How to Install and Configure Zabbix Proxy 3.4 on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7

A Zabbix proxy can collect performance and availability data on behalf of the Zabbix server. This way, a proxy can take on itself some of the load of collecting data and offload the Zabbix server.

Also, using a proxy is the easiest way of implementing centralized and distributed monitoring, when all agents and proxies report to one Zabbix server and all data is collected centrally.

A Zabbix proxy can be used to:

• Monitor remote locations
• Monitor locations having unreliable communications
• Offload the Zabbix server when monitoring thousands of devices
• Simplify the maintenance of distributed monitoring

In this article, we will show you how to install and configure a Zabbix Proxy on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7 server using Mariadb/MySQL database. For the purpose of the installation of a proxy we need a user super administrator rights. If you didn’t yet installed a Zabbix server Check our previous tutorials to learn how to install Zabbix Server on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7 server or Ubuntu 16.04 LTS server:

• How To Install Zabbix 3.4 Monitoring Server On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
• How To Install Zabbix 3.4 Server On CentOS 7 / RHEL 7
• How to install Zabbix Agent on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
• How to install Zabbix Agent on CentOS 7 / RHEL 7

Installing Zabbix Proxy

– First we need to import the zabbix GPG key and to add the Zabbix repository to our server:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# rpm --import http://repo.zabbix.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-ZABBIX
[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# rpm -ivh http://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/3.4/rhel/7/x86_64/zabbix-release-3.4-1.el7.centos.noarch.rpm

– Next step is to install our proxy using the following command:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# yum install zabbix-proxy-mysql

Creating Zabbix Proxy Database

– First we need to install MariaDB

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# yum install mariadb-server

– Enable/ Restart MariaDB Server at boot using the following command:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# systemctl enable mariadb && systemctl start mariadb

– Don’t forget to set a password for the root using mysql_secure_installtion, take a look to this tutorial: Securing MySQL server / Mariadb with mysql_secure_installation 

– Now we need to create the zabbix proxy database and grant access to the zabbix proxy user

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# mysql -u root -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MariaDB monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MariaDB connection id is 25
Server version: 5.5.56-MariaDB MariaDB Server

Copyright (c) 2000, 2017, Oracle, MariaDB Corporation Ab and others.

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.

MariaDB [(none)]> create database zabbix_proxy character set utf8 collate utf8_bin;

MariaDB [(none)]> grant all privileges on zabbix_proxy.* to zabbixuser@localhost identified by "Password";
MariaDB [(none)]> flush privileges;

– Then import initial schema. Make sure to insert correct version for zabbix-proxy-mysql-3.4.X

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# zcat /usr/share/doc/zabbix-proxy-mysql-3.4.X/schema.sql.gz | mysql -u zabbixuser zabbix_proxy -p

configuring Zabbix proxy

– Open the zabbix_proxy.conf file and change the following parameters:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# vi /etc/zabbix/zabbix_proxy.conf

Server=<IP of your zabbix server>
Hostname=<Name of your proxy>
DBName=<Name of your proxy database>
DBUser=<Name of your proxy user>
DBPassword=<Password of your proxy user>

– Execute the following command to enable connection between the Zabbix server and Zabbix proxy :

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=10050/tcp
[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=10051/tcp
[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# firewall-cmd --reload

Starting/Enabling Zabbix proxy

– After finishing the installation and the configuration, use the following commands to enable and restart the Zabbix Proxy service at system boot

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# systemctl enable zabbix-proxy
[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# systemctl start zabbix-proxy

Note: If you have issues starting the zabbix-proxy daemon and you got this error “Job for zabbix-proxy.service failed because a configured resource limit was exceeded. See “systemctl status zabbix-proxy.service” and “journalctl -xe” for details“, you need to set Selinux roles using the audit2allow command:

– Install the policycoreutils-python package using the following command:

# yum install policycoreutils-python

– Use the following commands to create the Selinux rule and enable it:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# cat /var/log/audit/audit.log | grep zabbix_proxy | grep denied | audit2allow -M zabbix_proxy
[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# semodule -i zabbix_proxy.pp

– Use the following command to enable zabbix proxy to use the network:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# setsebool -P zabbix_can_network=1

– Finally start the Zabbix proxy service:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# systemctl start zabbix-proxy

– Or you can use this Selinux role, tested on CentOS 7.3:

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# vi zabbix_proxy.te

module zabbix_proxy 1.0;

require {
        type zabbix_t;
        type zabbix_port_t;
        class process setrlimit;
        class tcp_socket name_connect;
}

#============= zabbix_t ==============
allow zabbix_t self:process setrlimit;

#!!!! This avc is allowed in the current policy
allow zabbix_t zabbix_port_t:tcp_socket name_connect;

[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# checkmodule -m -M zabbix_proxy.te -o zabbix_proxy.mod
[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# semodule_package -m zabbix_proxy.mod -o zabbix_proxy.pp
[root@ylclzbxprx01 ~]# semodule -i zabbix_proxy.pp

Registering Zabbix Proxy in Zabbix Frontend

To register a proxy in Zabbix frontend:

– Go to: Administration –> Proxies
– Click on Create proxy

– Enter the proxy name. Must be the same as the name entered in the Hostname parameter in the proxy configuration file
– Select the proxy mode:

• Active – the proxy will connect to the Zabbix server and request configuration data
• Passive – Zabbix server connects to the proxy

– Select the Hosts that should be monitored by the proxy .

– Click Add button.

 
We hope this tutorial was enough Helpful. If you need more information, or have any questions, just comment below and we will be glad to assist you!