Would you like to learn how to use Zabbix to monitor a Linux file size? In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to configure Zabbix to monitor a file size on a computer running Ubuntu linux.

• Zabbix version: 4.2.6
• Ubuntu version: 18.04

You need to install the Zabbix agent on the computer running Linux.

•  Zabbix agent installation on Linux.

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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On this page, we offer quick access to a list of videos related to Zabbix installation.

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Zabbi - How to Monitor a Linux File Size

Now, we need to access the Zabbix server dashboard and add the Linux 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://35.162.85.57/zabbix

On the login screen, use the default username and default password.

• Default Username: Admin
• Default Password: zabbix

zabbix login

After a successful login, you will be sent to the Zabbix Dashboard.

zabbix dashboard

On the dashboard screen, access the Configuration menu and select the Host option.

zabbix add host

On the top right of the screen, click on the Create host button.

Zabbix Create Host

On the Host configuration screen, you will have to enter the following information:

• Host Name - Enter a Hostname to monitor.
• 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 Hostname.

Here is the original image, before our configuration.

zabbix linux - Antes

Here is the new image with our configuration.

Zabbix Linux Host

Click on the Add button to include this host on the Zabbix database.

On the dashboard screen, access the Configuration menu and select the Host option.

zabbix add host

Locate and click on the hostname that you created before.

In our example, we selected the hostname: LINUX-SERVER-01

On the Host properties screen, access the Applications tab.

Zabbix Windows Service Application menu

On the top right part of the screen, click on the Create application button.

Zabbix Linux Service Application

On the Host applications screen, create a new application named: File size.

Zabbix monitor file size application

After finishing the Application creation, access the Items tab.

Zabbix Item Tab

On the top right part of the screen, click on the Create item button.

On the Item creation screen, you need to configure the following items:

• Name: Enter an identification to the Linux file.

• Type: Zabbix Agent

• Key: vfs.file.size[/var/log/syslog]

• Type of Information: Numeric (float)

• Units: b

• Update interval: 300 Seconds

• Show value: As is

• Application: File Size

zabbix monitor file size

Click on the Add button to finish the Item creation and wait 5 minutes.

In order to test your configuration, access the Monitoring menu and click on the Latest data option.

Zabbix Latest data

Use the filter configuration to select the desired hostname and click on the Apply button.

In our example, we selected the hostname LINUX-SERVER-01

Zabbix Linux service Filter

You should be able to see the results of your Linux file size monitoring using Zabbix.

Zabbix monitor file size result

In our example, the Zabbix server detected that the /var/log/syslog file has a size of: 4.02Mb

Congratulations! You have configured the Zabbix file size monitor on Linux.