Learn Zabbix - Server Installation & Configuration (All-in-One)

#Introduction

Episode 2 mapped out the architecture. Episode 3 is the most satisfying moment in the series: bringing Zabbix to life. You installed the packages in episode 0, but the server isn't running yet because the database hasn't been prepared. This episode closes that gap — and the result is a complete Zabbix server, ready to accept your first host.

We'll follow the standard path from the official Zabbix 7.0 documentation on Ubuntu 24.04 with MySQL: creating the database, importing the schema, setting the password, configuring zabbix_server.conf, enabling the service, then completing the frontend wizard in the browser. Bring your patience and follow the steps carefully.

#Preparing the MySQL Database

#Creating the Database and User

First, open a MySQL shell as root and create a zabbix database with a dedicated user. Use a strong password and store it somewhere safe — it will be used in the server configuration and the frontend wizard.

mysql -uroot -p

Inside the MySQL shell:

CREATE DATABASE zabbix CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_bin;
CREATE USER 'zabbix'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'ReplaceWithPassword';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON zabbix.* TO 'zabbix'@'localhost';
SET GLOBAL log_bin_trust_function_creators = 1;
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

The line CREATE DATABASE zabbix ... COLLATE utf8mb4_bin matters: Zabbix 7.0 requires the utf8mb4 charset with utf8mb4_bin collation so case sensitivity works correctly. The log_bin_trust_function_creators option is needed because the Zabbix schema contains stored functions.

#Importing the Schema

The schema the server needs ships in the zabbix-sql-scripts package. Import it from the command line:

zcat /usr/share/zabbix-sql-scripts/mysql/server.sql.gz | mysql --default-character-set=utf8mb4 -uzabbix -p zabbix

The command zcat ... | mysql ... zabbix streams the compressed schema contents directly into the database. This process can take a few minutes and prints many warnings — that's normal. When it finishes, return to the MySQL shell and turn off the temporary setting:

SET GLOBAL log_bin_trust_function_creators = 0;

#Server Configuration

#Editing zabbix_server.conf

The server reads its parameters from /etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf. The credentials you must adjust are the database ones:

DBHost=localhost
DBName=zabbix
DBUser=zabbix
DBPassword=ReplaceWithPassword

The parameters DBHost, DBName, DBUser, and DBPassword tell the server how to reach MySQL. After editing, restart the server:

systemctl restart zabbix-server
systemctl enable zabbix-server
systemctl status zabbix-server

Make sure the status is active (running). If it fails, check the logs with journalctl -u zabbix-server -n 50. The most common errors are a wrong password or a database that hasn't been imported.

#Basic Parameters Worth Knowing

zabbix_server.conf has hundreds of parameters, but for now it's enough to know the three most frequently adjusted:

• DBConnection: the database connection mode, URL or UnixSocket.
• StartPollers: the number of poller processes for passive collection and SNMP.
• StartPollersUnreachable: the number of dedicated pollers for unreachable hosts.

zabbix_server --config /etc/zabbix/zabbix_server.conf | grep -i startpoller

The command zabbix_server --config ... | grep -i startpoller shows the effective poller parameter values. We'll tinker with these parameters in depth in episode 17 about performance tuning.

#Frontend Setup Wizard

#Preparing Nginx and PHP

The Zabbix frontend needs Nginx and PHP-FPM. The bundled zabbix-nginx-conf configuration already adjusts both — you just need to edit one line in /etc/zabbix/nginx.conf to point the server name at your hostname:

systemctl restart zabbix-server zabbix-agent2 nginx php8.3-fpm
systemctl enable zabbix-server zabbix-agent2 nginx php8.3-fpm

Make sure all three are running. Nginx forwards requests to PHP-FPM, and PHP-FPM executes the Zabbix frontend.

#Completing the Wizard in the Browser

Open your browser and visit http://<server-ip-address>/. You'll be greeted by a step-by-step wizard:

1. Check of pre-requisites: make sure all rows are green — pay attention to the PHP extensions gd, bcmath, and mbstring.
2. Configure DB connection: enter the host, database, user, and password identical to those in zabbix_server.conf.
3. Zabbix server details: enter a server name, usually the same as the hostname.
4. Display settings: choose the time zone and language.
5. Summary and install: click Next until done.

After the wizard finishes, log in with the default Admin user and the zabbix password.

#Verifying the Server Is Running

After the wizard finishes, do a quick verification that the whole stack is alive:

systemctl is-active zabbix-server
systemctl is-active nginx
zabbix_server --version

If all commands return an active state and the frontend shows the dashboard, your all-in-one installation is complete. The Zabbix 7.0 dashboard will display the host overview, current problems, and system status in real time.

curl -s -X POST http://localhost/api_jsonrpc.php \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"apiinfo.version","id":1,"params":{}}'

The command curl -s -X POST http://localhost/api_jsonrpc.php calls the API to query the version. A JSON response with a version number means the API, server, and frontend all work — the foundation for automation in episode 14.

#Closing

Episode 3 closes out the installation phase: the MySQL database was created and imported, zabbix_server.conf is configured, the services are active, the frontend wizard is complete, and the API responds. You now have a genuinely live all-in-one Zabbix server.

Key takeaways:

• The Zabbix database requires the utf8mb4 charset and utf8mb4_bin collation.
• Import the schema with zcat ... | mysql, then disable log_bin_trust_function_creators.
• zabbix_server.conf is the center of server configuration: database, pollers, and cache.
• The frontend wizard guides you through DB connection config and display settings.
• Change the default Admin password right after your first login.

In the next episode 4 we'll discuss agent deployment and active/passive monitoring — configuring zabbix_agent2.conf, the difference between the legacy agent and agent2, and testing collection with zabbix_get and zabbix_sender. The target host from episode 0 will start being monitored for the first time.