5 What's new in Zabbix 7.2.0

See breaking changes for this version.

Environment variables in configuration files

Zabbix components now support environment variables that allow configuring components without hardcoding values in configuration files. This makes it easy to manage configurations in dynamic environments, such as Docker, where variables can be passed at runtime to adapt to different setups.

Environment variables are supported by the following Zabbix components:

• Server
• Proxy
• Agent (UNIX or Windows)
• Agent 2 (UNIX or Windows), including plugins
• Web service
• Zabbix sender (when using the -c, --config option)

For details on environment variable configuration, syntax, examples, and limitations, see Environment variables.

More efficient low-level discovery

The performance of low-level discovery processes has been significantly improved, ensuring faster discovery, updating, and deletion of entities. As a result, the previously enforced limits have been removed, allowing configurations with an unlimited number of dependent items and item dependency levels.

Widgets

Host card

A new Host card widget has been added, offering a convenient way to view comprehensive information about a single host at a glance.

Top items

A new Top items widget has been added, replacing the functionality of the deprecated Data overview widget.

In addition to functionality inherited from the Data overview widget, in Top items it is possible to select items by pattern, customize column ordering and highlighting.

Sparkline charts in Item value widget

The Item value widget now supports sparkline charts. These compact line graphs provide an at-a-glance overview of value dynamics, making it easier to monitor changes effectively.

Improved column control in Top hosts widget

The Top hosts widget now provides more variety for configuring the item value columns:

• Numeric item values can be displayed as sparkline charts - the compact line graphs for visualizing value dynamics.
• The binary item value format, not supported previously, can be used to show a thumbnail or a hyperlink to the full size image in the respective column.
• For the text item value format, it is now possible to specify a regular expression upon matching which the column will change background color.

Graph widget enhancements

The Graph widget offers two usability enhancements:

• The widget's Y-axis now supports logarithmic scaling, suitable for data that changes rapidly or covers a large range.
• A new configuration parameter Override host has been added to enable dynamic host selection from the dashboard or a compatible widget.

Dynamic unit size in Clock widget

The Clock widget's digital clock information unit (date, time, time zone) size now dynamically adjusts to fill all available space based on displayed units, widget size, and display scaling. Configuration parameters for setting the unit size have been removed.

Items

• A new item vmware.vm.hv.maintenance[] has been added for monitoring VMware virtual machine hypervisor maintenance status.
• The ssh.run[] item now supports the PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes SSH option and a new <subsystem> optional parameter, which allows the use of SSH subsystems (e.g., SFTP, NETCONF).
• The systemd.unit.discovery[] item now returns the macro {#UNIT.SERVICETYPE} which specifies the behavior of the service unit (e.g., simple, forking, oneshot, idle, etc.).
• The system.cpu.util[] item now supports a new type spin on OpenBSD for returning CP_SPIN CPU state.

Macros

New macros are now supported:

• {TIMESTAMP}, {EVENT.TIMESTAMP}, {EVENT.RECOVERY.TIMESTAMP}, {EVENT.UPDATE.TIMESTAMP}, {EVENT.CAUSE.TIMESTAMP}, {ITEM.LOG.TIMESTAMP} resolve to the current time in Unix timestamp format;
• {EVENT.UPDATE.ACTIONJSON} resolves to a JSON array containing details of the action(s) performed during a problem update;
• {SERVICE.ID} resolves to the numeric ID of the service that triggered the action.

The following macros have been updated:

• {HOST.PORT} is now supported in the same locations as {HOST.CONN} (except for the trapper item and HTTP agent item Allowed hosts field and host interface IP/DNS).
• The macros {FUNCTION.VALUE<1-9>} and {FUNCTION.RECOVERY.VALUE<1-9>} are now supported inside the expression macros allowing to reference values of the trigger expressions.

For more details, see Supported macros.

Direct web links to modal forms

Modal forms for a host, item, trigger, etc., when opened, now have their own link making it possible to link directly to the item or trigger in problem-related notification messages or share a link.

For example, a modal form link for an item may look like this:

<path-to-zabbix-ui>/zabbix.php?action=popup&popup=item.edit&context=host&itemid=42243

Additionally, it is now possible to open any modal form in a new tab. When opened in a new tab, the form is opened on a gray background.

Repository structure

In the official Zabbix repository, packages for versions that haven't been officially released yet are now available in the .../7.2/unstable folder, offering early access to the new features. The stable, officially released packages are stored in the .../7.2/stable folder, while the zabbix-release packages — usable for both stable and unstable versions — are provided separately in the .../7.2/release folder.

Starting with version 7.2, the non-supported folder has been renamed to third-party. This updated folder now contains customized packages specifically for RHEL and its derivative distributions, streamlining access to tailored solutions for these platforms.