Zabbix Integration

Zabbix is an enterprise-class open source monitoring and observability platform. QuantaStor integrates with Zabbix via a custom alert handler tied into the QuantaStor Alert Manager, which pushes each alert into Zabbix over the Zabbix API. Setup is a matter of generating an API token in Zabbix, combining it with your Zabbix URL, and adding the result to the QuantaStor Alert Manager screen as a new Alert Endpoint.

Requirements: Zabbix 7.0 or newer. If you don't have a Zabbix server available you can stand up a free 3-day trial instance at cloud.zabbix.com using the nano tier.

Step 1 - Generate an API Token

Login to Zabbix and navigate to:

Users -> API tokens -> Create API token

Name the token quantastor-itsm and choose the user to associate it with. We recommend leaving Set expiration date and time un-checked so that alerts are not missed due to token expiration.

The token is displayed only once, so be sure to copy it before leaving the page.

The user the token is tied to needs rights to create hosts and, for the one-time setup in Step 3, to create host groups and import templates. A Super admin user is the simplest choice.

Step 2 - Assemble the Endpoint URL

The endpoint URL that QuantaStor needs is the base URL of your Zabbix front end, followed by a '#' character, followed by the API token from Step 1:

https://<zabbix-host>/#<API-token>

With Zabbix Cloud the front end is at the root of the host name, so the URL will look like this:

https://qs-example.zabbix.cloud/#b7f3a91c2d6e480fa5c81e37d94b06af2c15e8d073a4bf6295cd10e8473f92

With a self-hosted Zabbix server the front end is usually served under /zabbix, so the URL will look like this:

https://zabbix.example.com/zabbix#b7f3a91c2d6e480fa5c81e37d94b06af2c15e8d073a4bf6295cd10e8473f92

QuantaStor appends the API path (api_jsonrpc.php) to the URL automatically, so there's no need to include it.

Step 3 - Import the QuantaStor Template

Run the alert handler once with the --setup option on any storage system in the grid, passing the URL assembled in Step 2:

/opt/osnexus/quantastor/bin/qs_alerthandler_zabbix.py --setup --url 'https://qs-example.zabbix.cloud/#b7f3a91c2d6e480fa5c81e37d94b06af2c15e8d073a4bf6295cd10e8473f92'

Note the single quotes around the URL, they're required so that the shell doesn't treat the '#' as the start of a comment.

This imports the QuantaStor by Trapper template (items, triggers and a per-host dashboard) and creates a grid-wide QuantaStor Alerts dashboard under Dashboards in Zabbix.

This step is optional in the sense that alerts will still be delivered without it, but until the template is imported they arrive only as a raw JSON payload with no triggers, no entries under Monitoring -> Problems, and no dashboard, so we recommend always running it.

Step 4 - Add the Endpoint to QuantaStor

Login to your QuantaStor storage grid and then select the Alert Manager button in the toolbar to bring up the dialog for adding alert endpoints. On the second page select Zabbix from the dropdown list of ITSM integrations and then input the URL endpoint you assembled in Step 2.

Step 5 - Apply Changes and Test

Apply your changes to add the new endpoint, then use the Generate Test Alert button to verify that everything is configured correctly and that alerts are making it into Zabbix. Note that "INFO" level alerts are not sent to the ITSM modules, so be sure to generate a "WARNING" or "ERROR" level alert for testing.

The first alert from a given storage system creates its host in Zabbix, and the Zabbix server only picks up that new configuration on its next cache reload (up to 60 seconds). The alert handler retries until the alert lands, so the first test alert may take a minute or so to appear.

Viewing Alerts in Zabbix

Alerts can be reviewed in three places:

• Dashboards -> QuantaStor Alerts - alert counts by severity plus the full alert list across every storage system in the grid.
• Monitoring -> Problems - the standard Zabbix problem view, filtered however you like.
• The QuantaStor alerts dashboard on an individual host - the last alert received from that one storage system.

QuantaStor alerts are one-shot events with no automatic recovery condition, so a problem stays open until it is closed by hand. To dismiss an alert use the Update link to the right of it and select Close problem.

What the Integration Creates in Zabbix

Object	Name	Notes
Host group	QuantaStor	Holds every storage system reporting into Zabbix
Host	One per storage system	Named by the storage system's IP address, with the system name as the visible name
Template	QuantaStor by Trapper	Linked automatically to each host created by the handler
Dashboard	QuantaStor Alerts	Grid-wide alert dashboard, created by --setup
Template dashboard	QuantaStor alerts	Per-host view of the most recent alert

Each alert is pushed as a JSON document into the quantastor.alert trapper item, and the template derives the individual fields (title, description, severity, alert type, storage system, timestamp) from it. QuantaStor alert severities map to Zabbix trigger priorities as follows:

QuantaStor severity	Zabbix priority
Critical	Disaster
Error	High
Warning	Warning
Info	not forwarded