Frontend installeren

Before configuring the Zabbix frontend, ensure the system meets the requirements and is prepared as outlined in the previous chapter: Getting started. This server can be the same one where the Zabbix server packages were previously installed, or it can be a separate machine.

Perform all subsequent steps on the server designated for the frontend.

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Installing the frontend with NGINX

install frontend packages

Red Hat

# When using MySQL/MariaDB
dnf install zabbix-nginx-conf zabbix-web-mysql
# or when using PostgreSQL
dnf install zabbix-nginx-conf zabbix-web-pgsql

SUSE

# When using MySQL/MariaDB
zypper install zabbix-nginx-conf zabbix-web-mysql php8-openssl php8-xmlreader php8-xmlwriter
# or when using PostgreSQL
zypper install zabbix-nginx-conf zabbix-web-pgsql php8-openssl php8-xmlreader php8-xmlwriter

Suse Linux Enterprise Server

On SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), ensure you are subscribed to the "SUSE Linux Enterprise Module Web and Scripting" repository to access the necessary PHP 8 packages required for the Zabbix frontend installation: (on SLES versions < 16, the command is "SUSEConnect" instead of "suseconnect")

suseconnect -p sle-module-web-scripting/16/x86_64

The actual URL for web scripting module may be different depending on particular service pack. Use the following command to determine the right one.

suseconnect --list-extensions

Ubuntu

# When using MySQL/MariaDB
sudo apt install zabbix-frontend-php php8.3-mysql zabbix-nginx-conf
# or when using PostgreSQL
sudo apt install zabbix-frontend-php php8.3-pgsql zabbix-nginx-conf

This command will install the front-end packages along with the required dependencies for Nginx.

As of SUSE 16 SELinux is now the default security module instead of AppArmor. By default PHP-FPM is not allowed by SELinux on SUSE to - map exec memory required for PHP JIT compilation, - connect to Zabbix server or - connect to the database server over TCP. We need to tell SELinux to allow all this:

SELinux: Allow PHP-FPM to map exec memory

setsebool -P httpd_execmem 1
setsebool -P httpd_can_connect_zabbix 1
setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect_db 1

Tip

To troubleshoot SELinux issues, it is recommended to install the setroubleshoot package which will log any SELinux denials in the system log and provide suggestions on how to resolve them.

Depending on your Linux distribution defaults, PHP-FPM may by default not be allowed by SystemD to write to the /etc/zabbix/web directory required for the Zabbix frontend setup. To enable this we need to create a drop-in file to allow this:

SystemD: Allow PHP-FPM to write to /etc/zabbix/web

systemctl edit php-fpm

This will open an editor to create a drop-in file /etc/systemd/system/php-fpm.service.d/override.conf which will override or extend the existing service file.

Add the following lines to the file:

[Service]
ReadWritePaths=/etc/zabbix/web

Then exit the editor and reload the SystemD configuration:

systemctl daemon-reload

How is SystemD preventing PHP-FPM from writing to /etc/zabbix/web?

On many modern Linux distributions, SystemD employs a security feature known as sandboxing to restrict the capabilities of services. This is done to enhance security by limiting the access of services to only the resources they need to function. By default, PHP-FPM may be restricted from writing to certain directories, including /etc/zabbix/web, to prevent potential security vulnerabilities. This is enforced through SystemD's ProtectSystem and ReadWritePaths directives, which control the file system access of services.

Tip

Normally write access to /etc/zabbix/web is only needed during the initial setup of the Zabbix frontend. After the setup is complete you can remove the drop-in file again to further harden the security of your system.

First thing we have to do is alter the Nginx configuration file so that we don't use the standard config and serve the Zabbix frontend on port 80.

Edit nginx config for Red Hat

vi /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

In this configuration file look for the following block that starts with server {:

Original config

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name *;
...

Tip

This block may be different depending on your distribution and Nginx version.

Then, comment out the any listen and server_name directives to disable the default http server configuration. You can do this by adding a # at the beginning of each line, like in the example below:

Config after edit

server {
    #listen 80;
    #listen [::]:80;
    #server_name *;
...

The Zabbix configuration file must now be modified to take over the default service on port 80 we just disabled. Open the following file for editing:

Edit Zabbix config for nginx

sudo vi /etc/nginx/conf.d/zabbix.conf

And alter the following lines:

Original config

server {
#       listen          8080;
#       server_name     example.com;

        root    /usr/share/zabbix;

        index   index.php;
...

