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.

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 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.

Zabbix download agent msi

In our example, we download the Zabbix file: zabbix_agent-4.4.0-win-amd64-openssl.msi

Double click the Zabbix agent installation file.

zabbix agent windows install

Perform the following configuration on the Zabbix agent:

zabbix agent windows msi configuration

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.

Zabbix Windows encryption PSK

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:

Copy to Clipboard

Click on the Next button until the installation is finished.

zabbix agent msi installation windows

After finishing the Zabbix agent installation, open the Windows service management screen.

Restart the Zabbix agent service.

zabbix agent windows

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

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 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.

zabbix linux - Antes

Here is the new image with our configuration.

Zabbix Windows host

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.

zabbix windows host template

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.

zabbix psk windows

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.

Zabbix graphic

On the top right of the screen, select the group named ALL.

Select your Windows computer host name.

Select the graph named: CPU UTILIZATION

Zabbix Windows Graphic

You should be able to see the graphic of CPU utilization.

Zabbix cpu utilization linux

Congratulations! You have configured the Zabbix server to monitor a Windows computer using psk encryption.