Вход в личный кабинет Introduction
In this post, I will give you a general overview of the possibilities and benefits of Zabbix API with examples. You’ll understand how to perform integration and optimization to take advantage of Zabbix API and Zabbix itself.
Here are some useful resources that you will need:
About api
API is an application programming interface and one of the methods used to configure Zabbix.
As you know, there is the Zabbix server, the database, and the front end. The Zabbix server and the front end are connected to the database. When the Zabbix server collects information from a PC or another device, the data is processed by the server binary process and written inside the database. Each time you open the front end and create a new host, the information about it is also written to the database.
Zabbix communication process
Note. The dashed line represents the minor communication between the front end and the server.
You can add or change any configuration in the front end. The bad news is that you have to do all of it manually, which takes a lot of time and human resources, and it is definitely not an optimal way to perform this task.
In my previous post about inventory collection, I mentioned that if you want to update all of the existing hosts to change the inventory mode, there are two ways to do that:
Api tokens
Manage authorization tokens.
Token API
Authentication
Change authentication configuration options.
Authentication API
Contents
- Introduction (00:00)
- About API (04:15)
- PyZabbix (15:17)
- Zabbix gnomes (18:27)
- API with curl (25:16)
- Other features (37:19)
Create an item
Method : item.create
Data :
Dashboards
Manage dashboards and make scheduled reports based on them.
Dashboard API | Template dashboard API | Report API
Delete an item
Method : item.delete
Data :
Example cURL
Event correlation
Create custom event correlation rules.
Correlation API
Events
Retrieve events generated by triggers, network discovery and other Zabbix systems for more flexible situation management or third-party tool integration.
Event API
Export and import
Export and import Zabbix configuration data for configuration backups, migration or large-scale configuration updates.
Configuration API
General
Change certain global configuration options.
Graphs
Edit graphs or separate graph items for better presentation of the gathered data.
Graph API | Graph item API
High availability cluster
Retrieve a list of server nodes and their status.
High availability cluster API
History
Retrieve historical values gathered by Zabbix monitoring processes for presentation or further processing.
History API
Hosts and host groups
Manage host groups, hosts and everything related to them, including host interfaces, host macros and maintenance periods.
Items
Define items to monitor.
Item API
List all hosts
Method : host.get
Data :
Example cURL
Sample response,
Low-level discovery
Configure low-level discovery rules as well as item, trigger and graph prototypes to monitor dynamic entities.
LLD rule API | Item prototype API | Trigger prototype API | Graph prototype API | Host prototype API
Monitoring
The Zabbix API allows you to access history and other data gathered during monitoring.
Network discovery
Manage network-level discovery rules to automatically find and monitor new hosts. Gain full access to information about discovered services and hosts.
Discovery rule API | Discovery check API | Discovered host API | Discovered service API
Other features
Zabbix API functions are not limited to getting information and creating new hosts.
host.update allows you to change the configuration of the existing host, for example, to set the interface from the agent to SNMP. You can also delete configurations or get the history out of Zabbix through API.
API is better than direct queries if you are not an expert in databases. The Zabbix front end has all supported API methods and queries written and optimized by the Zabbix developers for proper performance, so you do not have to worry about making any mistakes.
Problems
Retrieve problems according to the given parameters.
Problem API
Proxies
Manage the proxies used in your distributed monitoring setup.
Proxy API
Pyzabbix
Now, let’s dig deeper into Python. On zabbix.wiki you can find the API libraries for Python, as well as for Ruby, Crystal, Java and other programming languages.
PyZabbix is a Python module used for working with Zabbix API. I will explain the PyZabbix installation process because it’s not available on the server by default.
For a fresh installation, you need to install pip first. Basically, there are two options:
Execute one of the following commands:
Regular expressions
Manage global regular expressions.
Regular expression API
Scripts
Configure and execute scripts to help you with your daily tasks.
Script API
Service level agreement
Define Service Level Objectives (SLO), retrieve detailed Service Level Indicators (SLI) information about service performance.
SLA API
Service monitoring
Create a hierarchy representation of monitored IT infrastructure/business services data.
Service API
Services
Manage services for service-level monitoring and retrieve detailed SLA information about any service.
