There is two modes for Zabbix checks:

• Passive check : a simple data request. Zabbix server or proxy asks for some data (for example, CPU load) and Zabbix agent sends back the result to the server.
• Active check : the agent must first retrieve from the server(s) a list of items for independent processing. Then the agent then periodically sends the new values to the server(s).

Monitoring a Zabbix agent behind a firewall or a NAT without any port redirection requires to use the active mode.

It’s not recommended to monitor over internet without using a VPN.

Zabbix server

Install a Zabbix server.

Zabbix agent

Hardware : Raspberry Pi OS : Linux OSMC

Once the server is ready, we can start to install our new agent, the one that is behind the NAT or Firewall.

Install :

 sudo apt-get install zabbix-agent

Edit the configuration :

vi /etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.conf

And change the following :

Server=X.X.X.X
ServerActive=X.X.X.X#IP for active checks
Hostname=OSMC #Use the same hostname (case-sensitive) when declaring the host on the web UI
StartAgents=0 #Disable passive checks

Replace X.X.X.X by the IP of your Zabbix server.

Start the Zabbix agent service :

sudo service zabbix-agent restart

And check that everything went fine :

tail -f /var/log/zabbix-agent/zabbix_agentd.log

Host configuration

Prepare the template

We will clone the “Template OS Linux” and create a “Template OS Linux Active” that will use the active checks instead of passive modes.

01- Click on “Configuration” 02- Click on “Templates” 03- Click on “Template OS Linux” 04- Click on “Full Clone” (bottom) 05- Name the clone “Template OS Linux Active” 06- Click on “Add” (bottom) 07- Click on the “Template OS Linux Active” we’ve just created 08- Click on “Items” 09- Tick the upper-left to select all items 10- Scrolldown to the dropdown and select “Mass Update” and click “Go” 11- Tick “Type” 12- Change the value from “Zabbix agent” to “Zabbix agent (active)”

Create a new host

Create a new host :

• The hostname must match the one defined in the agent configuration (here : OSMC)
• As there is no IP to reach the agent, use IP : 0.0.0.0 and port : 0.
• Use the template we’ve just created (Template OS Linux Active).