the file and exit.
Next, run the commands below to open Zabbix agent config file. and change the add a hostname.
sudo nano /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.conf
Then add a hostname for your server.
# Mandatory: no
# Default:
# Hostname=
Hostname=zabbix.example.com
Save the file and exit.
Import initial schema and data for the server with MySQL:
zcat /usr/share/doc/zabbix-server-mysql/create.sql.gz | mysql -u zabbixuser -p zabbix
Enter your Zabbix database user password when prompted.
After that, restart and enable Zabbix service.
sudo systemctl restart zabbix-server sudo systemctl enable zabbix-server sudo systemctl reload apache2.service
Now open your browser and browse to the Zabbix hostname or IP address followed by /zabbix/
You should see Zabbix setup page. Continue with the setup wizard until you’re done.
Verify that all the PHP requirements are met. then continue with the database configuration. Type the database connection info you created above and continue.
Then type Zabbix server name and continue.
Finally, complete the installation.
When you’re done, logon with:
Username: admin
Password zabbix
That’s it!
Conclusion:
You’ve successfully installed Zabbix 4.0 on Ubuntu 16.04 | 18.04 and 18.10 servers. Hope you continue to read our tutorials on Linux and Ubuntu.
Enjoy!
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