Service API
Though process
1) visit the documentation page and pick an API flavor for example alert.get:
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "alert.get",
"params": {
"output": "extend",
"actionids": "3"
},
"auth": "038e1d7b1735c6a5436ee9eae095879e",
"id": 1
}2) Let’s use our favorite text editor and build in Find&Replace functionality to escape all double quotes:
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "alert.get",
"params": {
"output": "extend",
"actionids": "3"
},
"auth": "038e1d7b1735c6a5436ee9eae095879e",
"id": 1
}NOTEDon’t ever think to do this process manually by hand!
3) Replace session key 038e1d7b1735c6a5436ee9eae095879e with our variable $auth
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "alert.get",
"params": {
"output": "extend",
"actionids": "3"
},
"auth": "$auth",
"id": 1
}4) Now let’s encapsulate the API command with curl:
curl -s -X POST
-H 'Content-Type: application/json-rpc'
-d "
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "alert.get",
"params": {
"output": "extend",
"actionids": "3"
},
"auth": "$auth",
"id": 1
}
" $urlBy executing the previous command, it should already print a JSON content in response.To make the output more beautiful we can pipe it to jq .:
curl -s -X POST
-H 'Content-Type: application/json-rpc'
-d "
{
"jsonrpc": "2.0",
"method": "alert.get",
"params": {
"output": "extend",
"actionids": "3"
},
"auth": "$auth",
"id": 1
}
" $url | jq .Triggers
Configure triggers to notify you about problems in your system. Manage trigger dependencies.
Trigger API
Update an item
Method : item.update
Data :
Example cURL
View a list of problems
Method : problem.get
Data :
Example cURL
Web monitoring
Configure web scenarios to monitor your web applications and services.
Web scenario API
Zabbix-cli/manual.rst at master · unioslo/zabbix-cli
Zabbix-cli is a terminal client for managing Zabbix
administration tasks via the Zabbix API.
The zabbix-cli code is distributed under the GNU General Public
License 3 and it is written in Python. It has been developed and
tested by members of the Department for IT Infrastructure at the
Center for Information Technology at the University of Oslo, Norway.
- Terminal client
- Two execution modes available: Zabbix-CLI shell and commandline.
- 54 zabbix-CLI commands available.
- Multilevel configuration system.
- Possibility to define Bulk updates. Several performance improvements
are used when running in bulk modus. - Authentication-token, authentication-file and environment variables
support for autologin. - Support for plain, CSV and JSON output.
- Online help
- Written in Python.
Zabbix-cli has a multilevel configuration system.
This means that we do not override entire configuration files but we
merge all the defined configuration files in our system and use the
parameter values defined in the configuration file with higher
priority if a parameter is defined in more than one file.
The ordered list with the files with higher on top:
/usr/share/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.fixed.conf/etc/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.fixed.conf- Configuration file defined with the parameter
-c/--configwhen executing zabbix-cli $HOME/.zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf/etc/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf/usr/share/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf
The default configuration file can be found in
/usr/share/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf or etc/zabbix-cli.conf
in the source code.
The easiest way to configurate your client will be running this
command to create your own $HOME/.zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf
file.:
# zabbix-cli-init <zabbix API url>
The parameter zabbix_api_url must be defined in the configuration
file. Without this parameter, zabbix-cli will not know where to
connect. This parameter will be defined automatically if you have run
the command zabbix-cli-init.
Remember to activate logging with logging=ON if you want to
activate logging. The user running zabbix-cli must have read/write
access to the log file defined with log_file. This parameter will
be defined automatically with an OFF value if you have run the command
zabbix-cli-init.
To see all the active configuration files in your system and the
configuration parameters that zabbix-cli is using, use
show_zabbixcli_config:
[zabbix-cli rafael@zabbix-ID]$ show_zabbixcli_config ---------------------------------------------- | Active configuration files | ---------------------------------------------- | */usr/share/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.fixed.conf | | */etc/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.fixed.conf | | */root/.zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf | | */etc/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf | | */usr/share/zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.conf | ---------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- | Configuration parameter | Value | -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- | zabbix_api_url | https://zabbix.example.org | | cert_verify | ON | | system_id | zabbix-ID | | default_hostgroup | All-hosts | | default_admin_usergroup | Zabbix-admin | | default_create_user_usergroup | All-users | | default_notification_users_usergroup | All-notification-users | | default_directory_exports | /home/user/zabbix_exports | | default_export_format | XML | | include_timestamp_export_filename | ON | | use_colors | ON | | use_paging | OFF | | use_auth_token_file | ON | | logging | ON | | log_level | INFO | | log_file | /home/user/.zabbix-cli/zabbix-cli.log | -------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
You can define the ZABBIX_USERNAME and ZABBIX_PASSWORD environment
variables to pass authentication credentials to zabbix-cli.
