Configure PostgreSQL Monitoring With Zabbix

This tutorial will show you how to set up monitoring of your PostgreSQL database in Zabbix. This tutorial assumes your PostgreSQL database is running on a Debian 12 or Ubuntu 22.04 host, that you have already set up for basic Linux monitoring as shown in my previous tutorials linked below:

Related Posts

• Zabbix - Monitoring A Ubuntu 22.04 Host
• Zabbix - Monitoring A Debian 12 Host

Steps

Install Plugin Package

Install PostgreSQL agent plugin.

sudo apt update && \
  sudo apt install zabbix-agent2-plugin-postgresql

This may likely require the Zabbix repository. If you are installing on an Ubuntu 22.04, you probably have this installed as part of installing the agent package, but if you are on Debian 12, you may need to add the repository.

Create Database User

Log into the database:

sudo -u postgres psql

CREATE USER zbx_monitor WITH PASSWORD 'passwordGoesHere' INHERIT;
GRANT pg_monitor TO zbx_monitor;
\q

Update Database Config

Now we need to update the pg_hba.conf file wot add the zbx_monitor user:

PG_VERSION=14
sudo editor /etc/postgresql/$PG_VERSION/main/pg_hba.conf

PG_VERSION is there because you may not be using PostgreSQL 14, in which case you would need to adjust accordingly.

Append the following line:

host    all     zbx_monitor             localhost                 scram-sha-256

Alternatively, execute the following line to do this for you:

PG_VERSION=14
sudo echo "host    all             zbx_monitor     localhost               scram-sha-256" >> /etc/postgresql/$PG_VERSION/main/pg_hba.conf

Restart PostgreSQL Database

Now restart the PostgreSQL database for the changes to take effect:

sudo service postgresql restart

Test User Login

It is probably a good idea to test that you can now log in with that user on the host by running:

psql \
  --username zbx_monitor \
  --password \
  --host localhost \
  postgres

Restart Zabbix Agent

Now restart the zabbix agent, so that having installed the postgresql plugin takes effect etc.

sudo service zabbix-agent2 restart

Configure Zabbix Server

Now we need to update our host in our Zabbix server to configure monitoring the PostgreSQL database.

Right click on the host, and click on Configuration to bring up the configuration modal.

Click Select to open the modal for selecting another template.

Scroll down to select PostgreSQL by Zabbix agent 2 (1) and then click the Select button (2)

Click on the Macros tab (1), and then select inherited and host macros on the toggle (2).

Scroll down to {$PG.PASSWORD} and {$PG.USER} and click Change on both

Fill in the username and password you set earlier when creating the zabbix monitoring user in the database, and then click the Update button.

Wait a while, and you should now be able to see metrics about PostgreSQL if you click on Latest data by your host.

That's all folks!

References

• Zabbix - Available solutions - PostgreSQL by Zabbix agent 2
• Zabbix Forums - Problem with PostgreSQL monitoring