Would you like to learn how to use Zabbix to monitor a Cisco Wireless access point? In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to configure the SNMP service on a Cisco wireless access point and how to use Zabbix to monitor the wireless access point.

• Zabbix version: 3.4.12
• Access Point Model: Cisco WAP371

The instructions presented in this tutorial may be used to monitor other brands and models of wireless access points.

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.

Zabbix Playlist:

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

Don’t forget to subscribe to our youtube channel named FKIT.

Tutorial – SNMP on Cisco Access Point

First, we need to enable and configure the SNMP service on the Cisco access point.

Open a browser software, enter the IP address of your Cisco access point and access the administrative web interface.

Cisco Access Point Login

On the prompt screen, enter the administrative login information.

Factory default access information:
Username: cisco
Password: cisco

After a successful login, the administrative menu will be displayed.

Access the SNMP menu and select the General option.

On the SNMP screen, you need to perform the following configuration.

• Enable the SNMP service.
• Read-only Community – Configure a Read-only SNMP community.

After finishing your SNMP configuration, click on the Save button.

You have successfully configured the Cisco WAP371 Access point SNMP service.

Now, let’s test the SNMP communication between the Zabbix server and the Cisco device.

On the Zabbix server console, use the following commands to install and test the SNMP communication.

# apt-get install snmp
# snmpwalk -v2c -c VegetaRocks 192.168.0.200

Here is a small sample of the SNMPWALK output.

iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.1.0 = STRING: “Linux, Cisco Systems, Inc WAP371 (WAP371-A-K9), Version 1.3.0.6”
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.2.0 = OID: iso.3.6.1.4.1.9.6.1.34.371.1
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0 = Timeticks: (45197900) 5 days, 5:32:59.00

In our example, the Zabbix server used the command SNMPWALK to test the communication.

In our example, the Cisco Access point has the IP address 192.168.0.200.

Congratulations, the SNMP service was configured successfully on the Cisco device.

Tutorial – Zabbix Monitor Cisco Access Point

Now, we need to access the Zabbix server dashboard and add the HP Switch 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 identify the Cisco Access point.
• Visible Hostname – Repeat the hostname.
• New group – Enter a name to identify a group of similar devices.
• Agent Interface – Click on the Remove button.
• SNMP Interface – Click on the Add button and enter the IP address of the Access point.

Here is the original image, before our configuration.

zabbix linux - Antes

Here is the new image with our configuration.

zabbix Cisco Access point host

Next, we need to configure the SNMP community that Zabbix will use to connect on the Cisco device.

Access the Macros tab on the top of the screen.

Create a macro named: {$SNMP_COMMUNITY}

The {$SNMP_COMMUNITY} macro value should be the Cisco Access point SNMP community.

Zabbix SNMP Macro

In our example, the {$SNMP_COMMUNITY} value is GokuBlack.

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 Module Generic SNMPv2

Click on the Select button and locate the template named: Template Module Interfaces Simple SNMPv2

Zabbix SNMP Template

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 Access point.

By default, Zabbix will wait 1 hour before collect information from the Access point network interface.

Congratulations! You have configured the Zabbix server to monitor a Cisco Access point.