Would you like to learn how to monitor a Windows computer using SNMP? In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to install SNMP on Windows and how to configure the Zabbix server to monitor a Windows computer without the need to install the Zabbix agent.
• Zabbix version: 3.4.12
• 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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Tutorial – SNMP Installation on Windows
First, we need to install and configure the SNMP service on Windows.
Open the Server Manager application.
Access the Manage menu and click on Add roles and features.
Access the features screen, select the SNMP service option and finish the installation.
On the following screen, click on the Add features button.
The SNMP feature was installed on your computer but we still need to configure the SNMP service.
Open the Windows service management screen and access the SNMP service properties.
Access the Agent tab, select all the options and enter the device contact information.
Access the Security tab and select the Accept SNMP packets from any host option.
You need to create a Read-only SNMP community.
Here is a summary of our configuration example:
The GokuBlack Community has read-only permission on the Windows server.
The contact person responsible for this Windows computer was configured as Zamasu.
The location of the equipment was configured as the IT Room of Universe 10.
You have successfully installed the Windows SNMP service.
You have successfully configured the Windows SNMP service.
To test your SNMP configuration, use the following commands on a computer running Ubuntu Linux.
# apt-get install snmp
# snmpwalk -v2c -c GokuBlack 192.168.0.50
Here is a small sample of the SNMPWALK output.
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.1.0 = STRING: “Hardware: Intel64 – Software: Windows Version 6.3
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.2.0 = OID: iso.3.6.1.4.1.311.1.1.3.1.3
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0 = Timeticks: (614928) 1:42:29.28
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.4.0 = STRING: “Zamasu <zamasu@dbsuper.com>”
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.5.0 = STRING: “TECH-DC01.TECH.LOCAL”
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.6.0 = STRING: “Universe10 – IT Room”
Congratulations! you have installed the SNMP service 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 UDP port: 161
You can now use the Zabbix server dashboard to add this computer to the network monitoring service.
Tutorial – Zabbix Monitor Windows using SNMP
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://35.162.85.57/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 – Click on the Remove option.
• SNMP 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 configure the SNMP community that Zabbix will use to connect on the Windows computer.
Access the Macros tab on the top of the screen.
Create a macro named: {$SNMP_COMMUNITY}
The {$SNMP_COMMUNITY} macro value should be the Windows Computer SNMP community.
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 Select button and locate the template named: TEMPLATE OS Windows SNMPv2.
Click on the Add button (1).
Click on the Add button (2).
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: MEMORY UTILIZATION
You should be able to see the graphic of Memory utilization.
Congratulations! You have configured the Zabbix server to monitor a Windows computer.
