Table of Contents

5 Installation from containers

5 Installation from containers

Overview

This section describes how to deploy Zabbix with Docker or Docker Compose.

Zabbix officially provides:

Separate Docker images for each Zabbix component to run as portable and self-sufficient containers.
Compose files for defining and running multi-container Zabbix components in Docker.

Since Zabbix 6.0, deterministic triggers need to be created during the installation. If binary logging is enabled for MySQL/MariaDB, this requires superuser privileges or setting the variable/configuration parameter log_bin_trust_function_creators = 1. See Database creation scripts for instructions how to set the variable.
Note that if executing from a console, the variable will only be set temporarily and will be dropped when a Docker is restarted. In this case, keep your SQL service running, only stop zabbix-server service by running 'docker compose down zabbix-server' and then 'docker compose up -d zabbix-server'.
Alternatively, you can set this variable in the configuration file.

Source files

Docker file sources are stored in the Zabbix official repository on GitHub, where you can follow latest file changes or fork the project to make your own images.

Docker

Zabbix provides images based on a variety of OS base images. To get the list of supported base operating system images for a specific Zabbix component, see the component's description in Docker Hub. All Zabbix images are configured to rebuild latest images if base images are updated.

Installation

To get Zabbix component image, run:

docker pull zabbix/zabbix-server-mysql

Replace zabbix/zabbix-server-mysql with the name of the required docker repository.

This command will pull the latest stable Zabbix component version based on the Alpine Linux OS. You can append tags to the repository name to get an image based on another operating system or of the specific Zabbix major or minor version.

The following repositories are available in Docker Hub:

Component		Docker repository
Zabbix agent		zabbix/zabbix-agent
Zabbix server
	with MySQL support	zabbix/zabbix-server-mysql
	with PostgreSQL support	zabbix/zabbix-server-pgsql
Zabbix web interface
	based on Apache2 web server with MySQL support	zabbix/zabbix-web-apache-mysql
	based on Apache2 web server with PostgreSQL support	zabbix/zabbix-web-apache-pgsql
	based on Nginx web server with MySQL support	zabbix/zabbix-web-nginx-mysql
	based on Nginx web server with PostgreSQL support	zabbix/zabbix-web-nginx-pgsql
Zabbix proxy
	with SQLite3 support	zabbix/zabbix-proxy-sqlite3
	with MySQL support	zabbix/zabbix-proxy-mysql
Zabbix Java gateway		zabbix/zabbix-java-gateway

SNMP trap support is provided in a separate repository zabbix/zabbix-snmptraps. It can be linked with Zabbix server and Zabbix proxy.

Initial configuration

After downloading the images, start the containers by executing docker run command followed by additional arguments to specify required environment variables and/or mount points. Some configuration examples are provided below.

Zabbix must not be run as PID1/as an init process in containers.

To enable communication between Zabbix components, some ports, such as 10051/TCP for Zabbix server (trapper), 10050/TCP for Zabbix agent, 162/UDP for SNMP traps and 80/TCP for Zabbix web interface will be exposed to a host machine. Full list of default ports used by Zabbix components is available on the Requirements page. For Zabbix server and agent the default port can be changed by setting ZBX_LISTENPORT environment variable.

Environment variables

All Zabbix component images provide environment variables to control configuration. Supported environment variables are listed in the component repository.

These environment variables are options from Zabbix configuration files, but with different naming method. For example, ZBX_LOGSLOWQUERIES is equal to LogSlowQueries from Zabbix server and Zabbix proxy configuration files.

Some of configuration options cannot be changed. For example, PIDFile and LogType.

The following environment variables are specific to Docker components and do not exist in Zabbix configuration files:

Variable	Components	Default value	Description
`DB_SERVER_HOST`	Server Proxy Web interface	`mysql-server` for MYSQL `postgres-server` for PostgreSQL	IP or DNS name of MySQL or PostgreSQL server.
`DB_SERVER_PORT`	Server Proxy Web interface	`3306` for MYSQL `5432` for PostgreSQL	Port of MySQL or PostgreSQL server.
`MYSQL_USER`	Server Proxy Web-interface	`zabbix`	MySQL database user.
`MYSQL_PASSWORD`	Server Proxy Web interface	`zabbix`	MySQL database password.
`MYSQL_DATABASE`	Server Proxy Web interface	`zabbix` for Zabbix server `zabbix_proxy` for Zabbix proxy	Zabbix database name.
`POSTGRES_USER`	Server Web interface	`zabbix`	PostgreSQL database user.
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	Server Web interface	`zabbix`	PostgreSQL database password.
`POSTGRES_DB`	Server Web interface	`zabbix` for Zabbix server `zabbix_proxy` for Zabbix proxy	Zabbix database name.
`PHP_TZ`	Web-interface	`Europe/Riga`	Timezone in PHP format. Full list of supported timezones is available on php.net.
`ZBX_SERVER_NAME`	Web interface	`Zabbix Docker`	Visible Zabbix installation name in right top corner of the web interface.
`ZBX_JAVAGATEWAY_ENABLE`	Server Proxy	`false`	Enables communication with Zabbix Java gateway to collect Java related checks.
`ZBX_ENABLE_SNMP_TRAPS`	Server Proxy	`false`	Enables SNMP trap feature. It requires zabbix-snmptraps instance and shared volume /var/lib/zabbix/snmptraps to Zabbix server or Zabbix proxy.

Volumes

The images allow to mount volumes using the following mount points:

Volume		Description
Zabbix agent
	/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.d	The volume allows to include *.conf files and extend Zabbix agent using the `UserParameter` feature
	/var/lib/zabbix/modules	The volume allows to load additional modules and extend Zabbix agent using the LoadModule feature
	/var/lib/zabbix/enc	The volume is used to store TLS-related files. These file names are specified using `ZBX_TLSCAFILE`, `ZBX_TLSCRLFILE`, `ZBX_TLSKEY_FILE` and `ZBX_TLSPSKFILE` environment variables
Zabbix server
	/usr/lib/zabbix/alertscripts	The volume is used for custom alert scripts. It is the `AlertScriptsPath` parameter in zabbix_server.conf
	/usr/lib/zabbix/externalscripts	The volume is used by external checks. It is the `ExternalScripts` parameter in zabbix_server.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/modules	The volume allows to load additional modules and extend Zabbix server using the LoadModule feature
	/var/lib/zabbix/enc	The volume is used to store TLS related files. These file names are specified using `ZBX_TLSCAFILE`, `ZBX_TLSCRLFILE`, `ZBX_TLSKEY_FILE` and `ZBX_TLSPSKFILE` environment variables
	/var/lib/zabbix/ssl/certs	The volume is used as location of SSL client certificate files for client authentication. It is the `SSLCertLocation` parameter in zabbix_server.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/ssl/keys	The volume is used as location of SSL private key files for client authentication. It is the `SSLKeyLocation` parameter in zabbix_server.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/ssl/ssl_ca	The volume is used as location of certificate authority (CA) files for SSL server certificate verification. It is the `SSLCALocation` parameter in zabbix_server.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/snmptraps	The volume is used as location of snmptraps.log file. It could be shared by zabbix-snmptraps container and inherited using the volumes_from Docker option while creating a new instance of Zabbix server. SNMP trap processing feature could be enabled by using shared volume and switching the `ZBX_ENABLE_SNMP_TRAPS` environment variable to 'true'
	/var/lib/zabbix/mibs	The volume allows to add new MIB files. It does not support subdirectories, all MIBs must be placed in `/var/lib/zabbix/mibs`
Zabbix proxy
	/usr/lib/zabbix/externalscripts	The volume is used by external checks. It is the `ExternalScripts` parameter in zabbix_proxy.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/db_data/	The volume allows to store database files on external devices. Supported only for Zabbix proxy with SQLite3
	/var/lib/zabbix/modules	The volume allows to load additional modules and extend Zabbix server using the LoadModule feature
	/var/lib/zabbix/enc	The volume is used to store TLS related files. These file names are specified using `ZBX_TLSCAFILE`, `ZBX_TLSCRLFILE`, `ZBX_TLSKEY_FILE` and `ZBX_TLSPSKFILE` environment variables
	/var/lib/zabbix/ssl/certs	The volume is used as location of SSL client certificate files for client authentication. It is the `SSLCertLocation` parameter in zabbix_proxy.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/ssl/keys	The volume is used as location of SSL private key files for client authentication. It is the `SSLKeyLocation` parameter in zabbix_proxy.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/ssl/ssl_ca	The volume is used as location of certificate authority (CA) files for SSL server certificate verification. It is the `SSLCALocation` parameter in zabbix_proxy.conf
	/var/lib/zabbix/snmptraps	The volume is used as location of snmptraps.log file. It could be shared by the zabbix-snmptraps container and inherited using the volumes_from Docker option while creating a new instance of Zabbix server. SNMP trap processing feature could be enabled by using shared volume and switching the `ZBX_ENABLE_SNMP_TRAPS` environment variable to 'true'
	/var/lib/zabbix/mibs	The volume allows to add new MIB files. It does not support subdirectories, all MIBs must be placed in `/var/lib/zabbix/mibs`
Zabbix web interface based on Apache2 web server
	/etc/ssl/apache2	The volume allows to enable HTTPS for Zabbix web interface. The volume must contain the two `ssl.crt` and `ssl.key` files prepared for Apache2 SSL connections
Zabbix web interface based on Nginx web server
	/etc/ssl/nginx	The volume allows to enable HTTPS for Zabbix web interface. The volume must contain the two `ssl.crt`, `ssl.key` files and `dhparam.pem` prepared for Nginx SSL connections
Zabbix snmptraps
	/var/lib/zabbix/snmptraps	The volume contains the `snmptraps.log` log file named with received SNMP traps
	/var/lib/zabbix/mibs	The volume allows to add new MIB files. It does not support subdirectories, all MIBs must be placed in `/var/lib/zabbix/mibs`

