Supported platforms
Prerequisites
- A Zabbix frontend (version 4.4 or later) accessible from CloudThinker.
- A dedicated Zabbix user with API access enabled, or an API token (Zabbix 5.4+).
- Your Zabbix frontend URL.
Setup
1
Sign in to Zabbix
Sign in to your Zabbix frontend as an administrator.
2
Create a dedicated user
Go to Users → Users and create a new user:
- Username:
cloudthinker - Password: a strong, unique password
- Role: Super Admin role (required for full API access) or a custom role with API access enabled
3
Generate an API token (recommended for Zabbix 5.4+)
Go to Administration → General → API Tokens and click Create API token:
- Name:
cloudthinker - User: select the user created above
- Expires at: set an appropriate expiration date
4
Find your Zabbix URL
Your Zabbix URL is the address of your Zabbix frontend, e.g.
https://zabbix.your-domain.com.5
Add the connection in CloudThinker
Navigate to Connections → Zabbix and enter:
- Zabbix URL: your Zabbix frontend URL
- Auth Type: select Username & Password or API Token
- Username / Password or API Token: the credentials created above
Connection details
Required permissions
Minimum (read-only monitoring):- User role with Zabbix API access enabled
- Read access to host groups you want to monitor
- Super Admin role or a custom role with API access enabled, read/write access to hosts, templates, triggers, and events, and permission to create and modify maintenance windows
Agent capabilities
Once connected, agents can perform monitoring and operational tasks across your Zabbix environment.Verify the connection
Example prompts
Troubleshooting
Connection refused
Connection refused
Verify the Zabbix URL is accessible from CloudThinker. Check firewall rules to ensure inbound connections are allowed on port 80 or 443, and confirm the Zabbix frontend is running.
Authentication failed
Authentication failed
Verify the username and password are correct and the user account is not locked or disabled. For API token auth, verify the token has not expired and the user has API access enabled in their role.
Permission denied
Permission denied
Verify the user has sufficient permissions for the requested operations. Check that host group access is granted to the user. For write operations, confirm the role permits API write access.
API token expired
API token expired
Go to Administration → API Tokens in Zabbix, delete the expired token, and create a new one. Update the token in the CloudThinker connection settings.
Security
- Least privilege — grant only the permissions the agents need for your use case; start read-only and widen later.
- Read-only by default — use read-only credentials unless you want agents to make changes through this connection.
- Rotate credentials — rotate keys and tokens on your normal schedule; CloudThinker picks up the new value when you update the connection.
- Revoke on offboarding — remove the credential at the provider when you delete a connection or a teammate leaves.
- API token over credentials — use API token authentication (Zabbix 5.4+) instead of username/password for better auditability.
- Set token expiration — configure an appropriate expiration date on API tokens and rotate them on schedule.
Related
Grafana Connection
Visualize Zabbix metrics in Grafana
Elasticsearch Connection
Forward Zabbix logs to Elasticsearch