For example:
export ZABBIX_USERNAME=zbxuser read -srp "Zabbix Password: " ZABBIX_PASSWORD; export ZABBIX_PASSWORD; zabbix-cli
NOTE: It is important to remember that this method will save the password in clear text in a environment variable. This value will be available to other processes running in the same session.
You can define the file $HOME/.zabbix-cli_auth if you want to
avoid to write your username and password everytime you use
zabbix-cli. This can be useful if you are running zabbix-cli
in non-interactive modus from scripts or automated jobs.
The format of this file is a line with this information:
USERNAME::PASSWORD
NOTE: The password will be saved in clear text so be careful with the information saved here and restrict access to this file only to your user. chmod 400 ~/.zabbix-cli_auth will be defined by zabbix-cli on this file the first time it uses it.
The file $HOME/.zabbix-cli_auth_token will be created with
information about the API-auth-token from the last login if the
parameter use_auth_token_file=ON is defined in the configuration
file.
The information in this file will be used, if we can, to avoid having to
write the username and password everytime you use zabbix-cli. This
can be useful if you are running zabbix-cli in non-interactive
modus from scripts or automated jobs.
This authentication method will work as long as the API-auth-token
saved is active in Zabbix. The Auto-logout attribute of the user
will define how long the API-auth-token will be active.
If the API-auth-token is not valid, zabbix-cli will delete the
file $HOME/.zabbix-cli_auth_token and you will have to login again
with a valid username and password.
The Zabbix-CLI interactive shell can be started by running the program
/usr/bin/zabbix-cli
[user@host]# zabbix-cli ############################################################# Welcome to the Zabbix command-line interface (v2.1.0) Connected to server https://zabbix.example.org (v4.0.6) ############################################################# Type help or ? to list commands. [zabbix-cli user@zabbix-ID]$ help Documented commands (type help <topic>): ======================================== EOF show_alarms acknowledge_event show_global_macros acknowledge_trigger_last_event show_history add_host_to_hostgroup show_host add_user_to_usergroup show_host_inventory add_usergroup_permissions show_host_usermacros clear show_hostgroup create_host show_hostgroup_permissions create_host_interface show_hostgroups create_hostgroup show_hosts create_maintenance_definition show_items create_notification_user show_last_values create_user show_maintenance_definitions create_usergroup show_maintenance_periods define_global_macro show_template define_host_monitoring_status show_templates define_host_usermacro show_trigger_events export_configuration show_triggers help show_usergroup import_configuration show_usergroup_permissions link_template_to_host show_usergroups load_balance_proxy_hosts show_usermacro_host_list move_proxy_hosts show_usermacro_template_list quit show_users remove_host show_zabbixcli_config remove_host_from_hostgroup unlink_template_from_host remove_maintenance_definition update_host_inventory remove_user update_host_proxy remove_user_from_usergroup update_usergroup_permissions shell Miscellaneous help topics: ========================== shortcuts support
NOTE: It is possible to use Zabbix-CLI in a non-interactive mode
by running /usr/bin/zabbix-cli with the parameter --command or
<zabbix_command>-C <zabbix_command> in the OS shell. This
can be used to run zabbix-cli commands from shell scripts or other
programs .e.g.
[user@host]# zabbix-cli -C "show_usergroups" --------- --------------------------- -------------------- ------------- | GroupID | Name | GUI access | Status | --------- --------------------------- -------------------- ------------- | 13 | DBA | System default (0) | Enable (0) | | 9 | Disabled | System default (0) | Disable (1) | | 11 | Enabled debug mode | System default (0) | Enable (0) | | 8 | Guests | Disable (2) | Disable (1) | | 12 | No access to the frontend | Disable (2) | Enable (0) | | 49 | testgroup | System default (0) | Enable (0) | | 15 | Test users | System default (0) | Enable (0) | | 16 | Test users intern | Internal (1) | Enable (0) | | 7 | Zabbix administrators | Internal (1) | Enable (0) | | 14 | Zabbix core | System default (0) | Enable (0) | --------- --------------------------- -------------------- -------------
It is possible to use the parameter --file <zabbix_command_file> or
-f <zabbix_command_file> to define a file with multiple zabbix-cli
commands for scripting.
