Cloud server with Zabbix

Last update: July 08 2026

Zabbix is an open-source software solution for distributed monitoring of network parameters, as well as server status and performance.

You can create a cloud server with a pre-installed Zabbix application. In Russia, the application runs on a cloud server with a pre-configured SelectOS 1 64-bit operating system. In other countries — Ubuntu 22.04.

Before creating a cloud server with an application, review the software license agreements included in the image.

Minimum resource requirements

vCPU count	4
RAM	8 GB
Boot volume	16 GB

Create a cloud server with Zabbix

For Zabbix to work, the cloud server must be accessible from the internet. To do this, you must create a private subnet and attach a public floating IP address when creating the server.

To configure Zabbix, you must specify user data when creating the server — these are custom operating system configuration parameters. You can provide one of two sets of parameters:

• with TLS certificate issuance;
• without TLS certificate issuance.

After the server with Zabbix is created, a free TLS certificate from Let’s Encrypt® will be automatically issued for the domain you specify. To issue the certificate, you need to add an A record for the domain and set the record value to the server's public floating IP address. You can add the domain to Selectel DNS Hosting (actual).

1. Create a public floating IP address.

2. Add an A record for the domain.

3. Create a cloud server with Zabbix.

1. Create a public floating IP address

Create a public floating IP address so the cloud server with Zabbix is accessible from the internet.

Use the Create a public floating IP address section of the Public Floating IP Addresses guide.

2. Add an A record for the domain

Add a resource record to access Zabbix by domain.

Specify:

• resource record type in the group — A;
• the record value is the public floating IP address that you created in step 1.

3. Create a cloud server with Zabbix

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. Click Create server.

3. Fill in the blocks:

   • Name and placement;
   • Source;
   • Configuration;
   • Volumes;
   • Internet;
   • Private network;
   • Security;
   • Access;
   • Additional settings.

4. Check the cloud server price.

5. Click Create.

Name and placement

1. Enter the server name. It will be set as the hostname in the operating system.

2. Select a location where the server will be created. The available server configurations and resource costs depend on the location. You cannot change the location after the server is created.

Source

1. Open the Applications tab.

2. Select Cloud Zabbix.

3. Optional: if you need a different current or archived application version, in the Version field, select the required version.

Configuration

Select a configuration from 2 vCPU, RAM starting from 8 GB and a boot disk size starting from 20 GB. For all lines, except Shared and Dedicated, two types of server configurations are available:

• fixed configurations — ranges with different technical specifications where the resource ratio is fixed;
• custom configurations — configurations where you can specify any resource ratio.

Configurations use different processors depending on the line and pool segment. You can customize the selected configuration. After the server is created, you will be able to change the configuration.

Fixed configuration

1. Open the tab with the range.

2. Click Fixed.

3. Optional: you can adjust the configuration, if you are creating a server in a multi-AZ pool ru-6 segment or ru-3b, ru-7a, and ru-7b pool segments:

   3.1. Expand the block with the configuration settings description.

   3.2. Optional: select the processor manufacturer. Choosing the manufacturer is not available in all pools.

   3.3. Optional: if you do not want physical processor cores to be pinned to the cloud server vCPUs, clear the Dedicated cores checkbox. Learn more in the Dedicated Cores.

   3.4. Optional: if you want to disable Hyper-Threading for a server with dedicated cores, uncheck the Hyper-Threading (SMT) box.

   3.5. Optional: if you are creating a cloud server with dedicated cores and want to host a multiprocessor server on a single NUMA node, select the Mandatory placement on a single NUMA node checkbox. You can host a cloud server with 4 vCPUs or more on a single NUMA node. If the cloud server resources cannot be placed on a single node, the server will not be created. For more details, see the Placement on a single NUMA node section of the Dedicated Cores.

4. Select a configuration.

5. If both local and network volumes are available in the selected configuration, select the volume to be used as the boot disk:

   • local disk — check the Local SSD NVMe disk box. A server with a local disk can only be created from images and applications;
   • network volume — do not check the Local SSD NVMe disk box.

   The amount of RAM allocated to the server may be less than the amount specified in the configuration — the operating system kernel reserves a portion of RAM depending on the kernel version and distribution. You can check the allocated volume on the server using the command sudo dmesg | grep Memory.

