Automate Bulk Zabbix‑Agent Deployment on Linux and Windows with Ansible

Automate Bulk Deployment of Zabbix‑Agent on Linux

We use Ansible to deploy Zabbix‑agent to multiple Linux hosts; the same approach can be applied with scripts.

Environment

ansible: 10.127.0.133
agent1: 172.168.0.4
agent2: 172.168.0.5

Key‑based SSH authentication (password‑less login)

Generate a key pair on the Ansible control node and copy the public key to each agent.

ssh-keygen -t rsa
ssh-copy-id -i /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub 172.168.0.4
ssh-copy-id -i /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub 172.168.0.5

Add hosts to /etc/ansible/hosts

[Linux-agent]
172.168.0.4
172.168.0.5

Linux‑agent playbook

Steps

Install the Zabbix‑agent 4.2 RPM package.

Install the agent via yum .

Replace configuration variables with a template file.

Restart the Zabbix‑agent service.

Agent configuration template

Create /etc/ansible/zabbix_agentd.conf containing variables such as hostname and server address.

PidFile=/var/run/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.pid
LogFile=/var/log/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.log
LogFileSize=0
Server={{server}}
ServerActive={{server}}
Hostname={{hostname}}
Include=/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.d/*.conf
UnsafeUserParameters=1

Playbook file

vim /etc/ansible/linux-agent.yml
- hosts: zabbix-agent
  remote_user: root
  vars:
    server: 10.127.0.133
    hostname: "{{ ansible_hostname }}"
  tasks:
  - name: install rpm
    command: rpm -ivh https://repo.zabbix.com/zabbix/4.2/rhel/7/x86_64/zabbix-agent-4.2.1-1.el7.x86_64.rpm

  - name: install agent
    command: yum install zabbix-agent -y

  - name: cp templates zabbix_agentd.conf to zabbix agentd
    template: src=/etc/ansible/zabbix_agentd.conf dest=/etc/zabbix/zabbix_agentd.conf

  - name: restart zabbix-agent
    command: systemctl restart zabbix-agent

Execute the playbook

Run:

ansible-playbook -i /etc/ansible/hosts /etc/ansible/linux-agent.yml

Successful execution is shown in the following screenshots.

The agent configuration file reflects the updated variables.

Create auto‑discovery rule for the deployed hosts

Define a discovery rule, add discovery actions, and configure post‑discovery operations. The screenshots illustrate the rule linking to a Linux‑OS template.

Automate Bulk Deployment of Zabbix‑Agent on Windows

Windows deployment can be performed with Ansible using WinRM; the steps below show the required preparation and playbook.

Environment

ansible: 10.127.0.133
Windows server2012: 172.168.0.6

Dependencies

Ansible

pywinrm>=0.3.0

Install with:

pip install pywinrm>=0.3.0

Windows

PowerShell 3.0
.NET Framework 4.0+

For older Windows versions, upgrade as described in the Ansible documentation.

Install WinRM memory hot‑fix

Run the following PowerShell script to apply the hot‑fix.

$url = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jborean93/ansible-windows/master/scripts/Install-WMF3Hotfix.ps1"
$file = "$env:temp\Install-WMF3Hotfix.ps1"
(New-Object -TypeName System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile($url, $file)
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -File $file -Verbose

Open firewall ports for WinRM and Zabbix‑agent

WinRM listens on 5985 by default; Zabbix‑agent uses 10050. Ensure both ports are allowed.

winrm enumerate winrm/config/Listener

Download Windows Zabbix‑agent package

Obtain the Windows agent zip from the official Zabbix download page and extract it on the Ansible control node.

Add Windows host to /etc/ansible/hosts

[windows]
172.168.0.6 ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python ansible_user="administrator" ansible_password="asd.123" ansible_port=5985 ansible_connection="winrm" ansible_winrm_transport=ntlm ansible_winrm_server_cert_validation=ignore

Windows‑agent playbook

Steps

Copy the downloaded agent files to the Windows host.

Replace configuration variables using a template.

Install the Zabbix‑agent.

Start the Zabbix‑agent service.

Playbook file

vim /etc/ansible/windows-agent.yml
- hosts: windows
  remote_user: administrator
  vars:
    server: 10.127.0.133
    hostname: "{{ ansible_host }}"
  tasks:
  - name: cp zabbix-agent
    win_copy:
      src: /etc/ansible/windows_agent/
      dest: C:\windows_agent\
  - name: cp templates zabbix_agentd.conf to zabbix agentd
    win_template:
      src: /etc/ansible/zabbix_agentd.conf
      dest: C:\windows_agent\conf\
  - name: install zabbix-agent
    win_command: zabbix_agentd.exe -i -c C:\windows_agent\conf\zabbix_agentd.conf
    args:
      chdir: C:\windows_agent\bin\
  - name: start zabbix-agent
    win_command: zabbix_agentd.exe -s -c C:\windows_agent\conf\zabbix_agentd.conf
    args:
      chdir: C:\windows_agent\bin\

Execute the playbook

ansible-playbook -i /etc/ansible/hosts /etc/ansible/windows-agent.yml

Successful execution and running service are shown below.

Configure discovery actions for Windows hosts

Define discovery actions and post‑discovery operations; the screenshots demonstrate the rule linking to a Windows‑OS template.

Both Linux and Windows agents are now automatically discovered and monitored by Zabbix.