Mikoomi Plugins Overview

Mikoomi plugins are configuration and script addons for Zabbix that extend the monitoring capabilities of Zabbix. All plugins consist of the following -

• Zabbix Template: A Zabbix template is an XML file that describes the various elements that are monitored by the plugin. The template is parsed and stored in the Zabbix database. Monitored entities (e.g. servers or databases) are associated with the templates which thereby inherit the attributes.

• Scripts: The actual monitoring of entities is done by one or more scripts. These can be shell, PHP or other suitable scripts or programs that perform the actual monitoring and invoke the /usr/sbin/zabbix_sender program to send the collected data to the Zabbix server process.

Zabbix architecture allows push or pull of monitoring data from plugins. Push implies that the monitoring data is pushed by some program say some program running under cron schedule or even a program triggered by a Zabbix agent on a machine and sent to the Zabbix server. Pull implies that the plugin has inbuilt capabilities to collect the monitoring data and does so as configured in the template. Unless necessary, mikoomi plugins have taken the approach of pulling the monitoring data by having the collection activity happen on the Zabbix server itself. The idea is to have minimal Zabbix footprint on the monitored entity. This is because there is general hesitation or apprehension on the part of IT shops and administrators to have an agent or plugin installed on their production system for fear of impact on availability and/or performance.