Remove the # in front of the first 2 lines and modify them with the correct port and domain for your front-end.

Tip

In case you don't have a domain you can replace servername with _ like in the example below:

Config after the edit

server {
        listen          80;
        server_name     _;

         root    /usr/share/zabbix;

         index   index.php;

The web server and PHP-FPM service are now ready for activation and persistent startup. Execute the following commands to enable and start them immediately:

Restart the front-end services

Red Hat / SUSE

systemctl enable nginx php-fpm --now

Ubuntu

sudo systemctl enable nginx php8.3-fpm --now

Let's verify if the service is properly started and enabled so that it survives our reboot next time.

Check if the service is running

sudo systemctl status nginx

Example output

localhost:~> sudo systemctl status nginx
● nginx.service - The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server
      Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service.d
              └─php-fpm.conf
      Active: active (running) since Mon 2023-11-20 11:42:18 CET; 30min ago
    Main PID: 1206 (nginx)
       Tasks: 2 (limit: 12344)
      Memory: 4.8M
         CPU: 38ms
      CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
              ├─1206 "nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx"
              └─1207 "nginx: worker process"

Nov 20 11:42:18 zabbix-srv systemd[1]: Starting The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server...
Nov 20 11:42:18 zabbix-srv nginx[1204]: nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
Nov 20 11:42:18 zabbix-srv nginx[1204]: nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Nov 20 11:42:18 zabbix-srv systemd[1]: Started The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server.

With the service operational and configured for automatic startup, the final preparatory step involves adjusting the firewall to permit inbound HTTP traffic. Execute the following commands:

Configure the firewall

Red Hat / SUSE

firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload

Ubuntu

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp

Open your browser and go to the url or ip of your front-end :

Front-end configuration

http://<ip or dns of the zabbix frontend server>/

If all goes well you should be greeted with a Zabbix welcome page. In case you have an error check the configuration again or have a look at the nginx log file /var/log/nginx/error.log or run the following command :

journalctl -xeu nginx

This should help you in locating the errors you made.

Upon accessing the appropriate URL, a page resembling the one illustrated below should appear:

1.4 Zabbix welcome

The Zabbix frontend presents a limited array of available localizations, as shown.

!.5 Zabbix welcome language choice

What if we want to install Chinese as language or another language from the list? Run the next command to get a list of all locales available for your OS.

Install language packs

Red Hat

dnf list glibc-langpack-*

SUSE

localectl list-locales

Ubuntu

apt-cache search language-pack

Users on Ubuntu will probably notice following error `"Locale for language "en_US" is not found on the web server."``

This can be solved easy with the following commands.

sudo locale-gen en_US.UTF-8
sudo update-locale
sudo systemctl restart nginx php8.3-fpm

This will give you a list like:

Example output

Red Hat

Installed Packages
glibc-langpack-en.x86_64
Available Packages
glibc-langpack-aa.x86_64
---
glibc-langpack-zu.x86_64

SUSE

C.UTF-8
aa_DJ.UTF-8
af_ZA.UTF-8
an_ES.UTF-8
---
zh_SG.UTF-8
zh_TW.UTF-8
zu_ZA.UTF-8

Ubuntu

language-pack-kab - translation updates for language Kabyle
language-pack-kab-base - translations for language Kabyle
language-pack-kn - translation updates for language Kannada
language-pack-kn-base - translations for language Kannada
---
language-pack-ko - translation updates for language Korean
language-pack-ko-base - translations for language Korean
language-pack-ku - translation updates for language Kurdish
language-pack-ku-base - translations for language Kurdish
language-pack-lt - translation updates for language Lithuanian

Let's search for our Chinese locale to see if it is available. As you can see the code starts with zh.

search for language pack

Red Hat

~# dnf list glibc-langpack-* | grep zh
glibc-langpack-zh.x86_64
glibc-langpack-lzh.x86_64

SUSE

~> localectl list-locales | grep zh
zh_CN.UTF-8
zh_HK.UTF-8
zh_SG.UTF-8
zh_TW.UTF-8

Ubuntu

sudo apt-cache search language-pack | grep -i zh

On RedHat and Ubuntu, the command outputs two lines; however, given the identified language code, 'zh_CN,' only the first package requires installation. on SUSE either only locales C.UTF-8 and en_US.UTF-8 are install or all available locales are installed, depending on whether the package glibc-locale is installed or not.

