Zabbix server integration

Adding a Zabbix server effectively integrates that server into DataForge and enabling you to access its data.

The Zabbix server must be affiliated with a specific company and accompanied by a root user. This root user is essential for carrying out administrative tasks, such as creating service users and Zabbix user groups on the associated Zabbix server.

Zabbix server list

The Zabbix server page of DataForge contains a list of all integrated Zabbix servers:

Zabbix server list

Each added server is represented by a card and feaures additional information about the server. This includes:

the server’s name
the server’s identifier
the company the server was added to
information about synchronization warnings
a context menu

Zabbix server context menu

Synchronize now: Manually start the synchronization process. Usually not necessary as DataForge synchronizes regularly by itself.
Analyze connection: Further explained later in this chapter.
Delete: Removes the server from DataForge.

Add a Zabbix server to DataForge

To integrate a Zabbix server, you need the necessary permissions to add Zabbix servers.
Navigate to the Administration > Zabbix servers page and click the blue plus:

Add Zabbix server form

Company: Select the company to which the server will be associated.
Name: Choose a name for the Zabbix server.
Identifier: This serves as the Zabbix server identifier while adding a DataForge user account.
API URL: Enter the complete URL required to access the Zabbix frontend API endpoint.
Use a authentication token: Toggle this option if you want to use an authentication token instead of a username and password.
Root account username / password: Provide the Zabbix root user’s credentials in these fields.
Root account token: If you opt for token-based authentication, enter the Zabbix user token here.
Security Mode: Choose between Plain, Basic Auth, and API Guard*.
Trust system certificate authority pool: Switch to toggle to trust the system certificate authority pool.
Deposit certificate authority: If system certificate authority pool is not trusted, upload the CA-certificate in this field.

IntelliMon API Guard:

The API Guard is a free software from IntelliTrend that offers an extra layer of security. It acts as an API reverse-proxy/gateway for a Zabbix frontend, allowing public access to the Zabbix API without exposing the entire web frontend.

If you want to learn more about the IntelliMon API Guard or get it for yourself, check out the following pages:

Click Add to finish the process.

Zabbix server configuration

You can update your Zabbix Server integration by clicking the configuration icon of the server you want to inspect or update. The configuration is split in four sections:

1. Warnings and General

The general section consists of the configuration that was specified when the server was added. It is not possible to edit the company.

Zabbix server configuration: Warnings and General 1

Zabbix server configuration: Warnings and General 2

Warnings regarding the Zabbix user groups are displayed first in the Zabbix server configuration. When the box is clicked, a modal opens with an overview of all warnings:

Zabbix server configuration: Warnings overview

2. S3 Object Storage

Mandatory for the DataForge reporting and the upcoming AI feature.

An s3 object storage bucket that stores any data relating to that server. This data is then used for internal processes:

Zabbix server configuration: S3 Object Storage

Object storage URL: The URL of the object storage that should be used.
Bucket name: The name of the bucket the deliveries will be stored in.
Access key: The access key name to use for authentication with the storage provider.
Secret key: The secret key to use for authentication with the storage provider.
Require TLS: A toggle to configure if TLS is required or not.

3. AI runners

You can register and manage your AI runners in this section. These are necessary for our AI feature in DataForge.

Click Register a new AI runner to open a form:

Zabbix server configuration: Register AI runner

Name: Provide a name to your AI runner.
Description: Provide a description to your AI runner.
Token: This token is user to register your runner. Has to be provided in your AI runner configuration file.

Click Create to register your AI runner. It will now show in the list:

Zabbix server configuration: AI runner list

To change it’s configuration click the Cog wheel icon.
To remove the AI runner click the Bin icon.

4. Zabbix role matching

Zabbix role matching allows the manager to specify how the user roles will be assigned when importing Zabbix users. More details about this feature can be found in chapter Role matching.

Zabbix server configuration: Role matching

5. Users per user group

Shows which user groups are established on the server. You can create and manage user groups, which are necessary when working with DataForge’s Reporting feature, explained further in chapter DataForge user groups.

Zabbix server configuration: Users per user group

6. User configuration

You can access Imported Zabbix users to import users from Zabbix, manage imported users or impersonate them.

Zabbix server configuration: User configuration

More details about importing and managing users can be found in chapter Import Zabbix users.

More information about impersonating is found in chapter Impersonating.

Synchronize now

You can manually synchronize DataForge and the Zabbix server by opening the context menu of a server and clicking synchronize now. This ensures that DataForge works with the up-to-date data of the Zabbix server.

This is usually not necessary as DataForge synchronizes regularly by itself.

When the synchronization has been completed, the results show the number of updated entities. In addition, warnings or errors are displayed. The warnings and errors section can be expanded, but is also accessible in the server details.

Zabbix server synchronization results

Verify the connection and credentials

To verify the connection, open the context menu and select Analyze Connection. The results of the connection test will then be displayed.

Analyze connection details

There are four different outcomes the connection test can have:

The Connection chip is red and displays ERROR, indicating that no connection can be established. This is most likely due to an issue with the URL.
The API version chip is red and displays ERROR, suggesting that a connection can be established, but the endpoint is not a Zabbix API.
The Authentication chip is red and displays ERROR, indicating that the Zabbix API can be reached, but the credentials of the root user are incorrect.
Everything is okay when the Connection, API version, and Authentication chips are displayed in green, as shown in the image above, indicating that the connection and authentication are successful.