Custom configuration

1. Open the tab with the range.

2. Click Custom.

3. Optional: you can adjust the configuration, if you are creating a server in a multi-AZ pool ru-6 segment or ru-3b, ru-7a, and ru-7b pool segments:

   3.1. Expand the block with the configuration settings description.

   3.2. Optional: select the processor manufacturer. Choosing the manufacturer is not available in all pools.

   3.3. Optional: if you do not want physical processor cores to be pinned to the cloud server vCPUs, clear the Dedicated cores checkbox. Learn more in the Dedicated Cores.

   3.4. Optional: if you want to disable Hyper-Threading for a cloud server with dedicated cores, uncheck the Hyper-Threading (SMT) box.

   3.5. Optional: if you are creating a cloud server with dedicated cores and want to host a multiprocessor server on a single NUMA node, select the Mandatory placement on a single NUMA node checkbox. You can host a cloud server with 4 vCPUs or more on a single NUMA node. If the cloud server resources cannot be placed on a single node, the server will not be created. For more details, see the Placement on a single NUMA node section of the Dedicated Cores.

4. Specify the number of vCPUs.

5. Specify the RAM size.

6. If you need to add graphics processors to the server, click Add GPU, select the GPU type and specify the number of GPUs. The selected line will change to the GPU line. If you selected an image without GPU optimization in the Source block and the Auto-select GPU image toggle is enabled, the selected image will automatically change to a GPU-optimized image.

7. If both local and network volumes are available in the selected configuration, select the volume to be used as the boot disk:

   • local disk — check the Local SSD NVMe disk box. A server with a local disk can only be created from images and applications;
   • network volume — do not check the Local SSD NVMe disk box.

   The amount of RAM allocated to the server may be less than the amount specified in the configuration — the operating system kernel reserves a portion of RAM depending on the kernel version and distribution. You can check the allocated volume on the server using the command sudo dmesg | grep Memory.

Volumes

1. If you did not check the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox when setting up the configuration, the first specified network volume will be used as the server boot disk. To configure it:

   1.1. Select the type of network boot disk.

   1.2. Specify the size of the network boot disk in GB or TB. Observe the maximum size limits for network volumes.

   1.3. If you selected the Universal v2 or Fast SSD v2 disk type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After the disk is created, you can change the number of IOPS — decrease or increase it. The number of IOPS changes is unlimited.

2. Optional: add an additional network volume server :

   2.1. Click Add.

   2.2. Select the type of network volume.

   2.3. Specify the size of the network disk in GB or TB. Observe the maximum size limits for network volumes.

   2.4. If you chose the Universal v2 or SSD Fast v2 volume type, specify the total IOPS (read and write operations). After the volume is created you can change the IOPS — decrease or increase them. There is no limit to the number of IOPS changes.

   After creating the server, you will be able to attach new additional volumes.

Internet

Set up public access to the server.

The cloud server will be added to a private subnet that is connected to a cloud router with 1:1 NAT and internet access. Access to and from the internet will be performed through the cloud router. The server will be accessible from the internet via a public floating IP address.

1. In the Connection from the internet field, select the Public floating IP address access type.

2. Select the public floating IP address that you created in step 1.

Private network

A cloud server can be added to an existing or new private subnet.

Existing private subnet

1. In the Subnet field, select a private subnet.

2. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

3. In the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one.

   If the router is not connected to the internet, it will be automatically connected to the internet after the server is created.

New private subnet

1. In the Subnet field, select New private subnet.

2. In the Network field, select an existing network or create a new one.

3. Optional: change the subnet CIDR.

4. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

5. In the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one.

   If the router is not connected to the internet, it will be automatically connected to the internet after the server is created.

Security

Select security groups to filter traffic on the server ports. Without security groups, traffic will be blocked. If the block is missing, traffic filtering (port security) is disabled in the server network. With traffic filtering disabled, all traffic will be allowed.

Access

1. Place an SSH key for the project on the server for secure connection:

   1.1. If an SSH key for the project is not added to the cloud platform, click Add SSH key, enter the key name, paste the public key in OpenSSH format, and click Add.

   1.2. If an SSH key for the project is added to the cloud platform, in the SSH key field, select an existing key. An SSH key is only available in the pool where it is placed.