For additional information, see Zabbix official repositories in Docker Hub.

Examples

Example 1

The example demonstrates how to run Zabbix server with MySQL database support, Zabbix web interface based on the Nginx web server and Zabbix Java gateway.

1. Create network dedicated for Zabbix component containers:

# docker network create --subnet 172.20.0.0/16 --ip-range 172.20.240.0/20 zabbix-net

2. Start empty MySQL server instance

# docker run --name mysql-server -t \
             -e MYSQL_DATABASE="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_USER="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
             -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="root_pwd" \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d mysql:8.0-oracle \
             --character-set-server=utf8 --collation-server=utf8_bin \
             --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password

3. Start Zabbix Java gateway instance

# docker run --name zabbix-java-gateway -t \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d zabbix/zabbix-java-gateway:alpine-6.4-latest

4. Start Zabbix server instance and link the instance with created MySQL server instance

# docker run --name zabbix-server-mysql -t \
             -e DB_SERVER_HOST="mysql-server" \
             -e MYSQL_DATABASE="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_USER="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
             -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="root_pwd" \
             -e ZBX_JAVAGATEWAY="zabbix-java-gateway" \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             -p 10051:10051 \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d zabbix/zabbix-server-mysql:alpine-6.4-latest

5. Start Zabbix web interface and link the instance with created MySQL server and Zabbix server instances

# docker run --name zabbix-web-nginx-mysql -t \
             -e ZBX_SERVER_HOST="zabbix-server-mysql" \
             -e DB_SERVER_HOST="mysql-server" \
             -e MYSQL_DATABASE="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_USER="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
             -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="root_pwd" \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             -p 80:8080 \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d zabbix/zabbix-web-nginx-mysql:alpine-6.4-latest

Example 2

The example demonstrates how to run Zabbix server with PostgreSQL database support, Zabbix web interface based on the Nginx web server and SNMP trap feature.

1. Create network dedicated for Zabbix component containers:

# docker network create --subnet 172.20.0.0/16 --ip-range 172.20.240.0/20 zabbix-net

2. Start empty PostgreSQL server instance

# docker run --name postgres-server -t \
             -e POSTGRES_USER="zabbix" \
             -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
             -e POSTGRES_DB="zabbix" \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d postgres:latest

3. Start Zabbix snmptraps instance

# docker run --name zabbix-snmptraps -t \
             -v /zbx_instance/snmptraps:/var/lib/zabbix/snmptraps:rw \
             -v /var/lib/zabbix/mibs:/usr/share/snmp/mibs:ro \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             -p 162:1162/udp \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d zabbix/zabbix-snmptraps:alpine-6.4-latest

4. Start Zabbix server instance and link the instance with created PostgreSQL server instance

# docker run --name zabbix-server-pgsql -t \
             -e DB_SERVER_HOST="postgres-server" \
             -e POSTGRES_USER="zabbix" \
             -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
             -e POSTGRES_DB="zabbix" \
             -e ZBX_ENABLE_SNMP_TRAPS="true" \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             -p 10051:10051 \
             --volumes-from zabbix-snmptraps \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d zabbix/zabbix-server-pgsql:alpine-6.4-latest

