Sending in the data

In some cases, there might be custom data sources where none of the previously discussed methods would work sufficiently well. A script could run for a very long time, or we could have a system without the Zabbix agent but with a capability to push data. Zabbix offers a way to send data to a special item type, Zabbix trapper, using a command line utility, Zabbix sender. The easiest way to explain how it works might be to set up a working item like that—let's navigate to Configuration | Hosts, click on Items next to A test host, and click on Create item, then fill in the following:

• Name: Amount of persons in the room

• Type: Zabbix trapper

• Key: room.persons

When you are done, click on the Add button at the bottom. We now have to determine how data can be passed into this item, and this is where zabbix_sender comes in. On the Zabbix server, execute the following:

$ zabbix_sender --help

We won't reproduce the output here, as it's somewhat lengthy. Instead, let's see which...