2. Optional: in the Password for root field:

   2.1. Copy the password for the root user — the user with unrestricted privileges for all system actions.

   2.2. Save the password in a secure place and do not share it in plain text.

Additional settings

1. Optional: if you plan to create multiple servers and want to increase infrastructure fault tolerance, add the server to a placement group:

   1.1. To create a new group, in the Placement group field, click Create.

   1.2. Select New group and enter the group name.

   1.3. Select a placement policy on different hosts:

   • preferred — soft-anti-affinity. The system will try to host the servers on different hosts. If there is no suitable host when creating the server, it will be created on the same host;
   • mandatory — anti-affinity. Servers in the group must be located on different hosts. If there is no suitable host when creating the server, the server will not be created.

   1.4. Once the group is created, in the Placement group field, select the placement group.

2. Optional: to add additional information or filter servers in the list, add server tags. OS and configuration tags are added automatically. To add a new tag, in the Tags field, enter the tag.

3. To add a script that will be executed using the cloud-init agent at the first operating system startup, in the Automation block in the User data field:

   • open the Text tab and paste the script as text;
   • or open the File tab and upload the file with the script.

You can add additional parameters: to the script.

Creating a server with TLS certificate issuance

#cloud-config

write_files:
- path: "/opt/gomplate/values/user-values.yaml"
  permissions: "0644"
  content: |
    pg_password: "<postgres_user_password>"
    zabbixDomain: <example.com>
    leEmail: <name@example.com>
    httpsMethod: redirect

Specify:

• <postgres_user_password> — the database user password. The password must contain:
  • more than eight characters;
  • at least one uppercase letter;
  • at least one lowercase letter;
  • at least one digit;
• <example.com> — the domain for Zabbix access, which you added earlier;
• <name@example.com> — email address for creating an account and receiving Let’s Encrypt® notifications.

Creating a server without TLS certificate issuance

#cloud-config

write_files:
- path: "/opt/gomplate/values/user-values.yaml"
  permissions: "0644"
  content: |
    admin_password: "<postgres_user_password>"
    zabbixDomain: <example.com>

Specify:

• <postgres_user_password> — the database user password. The password must contain:
  • more than eight characters;
  • at least one uppercase letter;
  • at least one lowercase letter;
  • at least one digit;
• <example.com> — the domain to access Zabbix, which you added earlier;

Parameters

To configure the Zabbix cloud server, you can specify parameters from the table in the User data field.

Name	Type	Default value	Description
pg_password	string	✗	Database user password. Must be more than eight characters, contain at least one uppercase and one lowercase letter, and at least one digit. If left blank, a generated password will be used
zabbixDomain	string	✗	Domain for Zabbix access, for which a TLS certificate from Let’s Encrypt® will be automatically issued
leEmail	string	✗	Email for creating an account and receiving Let’s Encrypt® notifications
httpsMethod	string	noredirect	Parameter for automatic Let’s Encrypt® TLS certificate issuance: redirect — certificate will be issued; noredirect — certificate will not be issued

Connect a local computer to monitoring

Zabbix agents are used to monitor local computers and applications.

A Zabbix agent collects operational information locally and sends the data to the Zabbix server for processing.

Data collection for the Zabbix server depends on the check type:

• passive checks — Zabbix server (or proxy) sends a request. The agent sends the result to the request;
• active checks — the agent first receives a list of data items to process from the Zabbix server. Then, it will send new values to the server on a schedule.

The Zabbix server notifies the server administrator when problems occur. For example, if a service process on a local computer crashes or disk space runs out.

1. Install the Zabbix agent on your local computer.

2. Configure checks.

1. Install the Zabbix agent on your local computer

You can install the Zabbix agent locally in two ways:

• from a package that you can download from the official Zabbix repository;
• manually — for more details, see the Installation from sources instruction in the official Zabbix documentation.

See the list of supported OSs in the Supported platforms section of the Zabbix agent guide in the official Zabbix documentation.

2. Configure checks

1. Open the Zabbix agent configuration file zabbix_agentd.conf in a text editor.

2. Enable monitoring for the local computer. To do this, specify the IP address or host name of the Zabbix server:

   • in the Server parameter to enable passive checks for the local computer;
   • in the ServerActive parameter to enable active checks for the local computer.

3. To set the check frequency, specify the time interval in seconds in the RefreshActiveChecks.

4. Exit the text editor, saving your changes.