5. Start Zabbix web interface and link the instance with created PostgreSQL server and Zabbix server instances

# docker run --name zabbix-web-nginx-pgsql -t \
             -e ZBX_SERVER_HOST="zabbix-server-pgsql" \
             -e DB_SERVER_HOST="postgres-server" \
             -e POSTGRES_USER="zabbix" \
             -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
             -e POSTGRES_DB="zabbix" \
             --network=zabbix-net \
             -p 443:8443 \
             -p 80:8080 \
             -v /etc/ssl/nginx:/etc/ssl/nginx:ro \
             --restart unless-stopped \
             -d zabbix/zabbix-web-nginx-pgsql:alpine-6.4-latest

Example 3

The example demonstrates how to run Zabbix server with MySQL database support, Zabbix web interface based on the Nginx web server and Zabbix Java gateway using podman on Red Hat 8.

1. Create new pod with name zabbix and exposed ports (web-interface, Zabbix server trapper):

podman pod create --name zabbix -p 80:8080 -p 10051:10051

2. (optional) Start Zabbix agent container in zabbix pod location:

podman run --name zabbix-agent \
           -e ZBX_SERVER_HOST="127.0.0.1,localhost" \
           --restart=always \
           --pod=zabbix \
           -d registry.connect.redhat.com/zabbix/zabbix-agent-64:latest

3. Create ./mysql/ directory on host and start Oracle MySQL server 8.0:

podman run --name mysql-server -t \
             -e MYSQL_DATABASE="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_USER="zabbix" \
             -e MYSQL_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
             -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="root_pwd" \
             -v ./mysql/:/var/lib/mysql/:Z \
             --restart=always \
             --pod=zabbix \
             -d mysql:8.0 \
             --character-set-server=utf8 --collation-server=utf8_bin \
             --default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password

4. Start Zabbix server container:

podman run --name zabbix-server-mysql -t \
                         -e DB_SERVER_HOST="127.0.0.1" \
                         -e MYSQL_DATABASE="zabbix" \
                         -e MYSQL_USER="zabbix" \
                         -e MYSQL_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
                         -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="root_pwd" \
                         -e ZBX_JAVAGATEWAY="127.0.0.1" \
                         --restart=always \
                         --pod=zabbix \
                         -d registry.connect.redhat.com/zabbix/zabbix-server-mysql-64

5. Start Zabbix Java Gateway container:

podman run --name zabbix-java-gateway -t \
             --restart=always \
             --pod=zabbix \
             -d registry.connect.redhat.com/zabbix/zabbix-java-gateway-64

6. Start Zabbix web-interface container:

podman run --name zabbix-web-mysql -t \
                         -e ZBX_SERVER_HOST="127.0.0.1" \
                         -e DB_SERVER_HOST="127.0.0.1" \
                         -e MYSQL_DATABASE="zabbix" \
                         -e MYSQL_USER="zabbix" \
                         -e MYSQL_PASSWORD="zabbix_pwd" \
                         -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="root_pwd" \
                         --restart=always \
                         --pod=zabbix \
                         -d registry.connect.redhat.com/zabbix/zabbix-web-mysql-64

Pod zabbix exposes 80/TCP port (HTTP) to host machine from 8080/TCP of zabbix-web-mysql container.

Docker Compose

Alternatively, Zabbix can be installed using Docker Compose plugin. Compose files for defining and running multi-container Zabbix components are available in the official Zabbix Docker repository on GitHub.

Official Zabbix compose files support version 3 of Docker Compose.

These compose files are added as examples; they are overloaded. For example, they contain proxies with both MySQL and SQLite3 support.

To obtain Docker compose files provided by Zabbix, clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/zabbix/zabbix-docker.git

Switch to the required version:

git checkout 6.4

Compose configuration files and create and start containers:

docker compose -f ./docker-compose_v3_alpine_mysql_latest.yaml up

Replace docker-compose_v3_alpine_mysql_latest.yaml in the command above with the required configuration file.

