Core Architecture

• Central Server: The primary hub that processes metrics, triggers, and alerts received from monitoring nodes.
• Data Storage: A backend database (e.g., MySQL/PostgreSQL) retaining all configuration metrics and historical data.
• Web Interface: The dashboard for visualization and administration, typically co-located with the central server.
• Proxy Node: An optional intermediary for distributed setups, aggregating data from remote agents before forwarding it to the central server.
• Client Agent: A daemon deployed on target machines to gather local metrics and report back to the server or proxy.
• Java Gateway: A specialized proxy facilitating the monitoring of JMX applications.

System Preparation

Verify OS version via cat /etc/os-release, ensure sufficient memory with free -h, check kernel using uname -r, and disable firewalld/iptables.

Central Server Installation

Create a custom repository file for package management:

[zabbix-monitor]
name=Zabbix Monitoring Base
baseurl=https://mirrors.example.com/zabbix/5.0/rhel/7/x86_64/
gpgcheck=0
enabled=1

[zabbix-monitor-frontend]
name=Zabbix Frontend Components
baseurl=https://mirrors.example.com/zabbix/5.0/rhel/7/x86_64/frontend/
gpgcheck=0
enabled=1

Install the core components and Software Collections:

yum install -y zabbix-server-mysql zabbix-agent centos-release-scl

Update SCL repository URLs to point to CentOS Vault to resolve deprecated mirror lists, then install the frontend packages:

yum install -y zabbix-web-mysql-scl zabbix-apache-conf-scl

Database Initialization

Access the MySQL/MariaDB shell and execute the following SQL commands:

CREATE DATABASE zabbix_monitor CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_bin;
CREATE USER 'zbx_admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'SecureP@ssw0rd';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON zabbix_monitor.* TO 'zbx_admin'@'localhost';
SET GLOBAL log_bin_trust_function_creators = 1;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Import the initial schema:

zcat /usr/share/doc/zabbix-server-mysql-*/create.sql.gz | mysql -uzbx_admin -pSecureP@ssw0rd zabbix_monitor

Application Configuration

Edit /etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf to specify database connection parameters:

DBHost=localhost
DBName=zabbix_monitor
DBUser=zbx_admin
DBPassword=SecureP@ssw0rd

Adjust the PHP timezone in /etc/opt/rh/rh-php72/php-fpm.d/zabbix.conf:

php_value[date.timezone] = UTC

Enable and start all required daemons:

systemctl restart zabbix-server zabbix-agent httpd rh-php72-php-fpm
systemctl enable zabbix-server zabbix-agent httpd rh-php72-php-fpm

Navigate to http://<server_ip>/zabbix to finalize the web setup wizard.

Client Node Configuration

Transfer the repository configuration to the target client node:

scp /etc/yum.repos.d/zabbix.repo root@10.0.0.50:/etc/yum.repos.d/

Install the agent daemon:

yum install -y zabbix-agent

Modify /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.conf to point to the central server:

Server=10.0.0.100
ServerActive=10.0.0.100
Hostname=app_node_01
EnableRemoteCommands=1
UnsafeUserParameters=1
Include=/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.d/*.conf

Activate the service:

systemctl start zabbix-agent
systemctl enable zabbix-agent

Confirm the agent is listening on port 10050:

ss -antp | grep 10050

On the central server, install the query utility and validate connectivity:

yum install -y zabbix-get
zabbix_get -s 10.0.0.50 -k agent.ping

Web Application Monitoring Setup

1. Navigate to Configuration -> Host groups and define a new group (e.g., "Web Servers").
2. Proceed to Configuration -> Hosts to add the target machine, assigning it to the newly created group and linking appropriate templates.
3. Under the host settings, access the Graphs tab to construct visual representations of the collected metrics.