Some performance improvements get activated when executing
zabbix-cli in this way. The perfomance gain when running multiple
commands via an input file can be as high as 70% when creating new
hosts in Zabbix.
[user@host]# cat zabbix_input_file.txt # This a comment. # Creating hosts. create_host test000001.example.net All-manual-hosts . 1 create_host test000002.example.net All-manual-hosts . 1 create_host test000003.example.net All-manual-hosts . 1 # Deleting hosts remove_host test000001.example.net remove_host test000002.example.net remove_host test000003.example.net [user@host]# zabbix-cli -f zabbix_input_file.txt [OK] File [/home/user/zabbix_input_file.txt] exists. Bulk execution of commands defined in this file started. [Done]: Host (test000001.example.net) with ID: 14213 created [Done]: Host (test000002.example.net) with ID: 14214 created [Done]: Host (test000003.example.net) with ID: 14215 created [Done]: Hosts (test000001.example.net) with IDs: 14213 removed [Done]: Hosts (test000002.example.net) with IDs: 14214 removed [Done]: Hosts (test000003.example.net) with IDs: 14215 removed
One can also use the parameters --output csv or
--output json when running zabbix-cli in non-interactive
modus to generate an output in CSV or JSON format.
[user@host ~]# zabbix-cli --output csv show_usergroups "13","DBA","System default (0)","Enable (0)" "9","Disabled","System default (0)","Disable (1)" "11","Enabled debug mode","System default (0)","Enable (0)" "8","Guests","Disable (2)","Disable (1)" "12","No access to the frontend","Disable (2)","Enable (0)" "49","testgroup","System default (0)","Enable (0)" "15","Test users","System default (0)","Enable (0)" "16","Test users intern","Internal (1)","Enable (0)" "7","Zabbix administrators","Internal (1)","Enable (0)" "14","Zabbix core","System default (0)","Enable (0)"
Remember that you have to use "" and escape some characters if
running commands in non-interactive mode with parameters that have spaces
or special characters for the shell, .e.g.
[user@host ~]# zabbix-cli -C "show_host * "'available':'2','maintenance_status':'1'" " -------- ---------------------- ------------------------- ----------------------------------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- --------------- | HostID | Name | Hostgroups | Templates | Applications | Zabbix agent | Maintenance | Status | -------- ---------------------- ------------------------- ----------------------------------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- --------------- | 10110 | test01.uio.no | [8] Database servers | [10102] Template App SSH Service | CPU | Unavailable (2) | In progress (1) | Monitored (0) | | | | | [10104] Template ICMP Ping | Filesystems | | | | | | | | [10001] Template OS Linux | General | | | | | | | | | ICMP | | | | | | | | | Memory | | | | | | | | | Network interfaces | | | | | | | | | OS | | | | | | | | | Performance | | | | | | | | | Processes | | | | | | | | | SSH service | | | | | | | | | Security | | | | | | | | | Zabbix agent | | | | -------- ---------------------- ------------------------- ----------------------------------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- --------------- | 10484 | test02.uio.no | [12] Web servers | [10094] Template App HTTP Service | HTTP service | Unavailable (2) | In progress (1) | Monitored (0) | | | | [13] PostgreSQL servers | [10073] Template App MySQL | ICMP | | | | | | | [17] MySQL servers | [10102] Template App SSH Service | MySQL | | | | | | | [21] ssh servers | [10104] Template ICMP Ping | SSH service | | | | | | | [5] Discovered hosts | | | | | | | | | [8] Database servers | | | | | | -------- ---------------------- ------------------------- ----------------------------------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- --------------- | 10427 | test03.uio.no | [12] Web servers | [10094] Template App HTTP Service | HTTP service | Unavailable (2) | In progress (1) | Monitored (0) | | | | [17] MySQL servers | [10073] Template App MySQL | ICMP | | | | | | | [21] ssh servers | [10102] Template App SSH Service | MySQL | | | | | | | [5] Discovered hosts | [10104] Template ICMP Ping | SSH service | | | | | | | [8] Database servers | | | | | | -------- ---------------------- ------------------------- ----------------------------------- -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- ---------------
.. autoclass:: zabbix_cli.cli::zabbixcli :members:
In alphabetical order:
Zabbix-CLI is the property of USIT-University of Oslo, and its code is
distributed under GNU General Public License 3.
Copyright © 2022-2022 USIT-University of Oslo.
Trends
Retrieve trend values calculated by Zabbix server for presentation or further processing.
Trend API