The following options are available:

File name	Description
`docker-compose_v3_alpine_mysql_latest.yaml`	The compose file runs the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 components on Alpine Linux with MySQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_alpine_mysql_local.yaml`	The compose file locally builds the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 and runs Zabbix components on Alpine Linux with MySQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_alpine_pgsql_latest.yaml`	The compose file runs the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 components on Alpine Linux with PostgreSQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_alpine_pgsql_local.yaml`	The compose file locally builds the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 and runs Zabbix components on Alpine Linux with PostgreSQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ol_mysql_latest.yaml`	The compose file runs the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 components on Oracle Linux with MySQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ol_mysql_local.yaml`	The compose file locally builds the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 and runs Zabbix components on Oracle Linux with MySQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ol_pgsql_latest.yaml`	The compose file runs the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 components on Oracle Linux with PostgreSQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ol_pgsql_local.yaml`	The compose file locally builds the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 and runs Zabbix components on Oracle Linux with PostgreSQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ubuntu_mysql_latest.yaml`	The compose file runs the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 components on Ubuntu 20.04 with MySQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ubuntu_mysql_local.yaml`	The compose file locally builds the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 and runs Zabbix components on Ubuntu 20.04 with MySQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ubuntu_pgsql_latest.yaml`	The compose file runs the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 components on Ubuntu 20.04 with PostgreSQL database support.
`docker-compose_v3_ubuntu_pgsql_local.yaml`	The compose file locally builds the latest version of Zabbix 6.4 and runs Zabbix components on Ubuntu 20.04 with PostgreSQL database support.

Storage

Compose files are configured to support local storage on a host machine. Docker Compose will create a zbx_env directory in the folder with the compose file when you run Zabbix components using the compose file. The directory will contain the same structure as described in the Volumes section and directory for database storage.

There are also volumes in read-only mode for /etc/localtime and /etc/timezone files.

Environment variables

The variable files have the following naming structure: .env_<type of component> and are located in the env_vars directory. See environment variables for details about variable naming and available selection.

Examples

Example 1

# git checkout 6.4
       # docker compose -f ./docker-compose_v3_alpine_mysql_latest.yaml up -d

The command will download the latest Zabbix 6.4 images for each Zabbix component and run them in detach mode.

Do not forget to download .env_<type of component> files from github.com official Zabbix repository with compose files.

Example 2

# git checkout 6.4
       # docker compose -f ./docker-compose_v3_ubuntu_mysql_local.yaml up -d

The command will download base image Ubuntu 22.04 (jammy), then build Zabbix 6.4 components locally and run them in detach mode.

Tag	Description	Example
latest	The latest stable version of a Zabbix component based on Alpine Linux image.	zabbix-agent:latest
<OS>-trunk	The latest nightly build of the Zabbix version that is currently being developed on a specific operating system. <OS> - the base operating system. Supported values: alpine - Alpine Linux; ltsc2019 - Windows 10 LTSC 2019 (agent only); ol - Oracle Linux; ltsc2022 - Windows 11 LTSC 2022 (agent only); ubuntu - Ubuntu	zabbix agent:ubuntu-trunk
<OS>-latest	The latest stable version of a Zabbix component on a specific operating system. <OS> - the base operating system. Supported values: alpine - Alpine Linux; ltsc2019 - Windows 10 LTSC 2019 (agent only); ol - Oracle Linux; ltsc2022 - Windows 11 LTSC 2022 (agent only); ubuntu - Ubuntu	zabbix-agent:ol-latest
<OS>-X.X-latest	The latest minor version of a Zabbix component of a specific major version and operating system. <OS> - the base operating system. Supported values: alpine - Alpine Linux; ltsc2019 - Windows 10 LTSC 2019 (agent only); ol - Oracle Linux; ltsc2022 - Windows 11 LTSC 2022 (agent only); ubuntu - Ubuntu X.X - the major Zabbix version (i.e. 5.0, 6.0, 6.4).	zabbix-agent:alpine-6.4-latest
<OS>-X.X.*	The latest minor version of a Zabbix component of a specific major version and operating system. <OS> - the base operating system. Supported values: alpine - Alpine Linux; ltsc2019 - Windows 10 LTSC 2019 (agent only); ol - Oracle Linux; ltsc2022 - Windows 11 LTSC 2022 (agent only); ubuntu - Ubuntu X.X - the major Zabbix version (i.e. 5.0, 6.0, 6.4). * - the Zabbix minor version	zabbix-agent:alpine-6.4.1

Documentation

5 Installation from containers

Overview

Source files

Docker

Installation

Tags

Initial configuration

Environment variables

Volumes

Examples

Docker Compose

Storage

Environment variables

Examples