Install the locale package

Red Hat

dnf install glibc-langpack-zh.x86_64
sudo systemctl restart nginx php-fpm

SUSE

zypper install glibc-locale
sudo systemctl restart nginx php-fpm

Ubuntu

sudo apt install language-pack-zh-hans
sudo systemctl restart nginx php8.3-fpm

When we return now to our front-end we are able to select the Chinese language, after a reload of our browser.

1.6 Zabbix select language

Note

If your preferred language is not available in the Zabbix front-end, don't worry, it simply means that the translation is either incomplete or not yet available. Zabbix is an open-source project that relies on community contributions for translations, so you can help improve it by contributing your own translations.

Visit the translation page at https://translate.zabbix.com/ to assist with the translation efforts. Once your translation is complete and reviewed, it will be included in the next minor patch version of Zabbix. Your contributions help make Zabbix more accessible and improve the overall user experience for everyone.

When you're satisfied with the available translations, click Next. You will then be taken to a screen to verify that all prerequisites are satisfied. If any prerequisites are not fulfilled, address those issues first. However, if everything is in order, you should be able to proceed by clicking Next.

1.7 Zabbix pre-requisites

On the next page, you'll configure the database connection parameters:

1. Select the Database Type: Choose either MySQL or PostgreSQL depending on your setup.
2. Enter the Database Host: Provide the IP address or DNS name of your database server. Use port 3306 for MariaDB/MySQL or 5432 for PostgreSQL.
3. Enter the Database Name: Specify the name of your database. In our case, it is zabbix. If you are using PostgreSQL, you will also need to provide the schema name, which is zabbix_server in our case.
4. Enther the Database Schema: Only for PostgreSQL users, enter the schema name created for Zabbix server, which is zabbix_server in our case.
5. Enter the Database User: Input the database user created for the web front-end, remember in our basic installation guide we created 2 users zabbix-web and zabbix-srv. One for the frontend and the other one for our zabbix server so here we will use the user zabbix-web. Enter the corresponding password for this user.

Ensure that the Database TLS encryption option is not selected, and then click Next step to proceed.

1.8 Zabbix connections

You're almost finished with the setup! The final steps involve:

1. Assigning an Instance Name: Choose a descriptive name for your Zabbix instance.
2. Selecting the Timezone: Choose the timezone that matches your location or your preferred time zone for the Zabbix interface.
3. Setting the Default Time Format: Select the default time format you prefer to use.
4. Encrypt connections from Web interface: I marked this box but you should not. This box is to encrypt communications between Zabbix frontend and your browser. We will cover this later. Once these settings are configured, you can complete the setup and proceed with any final configuration steps as needed.

Note

It's a good practice to set your Zabbix server to the UTC timezone, especially when managing systems across multiple timezones. Using UTC helps ensure consistency in time-sensitive actions and events, as the server’s timezone is often used for calculating and displaying time-related information.

1.9 Zabbix summary

After clicking Next step again, you'll be taken to a page confirming that the configuration was successful. Click Finish to complete the setup process.

1.10 Zabbix install

We are now ready to login :

1.11 Zabbix login

• Login : Admin
• Password : zabbix

This concludes our topic on setting up the Zabbix server. If you're interested in securing your front-end, I recommend checking out the topic Securing Zabbix for additional guidance and best practices.

Tip

If you are not able to save your configuration at the end, make sure you executed the SELinux related instructions or have SELinux disabled. Also check if the /etc/zabbix/web directory is writable by the webservice user (usually wwwrun or www)

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Conclusion

With the installation and configuration of the Zabbix frontend now complete, you have successfully set up the user interface for your Zabbix monitoring system. This process included installing the necessary packages, configuring a web server and PHP engine, setting up the database connection, and customizing the frontend settings.

At this stage, your Zabbix instance is operational, providing the foundation for advanced monitoring and alerting. In the upcoming chapters, we will delve into fine-tuning Zabbix, optimizing performance, and exploring key features that transform it into a powerful observability platform.

Now that your Zabbix environment is up and running, let’s take it to the next level.

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Questions

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Useful URLs

• https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/current/en/manual
• https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/current/en/manual/installation/requirements
• https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/current/en/manual/installation/install_from_packages