Would you like to learn how to securely monitor Windows using Zabbix agent and PSK encryption? In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to install and configure the Zabbix agent software on a computer running Windows and how to use the PSK encryption feature to secure the communication between the Zabbix server and the Zabbix agent.
• Zabbix 4.4.0
• Windows version: 2012 R2
Hardware List:
The following section presents the list of equipment used to create this Zabbix tutorial.
Every piece of hardware listed above can be found at Amazon website.
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Zabbix Related Tutorial:
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Tutorial Zabbix – Agent Installation on Windows
First, we need to install the Zabbix agent on Windows.
Access the Zabbix website and download the Zabbix installation package.
In our example, we download the Zabbix file: zabbix_agent-4.4.0-win-amd64-openssl.msi
Double click the Zabbix agent installation file.
Perform the following configuration on the Zabbix agent:
In our example, the Zabbix agent is configured to allow connections from the Zabbix server 192.168.15.10.
The server with the IP address 192.168.15.10 is allowed to request and receive information from the agent.
Now, we need to create a PSK key to encrypt the communication.
We created a PSK ID and a PSK key to encrypt the communication.
In our example, we used the PSK identity value: WINDOWS-SERVER-01
In our example, we used the PSK: fb6616cd582a2fa0aa161cab3423a9ca640c931b21c8c2e3b7132d6db75aadff
To create a randomly generated key value, use the following command on the Zabbix server:
Click on the Next button until the installation is finished.
After finishing the Zabbix agent installation, open the Windows service management screen.
Restart the Zabbix agent service.
Congratulations! you have installed the Zabbix agent on a computer running Windows.
Keep in mind that your Windows firewall application needs to accept connections from the Zabbix server.
The Windows firewall should accept network packets on TCP port: 10050
You can now use the Zabbix server dashboard to add this computer to the network monitoring service.
Tutorial Zabbix – Monitor Windows
Now, we need to access the Zabbix server dashboard and add the Windows computer as a Host.
Open your browser and enter the IP address of your web server plus /zabbix.
In our example, the following URL was entered in the Browser:
• http://192.168.15.10/zabbix
On the login screen, use the default username and default password.
• Default Username: Admin
• Default Password: zabbix
After a successful login, you will be sent to the Zabbix Dashboard.
On the dashboard screen, access the Configuration menu and select the Host option.
On the top right of the screen, click on the Create host button.
On the Host configuration screen, you will have to enter the following information:
• Host Name – Enter a Hostname to identify the Windows server.
• Visible Hostname – Repeat the hostname.
• New group – Enter a name to identify a group of similar devices.
• Agent Interface – Enter the IP address of the Windows server.
Here is the original image, before our configuration.
Here is the new image with our configuration.
Next, we need to associate the host with a specific network monitor template.
By default, Zabbix comes with a large variety of monitoring templates.
Access the Templates tab on the top of the screen.
Click on the Add option and select the template named: Template OS Windows by Zabbix agent
Click on the Select button.
Next, we need to encrypt the communication between the Zabbix server and the Windows computer.
Access the Encryption tab on the top of the screen and perform the following configuration:
• Connections to host – PSK
• Connections from host – PSK
• PSK identity – WINDOWS-SERVER-01
• PSK – fb6616cd582a2fa0aa161cab3423a9ca640c931b21c8c2e3b7132d6db75aadff
Click on the Add button to finish the configuration.
After a few minutes, you will be able to see the initial result on the Zabbix Dashboard.
The final result will take at least one hour.
By default, Zabbix will wait 1 hour to discover the number of interfaces available on the Windows computer.
By default, Zabbix will wait 1 hour before collect information from the network interfaces.
In order to test your configuration, access the Monitoring menu and click on the Graphs option.
On the top right of the screen, select the group named ALL.
Select your Windows computer host name.
Select the graph named: CPU UTILIZATION
You should be able to see the graphic of CPU utilization.
Congratulations! You have configured the Zabbix server to monitor a Windows computer using psk encryption.
